“There is a brewery down the street, we can wait there” I said to my wife. The pandemic had thrown a wrench at my habitual planning. Some friends had planned a trip to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to check out a few local breweries. We were meeting them at their second stop, but we discovered children were no longer allowed in their taproom. “Can we walk, or do we have to drive?” she replied. Our son Arlo was starting to fuss, annoyed at the lack of motion. “We can walk, I’ll get the stroller” I said. Onward to Lazy Monk Brewing.
Continue Reading…Outstate Brewing Company
June 25, 2021
“I think it’s back here” I said. Gravel crunched beneath our car’s wheels as we rolled towards an industrial corner of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. “Where are you taking us?” my wife questioned. For as good as Google Maps is, there are times when scouting your destination draws dead. According to street view we were in the right place, but also according to street view it was a dead end. “There it is!” I spotted a gray wooden sign pointing our way. A riverside patio awaited us at Outstate Brewing Company.
Continue Reading…Brewster Bros. Brewing Co.
June 24, 2018
Chippewa Falls on a cold winter’s night leaves you with only a few options. That’s why we’d found ourselves on a brisk walk along the Chippewa River. Our plans were to end the night at a local bas, a wish we would grant for someone’s 60th birthday. But before a local dive, we wanted a trendier option. We would soon spot the blue and yellow signs of the Chippewa River Distillery & Brewster Bros. Brewing Co.
Continue Reading…Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
June 15, 2018
My father in-law isn’t a big craft beer drinker. He suffers through the endless breweries trips that the family likes to take fairly regularly, and only he has recently found a couple of beer styles that he can be familiar with. There is one craft beer that you can consistently find in his fridge, which led us to take a road trip for his birthday. That drive took us over the border into Wisconsin and ended at the Leinie Lodge, the birthplace of Honey Weiss, and the home of Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company.
Continue Reading…Utepils Brewing
June 7, 2018
There are a handful of breweries that open and I earmark as a must visit. In February of 2017 one brewery joined the ranks of many other Minneapolis brewers, and it stood out from the others. Early reports were favorable, but I like to let places condition a bit before I visit. More than a year later, my father mentioned that if I were to make the trip to Utepils Brewing, he would want to join. So we went.
Continue Reading…
It’s that time of year again. Time to reflect upon the breweries that I visited in the past year and identify some of my favorites. Since this is the second time I’m doing these awards I added some ground rules. I’m only assigning an award to somewhere that I visited in 2017. If you don’t see one of your favorites then let please let me know. Rest assured that with the amount of breweries now in Minnesota there is a great chance I didn’t make it there. In an effort to shake things up, I decided to ensure there were no repeats from last year. Lastly, to recognize the best of the breweries that opened in 2017, there is a new category called Best New Brewery. Let’s get started!
Continue Reading…Chapel Brewing
November 25, 2017
We’ve got a couple of friends that live south of the metro area that enjoy visiting new breweries with us. Because of this we’re always looking for openings in that area. This allows us to spend more time in the taproom and waste less of our weeknights on the road. One thing we noticed was a pocket of new breweries opening near Northfield. The newest of these is Chapel Brewing and not long after they opened we stopped by for a visit.
Continue Reading…Pryes Brewing Company
August 6, 2017
New taprooms continue to open every month, and the summer is high season. When my brother-in-law mentioned he wanted to visit a taproom that “nobody had been to yet” I knew there were several to choose from. I told him that Pryes Brewing Company had just opened their new riverside taproom. A day later we were working up a thirst and cruising along the river road.
Continue Reading…Goat Ridge Brewing Company
March 10, 2017
On a Saturday morning in early December, Samantha and I were sitting at a small table in New London’s Middle Fork Cafe. We were enjoying a small brunch in preparation for our the next taproom on our list and trading stories about our travels from the night before. The food was good but once I finished my sandwich the mind switched gears to beer. We paid and then took to the cold streets to arrive at our next stop, Goat Ridge Brewing Company, just as they opened at noon.
Continue Reading…