Something we discovered throughout our journey is Southern Minnesota has way less breweries than the Northern parts. But there’s still some great places to go and visit. In fact there’s some places in Southern Minnesota that have a nationwide or even international reputation. In this article we will be talking about Southeast Minnesota, which will be anything south of Minneapolis-St. Paul and east of I-35. So we’re talking about the Mississippi River, Med City and the SPAM museum. OK so we won’t be talking about the SPAM museum but we visited it while on our beerventures, and it’s FREE!
Forager Brewery – Rochester
When I mention international reputation, I’m talking about Forager. People from overseas will trade for rare bottles from the Rochester brewpub. In fact Rochester and Decorah, IA have become a bit of a craft beer destination for people willing to wait in long lines for beer. But you don’t have to wait in line all the time here. Open 7 days a week and serving incredible food alongside incredible beer, this is the place to see in Rochester.
Little Thistle – Rochester
If there is one thing that stands out about our first visit to this brewery in Rochester, it is that there were so many options for beer! The second thing that stood out was the variety of style in all of that beer. Then, the third thing that stuck out was the brilliant beer names – all of them funny and/or so clever. Since there were so many different beers, we tried a few different styles and they all hit the mark for us, and often exceeded our expectations. The staff and one of the founders that we got to chat with on our first visit there, Steve, were so hospitable and friendly and all went out of their way to make sure we had an enjoyable time. We loved the beer here so much, we did something we rarely do with breweries outside of the Twin Cities metro area – we visited again!
Turning Waters Back Alley Brewing Co. – Wabasha
Visiting this place was a unique experience that in the end was a great one. We showed up to the Bed & Breakfast (it’s both) and weren’t sure where to go to get beer because the building seemed pretty empty and dark at night. So we went up to the door and there was a handwritten sign that said they’re in the brewery in the back. So we wandered to the back of the building and saw a garage with lights on and entered to a pretty small space filled with people. When we first glanced at the menu we were pretty hesitant; milkshake IPAs, stouts with caramel and marshmallow, super fruity sours, a beer with Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. Everything in our minds was telling us these things didn’t add up. Small town breweries we’d never heard of don’t brew these kinds of beers. But this one does, and does it very well. Turning Waters has been the most pleasant surprise for us on our journey!
Thesis Beer Project – Rochester
We love getting to visit breweries that feel new and different than most, and that is exactly what we felt with Thesis. We went close to right after they had just opened their doors to the public, so there wasn’t a lot on tap at the time, but we enjoyed everything we had and really felt like they were different than your standard craft beers – different in taste, in style, in the hops and ingredients they used. Not only did that make Thesis stand out to us, but they also have a coffee shop in house! We have started seeing this trend of sharing space or also owning/operating a coffee shop out of the same space as the taproom, but Thesis was one of the first we got to witness it at. Most of our visit was us talking about the coffee shop and how we couldn’t believe what a no-brainer that is for taprooms! We love when the innovation and ideas of breweries gets us excited, and Thesis did exactly that.
Imminent Brewing – Northfield
Northfield kind of surprised us, we visited both of the breweries (Tanzenwald being the other one) on a weekday and they were both pretty busy. Not knowing much about the town going in we weren’t expecting that at all. Imminent has a pretty large patio with multiple garage doors opening up to the taproom to make the whole place feel like one large taproom during the Summer. And the beer selection is pretty well varied with all around solid beer.
Honorable Mention – Karst Brewing – Fountain
Alger Beerventures 