Breweries Opening in the Minnesota 2016/2017

No; a little sloppy with my wording... more like Surly IS a tourist attraction in and of itself!

 

I heard some rumblings about this a little while ago but did not want to add any unsubstantiated info. All I got to add, might be good for South Fork.

 

I'd like to see all these breweries succeed. We should figure out how to help the brewers and owners to improve their product. Seems like there is a lot of experience on this list but I have no idea how you can tell someone's baby is ugly (or awful).

I'm sure every brewery is different but when the beer is awful and the brewer doesn't know it, that is a problem.

I know the guys at u4ic and wouldn't have any problem discussing flaws and discuss ways to improve. But it would be hard to call up the brewer at Nutmeg (or pick another brewery) and let them know their beer could use some help. I have emailed some breweries and usually don't get a response. What do I know?

I wonder if working with the craft brewers guild is one way to help struggling or new breweries. it seems to be their charter to 'create an open line of communication between brewers, ...'

 

I agree with everything you said, but it's not up to the consumer to force a brewery to improve through comment cards or suggestions. Ultimately, the brewer is supposed to be the expert, not us. What I have seen done before is brewers, owners, bartenders going around and asking people, "What did you think?" and I would always provide honest feedback if asked. If it was my place, I would want to know if a customer was unhappy. If the place doesn't ask then I assume they don't want to know.

At the end of the day we speak with our wallets. If a place is putting out bad beer, don't go there. Tell your friends not to go there. There's no sense in supporting a business that's subpar, no matter how much you like the industry they're in. I'm into food as well as beer, but I'm not gonna go to a shitty restaurant repeatedly and hope they get better because I want to support the restaurant industry.

 

Nutmeg is actually right next to Indian Palace. Nutmeg serves British themed food. You can't actually get the food nor the beer from one to the other as far as I know.

I love Indian food, but right now Nutmeg is not giving me any extra incentive to head over that way more than usual. I hope they get their beers up to par too, but its pretty scary when your waitstaff is warning people ahead of time. Sounds like they've got their work cutout for them.

 

Thank you for pointing this out! Poutine, scotch eggs, salads, and chartreuse boards are not Indian food as far as I recall. A couple of the owners are of Indian decent and it is next door to an Indian restaurant but since they serve their own you can't bring in outside food. It's quite good food (much better than the beer at this point) but please don't go to Nutmeg expecting Indian food!

 

Schells has a 3.6 on BA, so in reality, that is a "crappy" brewery by today's standards. I enjoy the heck out of Schells

A lot of people today rate beers/breweries based on the hype factor and trade value. There are a bunch of great beers out there and for some it takes some time to get the equipment dialed in. If you go somewhere and it is not up to par, go back and try them again in a few month. If it is the same, then there may be an issue. If it gets better, the place shows they care and they are getting the kinks worked out. It is impossible to brew a batch with the input cost and dump it if you are a start-up. Some of these places need the money to survive. It may not be the best business plan, but we are not the only ones drinking there.

Everyone of us had a first day on the job and things may not have gone as planned. But most of us turned out just fine.

 

Yeah, thanks. It's obvious I've never been there... I just assumed they were connected.

 

If having to dump the first couple batches to ensure a quality product to start puts you in the red then I question your business plan.

 

Imagine you go to a shiny new restaurant that just opened up in town. You're very excited to try their food, great ambience, only to have a very terrible dining experience, the food was mediocre, the service was terrible, and to top it off it was expensive.

Would you go back? Given the price as first thought?

 

I don't think food is an exact comparison, as you can throw out an entire prime rib and you're out $200. A batch of beer would cost much more.

I believe @Oneeighthcuban stated, they had a batch that was "do or die" prior to opening. I imagine everyone would love to only serve the best, bust sometimes you are forced to serve what you have or your electricity is shut off.
He even eluded to the fact that not everyone has the means to dump batches...

We can all agree that quality is important, but I've had some high quality beers that tasted terrible (to me) and I have has some homebrew that was a little off that was plenty drinkable.

We are all delusional if we think that every beer from a new brewery will be 100% dialed in... let everyone know when we see that place!

We aren't the only ones drinking them. My wife doesn't like the same beers as me, but she still spends $5 on them. Every beer isn't made for "us".

 

I'm still a freaking mess.

 

LTD sucked the first time I went, gave it some time and I have now been back several times. If I would not have given them another chance I'd be missing out

 

I believe they are closed on Monday and Tuesday before 3pm and then only the supper club is open later. I personally have never step foot in the supper club area so not sure what you can expect.

 

Baldman brewing by the outlet mall in Eagan, getting there brewing equipment in May.

 

I regret not listening to the advice of people here. We just returned from Nutmeg, where the four beers they have available ranged from horrifying to just bad. The food, on the other hand, was excellent. But why they are serving that swill is beyond me.

 

Part of me wants to run to the cities, visit my parents in AV, and run over to there to try their beer.

The other part says, skip it, and try some of the good ones in the metro, that I like.