Breweries Opening in the Minnesota 2016/2017

It's a new year, and we still have breweries opening up. Without further adieu from Chaz in the Old Thread:

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/

 

This is a place I am really looking forward to visiting as they seem to have done everything right prior to opening.

 

I'm not saying you're wrong as I mostly agree with your sentiment, but here is a quote from another thread by the owner/brewer at Sisyphus that gives a look at things from the other side of the wall:

"People definitely paid for my mistakes the first few weeks at Sisyphus, and it has affected our reputation even to this day. There's a long thread titled "Sisyphus Thoughts" that I could link, but I'd rather not look at it again. It's the one phase of my life I wish I could go back and do-over again. When we opened, to no one's fault but my own, we were completely out of money. Things cost more, things took longer, and I thought I knew what I was doing which was probably the most dangerous.

When I was brewing the first batches, I knew we had to sell them or our doors would literally never open, and I would have cost my wife and I everything (House, retirement accounts, loans from parents). I was looking online for jobs in Alaska, because I figured that would be my only option to deal with the embarrassment of my failures. That's a lot of pressure, and a lot of places opening have similar behind the scene challenges. They aren't going to tell you that publicly, but trust me, there are numerous breweries that either are or were in financial trouble, and opening that valve to send something down the drain might not even be an option they are considering. It took several weeks to stabilize before I had the "luxury" to say "This sucks, we can't sell this." I put luxury in quotes because that should be standard - If beer is bad, don't sell it. And to look at where we are today makes me glad that we got through it. But we did long term damage to get to there. I think a lot beers are pretty awesome right now (IPA's, our high alcohol stouts, barrel aged stuff). But there is a group of people who will never come back to give us another chance based on the start.

Some brewer's don't know better. Or don't care to get better. I always try places multiple times, because I like trying beers and I like hanging out in taprooms. Some places that I think make bad beer have gotten better, some haven't. Usually talking with the brewer/owner will give you a sense of this. I'm a capitalist through and through - the market gets to decide who stays in business and who doesn't. Quality of product is one of the factors that may or may not influence success, but marketing, location, branding, etc also play a huge factor. We just opened a comedy club attached to our taproom, and it will definitely help us keep us doing what we have been doing.

I've stopped trying to get to places right when they open. Openings are almost always disappointing. I'm trying to think of an opening I've attended recently where I have been impressed with the beer, and I'm struggling. I'd probably pick Fairstate as the last place I went to early on and was very impressed. They got it right - experienced brewer, proper funding, and built in community support, and I think they are just absolutely killing it now.

I think a lot of people in craft beer have been consumed by a large "Fear of Missing Out" factor as well as this intense desire to find "THE BEST" everything out there; when it falls short of these lofty expectations, things are judge more harshly than they should be. I'm kinda over that part of the beer world personally. If I get a bottle of whatever flavor du jour is hot right now, so be it, but I'm not going out of my way to get it. If something is getting tapped and there's only 1/6 barrel keg this side of Himalayas, so be it. Maybe it's because it's a consumable good that goes in our bodies, but what other art gets judged so harshly? How good is the pilot to your favorite show? Mine is Seinfeld, and the pilot...not that good. How good is a stand-up comic the first few times he steps on stage? Or the first few episodes of a new podcast?

So to summarize this stream of consciousness, if beer is bad and you don't like it, don't buy it, but maybe give places another chance down the road. Your couple visits aren't going to make or break the business. Be honest about your thoughts when people at the establishment ask you. The places that care will adjust and try to improve, and the ones that don't care won't. And remember (and maybe people will hate that I say this), but after all, it is just beer. I view beer as a compliment to friendship and conversation. And if the beer is bad, I'm still going to have a good time."