Breweries opening in Minnesota 2015/2016

Greate example, I felt the same way about LTD. Some good beers, some big misses out of the 6 I sampled. Went alone but would absolutely take my 8 year old back there. Perfect atmosphere.

 

I agree I made the comment to a family member on Sunday over memorial day weekend that I was shocked Gull Damn wasn't open but Big Axe was (and packed) on Sunday. Jake Pine could also stand to open up a bit earlier on Saturday's imo.

 

Some quick updates:

Valhalla in Wilernie is now open*: http://www.valhalla.biz/taproom
*Guest-taps, only. No clue as to when their own beer will be available (unless Hammerheart is brewing for them?)

Also, according to a comment -see below- made on their Facebook page, "Fishbone" is the same plan as Lupine:

 

Just visited Montgomery Brewing. I was impressed with their beers. Nothing unusual and nothing that would cause me to go out my way to stop there, but 5 good solid beers. We especially liked their "Chief" American Pale Ale and the Kolsch, the latter was a seasonal. Pizzeria 201 was also setup outside with a mobile wood fired pizza oven. Really good stuff.

It's not the prettiest taproom and none of the beers were out of this world, but if you find yourself down in this direction it's worth stopping in.

 

Now I'm confused, in general, this may be a normal state of mind for me, but this confusion is more general. I'd read that Lucid was opening a tap room on 3rd St and 5th Ave N and that Modist Brewing was also opening a tap room in the North Loop "about two blocks" from Fulton Brewery.

Now there's this City Pages article stating a very large Modist Brewing project at 505 N 3rd St.

Am I missing something or is the "Lucid Tap Room" actually just Modist Brewing?

http://blogs.citypages.com/food/2015/06/modist_brewing_announces_plans_in_north_loop_minneapolis.php

 

I stopped by here again at BigAxe this past weekend and was astonished by how poor the beer was. I'm not sure if he is rushing things out or if there are consistency issues but this last trip I again did the sampler and the only beer drinkable for someone who is into craft beer was the stout and that was not as good either......not to knock the many homebrewers who do amazing things with their beer but a lot of this tasted like bad homebrew....not as bad as Maple Island but heading that direction...I hope they get things figured out as they seem like nice people here but right now in the Brainerd area Jackpine is far and way #1...Gull Dam is a solid brewery that I could easily drink at almost every day if I wanted to. Solid, and I like they do some lagers. BigAxe is a huge drop from them. I feel like I almost misled with my initial review but I stand by what I tasted then....I really think it has something to do with keeping up with demand or consistency......not sure but I am not trying them again anytime soon but will revisit in the fall when hopefully they have things figured out. For now my stops are Jackpine and Gull which unfortunately is not open on Sunday when I come through....Jackpine is open on Sundays and doing very well I guess which makes sense

 

Consistent? Shit, they've been open for like three minutes.

 

And you know what's said about consistency.

Yeah, I'm still wondering a little. The story from March that stayed with me (link is below) gave me the impression that they still didn't have a definite plan at that time, and thinking they might have a space already lined-up and being built out only a couple of short months later seems like a lot of progress all at once.

I know that there's other business going on at Lucid (and surprised that nobody has mentioned it here, yet) and I can't find an entry either at their website (news section) or Facebook page where they announce the precise address of the new downtown taproom location.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2015/03/03/lucid-brewing-adding-taproom-minnetonka.html

 

They've been open close to a month and I am guessing they have brewed more than one batch of beer since they opened. If you think I am wrong then go waste your time and money...just trying to help people who enjoy quality craft beer how to direct their attention when there are so many options out there these days..

 

From what you wrote, I was wondering about the size of their system, and if -maybe- they already can't keep up with the demand, so maybe they rushed a second batch of their recipes?

It's vacation season, and brewpubs are pretty "hot", so I can see them maybe having trouble keeping up with demand.

 

My thoughts exactly...it seems very small but I have been deceived on these things before..

 

Considering the fact that they didn't even publish a tap list nor had one iota of a picture of their beer on any social media before the opening I have to question their true dedication, but they published their food menu in advance. I know it is tough to take a picture of your tap chalkboard and all, but just seem priorities really aren't on the brews but using those to draw you into the food?

 

I was up in the northland/lakes country this past weekend and was hoping to give Big Axe another try just to see if the batches were different from the first time I was there but I sadly ran out of time. Jack Pine had their Ice Out White IPA but with mango and that was tasty. Also managed to get to Bemidji Brewing too nice place. Summer IPA was tasty but their regular IPA was the best beer I've had in ages.

 

I stopped at Big Axe on my way through the area on Friday. If I heard correctly, they have a 7 barrel system.

As for my opinion of the beer, I would also rank them third out of 3 breweries in the area. Their brews just didn't seem to refined for the most part. I enjoyed the stout. It was pretty good. The wheat ale and red ale were both alright too. The IPA was below average with muddled flavors and a muted aroma IMHO. The amber ale was my least favorite. It had an incredibly strong grainy taste. Maybe steeped the grains too long or too hot on that one? I don't know.

I hope they work these issues out quickly, because I really want to like them. They could be early start-up bugs, but time willl tell if they can make the necessary changes.

My favorite part was the ample outdoor seating. I am a sucker for a nice patio. I did not try any food, but I will if/when I make it back. Overall, I will go back if I hear of improvement or if I am in Nisswa for some reason again.

 

Not to be too negative, but what are your thoughts of the logo? I see AB and the World Beer Cup logo.

 

Haha. I see it too. I honestly don't care as long as I can have some really good beer that is made 10 minutes from home. There is nothing else in this neck of the woods for breweries, so I really hope their beers are good.

 

Right on regarding Bemidji. They are top notch. I have them a slight notch ahead of Jackpine but both are in the top tier. We did a blind taster with their IPA last fall and I think it took second out of about eight beers including Sculpin which it topped.

 

I hope Patrick took my tasting notes on FB of his first experimental IPA that Jack Pine did as what they do is nice that they want to test the waters with the tastes of the area, I grew up there so it would be nice to go back up there for vacation and know I can get a great beer while doing so that is very local to the area. Great to here some feedback on Bemidji Brewing as well will have to check that one out if we venture further out of the BLA next trip. IMHO I have tasted way too many sweet and malty IPAs from so many of these small places and it is just so disappointing not sure if it is they are trying to push the product out quicker than it should be or if they just don't know. Also note I am not opposed to seeing unfiltered IPAs here they both look great if both executed well flavor-wise.

 

Does anyone know if Angry Inch is getting an experienced head brewer? Or, are they doing the large jump themselves from homebrewing to commercial/production brewing? (Perhaps they went to brewing school). The jump from homebrewing to commercial brewing really is so complex that it is difficult to know the challenges faced without having some actual experience under your belt. I would love to see all new breweries coming online succeed. I travel through that area often and look forward to their opening.

I wonder about this - if one is starting a brewery these days in MN without an experienced or trained commercial brewer on board, will they face a substantially greater challenge to succeed than those who do have one? This may be less problematic for tap rooms than packaging breweries though. It is expensive to hire a head brewer I am sure, so it could be daunting to budget that in. Still, with all the competition out there now, I would think that this is a priority for any brewery plan.