Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

The last case of returnables I bought was St Paul brewed Grain Belt Premium, and I could swear it wasn't that long ago...sigh. I managed to hang onto the box and bottles through years of brewing, but at some point lost them. Those returnable case boxes were amazing, wish I had held onto a couple.

 

i could have sworn I saw a case of returnables of some beer somewhere in the last couple of years...I think Westside in Brainerd....does anyone make them anymore?

 

Even with the hundreds of beer cans I've managed to accumulate, I wish I had at least one returnable case. I have one 12-pack returnable (Schlitz) "half-rack", filled with antique bottles, and recall those as being less common than 24-packs.

Not sure about 12oz glass, but in 2009 The Lion (in PA) made their last run of 16oz for their market. Straub was still filling 16oz "bar bottles" up to a few years ago, maybe strictly for in-town use - their online tour still depicts returnable cases.

 

When I brewed beer I always had a few cases of returnable bottles around - usually Leinenkugels. I have no idea what became of them.

 

I sent an email to Sociable Ciderwerks with my opinion of their use of aluminum containers instead of reusable glass. Their response was interesting, and I'll share the highlights here.

It is their contention that the return rate on reusable 750ml bottles is very low. In fact, they said "they do not get returned." That means that they are either ending up in landfills (after or instead of going to a garbage burner) or being recycled. Furthermore, they state that aluminum recycling is profitable for the city or whatever other entity is handling the recycling. Recycling glass has no value and may, in fact, be a drain on the system.

Personally, I'm curious as to why the return rates on returnable bottles is so low and would prefer a solution that increases their return rate. That, however, may easier said than done. Regardless, Sociable Ciderwerks is continuing to use glass returnable bottles for their 64 oz. Growlers.

 

All it would take would be a deposit... (but the overhead of collecting the deposit, accepting the returns, refunding the deposit, etc., would be a large deal... just ask the states who have mandatory deposit laws on the books about the start-up costs, efforts, etc., and the continuing operational costs...)

 

I'm curious about your comment that recycling glass is a drain on the system. I've never heard that before.

Return rates on bottles are low because people are lazy, plain and simple. It's easier for them to toss it than to deal with returning it. Additionally many of the breweries around here won't refund "deposits" on glass (or at least that was the case a year or two ago) - only allowing trade ins for new product. That's a non starter for me, personally - sometimes I just want to get a growler from a place once and return it. Especially when they won't fill glass without their own logo on it (still the case with many places).

 

Glass is made from the most abundant compound in the earth's crust Silicom Dioxide (SiO2) which doesn't require that extensive of a process to purify.
Aluminum requires the mining of bauxite which must then go through an extensive process to extract the a purer form of aluminum. The process is resources intensive. Which is why you will find many places willing to give you money for your scrap aluminum...

You will not find many place paying you for your scrap glass. Glass is recycled because the process is relatively simple, not because it is profitable.

 

Exactly. And, as you said, there is a demand for aluminum. This is the justification that Sociable Ciderwerks using. Since return rates on the smaller glass growlers is very low and aluminum is profitable for whoever recycles that's what they chose to go with.

What is becoming more common is for breweries to swap any growler for one of their's. It doesn't entirely solve the problem you mention, but it is a big step forwards. I've seen a list somewhere of who refills other's growlers and who does swaps.

 

Since this thread has gone completely off topic, can I mention that I really like Saga?

 

Only if it's at Sporty's and your eating non-vegan food.

 

I heard the next Summit Unchained will be Fresh Hop Saga..

 

I think it has been a solid 3 weeks without a Saga/Sportys joke. Thanks for wrecking my day-

 

Jokes are supposed to be funny. Those, were , not funny.

 

For what it's worth the third location for The Blue Door Pub is opening soon on Como about half a mile from Sporty's. It won mean an end to my occasional sporty's posts, but I may occasionally mention what's on tap at TBD as well.

 

This is right near my mom's house, i.e. awesome. With that & Surly, my mom will be seeing a lot more of me.

 

They don't rotate their tap selection too much at the Longfellow location...

 

Just saw on Twitter a new brewery called Lakes & Legends will be opening up late summer 2015. here is an article I found on it: http://www.vita.mn/crawl/298802441.html

 

I will add that late summer sounds like very loft goals considering they HOPE to start construction in 2 weeks. I too am not thrilled that they will be doing mostly Belgian and farmhouse ales, but many people like them I suppose, so to each their own .

 

The article says that Lakes & Legends' brewer worked at Sun King and was head brewer at Bluegrass. Both of those are respected, positively reviewed breweries, so that's promising. I hope they have a dedicated parking lot; otherwise, parking will be a big problem at that location. I'm impressed that they were able to keep this plan under wraps until so close to construction from the likes of Chaz. I too would be very surprised if they open this summer. In fact, I'll predict that they don't open in 2015. My wholly unscientific rule of thumb for breweries-in-planning is to double the target amount of time until opening. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

This will be the third brewing company in Minneapolis and ninth in the state with "Lake" in the name, by my count (Eastlake, LynLake; Brainerd Lakes, Lake Monster, Lake Superior, Lakemaid, Leech Lake, and North Lake being the others).