Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

A few minor updates:

• Birch’s on the Lake (Long Lake), 7-8-15: “Things are really moving now, and we are still on time for a September opening!” My projection: November. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Birchs-on-the-Lake/166231891696
  
• Lupine (Delano), 7-6-15: “Lupine opening is getting very close.” 6-25-15: “We will be opening our Tap Room in Delano this July, 2015!!!” My projection: August. Lupine is brewing now in and distributing out of its small St. Cloud brewery (which, last I heard, will remain open, without a taproom). https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lupine-Brewing-Company/1412731888977816
  
• Rhombus Guys (Grand Forks, North Dakota): http://www.grandforksherald.com/accent/life-style/3783771-rhombus-guys-brewing-co-develops-beer-flavors-ahead-brewpub-opening

 

I kind of like the fact that they've had a brewer in house for awhile now working on pilot batches and testing and tweaking. Sounds like the brewer has some good background with stops at three breweries. Only red flag I see is his time at Leech Lake Just kidding. I'm sure he learned many valuable lessons about what to not do. I can just see it.... (Note to self: Try more than one hop variety)

 

An article from the other day to add a different perspective:

http://www.twincities.com/restaurants/ci_25799152/minnesota-taproom-tour-17-and-counting-plus-2

 

Gonna be a bit negative here. You joined on Sunday after their party and that/that was your first post. I did some checking and it seems they have been planning this for awhile (filled trademark in 2012) which is better than most, ok 75 of new breweries.

 

U4ic posted an updated on their facebook page today so looks like they're still moving forward. No estimate of when they'll be open was given but they have appear to be inching closer.

 

Sorry I tried to post about Todd the axe man first but had a glitch

 

I honestly think we will see less of this as the market matures and there's more commercial experience locally - for a while it seemed like everybody came from Town Hall or Summit for those that started with an experienced brewer in place, and a few that came from out of market - you're now seeing assistant talent at other breweries start to move off on their own.

I agree that there's a few places out there with clear talent issues from the homebrew lineage, and we may be reaching a point where those places don't have the first mover advantage that several from the latter of the last decade or early part of this decade had, which allowed them to overcome issues with the beer. However, it still seems that a new place can brew fair to middling beer and still attract the masses, even if the beer geeks stay away. I can name at least 3 or 4 that I'd have to be really convinced hard to make a return visit.

Portland has been thrown around in comparison, and my friend from there occasionally reminds me that many of their breweries have never bothered to package for retail. I do think you're going to see more of this here... but I can't blame them for trying - the cash flow that retail can provide is probably alluring to some of these places with more limited taproom revenues because of size. Also not unthinkable down the road that some of these places could sell their own packaged beer on location which would reduce the need to be on crowded shelves to begin with (though we can't even pass sunday sales, so who knows...)

 

This was the Cottage Grove plan which had been on Brewers Association's radar last year, but later fell off.

Here's another take on it.

 

This might not end well...

 

Hmm! The F-Town folks will probably be okay -- at least until they expand into Madison.

 

And then there were four:

Stillwater, MN - Three Kettles Brewing Company
http://www.twincities.com/minnesota...lwater-brewery-speakeasy-moving-into-old-shoe

 

Lakes and Legends getting their tanks in!

https://twitter.com/lakesandlegends/status/622054374286585857

 

Wow - that is really close to similar, especially the way the name is displayed. I would believe Ale Asylum would think so.

 

Three Kettles intends to have 24 unique beers on tap at a time. That's about what Surly has between the Beer Hall and Brewer's Table combined and at least twice as much as any other taproom or brewpub in the area that I can think of. That seems awfully ambitious for a new brewery with a small system, but it would be exciting if Three Kettles can pull it off and maintain quality. Let me be the first to request a flight of 24 GABF-style 1-ounce pours.

Re: F-Town: I visited last Friday and had the flight of all six beers. I found the space above average for my tastes (small but with good natural lighting and garage doors that open to a small patio in downtown Faribault). I thought the beer was of mixed quality and, overall, approximately average for a new craft brewery. The mostly local crowd was very enthusiastic about having F-Town in the community, although most of the people to whom I spoke claimed normally to be AAL drinkers and were hesitant to venture beyond the light lager that was on tap. I liked two of the six beers (the IPA and the stout), and I thought that the light lager was good for what it is. IPAlicious was my favorite of the bunch, and I found it to be a roughly average American craft IPA (which is promising for a brand new brewery). All of the few other early reviews here and at RB (some from long-time, respected users and some from people inspired to sign up apparently just to rate F-Town), however, are raves.

 

Lol. Wait until Victory catches wind of this.

 

I took in Lupulin in Big Lake recently. Very impressed. They really seem to have hit the ground running. Can't remember how many beers they had going but it was around eight and I tried every one. Every one was very solid. Some were outstanding. I just reviewed a growler of their Imperial Red IPA that I found really top notch. I got a couple other reviews to plug in still. It is right off the highway. Very easy stop. Really nice tap room. People seemed very nice and service was good. Growler prices were reasonable but not low. I think it was $18 for the Imperial Red IPA but the others were in the 12-14 range if I remember right. They do fill growlers from anywhere which is very smart for any brewery but particularly for one where tourists are traveling past frequently. Let's just say this blows away the St. Cloud places I visited. Not that they were bad. This is just really good. It's worth a stop if you are going past but I'll say this as well.....it's also worth a trip up from the Twin Cities for a few pints if you got someone to drive back who isn't drinking because you will want to have more than a pint or two.

 

Stopped by Wander North's Cocktail Room last night. Nice little place. The owner's very friendly and he talked about all the hoops he had to jump through to get it up and running. Things like the number of sinks he had to install to meet code, etc. He also explained why he can't have vermouth. As a distiller he can ferment (obviously a requirement to get to distillation), but he can't serve fermented products. He mentioned another distillery that came up with a distilled version of vermouth, but I didn't get the sense that he plans to do that. I enjoyed the drinks I had (Nordeast Nog, a very gingery take on a Moscow Mule, and a Jalapeno infused vodka cucumber martini). Pricey (two drinks came to $16), but I think he plans to have a happy hour. If you're not much into cocktails, but want to try it once be aware that Northgate Brewing is in the same complex. It's easy to have one drink and then go have some beers.

 

LTS in Rochester has its grand opening tomorrow!

 

"It's about time!"

 

Spilled Grain in Annandale is now open. Hours today and Saturday are from 3 to 11 P.M.