Minneapolis Is Now A Craft Beer Tourist Destination

My wife has 29 first cousins. TWENTY-NINE. When we got married, I thought I might be in for a lifetime of hosting brunches for an endless parade of her distant relatives rolling through Minneapolis.

Fortunately, the relatives I’ve met have been pretty cool, and even better than that, the cousin we see most often is Cousin Jim. Cousin Jim happens to like beer.

Jim grew up in Minneapolis, but now lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He and his wife are both craft beer enthusiasts, and when they come to town, they’re interested not only in what to drink, but also where to drink. I’ve admired their sophisticated approach to the local craft beer scenes (and their insistence on bringing me beer). They get a sense of the beer, the people, and the place all at once.

I lived in Seattle in the late 1990s, and I remember my visit to the original Redhook brewery on Phinney Avenue (shut down in 2002). I also remember buying 6-packs of Deschutes and Alaskan that I couldn’t get in Minneapolis at the time too, but that’s not very interesting, is it?

If you are coming to Minneapolis soon, check out the tap rooms and brew pubs I would readily recommend to Cousin Jim:

Brewery Tap Rooms: 

Indeed Brewing Company

, Minneapolis Is Now A Craft Beer Tourist DestinationLooks and feels like a traditional pub. They don’t serve food, but there are food trucks outside (as is the case at many Twin Cities’ tap rooms). They do serve a number of specialty brews, so it’s well worth the visit.

Fulton Brewing
A very cool garage-type tap room about a block from Target Field downtown. So if you’re in town for the Twins, stop by Fulton too. They only bottle two beers year round, but the tap room selection is always outstanding.

612Brew

The 612 tap room is big and polished, maybe a bit out of character for the bicycles-and-tattoos neighborhood it resides in, but it’s still a good spot with a spectacular patio.

, Minneapolis Is Now A Craft Beer Tourist DestinationHarriet Brewing

No-frills Harriet Brewing is VERY committed to local music. Some might say even the beer takes a backseat to the bands each night, but try it out if you are into live music and beer (and are willing to pay a cover).

Brew Pubs:

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewing

Around since the late 1990s, most reviews mention their Masala Mama IPA, but they have four other year-round beers and a number of seasonals. You can also drink and bowl at the newly renovated Town Hall Lanes, which recently opened a few miles away.

, Minneapolis Is Now A Craft Beer Tourist DestinationNorthbound Smokehouse Brew Pub

Some are there for the brewmaster, and others are there for the chef. Despite the food and beer pedigrees, Northbound is an unpretentious spot.

And finally Surly Brewing opened a much anticipated destination brewery  near the University of Minnesota in 2015, and It’s spectacular.

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