When Surly Brewing Co. of Minnesota released renderings of the new, $20 million brewery it plans to build in an industrial area of Minneapolis, criticism of its “Brutalist” design aesthetic began pouring in.
Beer and religion have walked hand in hand for thousands of years, from ritualistic brewing in ancient Turkey to the Trappist monasteries of Belgium. And just like born-again Christianity rose from the ashes of burned-out spiritual lives, so did craft emerge from a beer culture that had pretty much dried up.
With help from the its fan base, the “Surly Nation,” new Minnesota laws allow Surly Brewing Company to sell beer at its own location. Now, plans are in the works for a $20 million, 6 acre destination brewpub.
In less than a year and a half of brewing, Surly Brewing Company, a tiny Brooklyn Center, MN brewery, has already put the industry’s big boys on notice.
Ordering a can of beer has always been trouble. Call for one and you run the risk of being identified as an unsophisticated ignoramus and subjected to ridicule at the hands of even the most open-minded beer geeks.
