Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

You guys have definitely done a good job getting your name out there. Good luck to you and your brewery. I look forward to stopping in for a pint.

 

Is it possible we could get a new thread?

 

There is a new thread every two years. Last thread was 2013/2014.

 

Wicked Wort opens January 22nd at 4 PM per Facebook.

 

New year, new thread -- it sort of makes sense, right?

If someone feels the need to start a new thread, feel free to do so.

Meanwhile, here's a list with updates to existing plans (Prye's, St. Croix Brewing) and a few new plans.

There are a handful of plans for which there is little or no information available at the present time. There are also a handful of plans which have taken several years to open (u4ic, Roets) and whose journey is well documented.

Plans are listed alphabetically by city -- Minneapolis and St. Paul are listed first due to the fact that each city has several or more plans in the works.

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Minneapolis: Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative. https://www.facebook.com/brokenclockbrewing/
Minneapolis: Cap's Grille. http://www.capsgrille.com/
Minneapolis: Clockwerks Brewery and Taproom. https://www.facebook.com/clockwerksbrewing/info?tab=overview
Minneapolis: Finnegans (downtown brewery and business incubator plan) http://finnegans.org/
Minneapolis: Inbound BrewCo. http://www.inboundbrewco.com/
Minneapolis: JT Brewing. https://www.facebook.com/jiveturkeybrewing/info/?tab=overview
Minneapolis: Modist Brewing. http://modistbrewing.com/
Minneapolis: Pryes Brewing. http://www.pryesbrewing.com/
Minneapolis: Wild Mind Artisan Ales. https://www.facebook.com/wildmindales/
Minneapolis: Utepils. http://utepilsbrewing.com/
Minneapolis: Venn Brewery. https://www.facebook.com/VennBrewery/?fref=ts
Minneapolis: Zurbey Brewing. https://www.facebook.com/ZurbeyBrewing/
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St. Paul: 1958 Brewing Company. https://www.facebook.com/1858brewingcompany/?fref=ts
St. Paul: Black Stack Brewing Company. Opening spring 2016.
St. Paul: Brewmasters Brewpub. http://brewmastersbrewingcompany.com/
St. Paul: Clutch Brewing Company. http://www.clutchbeer.com/
St. Paul: Looney Bin Brewing. http://looneybinbrewing.com/
St. Paul: Lush Brewery. https://twitter.com/lushbrewery
St. Paul / 'lowertown': Steven Marshall plan. No Further information.
St. Paul: Stone Saloon http://www.stonesaloon.com/blog/milestone-celebration-0
St. Paul: Yoerg Beer. http://www.yoergbeer.com/
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Belle Blain (Blakely): U4ic. https://www.facebook.com/u4icBrewingIncorporated/info/
Blaine: Invictus Brewing. https://www.facebook.com/TheBrewLoft/?fref=ts
Cannon Falls: The Brew Loft. https://www.facebook.com/TheBrewLoft/?fref=ts
Chaska: Howling Pooch. May open in Shakopee: http://howlingpooch.beer/
Cloquet: St. Louis River Brewing Co. Has been in-planning stage for five years. Status is unknown.
Cottage Grove: Broken Seal. https://www.facebook.com/Broken-Seal-Brewing-Co-663695953711291/info/?tab=page_info
Duluth: Hoops Brewing. No further information is available.
Dundas: Meetinghall Brewing: http://www.meetinghallbrewery.com/
Eagan: Bald Man. http://baldmanbrewing.com/
Eagan: Cedar Grove Brewing LLC. No further information is available (in planning since 2014).
East Bethel: Good Ass Beer -- see "Errata", below.
Eden Prairie: No further information is available.
Fisher: Vertical Malt (homebrewing is presently ongoing) http://verticalmalt.com/Home/
Fountain: Karst Brewing LLC. No web or social media presence at the moment.
Granite Falls: Bluenose Gopher Brewery Coop. http://www.bluenose.coop/
Hallock: Revelation Ale Works. https://www.facebook.com/revelationaleworks/?fref=ts
Hamel: Hamel Tap. https://twitter.com/hameltap
Hastings: Spiral Brewery LLC. No social media or web presence (?)
Hermantown: No further information is available.
Hugo: Cosmos Brewing. http://www.cosmosbrewing.com/
Jordan: Roets Brewing. https://www.facebook.com/roetsjordanbrewery/?fref=ts
Lakeville: Angry Inch Brewing. https://twitter.com/angryinchbrew
Lakeville: Lakeville Brewing. http://www.lakevillebrewing.com/
Mankato: No further information is available.
Midway Township: Oude Oak. http://www.oudeoak.com/
Minnetonka: Unmapped Brewing. http://unmappedbrewing.com/
Newport: Opinion Brewing (Open -- brewing TBD)
Northfield: Imminent Brewing. http://www.imminentbrewing.com/
Perham: Disgruntled Brewing. https://www.facebook.com/TheDisgruntledEmployeeBrewingCompany
Pine City: No further information is available.
Robbinsdale: Wicked Wort Brewing Company. http://www.wickedwortbrewingco.com/
Rollingstone: Highway 61 Brewing. http://highway61brewing.com/
Sauk Rapids: Urban Moose. http://urbanmoosebrewing.com/
Shakopee: No further information is available.
Spring Lake Park: Bengal Brewing. https://www.facebook.com/Bengal-Brewing-LLC-1533139630242027/?fref=ts
Stillwater: Three Kettles Brewing Company. No further information is available.
Stillwater: St. Croix Brewing (New taproom in historic building) https://www.facebook.com/stcroixbeer/?fref=ts
St. Louis Park: Twelve Down Brewing. (This is a DBA name -- unknown status)
Waseca: Half Pint Brewing Company. https://www.facebook.com/Half-Pint-Brewing-Company-1428278567395030/?fref=ts
Wayzata: Wayzata Brew Works. Plan has been delayed. http://www.wayzata.com/wayzata-brew-works
Woodbury: Unnamed plan (presumed to be associated with David Breen of the Tamarack Taproom).
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Changes to Minneapolis and St. Paul (Twin Cities) plans:

Minneapolis: Publiq Brewing Company. Plan has been placed on hold.
Minneapolis: Zambaldi Bros. Is now a WI plan: https://www.facebook.com/ZambaldiBros/posts/846409588809541
St. Paul (Woodbury): Character Brewing. Plan has been placed on hold.
St. Paul: Mr. McGeasil. Back-burnered plan for the 'lowertown' area.

Changes to other plans (greater Twin Cities area and other)
Champlin: Blue Wolf Brewing Company. Commercial plan is no longer in the offing.

Errata: Brewers Association Data
The above list is compiled based largely upon Brewers Association data as it pertains to commonly known plans.
BA misidentifies several plans and includes breweries which are no longer active, in planning, or based in MN:

1. Grey Duck Chai is listed as: "GrayDuck Brewery"
2. "Hamel Tap" is identified as Omni Brewing Company. These are two different breweries and plans.
3. BIP for Minneapolis MN 55441 is actually Grey Fox Pottery (produces glasses for sale at Renaissance Festival, etc).
4. McGarry's Pub. Established Irish Pub joined BA in 2015 -- It does not presently brew its own beer.
5. Pig's Eye Brewing is still listed. They were purchased by Evans Brewing four years ago.
6. Pondscum is listed but is no longer planning (Facebook is down, Twitter is inactive).
7. Joseph Wolf Brewing. Street address is listed incorrectly (St. Paul, rather than Stillwater)
8: Good Ass Beer, LLC (co-packaged) Opened in 2015: https://www.facebook.com/GoodAssBeer/

 

I don't see these listed:

Roundhouse Brewery in Brainerd - http://www.roundhousebrew.com/
Their page says arriving Spring 2016 and according to their blog posts, they are well along building out their space and already have their brew system.

Copper Trail Brewing Company - Alexandria – got city approval Oct 2015
http://www.coppertrailbrewing.com/
http://www.echopress.com/news/3864892-plans-proposed-citys-first-brewery
https://www.facebook.com/coppertrailbrewing/

 

Grey Fox was the working name for Able Seedhouse + Brewery.

 

Yeah, I forgot (sue me - winking emoticon). Able had also been listed as Common Craft Group, LLC. Trust me when I say this -- as a guy who really isn't as in the know as he seems to be, it's tough figuring out one DBA (let alone more than one) for each potential plan.

But on that note:
http://minneapolis.eater.com/2016/1/8/10736052/able-seedhouse-brewery-expands-beyond-the-taproom

 

Thanks! Those are two locations that I'd been looking into while not slingin' digital hash on my Day Job.

 

Reading these websites/Facebook pages has me both excited and horrified about the future of craft beer in Minnesota.

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

I don't think it's been mentioned but Schell's is opening a new brewery called Starkeller to handle all the sours going forward. This will allow them to sell growlers/bottles at the taproom. The taproom grand opening is scheduled for May 1st. That day will be the 80th anniversary of Schell's purchasing the cypress tanks they're using.

 

Some of us have heard of that.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/417/157310/

 

I've got a good friend who owns a cabin on the Iron Range (between Grand Rapids and Hibbing). He bemoans the fact that there are no breweries up there. I note that there still aren't even any BIPs. There was one in Grand Rapids, but there was some local scandal regarding a city council member trying to get the city to invest in a development project he was involved in. I think they had that plan taken out and shot.

Are there even any rumors of anything up there?

Similarly, I have another friend who lives in S Minneapolis. (about where I grew up - near 44th and Nicollet). He's jealous because I have two breweries I can walk to (Insight and Northgate). When I look at brewery maps it's like someone stuck a compass on his house and drew a circle "Nothing within two miles of here."

I know it's not as much of a beer desert as the Southern Suburbs are, but it seems odd that S Minneapolis is so empty when there's a brewery every 20 feet in NE.

 

That Grand Rapids plan was the last one I'd heard of in that immediate area. There had reportedly been a plan for Biwabik mentioned in The Growler last spring, but I never could find anything on that plan.

It might be an issue of zoning in that neighborhood of South Minneapolis. On the other hand, opening a taproom (standalone nanobrewery or satellite of a parent brewery) is a financial investment similar to opening a restaurant.

Give it another couple of years and I bet he'll be able to walk to a couple of breweries, too.

 

As someone who studies a lot about zoning for school, I can say that the majority of South Minneapolis is horribly zoned, in that it's pretty much entirely residential and reluctant to change, sans commercial strips (nicollet, lyndale, etc.). I'd be willing to be money we'll start to see some brewpubs start to pop up along this area not too far down the line.

 

I think you're on to something in that brewpubs and perhaps nano breweries that never plan to expand past a taproom are what we'll see in South Minneapolis. Zoning I'm sure is the biggest reason, but availability of space has got to another component. I can't think of too many places in that area that can accommodate a medium sized production brewery with a taproom.

Nice avatar, by the way. That album rocks.

 

Space is certainly an issue, but there's room. Northeast corner of 44th and Nicollet would be prime for a brewpub. Would be even more space along that stretch if we weren't so damn devoted to off-street parking (sorry, could rant on that for days!).

Also, hell yes to The Monitor. Easily in my top 5 records of all time.

 

There are spots along Nicollet that are commercial, but I agree that space can be an issue. Interesting that you mention the NE corner of 44th and Nicollet. I heard just recently that the Nursery that had been there for decades recently closed. It's an old gas station (Gulf, to be exact). Someone could make that work.

I could also see something working at 38th and Nicollet if there's space available. That's kind of a happening spot these days.

 

Definitely. Could potentially see something like Fairstate is doing with acquiring local coffee shop CP on tap (would be 5 watt for sure). Lots of reinvestment talks in that area have happened in a few of my classes this last semester. It's ripe for the pickin'.