Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

I had the same negative issues with Leech Lake's bottles, which were terrible &/or infected consistently. I gave up on them very fast.

Which is odd, because when we were up at the taproom not long after they opened, the beers we tried were somewhere between decent & good. One more example of a brewery being unable to translate keg success into bottle success, & there seem to be too many of breweries who struggle with bottling.

 

How was 56's beer?

 

Had NE Nectar (honey kolsch) and Dark Territory (dark chocolate coconut stout).

Both were really good.

NE was my first honey kolsch. The honey was there but not overwhelming. Very easy drinking beer, which I am a huge fan of. Would definitely have it again.

DT was a very solid coconut stout. Just a little bit more coconut would have been nice, but I'm not complaining. Still enjoyed it.

Didn't get around to trying their other 2 beers. Yet.

 

I'm really pushing the geographical limits of this thread and the Midwest forum, but The Brewing Projekt in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (brewery and taproom) opened last week. Eau Claire is about 80 miles east of St. Paul.

http://www.wqow.com/story/28956950/2015/05/01/brewery-opens-for-business-brews-first-full-batch
https://www.facebook.com/thebrewingprojekt

 

Well, if you're gonna cast your net to E.C., may as well include: http://minescreekbrewing.jimdo.com/ also known as The Brew Pub at Spring Valley Golf Course. I believe they've been open for a bit but I just saw an ad in the weekly flyer for their happy hour. Seems they open only during the golf season as well. (Spring Valley is about 8 miles south of the BrewFarm...)

 

On a side note for the on-going discussion on exchange of growlers. Insight won't give you cash back for their growlers, but they will swap them for a pint of beer. Obviously, it would mean you have to bring your growler back to the brewery, but it's a policy other breweries should match (perhaps some do).

I suspect you could also finagle a pint for a local growler they don't have on their wall, but they have an extensive collection. Any other non-Insight growler they'll happily take for a swap on one of their's. Theoretically, that means two trips and you're rid of a growler.

 

The bartender there told me as much the last time I was there. Unfortunately, they won't fill a Brauler there, so it's doubtful they'll get my business. I got rid of all but a Vine Park, Town Hall (big and small) and a Fitger's to the Town Hall Trade-In Program.

 

I'm down to just a handful of growlers now as well thanks to that outstanding idea Town Hall came up with.

 

Here's an update (via the Facebook page) from earlier this morning:

Updates:
Half Pint Brewing (Waseca) has a new logo.

New plans (no additional information at present):
- Pine City
- Rochester
- St. Paul

"Stay thirsty, my friends."

 

More info on Sidhe Brewing's soft opening. Grand opening is May 29. http://blogs.citypages.com/food/2015/05/sidhe_brewing_opens_in_east_st_paul.php

 

The Town Hall deal is still on for a few more days:
http://growlermag.com/town-hall-offering-gift-cards-for-growlers/

 

I dumped 16 of them off on Saturday

 

(Thread Derailment Alert)

On a different note... I'm at Insight and one of the people here came up and talked to me. He asked my opinion regarding how to handle growlers. Insight does several things right (in my mind) - they'll swap someone else's growlers for one of theirs, they'll give you a pint in exchange for a growler (their's only), and they only sell pre-filled growlers. I'm sure some will disagree with me on that last point.

In my mind, there's perfect solution without a change in state law, but he was looking for my opinion and I'm sure I'll talk to him again. What would you all prefer the policy be?

Incidentally, I know Town Hall just took care of this issue for a number of you, but I'm talking long term - if you had the chance to advise a brewery, what would you say?

 

Here is what I advise:

1. If you fill from tap fill any growler. You will sell much more beer. I could go on but I think we all agree on this one.

If you pre-fill I think Insight has it about right.

1. Exchange a different brewery growler for one of theirs.
2. Offer either a pint or a refund if someone returns YOUR growler back and does not want to fill it again. I appreciate places that refund but would not complain at all if the brewery chose to do the pint option instead like Insight does. I think either way is fair and shows a consideration for their customers.

Overall it is great to see a place that cares and sees how important this is and wants to do it right. Yes I have ditched most of mine but the six I have remaining will be used at places that either fill any growler or exchange. There are plenty that are doing it right now in my opinion. I avoid those that don't....too many options to pick from. Town Hall will forever have my business based on the awesome thing they did with growler exchange (and the fact they have always been my favorite brewery in the state)....after that I go to the places with beer AND growler policies I like.

 

Maybe that's worth adding to your info in the who-fills-which-mn-growlers thread. I'm pretty sure Steel Toe refunds the deposit on their empties, FWIW.

 

He sold his equipment in January and still expects to have inventory to liquidate almost 6 months later? What size system did he have?

 

I'm guessing it was a 3 barrel system. Here's a follow-up from Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/twinciti...e-closing-leech-lake-brewery-walker-minn.html

 

Looks like a 2 barrel system according to this:

http://brainerd.craigslist.org/bfs/4971865644.html

 

The Flat Earth taproom is now open but only on the weekends. One of their reps told me its been open the past 2 weekends for pint sales.

Finnegans is planning on opening its own brewery and taproom. I was told they brew enough beer at Summit to warrant their own brewery. They were planning on coming out with a Session IPA this summer but it was blocked by Summit due to them not wanting it to compete with Hopvale. Also, Dead Poet will be coming out this fall in 6-packs.