“As much as we love craft beer, the beer culture, and brewing, we love our community and wanted to do something that will bring it to where we know it should and can be,” says Nick Fox, co-president of the forthcoming Spiral Brewery in Hastings, set to open April 20. Flashback to 2013, and the … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Wooden Hill Brewing Company in Edina
April 13, 2018 by
For years, while breweries popped up all around the Twin Cities, Edina watched idly by from the sidelines. But brothers James and Sean Ewen, who recently opened Wooden Hill Brewing Company, believed beer lovers in the Twin Cities’ southwestern suburbs wanted a brewery to call their own. And so far, the people of Edina have … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Boathouse Brothers Brewing Co.
April 4, 2018 by
When Emmett Swartout was just a boy, his dad received a Mr. Beer kit as a present. Swartout was so excited to work on the process with his dad, until he realized the end result would be something he wouldn’t be allowed to drink. Fast-forward a couple of decades, and Swartout is not only able … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Lost Sanity Brewing in Madelia
March 23, 2018 by
Doug and Caleb Fenske admit that opening a brewery in Madelia, Minnesota—a community of just over 2,200, and half an hour southwest of Mankato—must seem crazy. But the father-son team have gone all in to open Lost Sanity Brewing. “It’s very, very aptly named for us,” says Caleb, 38, who grew up in the town. … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): AEGIR Brewing in Elk River
March 20, 2018 by
According to Norse mythology, Ægir (pronounced AH-year) was a giant who lived under the sea. He was known as the brewer to the gods and held elaborate parties where the glasses were never empty. But if the gods were unable to set aside their differences and play nice, they were banished from all future festivities. … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Tilion Brewing Company
March 1, 2018 by
“We weren’t even talking about beer; we weren’t even talking about opening the brewery,” Chris Larson recalls. “We were just fishing.” One day in 2015, on Lake Andrew near Alexandria, Larson handed Ryan Seabright a bottle of his homebrewed, aptly named “Lake Andrew unCommon.” He readied the fishing poles, and heard Seabright finally say, “Okay, let’s … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Blue Wolf Brewing Company
February 12, 2018 by
Over 20 years ago, a wife bought her husband his first Mr. Beer kit. This is the story of so many Christmases and birthdays and special occasions. But for Mike and Jennifer Campbell, that simple gift sparked a decades-long dream: a dream that is finally coming to fruition in a taproom in Brooklyn Park. Jennifer … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Dual Citizen Brewing Company
January 23, 2018 by
Tim Kessler and Max Filter, cousins, St. Paulites, and co-owners of Midway’s newest brewery, Dual Citizen Brewing Company, are calling for beer drinkers to set aside any perceived differences and come together over a pint. He and Kessler named their brewery Dual Citizen as a tongue-in-cheek ode to calling both Minneapolis and St. Paul home. Filter, … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Ashby Brewing Company
January 8, 2018 by
Locals in quaint Ashby, Minnesota, population 436, have long congregated at their restaurant, bar, and American Legion hall over pints of beer. With the October opening of Ashby Brewing Company, this small town has something a lot more exciting to sip on than light lager. Justin Flatgard, co-owner and head brewer of the newly open … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): BoomTown Brewery & Woodfire Grill
December 29, 2017 by
The history of Minnesota’s Iron Range is filled with rapid expansions and contractions—the booms and busts—of a mining industry that transformed Minnesota’s Arrowhead region from an inhospitable wilderness to the country’s largest producing region of iron ore. Erik and Jessica Leitz, who will open BoomTown Brewery & Woodfire Grill in downtown Hibbing at the turn … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Hop & Barrel Brewing Company in Hudson
November 30, 2017 by
When Justin Terbeest and Brian Priefer, ordered the equipment for their new brewery in Hudson, Wisconsin, brewing wasn’t even allowed in downtown. Terbeest and Priefer, co-founders of Hop & Barrel Brewing Company opening on December 16, spent the early months of 2017 attending planning commission and city council meetings to change the law, and by August 1 they … [ Read more]
Now Open: Ward House Brewery in Waseca
November 20, 2017 by
When John Mansfield—head brewer and owner of Ward House Brewery, opened in Waseca on November 17—had the idea to really pursue opening his own brewery, he was taking time off work to homeschool with his six-year-old son. After years of running his own construction business and helping raising his six children, homeschooling offered Mansfield the chance … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Klockow Brewing
October 20, 2017 by
The Klockow surname may not have been Andy and Tasha’s first choice for naming their brewery, but given the support and help provided by their family, it’s a good fit. With the construction phase behind them, Klockow Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, Minnesota’s first microbrewery, is set to open on October 28. When Andy and Tasha … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Giesenbräu Bier Co.
October 13, 2017 by
Erin “Mutha Franklin” Hutton fell in love with biergartens while studying in Bavaria. He also fell in love there with a girl from New Prague named Anna Giesen. This is where Giesenbräu Bier Co.’s story begins. Hutton’s interest in dialects brought him to Germany, where he studied “Niederbayerisch” (Lower Bavarian). However, as graduate school drew to a close, … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): Earth Rider Brewing
October 6, 2017 by
When the initial truckload of beer departs from Earth Rider Brewing this fall, it will be the first beer exported from within Superior, Wisconsin, since Northern Brewing Co. stopped brewing beer in 1966. Given its unique name, location, and the assemblage of elite local brewing talent under its roof, Earth Rider is a concept that couldn’t … [ Read more]
