Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

Omni apparently signed a purchase agreement on a space north of Arbor Lakes this week and is targeting a summer of 2015 opening. Seems aggressive timeline wise.

 

This is pretty much how I feel about Flat Earth in general.

I took the "tour" at the original Flat Earth site only twice, but recall a price for the tour which included almost-bottomless samples at the time; The price was either $3 or $5, it's been more than a few years now, so I forget which it was.

 

I was recently at Flat Earth for a tour and tasting. I got unlimited free samples of any of their 8 or so beers that they had that day. They poured them from growlers into small ~5 oz plastic cups. I enjoy their beer to be honest. I think it has improved in consistency since the early days. With the canning machine that they recently got up and running (purchased from Surly after Surly got their new place), I think they will continue making it in the MN craft scene. I also asked about a tap room. They said this summer they would have a formal taproom and a patio.

I am going to Goat Ridge Brewing Co. in New London this evening, so I will report back about the experience. They just opened their doors on Thursday, April 16.

Bad Habit Brewing Co. is planning to open this Fall in St. Joseph, MN. They are still looking for a bit of funding, so for $175 you can be a founding member and get a bunch of perks. I found that out on their FB page and a local news story.

Also in the St. Cloud area, Urban Moose Brewing Co. is supposedly planning on opening Fall 2015 last I heard. They will join Beaver Island and Lupine in the area, both of which are newcomers doing some great things.

 

I would argue the point that Beaver Island and Lupine are doing great things. I've had most of their beers from both places and would say they are doing solid things but overpriced for the twin cities let alone St. Cloud.

 

I'd agree with that to some degree. I think my favorite part about them opening is the fact that I have some truly local beer options in my area. What I meant by doing great things was partly about the quality of their beer and partly about them drastically expanding the strength of central MN brewing. But with $6 for a small glass at BIBCo, the prices are a bit high. That point I will concede.

 

A few small updates:

• According to its Facebook page, Sidhe has been doing tap takeovers at El Senor Sol in St. Paul, selling its beers by the pint. I would say it's open as a brewery although not yet open as a taproom.
• South Fork, Delano, Facebook, April 14: “If all goes as planned the beginning of May we will open!”
• 56 Brewing, Minneapolis, Facebook, April 16: “56 Brewing to open Friday May 1, 2015! 5pm-8pm and Saturday 11am-6pm… See you at Grumpy's NE April 27th. All 4 of our beers will be on tap!” It will not have an official taproom (at least initially). The four beers are called NE Nectar, Lake Sandy Rye, Poloniase APA, and Dark Territory.

 

56 has a Honey Kolsch and a Dark Chocolate Coconut Stout.

That has me very excited.

 

U4ic starting to move!!!

https://www.facebook.com/u4icBrewingIncorporated?ref=br_rs

 

Will these be on tap on the 1st at Grumpys?

 

I would think so.

Dark Territory = coconut stout?

NE Nectar = honey kolsch?

But I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it called "NE Nectar"........

 

Big Axe - Nisswa. Has a logo, a license to brew, beer in the tanks, but website is not ready (yet.)
Character Brewing - St.Paul. Plan is on hold indefinitely (as of April 18th.)
F-Town - Faribault. Website is up and running (there is not much there yet, but there's something.)

A couple of general updates to existing breweries and suppliers:

Bad Weather - Summertime taproom plan, addition of a head brewer for new site.
Rahr Malting - Shakopee. Expansion and pilot brewery (likely for development of malt-to-trade only; Not for general public.)

 

One thing I have been noticing....I think a lot of these places could do a much better job of informing what beers they currently have on tap on their facebook pages. They post a lot of useless info and a lot have nothing on what beers they have going. With all the option I like to browse and see where I might want to make a trip to and I check out facebook/website's in those towns for info and it is amazing how little is posting on what they are actually doing....BREWING BEER!

A quick photo of the chalkboard or even a brief writeup on a new brew coming on is helpful. Some do this well....Jackpine, Bemidji...I always know what they have coming up.....but most are horrible like Gull Dam. Look at their facebook page and it has very little on anything about their beer. I see a lot like that. Just my two cents...

 

Couldn't agree more

 

Yet another thing Junkyard does well!

 

Lupine’s "tasting room" (presumably with growlers and free samples) is now open at its St. Cloud brewery. However, Lupine is building its taproom, scheduled to open this summer, in Delano. This appears to be an example of the separation between production brewery and commercial taproom that I’ve predicted will become increasingly common in Minnesota. This also explains the conflicting past reports about whether Lupine would be located in St. Cloud or Delano; it will be in both! http://lupinebrewing.com/tasting-room/

Update: I called Lupine. The person to whom I spoke said that they plan to brew at both locations and expect the bulk of production to be in the larger Delano facility.

 

Agreed. With the latest generation smartphones, updates to social media should be a snap; Nowadays there are a variety of applications which allow a brewery to make use of everything from simple 'snapshot' photos of chalkboards to reasonably quick and easy text-only updates.

 

I just logged into to report that F-Town has a website up, but I see Chaz beat me to it. Looks like it'll be a busy Summer for those of us who like to checkout new taprooms, though.

 

Yep, we'll be busy reading reports about opening date delays all summer long.

 

That is true! But until then, I hope some of the newly-legal drinkers can help to drink all of this new beer.