For those who say all the new breweries opening are the same, you need to visit Utepils Brewing in Minneapolis.
Pronounced “ohh-tah-pilz,” the brewery, located at 225 Thomas Ave. N, Minneapolis, opened late this winter and focuses on classic, low alcohol European style beers like pilsners, Kolschs, and hefeweizens. They make well rounded beer that can be enjoyed no matter the weather or food pairing.
While going classic can set a brewery apart during this era of extreme experimentalism, the Utepils taproom is also noteworthy. It seats over 150 guests and will soon include an outdoor beer garden near Bassett Creek, which runs along the property. It’s a getaway in a historic building just west of downtown Minneapolis, even though it feels more isolated. It’s next to Theodore Wirth Park, lending a sense of escapism even while the skyline is still in site.
The décor is classic European. With large paintings on the wall – thematically based on their flagship beers – and a historic copper kettle that hangs over the bar, it’s distinct, comforting, and spacious. Windows show off the natural setting, while visitors are further removed from the industrial parking lot by a walkway ushering visitors past the tall fermenters and into the welcoming taproom environment. It’s a big brewery, but it maintains a small vibe amid the community tables, warm colors, and the homage to tradition.
Megan’s official title: VIPer Program Director. But that’s a little stodgy, so feel free to substitute Queen, Tsar, Perk Purveyor, and/or Benevolent Dictator. They all boil down to the same cool gig: Megan manages our VIP program. (Psst—VIPer stands for Very Important Patron, Enthusiast, and Recruiter.) VIPers get tons of awesome benefits, not the least of which is a lot of free beer. Needless to say, Megan’s a popular gal.
With a background in software and tons of experience in corporate America, Megan has analytical and organizational chops to spare—but she’s also super-friendly, which is why she also regularly bartends at the taproom. Come say hi, order a beer from Megan, and ask her about becoming a VIPer.
No. We love dogs, but we are first and foremost a production facility. That means we need to strictly enforce a no-pet policy. No exceptions.
Okay, there is one exception: We’ll welcome dogs on our patio when it’s open. But you’re going to need a best friend to hang out with man’s best friend while you grab another round inside.
Kids are very welcome in our taproom. (Supervised, of course. Unsupervised children will be given espresso and a free puppy. We are only sort of joking.)
This is a pretty kid-friendly spot. We offer non-alcoholic craft sodas, snacks, and games for all ages. Plus, our stunning setting features a creek bank and the opportunity to watch trains go by (both awesome elements, but again, don’t forget about that supervision thing—there are no lifeguards on duty, literal or figurative).
Please keep in mind that minors under the age of 21 are not allowed in the brewery after 9:00 p.m.
Brewers and beer fans are always yak, yak, yakking away about hops and malt and barley and all the other ingredients that make beer what it is. And those are critical elements, to be sure. But there’s one more ingredient that’s highly underrated: water.
Beer starts with water. And there’s a whole lot of water in beer. In fact, it’s so hydrating we should probably start advertising it as a health drink, perfect for strenuous athletic activities and general wellbeing. (Side note to our lawyers: we’re kidding.)
In all seriousness, water is an incredibly important component of beer. If you don’t believe us, try drinking beer made from crummy water. It’ll be crummy beer. Guaranteed.
At Utepils, we’re all about using traditional, time-tested methods to brew the best, freshest, most delicious beer we can. That means we’re very picky about the ingredients we use. Since we don’t hide our ingredients with fancy, bizarre flavors (you won’t find a maple-watermelon-parsley-fudge beer here), we have no room for error. Everything we put into our beer must be really, really good.
That’s why we were so excited to source our water from Glenwood spring. In fact, our brewery and taproom are in the very building that used to be the bottling plant for Glenwood Spring water company. It doesn’t get much more local than that. We pump our water from wells located on local park land. The water enters our building through an underground pipe that runs beneath the nearby creek.
Water quality is just the beginning. Water chemistry is just as important. Few people know that the chemistry makeup of water goes a long way to determining the style of beer. One of the primary reasons that different beer styles originate from such different geographic regions is that the local water in those regions determined what the local brewers could accomplish. For example: The high mineral content of water in England would have made it difficult for English breweries to produce the Pilsner style, which requires water with low levels of minerals. Czech water, on the other hand, was right on the money. That’s why Czech-style pilsners, like our flagship Pils, are so delicious.
We brew several different styles of beer here. Authenticity demands that several different styles require several different types of water. So how do we make that work? We source high quality spring water and then perform a reverse osmosis treatment to remove the minerals, including the high levels of iron and manganese characteristic of water in this area. This gives us a blank slate so we can actually recreate the specific water chemistry native to region and style we’re brewing. Cool, huh?
This blend of local quality and regional specificity is just some of the wizardry we perform here at Utepils. Come taste the difference.
That smiling face you see when you walk into the Fernweh taproom? It’s Kelsey Bomgaars. (Okay, it could be just about anyone. There are a lot of smiling faces at Fernweh, because we brew really good beer that makes people happy.) But Kelsey’s a huge reason they’re all so happy. She loves coming to work every day, and it shows: Kelsey makes everyone who crosses her path feel like royalty—staff and customers alike.
Kelsey’s responsible for managing staff and making sure everything runs smoothly in the taproom, and she also had her hand in designing the taproom. She can do just about everything, aside from picking her favorite Utepils beer. She says that’s like picking a favorite child.
If there’s such thing as an over-qualified head brewer, it’s Eric Harper. (Don’t tell him. We want to keep him.) Eric has an unbelievable resume, including many years honing his craft at other breweries as well as a prestigious diploma from London’s Institute of Brewing and Distilling (yes, that’s a thing). In spite of all that, when asked why he’s so awesome at his job, his answer is: “I love beer.” That passion, skill, and experience shows up in every sip. The team says they hit the trifecta with Eric, whom they describe as a chef, food scientist, and cool guy all rolled into one.
Director of Operations is the ultimate catch-all title, which means Jeff wears more hats than a Dr. Seuss character. He handles everything from general maintenance to running special events and working with the distributor. Fortunately, no one is better at juggling a heavy, complex workload. “There’s not a lot of gray area in my life,” Jeff says. “I make quick decisions and I’m willing to take on anything and see it through to completion.” He’s not kidding. In his former life as an event manager, Jeff once had a tornado decimate an event just prior to airing on national television, and he rebuilt everything before anyone could blink an eye. And then he cracked a beer.
Seven hours. That’s how long we had a line out the door for the February 18th grand opening at our Fernweh taproom. We were blown away by how many of you showed up to enjoy good times and delicious beer with friends, family, neighbors, and strangers! And even more of you tuned in to our live feed. The response has been incredible, and we feel so lucky to be part of this awesome community.
Thank you to all of you who braved the long lines on opening day. From what we hear, the beer was more than worth the wait. And if you couldn’t join us, we look forward to raising a glass with you soon.
Check out our grand opening highlights video, courtesy of Jeff and Rita at Lifeimage LLC. (Warning—loud bagpipes!)
How often do you see a CFO hang sheetrock? It’s all in a day’s work for Jim Moore. Jim has serious financial credentials, including 20+ years in corporate banking and multiple gigs as a financial assassin for high-growth companies. Still, he’s best suited to the all-hands-on-deck philosophy at Utepils. In fact, it’s his favorite thing about his job. “Since joining Utepils, I’ve used every skill set that I’ve accumulated in my entire life,” he beams. Jim isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, but he keeps the books clean as a whistle. With Jim on the job, no one has to worry about the numbers. And that means we can all spend more time with the beer.
Don’t let Dan’s self-deprecating humor fool you—he knows he has a good thing going here. “I was a total nerd in high school,” he says. “Now I get to live this big adventure.” His title might be president, but his real job is professional people person. Dan’s specialty: “Find really great people to do the work I don’t know how to do, and support them in their roles.” It’s working. If you ask his team, Dan’s gift for vision and leadership makes him the Pied Piper of beer. People just want to be part of what he’s doing. (It doesn’t hurt that what he’s doing is creating delicious beer.)
Before starting Utepils, Dan honed his brewing chops as co-owner and president of Vine Park Brewing. He also served on the board of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, including a stint as president. So he’s still a nerd, but now he’s a super social beer nerd with a really cool job.
By JESS FLEMING | jfleming@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
March 28, 2017
Ewald the Golden by Utepils Brewing: Tucked away in a former warehouse on Bassett Creek in Minneapolis’ Bryn Mawr neighborhood, Utepils Brewing, which opened about six months ago, isn’t exactly on the beaten path.
“Alt” is German for old. Our Alt 1848 is a copper-hued ale with spicy caramel flavor and timeless style. Sean Gray's illustration features the copper kettle top over our bar that came from Füchschen brewery, one of the original brewers of Alt Bier in 1848.
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“Alt” is German for old. And while our beer is fresh as a Siberian iris in spring, the style couldn’t be more classic. Ale is the old-fashioned method of making beer, originally brewed in Düsseldorf, Germany. (Not the newfangled lager style that showed up later.) Our Alt 1848 is a copper-hued ale with spicy caramel flavor and timeless style.
The copper kettle top over our bar comes from Füchschen brewery, one of the original brewers of Alt Bier in 1848. Sean’s illustration features a badger and a fox brewing on the copper kettle. The badger references Brewmaster Eric’s alma mater (the University of Wisconsin, which also opened in 1848). The fox references Füchschen, which translates to “little fox.” While the fox and badger brew up some Alt 1848 for us, the sun pouring through the window makes it a classic Utepils moment.
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Sean Gray created this amazing artwork to bring the Glocal spirit to life. We’ve brought Europe to our corner of Minneapolis by combining local Glenwood spring water with the finest malted barley from Europe.
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“Glocal” is a mashup of local and global. Our talented Midwestern brewer combines local Glenwood spring water for brewing with the finest malted barley from Europe, a spicy Belgian yeast strain, and hops from both Europe and America. Glocal IPA is dry, spicy, and tart with a bitter edge enlivened by a citrusy aroma.
Sean’s poster brings the Glocal spirit to life. A map, a copper globe, a keg with a built-in compass and the French and Belgian flags on the “Flightski™” evoke our European roots. But we’ve brought Europe to our corner of Minneapolis, with cross-country skiers arriving in our beergarden for a glass (or two) of Glocal IPA.
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The name Ewald dates back to Irish brothers from the tenth century who decided the Germanic tribes needed enlightenment. Sean Gray created this amazing artwork to help bring a new form of joyous enlightenment to the masses.
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A really good Hefeweizen boasts fresh flavors and delicious aromas thanks to golden wheat and a special yeast. (And no, you should never add fruit to it.) Ewald the Golden features aromas of banana and clove and, of course, a bubbly foam “halo.” You could drink it in an igloo, and it’ll transport you to a sunny, summer day.
Early in our planning stage, our Brewmaster needed a secret code name so he could volunteer with us while still keeping his job. (Shh!) We called him Ewald, and a legend was born. The name Ewald dates back to Irish brothers from the tenth century who decided the Germanic tribes needed enlightenment. Within 48 hours of their arrival, they were martyred and ended up as Catholic saints. One was known as Ewald the Light and the other Ewald the Dark. Our Ewald the Golden is shown in a field of wheat bearing a beautiful glass of Hefeweizen, bringing a new form of joyous enlightenment to the masses. (And the Ewald icon? That’s our Brewmaster Eric’s face.)
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What is the origin of the word copacetic? Sean Gray created this amazing artwork to capture the spirit of the word; and the beer. Light and bright with a subtle blend of hops and malt, Copacetic is the perfect beer for relaxing and telling stories.
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Like champagne, Kölsch is only made in one place: Cologne, Germany. Brewed elsewhere, it’s called “Kölsch style” (and ours is as authentic as it gets, with barley grown right near Cologne). Light and bright with a subtle blend of hops and malt, Copacetic is the perfect beer for relaxing and telling stories.
Copacetic is mysterious word of unknown origin. Many theories exist, but the word was popularized by the Apollo astronauts to convey: “Everything is A-OK. There’s no trouble in sight.” With that spirit in mind, Sean depicted a relaxed, sunny day with a family enjoying a picnic on the banks of the Rhine river in Cologne. Kites for the kids. A growler of Utepils Copacetic for the adults. Everyone wins.
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Sean Gray created some amazing artwork for our beer! He captured our motto that good brewing starts with honoring the traditions of brewers who have gone before us. Our beer is brewed using the highest quality water from the historic Glenwood Inglewood wells to produce beer that is classic yet uniquely distinct. Using tried and true brewing practices, we seek to create a new tradition in the Twin Cities that brings friends and families together to share time and beer with one another.
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Utepils is a Norwegian word that describes the anticipation for the first beer enjoyed in the sunshine with friends after a long, cold winter. We know a thing or two about Utepils in Minnesota, and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate sunshine than with our flagship beer, Utepils Pils. It’s brewed with Czech-grown barley and hops; fermented with a Czech lager yeast strain.
Sean captured an Utepils moment with five friends raising a glass of delicious pilsner. The stained glass frame features a mix of hops and barley, the core ingredients of beer. The rushing creek and green grass are a nod to our biergarten, and the Siberian iris is always one of the first flowers to bloom in spring. Sunshine. Friends. Beer. Is there anything better?
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It’s kind of like a magic portal where a sad, empty growler goes in and—POOF!— it comes out ready to party.
Hmm…if only we could use it to magically transform other things. What would you put in our growler fill station? Your job? Your bank account? Now we’re day- dreaming. And we’re day-dreaming with a full growler of delicious beer, which is pretty awesome.
Wondering what makes the fill station such a Big Deal? We’re so glad you asked.
A lot of breweries take the bottling process seriously, but then they get sloppy when it comes to growlers. They fill them at the same taps that were designed for pint glasses. Beer’s sloshing all over the place and it ends up too foamy or too flat. We think that’s criminal. So, as with everything we do at Utepils, we aimed for better.
Instead of filling growlers at the tap, we do it in a clean controlled environment. At the risk of getting too technical, we displace the atmosphere in the growler with CO2 and pressurize the bottle before filling it up. The fill station prevents excessive foaming, which is cool for three reasons:
The result is beer that meets our ludicrously high standards. You can bring a growler to a party with pride, knowing that it’ll draw oohs and aahs and yums.
In effect, our growler station properly "bottles" the beer. While tap-filled growlers only last a couple of days, your Utepils growler should be refrigerator stable for weeks. (Not that you’ll want to wait that long to enjoy it. But it means you can buy multiple growlers at a time, knowing that when the Utepils moment strikes, your beer will be ready.)
Need another reason to try the fill station? It’s really, really fun to watch. And the only thing we care about as much as the taste of our beers is the experience you have.
Stop by the Fernweh taproom and check it out for yourself. We can’t transform everything for you, but a growler of great beer to share with friends is a pretty good start.
Utepils Grand Opening is THIS SATURDAY! We’d love to raise a glass with you, but we know not everyone will be able to make it (and frankly, not all of you will fit). MORE INFO HERE -->
Good news: You can still be part of the party. We’ll be livestreaming the whole event, but watching without drinking is like living without breathing. LIVE STREAM HERE -->
Solution: Swing by the taproom today or tomorrow to pick up a growler, and you can toast right along with us from wherever you are. Bonus: You’ll be one of the first to experience our ridiculously cool growler fill station. That way, when your friends who attend the Grand Opening won’t shut up about their growlers, you can just smile and start planning your trip for a refill.
"...Utepils is prepared for big business, opening with the state’s sixth largest brewhouse out of Minnesota’s 120-plus breweries. When optimized, the brewhouse could brew up to six batches of beer per day. Seventy-nine pilings reaching 105 feet into the ground support the immense weight of the two-story tanks above."
— Michelle Bruch, Southwest Journal
Read the full article on Southwest Journal
"...Founder Dan Justesen has been part of the Minnesota beer scene for the better part of this millennium, working at Vine Park in St. Paul and with the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. Over the past decade he’s heard his peers frequently talking about how they wished they’d started bigger. He’s also noted the rapidly changing demand for local beer. As a co-owner of Vine Park in the early 2000s, he recalls being one of the first breweries to sell growlers." —Loren Green, The growler
Read the full article on The Growler
“To start from scratch and do something total new, that’s fun,” —Eric Harper
Read more about the story at Fox 9 News
Another big Thank you to Star Tribune for noticing the changes and giving us a 2nd mention in less than two weeks.
Long overlooked, area's proximity to downtown gains momentum.
Click here to read the entire article!
A big thank you to the Star Tribune for a little preview into our taproom!
You know that moment that comes after a long winter, when the sun pokes through and the grass springs loose and it’s pleasant enough to sit outside and perhaps indulge in an adult beverage?
There’s a word for that. Well, in Norwegian, anyway.
Click here to read the entire article!
Meet VIPers Pete and Tracy Kootsikas!
When these active parents aren't running a successful Pedal Pub franchise in Nashville, TN, attending sporting events, and hosting friends at their home, you can probably catch them out enjoying a great beer together.
Join Pete and Tracy on their lifelong VIPer adventure at: https://utepils-2023.flywheelsites.com/
Why did these two decide to become VIPers? Simple! To them, it's all about creating new connections, making new friends, and getting to know the (Utepils Brewing) staff really well. There's nothing better than enjoying good beer with good people at a great brewery. #MemBEERship
We love a great neighborhood party so we’re adding TWO fun stops to the Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Festival of Garage Sales on May 7.
ONE: After a day of shopping for upcycled treasures, grab your lawn chairs and join us for a Root Beer Float Social at the future home of Utepils Brewing Co. from 2:00-5:00. It's an informal chance to see transformation underway of a nearly abandoned warehouse to vibrant craft brewery at 225 Thomas Ave. North.
TWO: Wander thru the amazing offerings in Trappings in the heart of downtown Bryn Mawr and find us in back with much to offer from 1:30-5:00. We can answer questions, point you to our site for root beer, and maybe share a treat with you.
In 2015, we opened our doors so neighbors could for the 1st time see what was hidden inside. Now you can see that it is not just words but a lot of action happening. We'd love to say hello.
T-shirts and a MemBEERship information & sign up booth will be available. Credit cards accepted.
Dan, Jim, Tammy and Utepils Brewing Company held a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday amid active construction on the brewhouse and taproom, located in the former Glenwood-Inglewood bottling plant now known as @Glenwood.
Click Here For The Full Article!
Explore Minnesota recently published an article on their website showcasing the top breweries opening this summer and Utepils Brewing received a nice shout out! The experience of owner Dan Justesen and head brewer Eric Harper is highlighted as Utepils Brewing is featured alongside other burgeoning breweries throughout the state.
Click Here to Read the Entire Article!
The Line Media just released a list of the top redevelopment projects taking place in Minneapolis and St. Paul this year and our craft brewery came in at #2! Utepils Brewing is leading the redevelopment of the site of the old Glenwood Inglewood Water Company and joining the trend of hip businesses and cutting-edge architecture that is transforming Glenwood Ave.
