My wife and I went to an interesting brewery tap room yesterday.

Last edited Mon Aug 3, 2015, 12:05 PM - Edit history (1)

It's in St. Paul, MN, and is called the Sidhe Brewing Company. There are a couple dozen new small brew pubs in the Twin Cities, and this is one of the newest ones. I'm not really a beer guy, so I haven't been to many of them, but our neighbor invited us to have a beer there with her, so we went.

What a cool little venue! It's operated by four transgendered Wiccan women, and is one of the friendliest, most welcoming little gathering places I've ever been to. Their craft beers are tasty, interesting and varied, and the place has local artists' work on display, gallery style. The clientele is a mix of transgendered folks, Wiccans, LGBT people and random local residents, and there are dozens of board games on shelves. Music, conversation, board games, and a friendly welcome to everyone is the mood.

They had a solo singer, Namoli Brennet, on a small stage, who uses an amplified acoustic guitar and an assortment of pedal-operated effects to accompany her pretty damned amazing original songs. Hard to characterize, but there are hints of Joan Baez style hammer-on picking, percussive guitar top sounds and left-hand finger playing on the fret board. An excellent performer, and one of her songs actually moved me to tears. I walked up between sets and told her that, and got a big smile from her.

Outstanding little spot, and one I'll most certainly return to and bring others to visit.

If you're in St. Paul, I recommend dropping in. They don't serve food, but there's a Mexican restaurant in the same building, connected by a common door, so you can bring food in from it if you've a mind to. It's more than worth a visit. It's close to downtown, in a neighborhood that is rapidly becoming home to a lot of trendsetting little places.