Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

Could it not have been a combination of contributing factors which rendered their decision to build there?

 

No! There can be only one!

 

Agreed, but I thought they were working to get the law changed for brewpubs to be able to sell in stores and became frustrated it wasn't working and decided to build across the border. It was a couple of years ago, so I could be wrong too.

 

They could do that as a brewery with a tap room though. The reason they are staying a brewpub instead of a brewery is what I posted above.

 

Second paragraph down is where I got the info.

http://growlermag.com/barley-johns-brew-pub-to-build-production-facility-in-western-wisconsin/

This is from further down in the article also:

"The couple has owned Barley John’s Brew Pub in New Brighton, Minnesota since 2000 but Minnesota law restricts brewpubs to on-site sales, meaning beer produced at brewpubs is not available in other bars and cannot be sold as a packaged product in liquor stores."

 

I think we are arguing the same point. Had they been able to continue operating the brewpub the way they are (with full liquor and guest taps) they would have the brewery here in MN. Since they can't they opened in WI.

The taproom is a nice addition for a brewery, but it isn't a complete replacement for a brewpub

 

Flip sides of the same coin: They want to have a brewpub and they want to can / keg for off-site sale. Most other brewpubs want the same option; so far only Barley John's has taken the initiative to cross the St. Croix to do something about it. Also keep in mind that building the production and packaging facility in Wisconsin preserves Barley John's option to have satellite restaurants in Minnesota as Town Hall and Fitger's do. If Barley John's had converted from a brewpub into a taproom, it would have been limited to a single taproom/restaurant. And of course Chaz surely is right that other factors influenced the decision as well. By the way, a few months ago one of the Barley John's brewers told me that Barley John's will be able to distribute cans and kegs from the new facility in Minnesota. Previously the word was that doing so was legally prohibited, and I don't know what changed.

 

Right, they were working on it along with a few other brewpub / brewery owners. I haven't spoken with John in many years, but I used to "back in the day" -- he was a Surdyk's regular, of all the kooky things. He was always a very thoughtful guy, I thought, and had considered a larger production facility for a while before making this happen -- clearly.

I looked at the decision to build in Wisconsin as tacit proof that he and his wife had basically chosen the path of least resistance, considering the licensing and other State legal considerations of that timeframe.

It's also worth considering that local Taprooms as we know them now weren't as de rigueur and "proven" business models at the time that he and his wife had begun to undergo the process of obtaining financial support (whether it be 'Angel Investors' or a bank loan -- and please don't ask me the finer details of that, as I honestly don't know), buying property or signing a lease, paying for architectural assessments, looking into licensing... am I missing anything?

Likewise, I can't imagine why they'd want to change their (reasonably) successful, existing brewpub model in order to make the jump to a taproom, when that model hadn't yet proven to be a successful business model.

Oh well. All of this is just best-guesses on our collective part -- no?

Here's a post from the old thread (ourtesy of @FurnaceCowboy) which I consider worth letting sink-in:
"Unfortunately, after Summit, Surly, and everyone else got what they wanted they let that bill die and chose not to support Barely John's."

That sounds like a total oversimplification, but I know a couple of professional brewers who found it instructive, at base.

 

We sure are friendly to people who want to do business in this state. I mean the least we can do is get the legislature to establish some sort of startup fund to help these breweries get their operations going in Wisconsin.

 

The bulk of Fultons beer is now being produced in their new facility. At their original location, next to Target Field, they had a window into the brewhouse that became completely blocked by fermentors. It is now once again open to view the brewhouse as they moved most of the tanks out of their original plant.

 

This just popped up in my FB feed: http://vennbrewery.com/ - searched here but got nuttin'.
PS - The BrewFarm is open this weekend (3/14-15 from 3-7 each day) - come out and play in the country and drink some tasty beers!

FarmerD

 

Lupine starts growler sales tomorrow

https://twitter.com/LupineBrewing/status/575482874012430337

 

I was in St. Cloud recently and tried three of the Lupine beers at Boulders and a few of the Beaver Island as well. Also hit the Beaver Island tap room. Both solid additions to the craft beer world although I thought the renowned Lupine Cranberry stout I was most looking forward to was a little off and butterscotchy. Their IPA was enjoyable, and the brown was very good. Beaver Island Ripple was a nice drinking lighter beer. Their Red IPA was ok, their old ale lacked flavor in my opinion. It was ok. Not bad. Like I said, solid additions.

Both seem to be pricing themselves pretty high. $6 pints at Beaver Island tap room and growlers at both places are $15-$20 a fill plus the glass on top of that. Even in the Twin Cities that would be on the high end would it not?

 

I worked it down from 52 a few months ago.

 

In Anoka? That'd be great for me. A mile from my house.

 

Yeah, I believe that there are two plans for Anoka, and maybe even a third (if the plan for that one bar goes through!):
- 10K Brewing - https://www.facebook.com/10kbrewing/info
- Anoka Brewing - https://www.facebook.com/anokabrewing

Other plans

- St. Joseph, MN - An as-yet unnamed plan from a guy in an area homebrew club.
- Wadena, MN - A man with a named plan, and yep, he's another local homebrewer.

I could swear there's another plan (I've gotta start writing it all down on paper!)

 

On a slight tangent, just FYI. Insight Brewing has $7 growlers on Mondays. They'll also swap other brewery's growlers for one of theirs. That won't solve the problem @ZAP and others have, but at least wouldn't make it worse.

 

Yeah that works for me, As long as don't have to buy any new glass I am happy. $7 on Mondays is awesome too. Some places are real reasonable. Harriet has nice prices as well and Town Hall has always been reasonable.

 

I would say that is on the high end even for the TC.

And 2 (3!?) for Anoka. That's fantastic.

Still waiting for Brooklyn Park. Though there is a distillery opening soon. (http://www.skaalvenn.com/) So maybe that could open the door for a taproom someday.

 

So...as a long time monitor of this forum, do we have a definitive definition on the 750 ml growlers for Minnesota? I picked a few extra glasswares at Town Hall's barrel aged week but am still unsure on the legality of getting these baby growlers filled at other places.