Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative

 

 

Big, high ceilinged, old warehouse building. Real basic Spartan interior. The beers are of average quality. It is near 56 Brewing, by the Mississippi River.

Terrible taproom in a bad location. Not so bad a location as to expect such low turnout. By far the least visited taproom in NE Minneapolis. Unfriendly and uncaring people working. I had to work hard to find a beer that I would like. What I did find was good but it was a one and done visit. Would not recommend.

 

 

 

 

Have not been to the brewery but have fallen in love with their Minute Man and Blood Orange IPAs. Wrote to the brewery a few months ago to let them know how much I enjoyed both beers and they replied immediately, always a good thing. Was disappointed with their West Coast IPA however which has a 75 IBU but did not have the hop profile I was expecting with a rating in that area. Still quite palatable, just did not meet my expectations. Perhaps the best thing I can say about this place is they move their beer. Our local beer depot regularly stocks their 750 ml cans which were filled within a week their distribution. So Saturday, March 2 I was drinking their WC IPA canned Feb. 26. You can't beat that unless you home brew!

 

Last time I was here the place was not much bigger than a rest room in a rest stop on the interstate. In decent weather the crowd spills outside. It is a coop and caters to members and the local community. The brewers are creative, the atmosphere is friendly and the beer is good.

The new taproom is huge. No congestion in the ordering areas (there are three). Massive selection of all their beers. A kids are for the kids to draw and read with rootbeer while we sip our suds. The people are super friendly and excited to talk about the beer if you ask. Samples are given freely and without having to ask (which is so refreshing from places that are stingy with samples or make it weird for you to ask.) Oh, and the beer... it is amazing! They've got 12 taps running, which is impressive and says something about the goals of this growing cooperative. The Red Coats and the Lavender Uprising were both some of the finest examples of their respective styles I've had in the last year. The Kolsch, which is no simple thing to make, is remarkable and more than a few folks around town have talked about how finely built that beer is.
The location is not as central as I'd like, but it isn't that hard to get to and totally worth the drive.

I asked for a growler of the Stout, got home, opened it up and it was a yellow almost headless yet highly carbonated abomination. I suspect it may have been what they are calling a Kolsch. It tasted like Hamm's with a little simple syrup mixed in. It was carbonated like a soda pop. I poured it out. I do want to give the stout a try, but at this point I remain skeptical.

The vibe was strange, it's like a completely different neighborhood set up shop here. Maybe a neighborhood from a Portlandia episode, or Seward.

I wish them luck. Maybe there is some growing they need to do. According to their website they are run collectively which I really want to see work. I just don't know if brewing by committee can ever work.

 

this place is really cool, apparently they are the third brewery to be in this space, and the other two have been successful enough to expand, so hopefully it goes just as well for these guys. i like the cooperative idea, and i like what they have going on. its cool, a small little garage brewery with some outside tables, picnic tables, and a comfy little lounge area by their garden, amazing on a summer day, maybe less inviting in winter. they give you a free flight, and apparently thats the deal, no paying for beers on draft, but you can buy crowlers and growlers to drink or to go from what i understand. we liked most of their stuff, but we ended up with kolsch to go. the lavender ipa was unique but maybe a bit intense, and all the others we had were tasty and well made, not at all amateurish. sitting outside and relaxing on the comfy sofa drinking the flight was a wonderful experience, and i highly recommend going in and trying it. the folks here were insanely kind and enthusiastic about their craft, and you can beat their prices! a cool upstart brewery that deserves some attention, we were very impressed on our visit and will be back for more!