We have so many exciting things happening as our Kickstarter Campaign is wrapping up! We are well on our way to the stretch goal with ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT! Construction is coming along, license paperwork is all turned in, and all we are waiting for now is the legal permission to start making beer! Catherine and I absolutely cannot wait to fire up the burners on the first day, and smell the first bubbles from the blow-off tube, and taste our first creations...and then we will get to do our favorite thing of all...share good beer with people like you!
Our journey to opening a taproom began over four years ago when we did a tour of the Sam Adam’s brewery in Boston. We both were blown away by what beer could be. That first sip of Cherry Wheat after walking around all day during a heat-wave must have hit us extra strong. We came back to Minnesota and immediately set out to the Four Firkins. I said I had just tried the Cherry Wheat and loved it and wondered if they had any. They said they didn’t, but offered other wonderful suggestions of fruit flavored beers. The next week I was back, with friends, as we began our weekly beer club. Bryan, Michael and Alvey put together packages of things for us to try...IPA’s one week, Stouts the next, Pilsners the week after that. We would try stuff, talk about what we liked and didn’t like, and scribble notes (and to be honest, mostly jokes) in our little beer notebooks. We worked our way through many, many beers but still, we wanted more! Soon we found ourselves traveling just to try beers in new cities, to check out their local scene. Everywhere we went, we found like-minded beer drinkers who were already onto something that we were only beginning to discover- BEER IS AWESOME.
When the taproom is open, we hope to bring you a collective experience that we have had trying beers and seeing taprooms. We want to share with you the best of what we think is out there. We want to introduce you to one of those beers: The Oatmeal Pale Ale. Catherine and I took a vacation to Seattle/Portland and we learned that as you drove down the coast, there was a beer tour you could complete along the way. If you stopped at each place, had a beer, and completed the punch card, you could show up at the City Hall (drunk) and claim a free glass! It’s still my favorite glass in my glass cupboard.
Our first stop was at Ft. George Brewing company. On their menu was something I had never seen before- Oatmeal Pale Ale. Just the name caught my attention. Why hadn’t anyone done this before? It was smooth, it was refreshing, it just made sense. I have to brew this! was my immediate thought. This would be great on Nitro! This would be great on cask! This is just a great beer...and I’ve never seen another one since. My own version is different, of course, but that’s what brewers do. They have to put their own touch on it. They have to draw from their experiences, their tastes, and put out a product that they can stand behind. All of the beers that I make have a story behind them, they all mean something to me personally, and are all really tasty. You’ll find Catherine and me, standing behind the bar, pouring them for you, there to answer questions, or just hear what you have to say. We can’t wait to introduce you to our other beers, which will be very soon!
