MSP Tap Rooms
Updated: 3/20/14
Tim Mercil
tim@mercil.com
Big Wood Brewery
White Bear Lake
Address is actually 2222 4th Street, but
it’s easier to come in on 3rd and take a left before Cook Ave into
the parking lot.
After much talk and much hype, it lived up to the 2+
years in the making, a great tap room in downtown WBL. I’ve been there several times and always have
great conversations with everyone I’ve met there.
Daves Brew Farm
2470 Wilson St, Wilson, WI 54027
Worth the trip!
One of my favorite stops by far!
Bring cash, no credit. Flights
start at the lightest and work towards his darkest. Brewery is in his basement and is wind
powered.
Dangerous Man –
North East Minneapolis
1300 NE 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN
My Favorite:
For the beer & the atmosphere.
Their Coconut Milk stout is outstanding.
They only sell 20 Growlers a day, so tough to get a growler of that beer
you want. Have small 8 oz pours on some, which helps. Tap list changes a lot. Have a great Ginger Ale / non-alcoholic
drinks
Indeed
North East Minneapolis
711 15th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN
Great location, atmosphere reminds me of a Colorado Brewing
location, next to the train tracks, great patio, and great people. Just started selling
growlers. No flights.
612
North East Minneapolis
945 Broadway St NE #188, Minneapolis, MN
Great atmosphere, great
building. But not a lot of variety in
their tap list. 4 IPA/Pale Ale’s when I was there.
Do have flights, but again all the same.
Not a huge fan of their beer.
Was able to visit a 3rd time, tap list
has seriously improved.
Lift Bridge
Stillwater – behind Herbergers
Jim Pierson from Medtronic is one of the owners,
known for their Farm Girl Saison – Tap room for being in the suburbs is
actually pretty decent. Have great
Music/events all the time which gets a good crowd…. Also have several food/beer
pairing events in Stillwater.
I drank with Jim and their Brewmaster
Matt in Amsterdam; both stand up guys and know their beer.
Fulton
Downtown Minneapolis
Located - across from the Twins stadium, so it’s a
wonderful spot to stop before the game, have a pint and walk to the stadium.
Surly
4811 Dusharme Dr, Minneapolis, MN
Tap room
opened to the general public (Sept 13) , been doing
tours for a while, but has been impossible to get on the tour. With the increase of breweries, you can
actually stop by now and get a tour if there is space. Apparently they are keeping this location
even with the new one opening. Tour is a
guy standing in the middle pointing out items and sharing the “Surly” story.
Steel Toe
St. Louis Park
Great stop, staff is awesome, size 11 is wonderful but
at 11% you can’t have more than 1
Harriet Brewing
Minneapolis
If I had a Prius or rode my unicycle to the brewery,
I would probably fit in. The term
Hipster is shown everywhere at the brewery from the Bands playing, to the guy
painting “Art” in the corner. Haven’t been back in a while, so maybe I’ll stop again to see if
it’s changed.
Flat Earth
St. Paul
Definitely a great St. Paul
stop. Selection is decent, tours happen often. However….
*They are
moving to the old Hamm’s location – opening date TBD
HammerHeart
Lino Lakes
Great variety of beer. The owners are punk Norwegians. The music is not something you expect in Lino Lakes. Great
atmosphere, and non-typical
beer. Starting selling
their beer at Bricks in Blaine.
Bang Brewing – “NanoBrewery”
2320 Capp Road, Saint Paul, MN
Grain silo in the middle of an industrial area.
Across the parking lot is Urban Growler (opening spring 2014) Place is very small, tap room is in
the middle of brewing area…. Room for 6-8 people at the bar. No other “tables” in the place. Summertime patio looks to be promising. Lady behind the bar was not washing the pint
glasses correctly, keeping her finger on the rim of the glass during the whole
cleaning cycle…
However – have pressurized growler filler, so
growlers will last months versus days unopened.
Pitchfork –
709 Rodeo Cir, Hudson, WI 54016
Exit #4 Wisconsin, north west
corner of interstate/exit 4. Opened in
Aug 2013, another solid brewery with a nice tap
room. Flights of 5 beers
for $6 which is good.
On my list to
go:
Sociable Cider Werks
Cider Beer
1500 FILLMORE ST. NE MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55413
Bent Brewstillery -
Pour Decisions - Partnered up with Bent Brewstillery –
Opening Feb 2013 – same Roseville location.
Wasn’t a fan of Pour Decisions at all, hopefully
with the new partner, things change.
*Tried their Dark Fatha –
which not a huge fan of, actually tossed it….
Day Block Brewing –
Opened Jan 27th 2014
1105 Washington Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55415
NorthGate Brewing
North East Minneapolis
Growler only sales on Saturdays right now
Excelsior Brewing –
Excelsior, MN
Lucid – Minnetonka
Badger
Hill – shares space with Lucid
American Sky Beer
Hudson
Rush River
River Falls, WI (no tap room yet)
Boom Island Brewing
2207 N. 2nd Ave.Minneapolis,
MN
The Freehouse
Tap Room/Restaurant
Owned by the Blue Plate group(3
Squares, Groveland tap, Highland grill, Edina Grill, Longfellow Grill, The Lowry,
Scusi)
Castle Danger Brewery
Castle Danger, MN
http://www.castledangerbrewery.com
OK, I haven’t started to add Duluth tap rooms yet,
but this place is north of Two Harbors…..
so it made my list
Hayes Public House Brewery
112 1st St S, Buffalo, MN 55313
Enki Brewing Company
7929 Victoria Drive
Victoria, Minnesota 55386
Coming Soon:
Surly Brewery
St. Paul
Their MegaPlex/Brewery is
opening sometime in the near future
Sisyphus Brewing
Opinion
Brewing -
Newport, MN
Pub/restaurant/bowling alley
Tin Whiskers –
http://twbrewing.com/
1st downtown St. Paul Brewery
Urban Growler
–
St. Paul / Shares a parking lot w/Bang
Owned by 2 women
Burning
Brothers Brewing
Gluten Free
1715 Thomas Ave
St. Paul, MN
LTD Brewing
8th & Main street -
Hopkins, MN
Fair State
Brewing Coop
2506 Central Ave NE Minneapolis
1st Coop Brewing in MN
Eastlake
Brewing
Midtown Global Market
Opening Sept 2014
Bar/Restaurants
Great Waters – St. Paul
Restaurant and Brewery
onsite. Beer is nothing to write home about.
Barley Johns
Roseville/New Richmond
Restaurant and Brewery
onsite. Great Beer, sounds like with the MN laws,
they are opening a 2nd brewery/tap room in New Richmond WI
Northbound
Minneapolis
Restaurant and Brewery
onsite. Right off the light rail.
Decent food!! Worth the stop for
lunch and a beer.
Bradys Brewhouse
New Richmond, WI
Restaurant/Brewing onsite
45th
Parallel
Not a brewery – but a distillery – New Richmond
Vine Park
St. Paul
Brew your own beer, department brewing events, team
building event.
Out of MSP area: