The Brookside Bar & Grill is the newest place to put Lift Bridge’s beer on tap. Located in scenic Marine on St. Croix, the Lift Bridge crew will be there for two different events.

Friday, November 14th 6:00 – 8:00 pm
They will be pouring Farm Girl Saison at the Friday night fish fry. To make the fish fry even better the chef will be using Farm Girl in the batter.

Saturday, November 15th 7:00 – 10:00 pm
They will be bringing a cask of Harvestor, a fresh hop ale made with hops grown in Stillwater. Only one 15bbl batch was made so get it while you can.

Brookside Bar & Grill
140 Judd Street
Marine on St. Croix, MN

In case you that extra shove to get on over to Flat Earth for a growler fill today…

We are releasing a new flavored porter growler each week until the end of the year. This week we are featuring Starman Porter, Cygnus X-1 porter blended with star anise. We will update the website with our other porter offerings. Growler sales are from 3:30 – 6:30 every Thursday, except Thanksgiving week, we will be selling growlers on Wednesday the 25th.

Cheers!
Jeff & Cathie Williamson
Flat Earth Brewing Company

Plucked directly from BA:

New Beer Brand Launches in Area–Brainerd Lakes Brewery

November 5, 2008 – Brainerd, MN – Dan Stanifer and Jesse Grant announced today their partnership in the formation of Brainerd Lakes Brewery. The announcement comes at the same time as invitations to local media were
sent out for a private, invitation-only Media Event/Beer Tasting at Prairie Bay
(15115 Edgewood Drive, Baxter, MN) on November 11 from 5 – 7pm.

Brainerd Lakes Brewery will be located in the Northern Pacific Center in Brainerd. This space will house operations and a tasting room open to the public select hours. Once full production is reached in the spring, beer will be available in the 6-pack at regional liquor stores and on tap at many local and regional restaurants and bars. Distribution arrangements are in the works to allow for rapid regional growth toward the Twin Cities Metro and throughout the Midwest.

Stanifer and Grant have been in the planning stages for Brainerd Lakes Brewery for the last 12 months. As part of their planning for this venture, they attended the Great American Beer Festival in fall of 2007. Beer formulations are
currently being refined and expected release of Brainerd Lakes Brewery beer is spring 2009.

The vision for the business, according to Stanifer, “To not only give somebody a great beer but a great experience with their beer. With some beer companies they put a good beer in the bottle and that is where it ends. With us we want you to enjoy it, not just the taste but the whole experience. The food you eat with it, the people you are with, the situation you are in, take in the world with every sip. We want to educate you about the beer and the experience, teach you how a great beer is made.”

About the Founders.
Dan Stanifer has been home brewing for the last 12 years and has wanted to be a professional brewer for the last 6 years. Originally from just south of Detroit, MI, Stanifer moved to Brainerd in 1998. He is married, has four children and one grandchild.

Jesse Grant is a Brainerd native, currently living in Little Falls, who has been home brewing for four years. He is married and has three children.

Stanifer and Grant met at a local business networking event in 2004 and have been brew partners ever since.

History of Breweries in Brainerd.
The first brewery on record in Brainerd was John Hoffman (1872 – ?) though little is known about it and the company appeared to be short lived, maybe in existence for only one year. Just a few years later, in 1881, Brainerd Brewing Co. started when local saloonkeeper Peter Ort began to supply his own beer. Located on the East side of Boom Lake (listed on city directories as the south end of Fourth Street at Pennsylvania Ave.), the brewery expanded quickly and by 1883 was registered as a brewer of more than 500 barrels.

Articles in the Brainerd Dispatch from 1884 indicate that Ort refurbished the brewery saloon and added a bottling department. The Brainerd Brewing Co. entered the twentieth century under the management of Fred Hoffman and Edward Boppel, expanding capacity between 6,000 and 10,000 barrels per year.

According the 1903 directory, the brewery had at least four employees and two drivers. The company was incorporated in 1906. It was closed by Federal treaty enforcement in 1915.

Greetings,

October was so busy we didn’t have time for a newsletter, so let’s see if we can get you caught up with what been happening.

Look for a new batch of Black Helicopter to be available on draft this month. The label has finally been approved, a mere 7 months of paperwork. There will be a limited amount of 750 ml bottles available at the brewery in a few weeks. We also made a firkin of Black Helicopter

Speaking of firkins, we sent a bunch of Cygnus X-1 firkins out last week; keep an eye out for them at the Bulldog Lowertown (St. Paul), Bulldog NE and The Happy Gnome.

There is a very limited amount of Extra Medium American Wild ale at the following bars: The Happy Gnome, The Muddy Pig, Buster’s on 28th and Stub & Herb’s. Brewed with a blended strain of yeast that provides a refreshing tartness. We only had 3 barrels of Extra Medium so enjoy while you can

We shipped out all the kegs of Rode Haring Flanders Sour Red ale last week. We brewed this beer over a year ago and we have been patiently aging it. We will be doing limited 750 ml bottles of Rode Haring available only at the brewery in a few weeks.

Growler sales have been extremely brisk and we almost always have something special available. Growler sales are every Thursday from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. except for the 27th, we will be open on Wednesday the 26th from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. for your Thanksgiving growler needs.

The next brewery tour is on Saturday the 15th at 4 p.m. come down and takes the tour and get growler.

Thank you and we’ll be seeing you around town,

Jeff & Cathie Williamson
Flat Earth Brewing Company