How the Minnesota State Fair became a "craft beer haven"
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A Mini Donut Beer outside of Ballpark Cafe. Photo: Nick Halter/Axios
The Great Minnesota Get Together has become the Great Minnesota Drink Together over the past dozen years, and the state's craft breweries are reaping the rewards with their exclusive, themed, stunt beers.
Why it matters: The wacky beers both add to the State Fair's allure and raise awareness for Minnesota's brewing industry.
- Other fairs around the country don't celebrate craft beer the way Minnesota does, said Bob Galligan of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild.
Flashback: Lift Bridge Brewing's debut of its Mini Donut Beer in 2013 was one of the first "stunt" beers at the fair. Industry members tell Axios it started a trend that's grown into a centerpiece of the festivities.
- That first year, Lift Bridge brewed 40 kegs for vendor Ballpark Cafe, where employees rimmed beer cups with cinnamon and sugar, recalled chief operating officer Brad Glynn.
- Within a day, the beer was running out and staff had to begin rationing it, because fair officials require vendors to offer a consistent experience across all 12 days.
Stunning stat: This year, Lift Bridge is making about 400 kegs of the Mini Donut Beer, in addition to 15 new beers and hard-seltzer slushies, Glynn told Axios.
- The Stillwater-based company, one of the 10 largest breweries in the state, will do about 5% of its annual sales at the 12-day fair, he said.
- The fair has become such a big deal for Lift Bridge that on opening day, staff took a dozen social-media influencers around to try the new flavors.
How it works: If breweries want their drinks listed on the State Fair's annual "new sips" list, they need to make something exclusive to the fair. It's a worthwhile tradeoff because that list is heavily used by curious attendees.
What they're saying: Indeed Brewing chief business officer Ryan Bandy told Axios that coming up with a recipe can be a ton of work, but creating a hit can mean good publicity and a nice sales bump at the end of summer, just before the inevitable autumn sales slump hits.
- Indeed's Mountain Brew — a play on the soft drink — debuted in 2021 and has returned every year since. The brewery features four new sips this year, including Blackberry Limeade Lager and an Agua Fresca Hard Slushie.
Yes, but: For every Mini Donut Beer or Mountain Brew, there's a dud that costs the brewery time and money.
- "Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you," Bandy said.
The intrigue: Fulton Beer tends to avoid the super wacky stuff, thought its OMG slushy has been popular for a few years.
- Co-founder Brian Hoffman said Fulton focuses on its flagships like Lonely Blonde, because they are a chance to get their best beers in front of the 2 million people who attend the fair.
The bottom line: "I don't even think [fair leaders] fully realized that it's a craft beer haven, and people will actually come here just to scout out a whole bunch of the beers," the guild's Galligan said.