Breweries Opening in the Minnesota 2016/2017

The beers themselves suck too. They don't see too much in the way of distro around Rapid for those two reasons: nobody wants a mediocre beer with a godawful name

 

Their beers are quite meiderocre. I've seen some bombers in Sioux Falls, but they are some of the more tamer named ones. If you are in SoDak, grab Crown Peak.

As for Angry Inch, I hope their beer is good, it will give those who live a distance a reason to go to Lakeville. The location really is not close to any other brewpub if you are looking to do tours. They will do fine due to the fact that they will be the only game in town. I hope they are a success

I know that sales will ultimately determine what is on tap, but will a name give a restaurant pause when ordering? I don't see a lot of people drinking Horny Goat regardless of how good/bad there beer is.

 

Being kid-friendly is part of marketing, depending on if you're purely a bar or an open, welcoming space. A lot of us have kids & will bring them to places that also have food (& occasionally some that don't now that they're getting older). Mine have been going to Town Hall since they were very young. The point being, not being kid-friendly is going to cause some people who'd come to your place to avoid it.

That said, bringing misbehaving kids anywhere, be it a taproom or Target or the gas station, & not dealing with them, is inexcusable.

 

Unfortunately for Angry Inch, they are literally, I mean literally, sharing a parking lot with a better funded brewpub that will be opening about the same time. http://www.lakevillebrewing.com/

You almost have to feel bad for them. I am sure they are nice people, but I think they are going to be facing some serious challenges, most notably not being unique in a small market, competing against a better funded establishment with food 30 yards from your front door. Ouch!

 

Are there any plans in the apple valley/east bloomington area? I recently started working over here and it seems like a total dead spot.

 

The Chuck E. Cheese reference was priceless! Oh how I remember those days, thankfully they're over.

 

Better funded, but do you have any info on their brewer? I haven't seen any info, so for all we know, they could be brewing beers along the lines of Nutmeg. Also, Angry Inch shares a building with Motley Crews Heavy Metal Grills, so they will have food right there too.

I'm hoping both turn out to be good. If so, they can feed off of each other. Their proximity to each other is the same as Urban Growler and Bang. They both seem to be doing just fine.

 

When I contacted Lakeville (a year ago), the brewer named a few (relatively) uncommon styles that he had in mind as showcase beers: Gratzer/Grodziskie, subtler ale styles, and smoked beers.

To the restaurant aspect (it's a brewpub) they're looking to feature a regular rotation of styles which the chef believes will pair well with their menu. As I recall, either the chef or the kitchem manager has been trained in the Cicerone program.

They'll be sampling at the Beer Dabbler this weekend, along with one or two other BIP.

 

Dang, I would love the smoke beers.

 

I don't get down that way very often, but this plan and Nutmeg* (<< sad trombone sfx) were the two plans which interested me the most of the east (and south) metro BIP.

That's because they were brewpubs, rather than taprooms, and there haven't been as many brewpubs opening in the recent past as there have been taprooms. Pairing (ideally) well-made beer with a competent and creative kitchen staff can be done (Northbound seems to do it right), and the south metro is crying out for exactly such an establishment.

*It's too bad about Nutmeg, as I enjoy Indian cuisine.

 

@jera1350 - actually, I admit that the "better funded" comment is really my own uneducated opinion, so I should have used better wording. It is just my perception based on looking at the sites in person as well as other things, so no validity in that at all. I am not sure of the brewer they have hired either, but hopefully Lakeville is bringing on an experienced brewer versus the other option.

While I agree that two breweries next to each other can work, like Urban Growler and Bang, those two options are off the Green Line, not in an exburb. My comments on two breweries in Lakevillle being problematic centers on the business side of the equation. I do not think having two breweries in snowball throwing distance from each other will double the customer visits to the area. I do believe that they will actually cannibalize each other to start out with, at least somewhat, and that after a 12 month period consumers will gravitate towards the "better experience".

If Angry Inch wants to pay salaries, pay the bills, pay off creditors, pay investors and have the cash to run a tap room, they more than likely need to generate at least $50k - $65k in revenue a month to stay viable. Having a brewpub next door - I don't see how that helps.

Like I said, I actually feel bad for them, and I really would like to see that I am wrong with my thoughts. I think their biggest challenge is lack of experience in business. It is the non-sexy but absolute critical component of viability. Again - just one person's opinion.

And @Chaz - I was really hoping the Nutmeg reviews were wrong. If anything, they were too kind. That place is a mess.

 

I'm just looking at it from the perspective that their is literally not another brewpub/brewery anywhere close to that area. Lakeville has a solid population and will draw from neighboring cities also because of the lack of good breweries in the area. If anything, I think they will take away from the other chain eateries in town and Babes, which is just down the street. It's pretty tough to find decent beers on tap this far south.

I don't see any issue if they can both put out a good product. Hell, even if they don't, they could both still make it, with the number of uneducated beer drinkers that want to jump on the bandwagon and don't know the difference in quality beers.

I'm just really hopeful something can stick down this way whether it's one or both places as I'm 10 minutes away. Nutmeg obviously isn't going to fit the bill in the near future, so a guys gotta hope!

 

And then there's this (potential) plan -- an idea which had simmered a while may finally have begun to bubble:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...king-for-potential-breweries-taprooms.189967/

http://www.postbulletin.com/busines...cle_0afcc052-7f91-5e14-8625-07f859c10451.html

 

Sorry but I absolutely HATE that attitude. That is not a healthy attitude for the industry or for the Minnesota beer scene in general. It's not healthy for the consumer or for the breweries business.. We don't need MORE mediocre breweries opening up just because they can. I know there is no stopping it but at least if people change their perception with being just content with "OK to bad" beer then we can have a more healthy beer scene. And actually I'm not worried. Minnesota's market is still fairly uneducated in terms of craft beer taste but more and more people are understanding what is and isn't good beer and even what flawed beer is. So in do time, saturation will occur and those mediocre breweries won't make it because now you have a consumer base that has certain expections for beer quality. The mn brewery scene will be the next restaurant scene. You're either make a quality product and have a good fan base or you're shutting your doors in a year or too.

And Jera I'm not digging at you but you just brought up something that I think is very relevant to how people currently percieve "new breweries".

 

This has come up before many times. Perhaps it seems sad, but breweries aren't always about the beer. It is more than likely that more and more of these new guys will make average to bad beer and people will be fine with it - not everyone is a cicerone. Some people prefer atmosphere to a beer free of diacetyl, or any other number of flaws they couldn't care less about. There is nothing wrong with this.

We simply aren't headed towards a golden age of wonderful beer everywhere. Think about all the horrible food coming from restaurants out there that people love. Someone has to be the Rainforest Cafe of beer in this new world.

The good news is there will be plenty of options for those of us that care about quality, or sours, or poetry reading in our taprooms, or any number of other variations of brewing.

 

To be clear, I wasn't at all advocating that because I haven't gone to Nutmeg or 612 for that very reasoning. I won't spend my money at places that aren't up to snuff, but the non-beer geeks often times have no clue or like dougofthefuture said, its not always about the beer itself.

 

Ya I know you weren't. I was just ranting off of what you said and didn't mean it against you in any way was all I'm trying to say.

And Totally agree with doug and I know not every brewery wants to be like the next surly or dmb or summit for example because that's not realistic and everyone has their own goals and/or visions for their business.

Im just annoyed at these new breweries opening up churning out crap beer.

Either way, I should rantless and maybe even careless. Probably should careless for my own mental health.

 

Look, guys, I understand the desire to avoid mediocre (or worse) start up brewers, but there is more than one successful business plan.

Not every brewer is required to challenge Surly in order to be successful.

Some will be successful due to their location; near Target Field or on a tourist-centered lake shore, for example. Some will be successful due to their overall ambiance and customer experience. Some will be successful due to their combination with ethnic/excellent food.

Some WILL combine all of these things with excellent beer (Surly), but that is not required to be a successful business.

I like Indian food. If Nutmeg gets thier act together to at least be acceptable, I'll likely stop in from time to time. As will plenty of other people, I would expect.

Low ratings on BA do not necessarily equate to bankruptcy.

However, a smart start up brewer would build into their financial plan enough money to dump the first batch or two. Awful is still awful and won't lead anyone to success.