Sarah McGee / Heavy Table
In May 2011, the Minnesota Legislature passed H.F. 0703, popularly known as the Surly Bill, which allows for brewers to operate an on-sale establishment on their brewing premises. Since then, new brewing ventures have been popping up all over the cities, and a majority of them are including tap rooms in their build-out plans.
In an effort to organize the brewery news of note, and to let you know where you can drink a pint on site, we present The Heavy Table Minneapolis-St. Paul Tap Room Directory. We?ll regularly update this directory with news about the established tap rooms and those upcoming.
John Garland / Heavy Table
Excelsior Brewing Company
421 3rd St
Excelsior, MN 55331
952.474.7837
Hours: Thu-Fri 4pm-10pm, Sat 2pm-10pm
Tap Room Open Since: July 2012
Beer: You can taste four of Excelsior?s brews at their tap room. We prefer the crisp XLCR Pale Ale, followed closely by the light, refreshing Big Island Blond. They?ll also have available a weighty 8.0% IPA called Bridge Jumper and a seasonal. Currently, it?s a brown ale, soon it?ll be an Oktoberfest. Pints are $5-6 and growlers and other swag items are on sale as well.
Food: Nothing at the brewery, though there?s plenty of eating on Water Street. We like the Italian staples served up at Biella, where Excelsior is currently on tap.
Details: Located off the parking lot behind Water Street. Enter off Third (you?ll see Petunia?s Home & Garden shop at 421 from the street). It?s a pleasantly rowdy atmosphere in their warehouse-turned-brewery, with a couple stacks of bar Jenga and two small tap tables where you can sample their lineup. The brewer is Bob DuVernois, a former president of the Minnesota Craft Brewer?s Guild. He comes to Excelsior after a well-regarded stint at Great Waters in St. Paul, where he developed a reputation for excellent cask beers. A few firkins have come out of Excelsior so far, with a more regular program most certainly on the way.
John Garland / Heavy Table
Fulton Brewing
414 6th Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612.333.3208
Hours: Thu-Fri 3pm-10pm, Sat 12pm-10pm, Sun 11am-7pm, also opens 2 hrs. before Twins home games.
Tap Room Open Since: March 2012
Beer: Their two mainstays, Lonely Blonde and Sweet Child of Vine IPA, are always on tap, along with one or two others ? we especially like their lighter Ringer Pale Ale. The stack of barrels on the far wall previously held 2 Gingers Whiskey, and soon will hold some of Fulton?s malty, red Libertine ale. They also tap a new firkin every Thursday ? the way their Worthy Adversary Imperial Stout mellows in the cask is magical.
Food: A most agreeable assortment of food trucks set up shop in Fulton?s front lot ? check their website?s schedule. Or, if you want to sit down somewhere, it?s just a few blocks to Black Sheep Pizza and, soon, the brick-and-mortar Smack Shack.
Details:? A warehouse brewery for the Warehouse District. A five-minute walk from Target Field, it?s a terrific pre-game location at which to commiserate with fellow Twins fans. Heck, skip the first inning or two ? they?ll have the game on their TVs. Plus, you?re going to need another pint to watch that team. Growlers and other swag items are also available for purchase.
John Garland / Heavy Table
Harriet Brewing
3036 Minnehaha Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612.225.2184
Hours: Wed-Fri 4pm-12am, Sat 1pm-12am
Tap Room Open Since: March 2012
Beer: Two or three of Harriet?s brews will be available. Their West Side Belgian IPA is the mainstay ? right now their lighter Marzen is the seasonal. Pints are $5.
Food: Harriet features a regular lineup of food trucks ? check their tap room calendar.? If you?re looking for something else in the neighborhood, we?d suggest Gandhi Mahal for some great Indian around the block.
Details: There may not be a tap room in the city that looks as comfortable in its own skin as Harriet?s. The brewery?s rear annex, cordoned off by a bright yellow wall full of local art, has a small corner stage featuring live music every night. Sip your beer on their patio while there?s still time and enjoy the downtown skyline view. Also be on the lookout for Harriet?s more involved festivals (including Rauchfest Sept. 29 and Sound Unseen Oct. 10-13). Growlers are available for purchase in the small tasting room at the front of the building. Parking is available in the gravel lot to the left of the brewery.
John Garland / Heavy Table
Indeed Brewing Company
711 15th Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
612.843.5090
Hours: Thu-Fri 3-10, Sat 11am-10pm
Tap Room Open Since: August 2012
Beer: You?ll find three or four beers on tap at Indeed, with a couple more in casks. We get a kick out of their Daytripper Pale Ale ? that rush of citrusy hops on the nose is mesmerizing. Also, their Midnight Ryder American Black Ale is silky with a deep roast character and a crisp, bitter finish. 750-ml bottles are available for purchase at the brewery for around $6. Six packs of cans will be made available in retail stores sometime this fall / winter.
Food:?Food trucks are always scheduled to be on hand?? check the schedule on Indeed?s website.
Details:?Indeed Brewing is the first in a rush of breweries scheduled to open in Northeast Minneapolis in 2012-2013. Josh Bischoff is the brewer, coming off an award-filled tenure at Town Hall. The Solar Arts building delivers a great neighborhood atmosphere for the brewery. The space is like an artist?s studio meets old-school club room. Check out the tables, emblazoned with signatures from the guest registry of the old Miller Publishing Group. The room has a shuffleboard table, and a small patio flanks the building facing the railroad tracks.
John Garland / Heavy Table
Lift Bridge Brewing
1900 Tower Dr
Stillwater, MN 55082
888.430.2337
Hours: Tue-Thu 5pm-8pm, Fri 12pm-8pm, Sat 12pm-5pm
Tap Room Open Since: September 2011
Beer: You?ll find six of Lift Bridge?s brews on tap. You know and love the citrusy haze of Farm Girl Saison. We also quite like the spectacularly resinous Hop Dish IPA and the brilliant, crisp Pathway Pilsner. Expect a couple seasonals to be on hand. Right now, it?s a lighter Oktoberfest. This winter, they expect to roll out a series of stouts ? milk, oyster, and Irish coffee. Also on tap: house-made root beer (ask for a taste, it?s incredible). Pints are $4, flights are $6-9, and growlers are available as well.
Food: No food trucks out in Stillwater, but there?s plenty of solid eating within a couple minutes? drive. We recommend the laid-back Patriots Tavern for soups / sandwiches, the same goes for Chilkoot Cafe & Cyclery (especially their more elegant dinner menu), Roma Restaurant for good old-fashioned Italian favorites, and Phil?s Tara Hideaway for great Mediterranean.
Details: There?s no better way to wait out the Highway 36 rush hour than having a pint at Lift Bridge. They?ve built out a small bar that seats about 10 in the brewery?s front reception room, with a few picnic tables for extra seating. Though they?ve won the people?s choice Golden Firkin at Happy Gnome?s Firkin Fest multiple times, it?s somewhat surprising that they don?t already have cask ales available at the tap room. It?s in the works, though. They already have a beer engine and will begin to feature rotating casks in the near future. If you want their cask beer now, you may find some at Ngon Bistro, Republic, or Groveland Tap.
John Garland / Heavy Table
Summit Brewing Company
910 Montreal Cir
St. Paul, MN 55102
651.265.7800
Hours: Fridays, 3-8pm
Tap Room Opening: September 28, 2012
Beer: You?ll be able to sample 10 or so of Summit?s brews. All of their year-round beers will be poured, along with current releases from the Unchained series when available (the Belgian Abbey Ale is currently out of stock), as well as some special casks and limited runs from their pilot brewing system. Pints will be $5, with flights of four beers for $7.
Food: They will feature a rotating mix of food trucks during drinking hours. Barrio will be on hand for the inaugural Friday.
Details: After a soft opening for family and friends last Friday, the venerable St. Paul brewery will begin hosting open tap room hours this week. The large Rathskeller hall is frequently used for events and opened up to nonprofits for fundraising, so they?re keeping hours limited to Fridays for now. They haven?t changed the space much, just built out the bar a touch. In November, they?ll add a brewery tour on Fridays at 1pm, which will let out as tap room hours begin.
UPCOMING TAP ROOMS:
612Brew
945 Broadway St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Expected Opening: Late 2012
Details So Far: Six blocks from Indeed Brewing in Northeast Minneapolis sits the Broadway building, home of the upcoming 612Brew tap house and brewery. The preliminary design sketches promise a beautiful build out, with old brick and exposed beams contrasting the steel brewing vessels. The open floor plan looks to leave very little distinction between brewery and tap room space ? you?ll be sitting mere feet from their tanks. It?s being designed with room for concerts and other events very much in mind.
A selection of Indian food will accompany their brews (co-owner Adit Kalra?s family owns Tandoor) so they?ll have snacks available even when the food trucks have packed up for the winter. Their initial brew lineup looks to include a Pale Ale, a fully bodied hoppy Rye Ale, and an American Black Ale that will only be available at the tap room. Expect a rotating group of seasonals as well.
Dangerous Man Brewing
1300 2nd St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
612.206.2626
Expected Opening: Late 2012-early 2013
Details So Far: Dangerous Man looks to join Indeed and 612Brew as cornerstones of the Northeast ?Brew District.? Their tap room license was approved by the City of Minneapolis on September 24. The walls have been framed, the ceiling painted, and the concrete floor stained. It looks closer to opening every week, it seems.
They have no plans to release the product to tap or retail accounts, so if you want their unique brews, you?ll have to visit the tap house. They?ll be featuring six ever-changing selections of one-off, small batch stuff, so expect lots of experimentation with ingredients and styles.
HammerHeart Brewing Company
Lino Lakes, MN
651.964.2160
Expected Opening: 2013, beginning production hopefully by the end of 2012
Details So Far: The guys behind HammerHeart envision an old Norse drinking hall feel for their brewery?s tap room. Outside will be a gravel patio with a fire pit, enclosed by pine trees ? a north woods retreat in Lino Lakes. Set to begin pouring sometime next year, they refer to their beers as ?hoppy, smoked, and sometimes oaked. Unfiltered and balanced.? They will generally stick to English styles ? no Belgians or German Lagers ? and will have six on tap. If the beers are ?sometimes oaked? we wouldn?t be surprised to see them develop a regular casking program like the others.
Steel Toe Brewing
4848 W 35th?St
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
952.955.9965
Current Growler Sale Hours: Tue-Thu 3-5pm, Fri 5:30-7:30pm, Sat 10am-12pm
Expected Opening: Late 2012-early 2013
Details So Far: Currently waiting on the license and finalizing build-out details.
Surly Brewing?Company
Expected Opening: 2013-2014? Site may be finalized by end of 2012.
Details So Far: Surly has selected the architecture firm HGA to design its planned 60,000-square-foot, $20 million ?Destination Brewery.? They are looking at seven to 10 acres for their complex, which will include a bar, restaurant, beer garden, and event center. The site search has been also been reportedly narrowed down to just a handful, including a few potential spots in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center.
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