Minnesota Craft Beer Scene Boomed In 2013

You can say that again! Vita.mn looks back on the year in craft beer. Here are the highlights.

New additions

At least 14 new beer-makers fired up fermenters in 2013. By mid-February, northeast Minneapolis established its “brew district” with Dangerous Man and 612Brew joining Indeed to form a taproom trinity within about a mile from each other, and beer lovers quickly started making beer-hall crawls by foot, bike and party bus. This month Sociable Cider Werks opened its apple graff brewery and taproom, blocks from 612Brew, bringing another potable attraction to the neighborhood.

Doubling down
Counting newbies isn’t the only way to measure our beer scene’s growth this year. At least 10 breweries enacted or announced expansion plans, in some cases more than doubling the amount of beer they are able to produce annually.

Beer City, Minnesota
Minneapolis and the Twin Cities metro area might be ground zero for the recent waves of new breweries, but Duluth is the “Craft Beer Capital of Minnesota.” Or so said Duluth Mayor Don Ness back in February. With the lakeside Canal Park Brewery (which opened in late 2012) and this year’s red-hot rookie Bent Paddle joining stalwarts Fitger’s Brewhouse and Lake Superior Brewing Co., he’s got a decent case.

St. Paul: Sleeping no more?
Despite Great Waters, Flat Earth and flag-bearing Summit, the state’s capital city has been a little behind the beer curve. But that could be about to change. This year the St. Paul City Council passed a series of measures easing taproom and zoning restrictions for microbreweries.

Looking ahead
Not only did 2013 bring a new crop of breweries, but at least 12 more suds artists are in the planning stages.
Read more at Vita.mn