Any other pickers or singers in the club? Anyone interested in a jam
sometime during the campout in August - maybe Saturday afternoon,
post-Friday hangover and pre-Saturday drunk? ;-D Just to be on-topic, we
could limit it to beer and/or other vices... I know about a hundred of
them....
- Al
Minnesota Brewing closes its doors
Tony Kennedy
Star Tribune
Published Jun 25, 2002
The owners of Minnesota Brewing Co. closed the doors on nearly 150 years
of state beer-making history Monday by shutting down the former Jacob
Schmidt brewery on St. Paul's W. 7th Street.
It was the last old-line brewery in the Twin Cities that hadn't dried up
as a result of ever-increasing domination of the industry by national
labels Budweiser, Miller and Coors. The company had filed for bankruptcy
protection in February.
The brewery's chief brand, Grain Belt Premium, might live on, but only if
another regional brewer buys it or agrees to make it under a production
contract.
"It's a sad deal," said Glen Quant, the most senior of all 120 workers
left jobless by the plant closing.
"We stopped filling bottles about noon. At 3 p.m., they shut down all the
[packaging] lines for good and called us into a meeting," Quant said.
St. Paul City Council Member Chris Coleman called the plant an "old,
important St. Paul institution." He said it's unfortunate that the
brewery has failed while the business meant to help it succeed, a
controversial ethanol plant, will continue to operate.
With the brewery's creaky bottling line operating under a leaky roof,
bankers overseeing the company's bankruptcy reorganization finally gave
up hope for a turnaround and demanded the keys. The shutdown came four
years and nine months after a similarly sudden shutdown hit the equally
historic Stroh Brewery on St. Paul's East Side. Some former Stroh workers
had found jobs at Minnesota Brewing.
Lisa Nasseff, a spokeswoman for Minnesota Brewing, said a piecemeal
liquidation of the old Schmidt plant is the most likely scenario.
"I don't think anyone would be horribly optimistic at this point" that
someone would reopen it, Nasseff said.
Minnesota Brewing Chief Executive Officer Jim Freeman called Monday a sad
day in the plant's history. The first beer was made on the site in 1855
by German settlers.
"Over 100 families who relied on the brewery for their income will be
looking for other employment opportunities," Freeman said in a prepared
statement.
Because it was raining, the impromptu meeting to announce the shutdown
was held in the brewery's entertainment rathskeller, the site of
countless private parties, political fundraisers and community meetings
over the years.
"There were some real long faces in that meeting," said Tom Swanda, a
36-year plant veteran who commiserated briefly in the employee parking
lot with co-workers. The lot was empty within 30 minutes of the
announcement.
"A lot of guys have to go home and tell their wives that they are out of
a job," Swanda said.
Ruth Suttles, a 22-year veteran of the bottling line, said she was
operating the pasteurizer when production was halted. "All the cans are
still in there, everything just stopped," she said.
Timing was a surprise
Suttles and other workers knew the company was facing large debts -- more
than $14 million -- but the timing of the shutdown was a surprise. Since
February, when Minnesota Brewing filed for bankruptcy protection to duck
pressure from unpaid creditors, there were muted hopes of a turnaround.
All was lost when the brewery couldn't keep up with production orders for
its largest customer, the owners of Mike's Hard Lemonade. Mike's was made
under contract at the St. Paul plant.
Suttles said workers don't know whether Minnesota Brewing and its parent,
MBC Holdings Inc., will honor labor agreements that call for severance
and vacation pay. She said there was no 60-day plant-closing
notification, as required by federal law, because of the bankruptcy
status.
"I just think we were done wrong," Suttles said.
In recent years, the brewery operated with as many as 160 full-time
workers during peak summer months. The remaining ethanol plant, which was
built in 1999 with the help of state ethanol subsidies, employs 14
people. It was designed to save the brewery by sharing brewery overhead
expenses.
"Now all Minnesota has left is a stinky ethanol plant near downtown St.
Paul," said Jay Mitzuk, a brewery worker since 1972.
Pat Dwyer, co-owner of Grumpy's Bar in Minneapolis and a supporter of
Minnesota beer brands, said he hopes the Grain Belt label is picked up by
another brewery. Originally, the beer was made in northeast Minneapolis
and was a fierce rival with the St. Paul-based Schmidt brand.
"It was hard enough to see it move from Minneapolis to St. Paul," Dwyer
said. "But this breaks my heart. I'll still support it, though."
Grain Belt's prospects
Mark Stutrud, founder of St. Paul-based Summit Brewing Co., said he would
be interested in acquiring the Grain Belt label if it is priced
reasonably. New Ulm-based August Schell Brewing Co. also has expressed
some interest.
"It's a sad state of affairs," Stutrud said of Monday's plant shutdown.
Summit operates out of an all-new, right-sized brewery on the bluffs of
the Mississippi River near Interstate Hwy. 35E.
The old-line plants were huge by comparison, built in an era when
regional beers such as Grain Belt, Schmidt and Hamm's had large market
shares. When Budweiser, Miller and Coors took hold as national beers, the
old regional plants were left with too much unused capacity, Stutrud
said.
Minneapolis businessman Bruce Hendry is chairman of MBC Holdings, the
company that operates the ethanol plant and brewery. He could not be
reached for comment.
With the help of government subsidy, Hendry bought the idle St. Paul
brewery in 1990. It had been mothballed by previous owner G. Heileman
Brewing Co. of LaCrosse, Wis., which was the last company to produce the
flagship Schmidt brand in St. Paul. Though the brewery chronically lost
money, Hendry and fellow investors received rent payments from the beer
plant as owners of the property.
-- Kevin Duchschere contributed to this report.
David Berg
President, Minnesota Craft Brewer's Guild
Head Brewer, Water Tower Brewing Company
Hey all,
This Saturday ,6/29 our first Wheatfest celebration will happen at the
Minneapolis Townhall Brewery.
Come join us as we hoist a pint to wish the farmers well, as they have
finished the planting season.
*5:00pm- special Planters Food Platter Served (served all night)
*6-7pm- Tasting hour...Try your favorite wheat beer for just $1.00per pint
($2.00 for peach)
Choose from:
Hefeweizen
Dunkleweizen
Weizenbock
Wheat based....Belgian style Peach Lambic
(brewed last year)
* 7:00pm- Door Prizes Start
* 8:00pm- Live Music Starts....
"Interstellar Bus Stop"...Five piece band from Des Moines. Check them
out at www.interstellarbusstop.com
Should be a fine time....Come early for your limited edition wheatfest logo.
Hope we see you
Mike
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
Hello everybody,
It has been a while since we here at Great Waters have sent out any
updates. We're sorry if you have been waiting at your computer for the
last year for a message from us. Please help us update our address book
by sending a message back.
We have had some big changes over the last year and we have some
fun events in the near future. Jeff Martin has left for Colorado and I
(Scott Krebsbach) have taken over the brewing. Stop by and let me know
what you think. I can take it.
It is now summer and we have an American IPA on tap as we speak
with a German Hefe on the way. We also have the best patio in downtown
with a beautiful view of the 7th place mall and within walking distance
of 4 theaters.
And last but not least, we have a couple great happy hours. $2.50
rail drinks and pints of house beers from 3:30pm - 6:30pm M-F and 10pm -
Close Sun-F.
Hope to see ya soon,
Scott Krebsbach
Head Brewer
GLBN HOP TIPS 2002.06.19
Compiled by Bob "Now go have a beer" Paolino
Great Lakes Brewing News Hop Tips Editor
Greetings Hop Tipplers--
Tickets to the 16th Annual Great Taste of the Midwest<sm> sold out on June 12. If you want to attend North America's second longest running craft beer festival and didn't get your tickets for the August 10 event in Madison, you'll have to wait until 2003. Tickets will go on sale 1 May 2003. Those who planned ahead this year will get to sample from among 400-500 different beers from 100 of the Midwest's best brewpubs, micros, and regionals. The festival is presented each year by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild. Proceeds benefit Community Radio 89.9FM/WORT (what else?) and local charities.
Speaking of the best breweries, the World Beer Cup 2002 medalists were announced last week and Madison's Angelic Brewing Company topped all craft brewers by winning SIX medals for its beers. Congratulations to Dean and Shane for producing some great beers. In a couple days, we'll have a listing of all the winning beers from the Great Lakes region posted at http://www.brewingnews.com/greatlakes
Did I say Great Lakes? Ohio beer enthusiasts are well aware of Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing Company (no affiliation with Great Lakes Brewing News, other than a common interest in good beer). If you're in Western NYS, you'll have an opportunity to enjoy a free sampling of Great Lakes Brewing Company beers at Pizza Plant Transit at 8pm Wednesday (tonight!). The pub will also be serving GLBC's Rockefeller Bock on tap.
Catch you next week. Now go have a beer!
Your Great Lakes region festival or beer special could be listed here, too. Drop me a note at NGHAB(a)brewingnews.com
Now go have a beer,
Bob Paolino
Columnist, Great Lakes Brewing News
Member, North American Guild of Beer Writers
Quill and Tankard Awards winner:
2001--Culture Feature (Gold), 2000--Travel Feature (Silver)
Great Lakes Brewing News advertising information: 800.474.7291
Brewers & organizers should also post their events at http://www.brewingnews.com/submitevent.html for the beer loving masses to see.
BREWING NEWS INFO:
Great Lakes Brewing News is available at no charge to customers at hundreds of fine breweries, pubs, package stores, and other beer businesses throughout the region. If you don't see it at your favorite establishment, be sure to tell the management to get in touch with via the contact form at our website http://www.greatlakes.brewingnews.com
If you find that everyone else has already gotten a copy and left none for you, or you would simply like the convenience of having your copy delivered to your mailbox, order a subscription to any or all of the Brewing News newspapers (Great Lakes Brewing News, Yankee Brew News, Southwest Brewing News, Mid-Atlantic Brewing News and Northwest Brewing News) at http://subscribe.brewingnews.com
----------
Hope your enjoying a craft or home brew right now. Remember, drink responsibly, it's the only way!
----- End of forwarded message from GLBN Update -----
Hey,
Who would I talk to about changing the notice on the
back of the newsletter regarding the WestSide
meetings? We don't really hold those at the shop
anymore. I'd like to change it to: Call WindRiver
Brewing or visit their website at
www.windriverbrew.com/newsletter.html for meeting
schedules, and times and locations.
I have been rotating it between The WaterTower, Hops
and Sherlock's.
For those who don't know, the next meeting is at the
Water Tower this Wed at 7:00 pm.
Cheers!
WH
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
I have been building my recipes on Beertools.com, and they contacted me and
asked if they could use one of my recipes as the featured recipe. Woo hoo!
I got in some plugs for our club, the Mash-Out contest, our favorite
brewery, and a couple of our favorite homebrew stores.
Check it out!
http://www.beertools.com/html/recipes.shtml
- Al
The competition is heating up and the vote buying will be intense. We thought about suspending beer drinking on election day but it just didn't seem right for a club event. Susan forwarded the style information that I previously omitted and here it is for your brewing and bottling pleasure.
The Styles for the Minnesota Club Campout (remember, follow the signs) are:
Open Pils (BJCP 1a, 2a and 2b)
Open Belgian (BJCP Styles 18, 19 & 20 all sub-styles)
Porter (BJCP Style 15)
Session Beers (Any beer with 1.040 or less Original Gravity)
Now if we could only agree on a method of judging beer from a keg? Think of how many more entries we would get! Heck, we probably wouldn't run out!!!
See you in August.
Rick
