Breweries Opening/Closing in Minnesota 2018

Sad. They made such good beer!

 

In my opinion, man, they were the very best brewery in Newport.

 

Did they ever actually brew any of their own beer or was this just a bar?

 

A friend of mine visited Opinion twice weekly since they opened, and says that they never did get around to brewing any beer. When asked why this was the case, the owner would occasionally share his thoughts (both in person, and on on social media), but after a while he wouldn't engage when such inquiries were made.

For what it's worth, as breweries and taprooms have become hot in recent years, other Minnesota bar / performance space / event centers have also planned to integrate brewing components into their business model (one in particular -- Duluth's Clyde Iron Works -- wisely, never used the word brewery in their name).

In the future I reckon that others might follow the naming convention as Opinion had done, but never got around to brewing. It was / is effective marketing, up to a point.

 

http://www.swcbulletin.com/news/gov...ity-newport-condemns-opinion-brewing-building

"Newport's Opinion Brewing Co. building was condemned by the city Jan. 1.

The city had given them a six month temporary certificate of occupancy to work out fire code issues."

 

There's a bar in Ellsworth*, Wisconsin that employs the same strategy.

* Part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area

 

That's right I gave up on the Ellsworth bar ever brewing any beer long ago.

 

Being a resident of Newport (maybe the only one on this forum?), I can't say I'm going to miss the place. I haven't been in there in probably 2 years, but from what I remember I'm surprised they made it this long.

 

Every day I drive home to Cottage Grove and pass the sign.... and never seriously thought about going there.

 

Even with a handle like crazytrain?

 

A new BIP in Oakdale in the underserved east metro: Hunyuck Brew Co. (Facebook, Twitter). "Beer coming early 2018," claims a tweet from December 16.

Fell Run Brewing Company in Taylors Falls (about an hour northeast of the Twin Cities) seems to be picking up some steam.

Under Pressure Brewing Company, previously mentioned as a BIP to be in New Hope or Plymouth, looks like it will be in Golden Valley instead: "Plans are in place to open a brewery and taproom in Golden Valley; it could very well be serving beer by the end of 2017." The article was published in June 2017, and obviously the "end of 2017" thing didn't happen.

 

Wayzata Brew Works charges 7.00 for a pint?!?!?! SMH.

 

Complimentary chocolate torte with you chilly hazed NEIPA wale, Bro. Totes.

 

Local coverage for Under Pressure:
http://ccxmedia.org/news/newsitem.aspx?newsid=324&newsitemid=35904


Local coverage for Half-Pint in Waseca (in development for a good while, now):
http://www.southernminn.com/waseca_...cle_9615ddbd-e8f8-5c59-bad2-aca9b5da522f.html

Brewery-related (home-grown and processed malt) news story on Fisher 's Vertical Malt:
http://kaxe.org/post/vertical-malt-taking-adam-wagner-explains-business-malting-barley

 

Has there been anything new on Capp's BBQ of Hiawatha. That seem like a done deal after that got neighborhood approval. May have missed the boat a little with Venn just one lite rail stop down.

 

RIP in peace Opinion cougar night.

 

Maple Island in Stillwater is seeking a buyer, according to the 12-28-17 episode of The Beer Show. A quick search turned up no mentions of it here yet.

 

Charter member of the Department of Redundancy Department?

 

The Google street view from last summer doesn't look much like this:

But seriously, two years since approval (c.f.: 'The beer, perhaps upwards of two years away') it's easy to imagine they would be further along by now than they are -- at least without knowing where their bottom line is.

If I'm reading the tea leaves right this plan is among the long term ones, and my best guess is that funding for the expansion was a more crucial issue than approval, alone.