The Brewery
The Boom Island brewery isn’t huge, in fact, it is rather cozy. However, you don’t need a lot of room when you are doing everything yourself and producing small batches. There is room for everything they need, from conical fermenters to palates of bottles. The space isn't big enough for a taproom, which should be just fine for now; their focus is getting the beer out to the retail market.
All of the brews were created with Minneapolis water so, they wanted to make sure the new brewery would be using the same water. The founder/brewer, Kevin, and his family found a spot for The Boom Island Brewery in North Minneapolis. The brewery is situated blocks from the Mississippi River and about a mile from its namesake, Boom Island. A lot of the equipment is stuff that Kevin has worked on himself. He even went as far as taking a welding class at a local college so he could build some of the equipment they would need. The Brewer(s) W. Kevin Welch has been home brewing for a good while, 10 years+. His brews are Belgian inspired and he has been working on his recipes for ages. His beer has won silver and gold at the Upper Mississippi Mashout. Some people make a big deal about home brewers starting up their own breweries without having put time in washing kegs and learning at another brewery. While Kevin hasn’t spent years toiling in brewpubs, he isn’t a novice either. Kevin does all his brewing with his father-in-law, Hu Yong Shue. So far, they have brewed every batch together. Kevin is fluent in two Chinese dialects and that is what is usually spoken in the brewery. It is pretty cool that there are a couple of guys, in North Minneapolis, brewing Belgian style beer, speaking Chinese. We asked Kevin about his brewing style. He has a background in music and says he views each brew as a performance or a concert. Each part of the process plays its part with the yeast taking center stage. When asked about the hardest part of starting a brewery he said it was waiting on other people and agencies, there is a lot of dotting I’s and crossing T’s. One of the things they are still waiting on is a growler license from the city of Minneapolis; they hope to get their growler sales approved by February. The Beer Thoprock IPA Named for a crazy heavy metal music festival in Flanders Hoodoo Dubbel
Homage to Kevin’s southern upbringing and the culture that goes with it Silvius Pale Ale
Named for Silvius Brabo, namesake of the town of Antwerp & mythical giant slayer Brimstone Tripel If it isn’t made by an abbey it must be evil |
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Getting to Know Boom Island Brewingposted Jan 3, 2012 8:42 AM by Andrew Schmitt [ updated Jan 3, 2012 1:15 PM ] |
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