Nightlife notebook: MN Craft Beer Week goes big

When beer crusader Jon Landers created Minnesota Craft Beer Week in 2010, he launched it with three bars (Town Hall Brewery, Stub & Herb's and Preston's). At the time, the former bartender promised a much more epic second year, and here it is: 24 bars (plus seven liquor stores) will celebrate all week, starting Friday with beer dinners, special releases, brewmaster appearances, contests and more.

"It was a massive undertaking," Landers said. "No matter where you live in the Twin Cities, there should be some place to check out."

Most of Minnesota's breweries are involved, including such favorites as Surly, Summit and Fulton.

The calender is almost overwhelming. Here's a couple of big events, both happening on Sat., May 21: the Bicycle Trivia Pub Crawl (starting at Cafe Twenty-Eight) and the Schell's outdoor music fest at Stanley's Northeast Bar Room. Some bars will feature tap takeovers dedicated to breweries like Harriet (6 p.m. Fri. Blue Nile), while others will offer meet-and-greets with out-of-town brewery owners. For example, Alaskan's head honchos will be at Stub & Herb's (7 p.m. Fri.).

The best way to experience Minnesota Craft Beer Week is to buy a $5 "passport" at one of the participating bars or liquor stores. The pocket-sized booklet contains the schedule and is also a place to collect stamps from all the locations. The more stamps you collect, the better your chances of winning some cool beer swag. Samuel Adams, for one, is giving away a three-day trip to Boston.

"The only regret I have this year is I wasn't able to make it up to towns like Duluth and St. Cloud," Landers said. "As craft beer grows in popularity and more bars are supporting it, I'd like to see this thing blow up even further."

Paul F. Tompkins returns The Parkway Theater says its fastest-selling comedy ticket ever is for Paul F. Tompkins, a man rightfully regarded as a comedian's comedian. The south Minneapolis theater has added a second show to his one-night stand this Saturday. From 2008 to 2009, the Philly-bred Tompkins became the bane of non-celebs everywhere (that's you, Paris Hilton!) as the former host of VH1's "Best Week Ever." He moved on and has since mastered the interwebs, becoming a beast on Twitter. Last year, the comedian started the "Pod F. Tompkast," a free monthly podcast that features his stand-up, as well as original sketches. He's also been performing shows around the country based on Facebook-generated demand (if fan groups provide an audience of 300, he'll show up to perform). Luckily for us, he loves performing in Minneapolis and will show up here regardless of Facebook.