Training Camp Is About Football. And Beer.

I’m a huge Vikings fan, as are my brother and my cousins, so we decided to road trip down to Mankato, Minnesota, to stay with relatives and watch the opening weekend of Vikings training camp at Minnesota State University.

Mankato is about a 90-minute drive southwest of Minneapolis. The Vikings are one of a handful of NFL teams who still hold training camp in far-flung little towns, away from the city they play in during the regular season. The NY Jets hold their camp more than three hours from NYC in Cortland, NY. For some reason, the New Orleans Saints are holding their camp this year somewhere in West Virginia. The Pittsburgh Steelers hold their camp an hour out of Pittsburgh in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

You remember Latrobe, right? It’s the birthplace of Rolling Rock Beer. InBev moved Rolling Rock production to New Jersey in 2006, pissing off the locals, but the brewery itself lives on, owned by City Brewing. The point is that I think everyone should be able to go to an NFL training camp AND take a brewery tour. Isn’t that the dream of every red-blooded American? Well, it should be.

The Vikes have held training camp in Mankato since 1970. The excellent Mankato Brewery has only been in existence since 2012, but I had to stop by when I got into town because it’s the only craft brewery I know that has its own highway marker. Easiest thing ever. Every craft brewery deserves state-funded highway signs. What a town.

Mankato Brewery is a big facility on the north end of Mankato, with room to grow. At the taproom, I tried a sample of their experimental Raspberry w/ Key Limes IPA (not my thing, but interesting), and their Haymaker IPA Nitro (more up my alley). Visitors can sample everything they brew in a flight or by the pint. You can get growlers too.

Mankato Brewery bottles a number of its beers, which are available in the Twin Cities and in many places in southern Minnesota. If you are a football/beer fan (even a Packers fan), you should check it out between Vikes practices.

And Teddy Bridgewater is going to be a star, you just wait.