Minneapolis summer trip

Fulton Breweries taproom is right next to Target Field and I suggest you check it out. Go early. Also reasonably close to Target Field is Butcher and the Boar. Great restaurant/beer bar with a huge beer garden. Go there as well. Northeast has like a 700 breweries and most folks really like Dangerous Man and Indeed. Go early if you can, they get super busy and are very small. Fair State is also in Northeast and I think is a worthy joint to visit. Again, kind of small, go early. Bauhaus is a really nice place with good beer and tons of space. Surly's new taproom is right off the Green Line. It's a sweet joint. Bang and Urban Growler are a reasonable walk from the Green Line, and it's fun to drink beer in a feed silo (Bang) and since you're at Bang there is no reason not to go to Urban Growler. They share a parking lot. Also, StP/Mpls have a bike rental program called Nice Ride. They have bike racks set up all over the place that you can rent from. It's really slick.

 

Lot' of great suggestions. I really wouldn't head out to the burbs for the simple reason that you would be stuck at one place. I would do the Surly/Indeed/Bauhaus/Dangerous Man loop first. You hit those four you won't go wrong. You come back, go hit others then. I would go to seven corners and Acadia Cafe. More local options than you can drink at Acadia, Republic, and you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't go to Town Hall tap. All places are less than 5 minutes walk, and more like 1 minute.


Have fun

 

I love Summit's tap room. Actually, depending on your time, you could look at doing their tour. It's a good one, it's pretty quick, and you get a few free beers in their tap room. Have to sign up in advance though. The first one on Saturday is at 10 am, so could work out for you. Their room is just a giant beer hall. Pretty straightforward, with long, communal tables. They also have some outdoor space.

Vine Park...does Vine Park have a taproom? They pretty much just sell growlers, and I wouldn't go out of your way to go there.

Wabasha and Blue Diamond I actually haven't even heard of. It's a great time to be a beer drinker in the metro!

Major props to Islay for all the info in this thread. Really good rundown.

Have a great time. I did a similar trip to Portland last May. Found it impossible to get to everything I wanted to, so just tried to get to as many as I could and have a good time.

 

Summit is nice, big open taproom a few miles down West 7th from downtown.
Skip Vine Park.
Wabasha isn't open yet - so it's hard to say if it will be worth it. I would check back in a few weeks or a month or two to see what the general consensus is.
Blue Diamond? Erm...no

Bad Weather is moving to St. Paul, but I'm not sure when they'll be open.

If you're looking for food and a nice beer selection in St. Paul, check out Muddy Pig, Red Cow (Cathedral Hill) or Happy Gnome.

 

Wow, you are really doing your homework. I'm impressed.

Among the Northeast breweries, I just want to clarify that Sociable Cider Werks, despite its name, brews only graff (beer/cider hybrids) and regular beer. I have found the beer to be decent; I'm less of a fan of the graff. It's right there among the other Northeast breweries geographically. I would put it low on the list, but I wouldn't ignore it if you're hitting all the other ones. There also is Boom Island, which is on the other side of the Mississippi River but easily walkable to or from Dangerous Man. I also wouldn't prioritize that one; I'm just letting you know that it exists and is close to the others.

Don't forget that Town Hall also is on the Green Line. You asked for can't miss breweries, and there's a local consensus that Town Hall is one of them.

Burning Brothers makes gluten-free beers that taste like gluten-free beers. Since you obviously don't avoid gluten, I strongly suggest you do avoid Burning Brothers. I'm sympathetic to the brewery's mission, but due to its reliance on sorghum instead of barley, it makes the worst beer of any craft brewery in the area. It also has a small and boring taproom.

Summit is the grandfather of craft brewing in the Twin Cities and has elevated its offerings in recent years. It's a fine place to stop, although it has been surpassed by superior local breweries over the last decade.

Vine Park sells growlers but does not have a taproom, so you can't pay to drink a glass of beer on site. Flat Earth and Lucid, by the way, currently operate on the same model, although both supposedly intend to open official taprooms at some point.

I believe that Blue Diamond is merely a client brewer that brews at Cold Spring but is headquartered in St. Paul. I don't think there's a physical brewery to visit (and I've heard not good things about the beer anyway).

There's a decent chance that Bad Weather will have its own brewery and taproom open by the time of your trip, not far from downtown St. Paul. Bad Weather currently brews at Lucid and does good work. Lake Monster, which similarly does good work as a client brewer at Sand Creek in Wisconsin, also may have opened its brewery in St. Paul near the Green Line by the time you arrive, although I would bet against it being completed in time for you. Sidhe, which will be east of downtown St. Paul, should be opening soon.

 

I forgot to address your point about Sundays. Most taprooms are closed on Sundays, but all of the area brewpubs should be open, so Sunday would be a good day to visit Town Hall (as well as the nearby Day Block). Surly is open on Sundays as well (and the crowd should be significantly smaller than on Friday or Saturday), as are Fair State and Urban Growler. There probably are a few more taprooms that are open on Sundays, but those are the ones that are springing to mind for me now.

 

If you want to hone in, I wouldn't classify any of the ones in St Paul as "can't miss". Tin Whiskers, Great Waters, Flat Earth are all skippable if you're from out of town with limited time (no knock on these places, they all fill local needs but don't strike me as destination type places). I'd spend more time at Surly or Bang/Urban. I'd also say the same about 612 and NorthGate (and northgate is gonna be a bit of a cab ride from those others). My opinion of course...

 

Not sure if you said where you're staying, but if you're in Minneapolis, I'd recommend going to Town Hall and Republic 7 Corners on Sunday over Muddy Pig, Red Cow, Happy Gnome. Republic has 100 tap lines, never can go wrong. Town Hall is across the street. They're right on the Green Line coming out of DT Minneapolis. Those other places are good too if you're in St Paul, you'll have to cab to most of them however (or it's a longish walk from the green line).

 

Butcher's beer garden is great, always a good tap list and cool atmosphere. Make sure to make a reservation ahead of time if you want to dine in the restaurant (no res needed for beer garden - they have a pretty limited food menu as well).

 

Don't know if it's been mentioned but you will be close to Haskell's liquor store where you can pick up a selection of Minnesota craft beers to help your decisions for tap rooms. They will have Surly, Indeed, Summit, etc...Also if your looking for a great dinner with a decent tap list go to Haute Dish...you won't be dissapointed with one of the best restaraunts in an upcoming culinary destination city.

 

The Summit tour is pretty fun. They have a large facility so it's a bit more involved than the typical micro brewery tour. Plus, they make fantastic beer, as good as anyone in the state. Also, I know I said it before, but do check out Nice Ride. The Twin Cities are really bike friendly, so you probably won't be killed by a car, probably.

 

Between the blue/green lines and UberX, I think you'd be fine. UberX is so cheap these days it's insane.

 

Visited last summer for a week. Really enjoyed the city, and frankly, was surprised at how good of a local beer culture Minneapolis has. Also loved getting around the city on Nice Ride, but I wasn't trying to cram everything in in three days. Still, something to consider. Very convenient for downtown locations.

Can't add much to the great discussion above. Excellent help in this thread--needs to be stickied!

Personally, my fav (and surprise) of the trip was Steel Toe. It's out on its own location wise, so requires a dedicated trip. But really, really solid IPAs. Vibe/hang out wise, thought Indeed was really cool, and they had the most diverse lineup of the breweries I visited (and I hit a good many). So cool, I went back a second time.

Also strongly agree with all Butcher & Boar (restaraunt side) suggestions. Really awesome place, excellent food / excellent beer.

Straight bar wise, Republic near Town Hall was the only memorable place I went to. Found most bars to be lacking. But with so many corner brew pubs, that's understandable.

Lastly, if you like Berliners: when bottle shopping, be on the look out for Schell's Noble Star products. Wish I loaded up my suitcase with more of these!

Edit: and since time is short, I'd save St Paul for another trip. There's more than enough to do in Minneapolis.

 

Lyn-Lake and Uptown are happening parts of town, especially in the summer. In fact, in the summer, for better or for worse, the weekend bar scene largely shifts from downtown Minneapolis to Uptown.

When it comes to beer-oriented bars, the secrets are that there are a lot of them, almost all of them will have a few interesting options that you haven't tried, especially since you're coming from another state, and which ones are best comes down to personal taste. Muddy Waters probably has the most street credibility among beer geeks and foodies of the ones you mentioned. Lyndale Taphouse has a decent selection and is something of a populist hangout, popular with the Redbull and Vodka set. Williams is about a mile west of the other places you mentioned in the heart of Uptown, and it's more of an early 20s party place with a lot of taps but few standout options. Bulldog in Uptown was once considered one of the premier beer destinations in town but has since been surpassed many times over in terms of selection (but I haven't been there in a long time, so my info may be out of date). People have mentioned Republic in Seven Corners, which may have the best selection in town. There is another Republic in Uptown that serves only Minnesota and Wisconsin-made beers and, in my opinion, has a better atmosphere. It's my favorite beer spot in the Uptown or Lyn-Lake areas. Bryant-Lake Bowl tends to have a relatively small but impressive tap list. Lake & Irving (a restaurant) can impress in terms of beer as well. I'm sure there are other notable spots that aren't coming to my mind at the moment.

As for the breweries, LynLake has not impressed me at all so far, but it's young. The Herkimer has not impressed me at all so far, and it's old. I will reiterate my endorsement of moto-i, the world's only sake brewpub outside of Japan (last I heard). Sake arguably is a type of beer, and when I hear "only," I'm intrigued. Good vibe, good food, good roof. It's very high on my list of suggestions to visitors regardless of their interest in drinks.

If you decide to exercise the Nice Ride option (which, given the combination of likely inebriation and lack of helmets, I don't personally endorse; also, the fees add up if you don't check your bike in every half hour), there is a nice bike path that cuts across the city east-to-west next to all of these spots. It's called the Midtown Greenway, and you can also walk it. On a bike, it won't take long to get to Eastlake and Harriet, both of which brew some interesting stuff and are within two blocks of the path. I think Harriet is about 3 miles east of Lyn-Lake, and Eastlake is approximately in between. From Harriet, it's not much farther southeast to Northbound (which itself is near a good craft beer bar called Buster's on 28th). Since Harriet and Northbound are next to Blue Line stops, you could drop off your bikes and take the light rail back downtown.

All that said, other than moto-i, from a beer perspective, you're not missing anything special if you skip all of those places.