Legendary Beer for a Minnesota Legend!
June 28th is Paul Bunyan Day and while we know that it doesn’t fall on the weekend, it was too good a holiday to pass up! Paul Bunyan is “credited” with creating the Mississippi River as well as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. His era was also the first heyday of craft brewing in Minnesota, which we talk about in today’s “Ask a Brewer”.
But before we get to that, we’d like to remind everyone that on Friday, June 26th we will be participating in the Beer Dabbler at Twin Cities Pride. Held in Loring Park from 5:30 to 9:30pm, over 30 breweries and food trucks are paired with each other for a brew and food extravaganza. We are being paired with Cool Jerk, so prepare yourself for gluten-free deliciousness in both hands! There will also be live music, a silent disco (not-so-live music), and many other fun activities.
Also for consideration in your weekend plans is the Blues & Brews celebration at the Nicollet Island Pavilion on Sunday, June 28th from 4 to 7pm. We’ll be participating in this event which includes live music (guessing there might be some Blues), craft beers (hence the Brews), and a ton of tasty appetizers paired with different beers. All proceeds benefit Canvas Health.
Regardless of where your weekend plans take you, we hope that you find some time to relax and enjoy a tasty beverage (like beer) with friends. Sláinte!
Ask the Brewer
Does Minnesota have more breweries now than it did prior to Prohibition?
(i.e., Do you think we are reaching a bubble in the craft beer industry?)
Minnesota has a long and varied beer history with our first brewery opening in 1849 close to the current site of the Science Museum. The brewer was a Bavarian native named Yoerg and he produced a lager and a bock from recipes he brought from back home.
As we headed into the 1870’s, the population had increased as well as the railroads beginning to push into the area and this drove the demand for more beer (music to this brewers ears). As of 1875, there were over 120 breweries in Minnesota before a slow but accelerating decline in those numbers leading up to Prohibition in 1919. A few breweries managed to keep their doors open by switching to making sodas or near beer, and were therefore in a good spot to begin production of alcoholic beers when Prohibition was repealed in 1933.
The second surge in brewery numbers occurred shortly thereafter with just over two dozen breweries calling Minnesota home in the late 1930s. This didn’t last though as by 1970 we were down to just 4 breweries in the state (and that is how it stayed until 1985… Bonus points if you can name the 4 breweries…).
Fast forward to the end of 2014 and you find that there were over 70 breweries operating in Minnesota and licensing officials predict over 110 by the end of 2015!
While some people may speculate that the craft beer bubble is close to bursting, think about how many breweries there once were and then think about how much the population has grown since those glory days. These brewers think there is still plenty of room for more delicious craft beer!
Taproom Tidings
A huge thank you to our taproom guests for their patience as the most recent batch of Roasted Coffee Ale finished up. We are happy to say that it is ready and will be back on tap for this weekend!
Furthermore, in celebration of Sunday growler sales starting on July 5th, we will be offering a free pint with each growler sold on that day! Mark you calendars folks (and maybe have some hair of the dog that bit ya the night before).
This weekends taproom highlights include:
- Thirsty Thursdays – $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
- Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Moondog and his gluten-free selection of German-style bratwursts and dawgs
- Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake and is available all weekend (while supplies last… no seriously, you all ate them by Friday last week….)
- Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Lime Shandy and our Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.
Our errands, unfortunately, take us across I-94. With the Snelling Ave. bridge being the most direct route, we can tell you from personal experience, that the bridge is still out. {insert long string of expletives here} With that being said, note that the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is STILL closed. This means that access to the brewery from the I94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit for the interim.
Questions? Drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Cipher, Twitter or Google+.
Cheers!