Kelsi talks with Jon Messier and Mark Shotick about Lucid Brewing Company, home brewing, and the Top Brewer competition.
http://www.topbrewer.org/
http://www.LucidBrewing.com
All posts by Andrew Schmitt
Canal Park Brewery Opens
Canal Park Brewery is finally opening. These guys have been keeping a fairly low profile, but they have been working steadily at getting everything in place for the big day.
Built on the grounds of the Duluth Spring Co., an old manufacturing facility, the land was rehabbed to clean up environmental contaminates such as lead and other industrial waste. The cleanup was no small feat, a state grant to make the site usable totaled over $400,000.
Well-known local developer Rocky Kavajecz, has built an impressive facility and put veteran brewers Badger Colish and Dan Aagenes at the helm. Both men have earned their stripes in the brewing industry at Muskie Capital and Anheuser Bush, respectively.
The brewpub plans to brew 2,000 – 2,500 barrels of beer this year. All the brews will be made with as many locally sourced ingredients as possible. And of course, the beer names will be Duluth relevant too, with titles like Wetsuit Malfunction Wit and Pack Sacker Oatmeal Stout. Checkout a full breakdown of the beer details here, a nice touch.
Half of any good brewpub is the food. Canal park has a great array of burgers, salads, and appetizers. One thing that really impresses is the suggested pairings on the menu. For example, Coco Lime Ale Mussels paired with Dawn Treader Tripel. It baffles me why more great brewpubs (and restaurants) don’t do this.
Canal Park Brewing Company
300 Canal Park Drive
Duluth, MN 55802
218-464-4790
HOURS
Monday – Saturday11 – Close
Food served until 11pm
Sunday10 – Close
Food served until 11pm
Bright Ideas with Omar Ansari
Price: FREE
Dates: November 27, 7:00PM-8:30PM
Venue: UBS Forum at Minnesota Public Radio
Address: 480 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101
For MPR’s November Bright Ideas, Stephen Smith is joined by Omar Amsari, the founder of Surly Brewing Company. They’ll talk about running a company, his fight to change Minnesota’s law, and beer.
For full details and reservations CLICK HERE
Bent Paddle Brewing Makes a Stir
Bent Paddle Brewing is the new brewery being opened by veteran brewers Colin Mullen and Bryon Tonnis. Both brewers have local ties to the Duluth area, and are not rookies in the brewing industry. Colin spent years at Barley John’s in New Brighton, and Bryon was a brewer at Rock Bottom in Minneapolis.
The new venture will be a family affair, the wives of both men are owners and partners. They’ll bring their own area of expertise to the operation with experience in distribution and event planning and design.
When I last talked to Colin he was super excited about the progress being made at the brewery, and the location in particular. The brewery & taproom (The Bent Tap) will be in West Duluth on Michigan St.
No word yet on what kind of beer they will be brewing. But, they plan being available in kegs, 12 oz. cans, and growlers.
Follow links for the full story & keep up on progress.
Bent Paddle Brewing Co
1912 West Michigan Street
Duluth, MN 55806
Web: http://www.bentpaddlebrewing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bentpaddlebrewing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bentpaddlebeer
Summit Brewing Company Begins Brewery Expansion
Summit Brewing Company broke ground on its brewery cellar expansion on Friday.
“Although Summit has been quietly investing an annual average of $1.7 million into the brewery over the past ten years, this is the most ambitious expansion since the new brewery was built in 1998,” said Mark Stutrud, Summit’s founder. “The truth of the matter is that we’ve hit the wall on capacity. We had to cut 12 brews this year due to capacity issues, so the original expansion date of June 2013 has been moved to this month.”
The expansion is scheduled to be completed by June 2013. The addional 7,632 square feet will double production capacity to 240,000 barrels per year. The estimated cost will total around $6 million dollars. Summit has partnered with several Minnesota companies on the project: DCI (St. Cloud) for tank fabrication, PCL Construction Services (Burnsville) for general contracting and Van Sickle, Allen and Associates (Plymouth) for engineering and architecture.
Special thanks to Chuck Pittman at TCT Photography. All images subject to copyright.
Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival Tickets On Sale Now
Tickets are on sale now for the 4th Annual Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival. This year’s event in Saint Paul’s Lowertown will feature twice the breweries, stages and space than previous years, promising to be bigger and better than ever before.
In addition to over 100 breweries sampling more than 300 beers, the festival includes:
- Official festival kick-off with Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman tapping the inaugural Oak Barrel Brew – this year’s beer is to be a special release from Stone Brewing Company
- New releases from various breweries
- Live music on two stages from local bands including Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Bloodnstuff, The Chalice, and Heiruspecs
- AHA/BJCP Certified Homebrew Contest presented by Northern Brewer
- Lord Dabbler’s Cup awarded to the best brewery as voted on by festival-goers
- Hot food served by local gourmet food trucks including Gastrotruck, Natedogs, Potter’s Pasties, and more
“Every year we are amazed with how many people turn out for this annual outdoor event in the middle of winter, so we are thrilled to offer even more reasons for people to brave the cold,” said Matt Kenevan, founder of the Beer Dabbler. “Even though we are bigger then ever before, we encourage beer fans to pick up their tickets as soon as possible because we are confident this year’s event will sell out in record time.”
It is The Beer Dabbler’s goal to raise more than $35,000 for our non-profit partners at this year’s event.
The Beer Dabbler Store, 1095 W. 7th St., Saint Paul
The Ale Jail, 1787 Saint Clair Ave., Saint Paul
Thomas Liquors, 1941 Grand Ave., Saint Paul
Four Firkins, 5630 W. 36th St., St. Louis Park
*Ticket for sale at retail locations are CASH ONLY
Craft Beer is Elevated in South Minneapolis
A brand new store is opening in south Minneapolis, and it is looking to take your liquor store experience to the next level.
Owners Ryan Widuch and Tom Boland are home brewers and big-time craft beer fans. So, when the opportunity to open a store focused on craft beer presented itself the long-time buddies jumped in with both feet.
The original plan was to open a boutique store carrying only craft beer. But, when the guys came across the vacant Hiawatha Joe’s space the size of the building allowed them to expand their operation. And expand they did.
They took over the old coffee shop and immediately started making it their own. The walls were knocked out and about dozen reach in coolers were installed. They commissioned a friend of the family to hand build racks for a giant build-your-own sixer section. They installed a beer cave (walk-in cooler), and added a nook with a multi-media center for samples and educational seminars.
Beer isn’t the only thing this store is taking to the next level. I could not believe their section of wine. You might have guessed that I’m not into wine. However, I know plenty of beer people that are. They are going to be happy to have a store that can meet their beer & wine needs. Local certified Sommelier Leslee Miller of Amusée was brought in to lend a hand in selecting wine and stocking the massive wine selection.
Ryan Widuch said the biggest surprise was how long everything took.
.
“We started looking at potential locations for the store last November. The longest part of the process was getting licensed,” he said. “From the day we applied for our CUP (Conditional Use Permit) to the day that we received our actual license it was about 6 months.”
After a long wait and a lot of long hours, the store is ready to open today.
Elevated Beer Wine and Spirits
4135 Hiawatha Ave., Minneapolis
612-384-2980
Twitter: @ElevatedBWS
Facebook: facebook.com/EvelatedBWS
Website: http://www.elevatedbws.com/
