Breweries Opening/Closing in Minnesota 2018

Hah! Well, under half a mile's what gets me to Bang, Urban Growler, and Dual Citizen, and a bit further and I have Lake Monster and the inevitable second taproom for Fair State.

A twitch further than that and I'm at BlackStack (bet nobody saw THAT one coming), and a more robust walker than I would be fine goin' the extra half mile to Burning Brothers.

And the other thing is (no, not that many people can drive) what constitutes a neighborhood?

The area where NorthGate is (or was) is mainly light industrial, but the City (that's R.T. Rybak's Minneapolis to those playing along at home) has in more recent years givin some consideration to its transformation into a proper, residential neighborhood.

My loft-livin' coworkers have for several years understood that the expected turn from light/industrial to a singles + young family-friendly zone will take time, but they also expect to live there long enough to see it happen. And by then -- who knows? Maybe the new taproom (whomever @islay has identified is taking over the space) will have capitalized on the British Isles / Commonwealth / Irish cultural touchstones which make Merlin's Rest and George And The Dragon such strong, residential neighborhood draws.

 

A production brewery specializing in traditional English-style ales will have a tough time in the beer geek market and in the general beer market as well, IMO.

If a brewery wants to focus on that beer style, a combination pub and restaurant would seem to be the way to go, IMO, like Waldmann is trying with traditional German lagers.

 

While I agree with you, Waldmann as the example cited is a very hard act to follow, being effectively a Germananic equivalent of what Sherlock's Home once did so well.

 

Just to be clear, all I know is that someone recently contacted NorthGate with some level of interest in buying the business, and that this contact was made after NorthGate announced it was closing. It sounds like the potential buyer seems credible and NorthGate is taking this prospect seriously, but I have no idea how likely a sale is actually to go through. I have to imagine there would be multiple parties interested in buying a prêt-à-brasser brewery and avoiding the headaches of build-outs and regulatory hurdles, and a shuttered business seems to suggest "motivated seller." This could be a quick and relatively cheap way for a well-funded home brewer to live the dream. Note that two breweries were willing to take on NorthGate's lesser, former digs (56 and Broken Clock), and now Arbeiter is moving in to Harriet's old spot. That said, if I were looking to open or buy a brewery and taproom in 2018, I'd probably be avoiding Minneapolis proper given the presence of over 30 competitors within the city limits and, more importantly, some of the policies that the city is attempting to impose with little regard for their impact on small businesses and the service industry (not trying to go political; just being realistic about business considerations).

 

Congratulations, you make me look something up! (Seriously, I mean that!)

For those less motivated to improve their literacy, prêt-à-brasser is French for "ready to brew". Now that I think about it, it's kind of ironic to use a French phrase to describe Northgate's facility!

 

Oh please, don't get my hopes up!

 

Some updates:

Elk River - Elk River Stadtbräu's Brewer's Notice has been approved by TTB.

Grand Rapids - Rapids Brewing Company is working with BevCraft:
http://www.grandrapidsmn.com/free_p...cle_f92264e2-b044-11e7-aa81-63ab758e0f7e.html

Wabasha - Turning Waters website has been updated:
https://turningwatersbrewing.com/beer/welcome-to-the-back-alley/

 

I'm counting upward of 20 new breweries through 2018 and into 2019. 200, here we come!

 

Let me tell you about "strong sales prospects...".
In all my dealings with potential buyers, the two overarching areas where buyers failed came down to the two "C's" - Cash and Competence. They had one or the other, but not both.
That said, the BrewFarm is still available (must have the above mentioned two C's!) and we're open this weekend MAR 10-11 from 3-7 each day. Matacabras is on the draft tower - come on out!

 

Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative is building a taproom adjacent to its current, taproom-free space in Nordeast Minneapolis. It hopes to open in time for Art-A-Whirl (starting May 18). Note to other breweries that the cooperative business model seems to enable a lot of free labor from member-owners.

 

Is it? Both cultures are filthy with each other’s influences.

 

It's illegal for a brewery to have more than 1 taproom.

 

Illegal. For now.

In 2005, I reckoned retail sales of wine, and spirits on Sunday wouldn't happen in my lifetime. *SHAZZAM!* It happened a lot sooner than I expected.

I imagine that breweries of a certain size would want to have two taprooms if they have two physical locations, and I with Sunday Sales behind us, I expect it's a goal for some.

 

Well, there were two sides to that equation! Didn't I read recently where drinking alcohol extends life expectancy?

 

I will live a long life.

 

If I continue to drink during Vikings NFC Championship games, I'll become immortal.

 

Some updates:

• A reminder that Tilion in Cannon Falls is open now (had a private event on 3-9-18, softly opened on 3-10-18, and grandly opens on 3-17-18). "Just as a heads up, we lost our IPA to the chiller gods, so we are opening without one on tap. But...never fear for our grand opening on Saint Patrick’s day weekend we will be adding two IPAs and a Pale ale," it noted in a 3-9-18 Facebook post.
• Torg in Spring Lake Park claims on its Twitter page to be "opening June 2018."
• Yoerg Saloon in St. Paul has a new projected opening date of 4-15-18, according to a 3-10-18 Facebook post.

 

Thank you good sir. I drive through that area occasionally and keep waiting for it to open. Sounds like it should be soon.

 

I went on Friday around 7:30. Most tables and booths were full with some people standing around and I will say, that place gets loud. Was able to walk right up to order a beer and a hot dog. Got the Cinnamon Crunch, a Cinnamon Brown Ale. Was alright. No flaws t hat I noticed.. Got the Korean dog, which is basically a vendor hot dog with some Korean sauce on it. For $6 it's a bit much. The bun was dry and crusty. Then tried the Bitter River. A hoppy saison. Was pretty meh.

They are really pushing "First Brewery in Edina." I don't know why that would be a thing and it's barely in Edina. It's location is not ideal, just in an office park/strip mall thing. Unless their beer gets amazing, I wont' be heading back.

 

I actually quite liked Wooden Hill. I had flight-sized pours of all eight of its initial beers. The only flaws I discerned were in Batch #1 IPA (under-attenuation and diacetyl), and they were minor. The two that @mkhartnett tried were my other two least favorites. I was really impressed by the other IPA, Code 3; that's in the running for best opening IPA I've ever had, and I've had a lot of them. Kold Shoulder Kolsch might have been even better by the standards of the style. With saisons, IPAs, a brown ale, and a Kolsch, you can tell it's not exactly pushing the style envelope (despite the presence of a "wheat stout") or on-trend, and that's going to make it hard for it to generate much discussion on this forum. I didn't try the food.

I liked the straightforward venue, even though I agree that it was too loud. The space (but definitely not the customers or staff) oddly gave me a subdued Miami vibe (probably the bright light coming in the windows, the Dolphins colors, and the small-scale but Wynwood-esque pop/street art). If they ever brew a Florida Weisse, you'll swear you're at J. Wakefield (kidding). I think the location -- at the confluence of Edina, Bloomington, and Eden Prairie (which now have a grand total of one brewery among them) and near a lot of happy hour-craving office workers -- is superb. Wooden Hill is better than it needs to be in an underserved area. It would make my top 5 of breweries to open in the last, say, year-and-a-half, if I judge all of them by first impressions alone. That said, I'd call it merely a roughly average craft brewery overall at this early date.

Blue Wolf in Brooklyn Park, on the other hand, has its work cut out for it.