Nightlife: One big day, two big parties

The two biggest names in Minnesota beer-making are going head to head this Saturday.

Both Summit and Surly are holding super-sized parties at their breweries. For Summit, it's time to celebrate 25 years of being a pioneer in the craft-beer business. For Surly, it's the annual SurlyFest, always a red-hot event that carries added significance this year -- one more chance to celebrate the company's legislative victory allowing it to serve pints at its proposed destination brewery.

But did these massive beer-taculars have to happen on the same day? From the minute the dates were announced this summer, some Twin Cities beer nuts were crying conspiracy. Was one brewery trying to upstage the other? Is there a beef brewing between these two competitors?

The answer: No way. The bosses at both breweries insisted that it's just a scheduling coincidence. And according to both men -- Mark Stutrud at Summit and Omar Ansari at Surly -- the outcome is just one awesome day for Minnesota beer lovers (unless you wanted to go to both parties).

If you were planning to attend either shindig, I hope you have your tickets. Summit tickets are disappearing quickly and SurlyFest tickets are only available on Craigslist. For you lucky ones, here's what to expect, plus a little commentary thrown in by your hosts.

The parties

Surly: 1,500 beer lovers will get a commemorative stein and four beer tokens with a SurlyFest ticket at the Brooklyn Center brewery.

The bands

Surly: Headlining is blues-punk rock outfit the 4onthefloor. Opening are the Bratwurst Brothers and Sex Rays.

Summit: The Current's Mark Wheat hosts a lineup headlined by electro rockers Solid Gold. Also playing: Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, X-Boys, Pert Near Sandstone and the Prizefighters.

The beer

Surly: Most of Surly's lineup will be available (Furious, Hell, Bender, Bitter Brewer, Cynic, etc.), plus the debut of this year's SurlyFest, a dry-hopped rye lager.

Surly vs. Summit?

Ansari: "I think Summit and ourselves are too busy to try to undermine the other guy's party," Ansari said. "We've been up to our eyeballs in making beer, and I'm sure they're the same. I think people are digging a little too deep into this."

Stutrud: "It's unfortunate that it's on the same day, but it just turned out that way. It'll be tough for people to hit both events, but I could see a very fast individual trying that."

Favorite beers from the competition

Ansari: "It's probably the Summit EPA. It's the one I get to drink the most. It's a fantastic beer. Like a lot of Minnesotans, it's how I was introduced to craft beer. So it holds a special place in my heart."

Brotherly love

Ansari: Summit "made it all possible for craft beer in Minnesota. They blazed the trail. You have to admire that. I don't know if we could have done it 25 years ago."

Stutrud: "One of the things I like to tease Omar about it is that Surly is a part of Summit's legacy. [Surly brewer] Todd Haug cut his teeth at Summit. But now you have two great breweries celebrating on the same day, and that in itself is pretty damn significant."

On tap in the near future

Surly: Shopping for a new brewery. After getting the pint law passed this summer, Ansari said his team will begin looking at locations now, with a decision coming within the next four months. But building the $20 million brewery could take two to three years.