Brewery Updates in Minnesota (2019)

Hmm hopefully the name change helps the beer taste better....

 

He's definitely gone. Heard about this a month or so ago and had it confirmed by BT but was not given a reason why. I'd assume it was because he rubbed more than one person the wrong way.

 

Any info on Big Heist in South St Paul? Their facebook page mentions that they're businessmen and not brewers, with lots of talk about what the business will look like and none about the beer or who's brewing it.

 

As “businessmen”, they must not prioritize getting a return on their investment.

Speaking of ownership: does anyone know the situation at Insight? It seems like that Ilan dude went silent. (Which is saying something as it seemed like he really, really, really wanted to be know as ‘the guy’).

Ilan is still in their website but appears to have either gone quietly dark, or, perhaps been pushed that way. I’ve run into a number of former employees that are now brewing/working elsewhere, and their stories..... well, let’s just say that have lots of them.

 

The Growler covers Drastic Measures Brewing in Wadena, which opened on Friday. "The Doebbelings hope to eventually distribute their beer throughout the state but are concentrating on the taproom for now." Early reviews for the tastefully named Pat McCrotch IPA are coming in strong, at 4.54 on the always reliable Untappd as of this writing.

 

did any BA's make it to Drastic Measures over the weekend? would love to hear about it.

 

I heard it was packed. The guys from Junkyard posted that they were there and had to hop behind the bar and help pour.

 

Ansari's just tapped Pat McCrotch from Drastic Measures, hopefully real soon get Stoopid Good as well ( don't recall if they got to keep the name, the recipe for sure)

 

I dont want to talk too much crap but I will say Insight is a very oddly run brewery. I know a few people that have worked there and no longer do because the management cant seem to get the big picture. That Ilan dude doesn't really brew, hes just the decision maker. The news articles make him out to be something bigger than he is. The other owners also dont really do much in terms of brewing and or packaging, they are just there. Well one of them, Eric, actually tries to find out what is going on and remedy situations that arise, which they do often.

As you mentioned there are alot of stories about this place and I will say at one point nobody knew how to fix the crappy canning machine that was chewing cans up and spitting them out and it was down for a week. Also another time they had to call back the former packaging manager that quit, to come by and show they how to work it...after blowing through and dumping half the tank of perfectly good beer.

 

ONE’ of a kind brewpub coming to the North Loop

Two names familiar to Minnesota’s beer industry are behind a new brewery project in the North Loop of Minneapolis—ONE Fermentary & Taproom.

Ramsey Louder, formerly a brewer at Dangerous Man Brewing Company and most recently a cellarman at New Holland Brewing in Michigan, and Joseph Alton, the former editor-in-chief of The Growler Magazine, are starting an experimental brewpub at 618 5th St. N., Minneapolis. The space is next door to Number 12 Cider and within a few blocks of Fulton Brewing’s taproom, Modist Brewing, and Inbound BrewCo.

https://growlermag.com/one-of-a-kind-brewpub-coming-to-the-north-loop/

 

Love the sound of this!
My wife loves the fact there will be wine available.
I love that Ramsey is coming back to town!

 

Interesting strategy to go the brewpub route. I get it in that the type of product in which they plan to specialize has a limited audience, and they want to have other options available to appeal to the majority of potential patrons, who presumably have little to no interest in mixed culture fermented beverages. In addition, this is the sort of product that has passionate fans who may go out of their way (such as to the North Loop) to seek it out. They'll be able to sell no more than 500 barrels per year off-sale by law, but they may have some creative opportunities to get around that. For instance, if they do decide that they want to distribute, since they'll be brewing much of their wort at other breweries anyway, they could eventually have one of their owners divest and form an associated but technically separate company, finish the fermentation process offsite as well, and distribute it as any client or gypsy brewing company might do (essentially the Yoerg model, and Forager has talked about doing something along the same lines). Recall that the never-to-be Oakhold was planning eventually to open a similar concept (brewpub in Minneapolis under technically separate ownership to supplement the Midway Township fermentery, which would've trucked in externally produced wort). As competitive as the distribution market is, and as little realistic chance as most new breweries have of getting serious shelf space and tap lines, perhaps the calculus is flipping back in favor of brewpubs over taprooms.

On the downside, I'll note that Wild Mind and Fair State seem to be deemphasizing or pivoting partially away from their slow sours and wild ales, and some of the other breweries around town that have attempted to move in that direction seem to me not to have found as big of an audience as they anticipated (Indeed Wooden Soul, Fulton Culture Project, etc.). Also, fruited kettle sours have both stolen the thunder of slow sours and changed consumer expectations for how sours are supposed to taste (typically light, refreshing, and simple instead of challenging, deep, and complex). That said, for my tastes, there's not nearly enough of this type of product being made in Minnesota, and I'll welcome ONE when it finally opens deep into 2020 (after applying my "Double It" rule).

 

Unfortunately local palates have a taste for fruited kettle sours now. Hopefully in time their palates will appreciated true sours.Birch's certainly has not experienced that yet. And their one true sour blew anything else produced in the state to date right out of the water.

 

I will be flying into Minneapolis soon, any can't miss breweries in the area?

 

Go ahead and post your question to the Midwest forum. We love giving recommendations to visitors. There are also older threads asking this same question you can search.

 

Not sure this applies to you since I think you are up north but Hollywood Roadhouse in New Germany has several Drastic Measures beers on. The owner drove to Wadena and got kegs. A Gose, IPA, and a milk stout. I had the Gose and was not impressed.

 

I can't speak out of school here but we should hear some news in the not to distant future about some breweries adding the slow sours and aging sours to their portfolio.

 

When are you flying in, and what part of the area are you staying in?

You’ll get varied responses, but generally there are:
- places that, if you are here and haven’t visited, it’s worth going to. Surly is an example.
- places that get a lot of hype and ‘herd’ mentallity love, but the beers aren’t as good as the hype. Not that they are at all bad (many times the opposite), just that the beers wouldn’t stand out on their own if out to a blind tasting.
- hidden gems, or less trendy places, that produce outstanding beers but might not be in a hip area or might not be surrounded by 10 other tap rooms.
- concentrated areas where, if you want 1 beer and then want to hit another, and another, you could target. Some good, some ok, a few really good, but tons of variety.
- and a bunch of ‘Stay Away’ from breweries.

If you send me a PM with what you like beer-wise, where you’ll be, I’d be happy to share my opinions with you.

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=id%3D264966321073893%3Btype%3Dvideo%3Buser%3Dbadhabitbeer

Bad Habit in St. Joe has announced that their new location grand opening is May 4th. So looking froward to it, because their current space is too small, and always packed when I try to go there.