36 of the Best Craft Breweries in Minneapolis-St. Paul

56 believes in diversity, equity, and inclusion, hosting multiple events for all to feel welcome, including a full slate of Pride events. Its ‘Ssippi Squeeze Citra and Mosaic IPA is rife with tropical fruit, and the Razzy Lil’ Pucker is brewed with over 300 pounds of raspberries, replicating the joy of eating freshly picked berries.

Arbeiter prides itself on being open to people of all backgrounds and beliefs. It’s also kid-and-dog-friendly, and one of the most relaxing spots to have a pint. Two of its claims to fame are its Bee Sting and TOKKI rice lagers. Both are light and crisp, easy-drinking beers with subtle floral notes.

Bauhaus is brimming with color and lively beers like a salted watermelon sour, coriander-laced jasmine rice lager, and pink guava gose. Core beers like a Czech-style pilsner (Wonderstuff) are award-winning. Bauhaus also has a “Nah” range of top-shelf non-alcoholic (NA) beers. Its NA Helles tastes like the real thing. If you’re looking for a laid-back meal with a little personality, chef Jon Wipli steers the barbecue ship at his terrific Animales food truck every weekend. 

A member-owned brewing cooperative with a play area, board games, and special events for the entire family, Broken Clock offers a variety of familiar beer styles but isn’t afraid to get creative. An example is Caught in the Rain, an imperial cream ale with pineapple and coconut aged in rum barrels. Unidos Food Co. offers gourmet hot dogs, hard-shell tacos, and veggie dishes inside the brewery.

If you ask Fair State’s brewers what they love, it’s making and drinking lager. It shows. Crankin’ Foamers and Foamers Lime are corn lagers your grandparents would recognize if they grew up drinking macro beer, and Pils is one of the best German-style pilsners in the state. If you’re adventurous, the brewery often makes limited batches of brave moves like a barrel-fermented smoked sour wheat (Lichtenhainer).

Filled with pinball machines, a CD jukebox, and many TVs, Falling Knife almost feels like a callback to bowling alleys from the ‘90s. The brewery has excelled at lagers and New England IPA since its 2019 opening, but if you’re lucky enough to find its Ancient barleywine series, you’ll experience a master class in malt and oak barrels. Timberwolves fans should also look out for Falling Knife’s infamous watch parties; last season’s were so packed many diehard fans brought their own folding chairs. 

Chorizo tacos and a Lonely Blonde American blonde ale hit the spot at Fulton. Located a short walk from Modist in the North Loop (and a five-minute walk from Target Field), Fulton is one of the old guards in Minnesota craft beer. The taproom menu is fit for those who love older styles; a porter, Russian imperial stout, golden lager, Munich lager, and light beer are often on tap.

One of the earliest breweries to set up shop in Northeast Minneapolis — a hotspot for hops — Indeed has been cranking out crowd-pleasing beers since 2012. Its most recent success, a pistachio cream ale, sounds simple. But that simplicity holds a complex menagerie of pistachio nuttiness with a hint of bready malt. One of its core beers, Day Tripper, is styled after West Coast hoppy beers of yesteryear, and the Yamma Jamma ale with sweet potatoes and spices will transport you straight to Thanksgiving.

How many breweries can claim to have salsa nights, a cozy 3v3 soccer pitch and a full-on beer league? If fútbol isn’t your thing, La Doña Cervecería’s Mexican lager will be. A bold version brewed with serrano peppers adds heat to an otherwise bready beer. A mole stout is another unique treat combining serrano peppers and chocolate.

Modist is a bit punk rock, offering pop-up parties in its special event space and doing beer on their terms. What helps with the latter is the mash filter the brewery uses. Not only is there an environmental plus in saving water by using it, but the device allows for genuinely unique beers using higher percentages of grains you can’t utilize otherwise. Beers like Dreamyard have a fluffy mouthfeel thanks to the amount of oats the mash filter allows. Modist also makes oak-aged lagers — a rarity in taprooms — and a strong THC seltzer series (MELT) with fruit-forward flavors like calamansi tangerine, apricot pear vanilla, and strawberry rhubarb lemonade.

Northbound was featured on Food Network for a good reason: the food and beer are well done and pair perfectly. Smoke is the star of the show, whether it’s used in chicken wings, trout, pork ribs, or beets. The theme extends to a Smokehouse Porter infused with sweet caramel and subtle cocoa flavors.

Located near the mighty Mississippi River and the Mississippi Walking Trail, you can enjoy the outdoors before a beer — and finish the night laughing with a local comedian at the nearby Acme Comedy Company. While many restaurants are nearby, like the popular Parlour, Pryes makes delicious wood-fired pizza onsite. The Royal Raspberry sour is a fan favorite, and coffee lovers will want to try the Peace Coffee collaboration, Peace Offering.

Surly has been synonymous with Minnesota’s beer scene ever since its Furious IPA debut. Its vast beer hall is a true cathedral of beer, boasting a beer garden, two different food menus (a wide range of brewpub offerings downstairs and Connecticut-style pizza upstairs), and 20 taps brimming with different beer styles. They even host major concerts in an open field every summer. Past acts have included The National, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Tame Impala, and former Minnesotans The Hold Steady. 

Surly may be more mainstream than ever, but they’re still pushing out big, creative beers — everything from an effusive Raging Furious to such taproom exclusives as a Sicilian-style pilsner (Lido Deck) and a mixed berry sour conditioned on cacao and vanilla (Heart Shaped Box).

A boon for beer and food lovers, Town Hall is a lunch and dinner destination. Blackened walleye and wild rice hot dish with Masala Mama IPA is a winning combo. Town Hall is unique for having not one, but three beers usually in casks, giving the beer a more creamy mouthfeel. Town Hall also hosts an essential barrel-aged event every February.

This brewery’s massive taproom and creekside beer garden evoke the feeling of drinking in Germany, which makes sense as most of its beers are interpretations of traditional styles, like Bavarian hefeweizen and unfiltered Czech pilsner. It’s also one of the places where you can have a traditional Berliner Weisse with a fruit flavor shot.

Venn’s logo depicts the arctic fox, a communal creature that survives the coldest winters in packs. It fits this neighborhood brewery perfectly. Located near the mighty Minnehaha Falls, Venn makes beer and coffee, serving up old-school styles like Scottish ales, and new-age styles like hazy double IPAs. Swing by for a honey-kissed miel in the morning, and sip on a peanut butter and chocolate stout in the evening. Venn is also on a light rail stop if you’d like to leave your car at home.

Sour beer is Wild Mind’s claim to fame. But it’s also known for its Kölsch nights, where glasses of the German pale ale are brought directly to your table once you’ve finished your small glass of beer. Traditional Kölsch service in America is fairly new and worth experiencing at least once. (Fair State is another local brewery that offers it.)

Hopcromancer IPA is a Bad Weather staple. Its biscuit and cracker malt flavor combines with a nice, slightly pithy citrus flavor. The brewery has plenty of lagers on tap and a large taproom featuring video games. (A two-day Outdoor Arcade Party takes over Bad Weather’s parking lot / patio every spring as well.)

Bang might be the most unique brewery in the Midwest. The brewery and taproom are inside a custom-built grain bin, and its patio sits amongst wild grass and plenty of butterflies. Bang is focused on sustainability and uses Minnesota-grown Kernza grain in most of its beers, including a special lager collab with Patagonia Provisions.

Barrel Theory is best known for its IPAs, especially Rain Drops, which highlights one of the beer industry’s most popular hop combos: Citra and Mosaic. Heavily fruited sour beers and barrel-aged stouts are also popular here. Located in Lowertown, Barrel Theory is a great spot to have a beer and then walk to the popular Buttered Tin bakery and cafe for a Lake Superior walleye cake benedict, Dark Horse Bar & Eatery for smoked brisket, or the St. Paul Farmers Market for local art, produce, and food.

BlackStack’s knack for hoppy fruit flavors covers up the intense ABV of its big double, triple, quad, and even quintuple IPAs. The taproom is cavernous and comfy with couches and soft-cushioned chairs. BlackStack often plays sports on its gigantic projector. too. And if you like mini golf and old arcade games, Can Can Wonderland is on the lower level of the old canning factory BlackStack is located in.

A great spot before, during, and after Minnesota United matches, Dual Citizen features many styles, from big, bold barleywines to brown and red ales. Grab a pint, hop on the Green Line, and catch a Loons match.

This microbrewery has perhaps the best patio in all of Minnesota. Part of the Hamm’s brewery, the patio and beer garden sits in the brewery’s stable ruins, with an eclectic mix of decor like surfboard tables, a canoe fire pit with pint glass holders welded to the side, and more. Tasty wood-fire pizzas pair well with Shamm’s, an ode to Hamm’s. Or, you can just grab a can of the good stuff — a local icon since 1865.

An OG of the Minnesota beer scene like Schell’s, Summit’s Keller Pils (now called Twins Pils) is an incredible example of the style and perfect lake cabin beer. Summit’s beer hall, or Rathskeller, is large, and the taproom often has something special on tap. Saga IPA is a seminal hoppy beer for the state, and the oatmeal stout on nitro is a creamy treat. Tours and guided tastings are informative and totally worth it.

First woman-owned brewery in Minnesota? Check. A Cowbell cream ale that will delight neighboring Wisconsin’s Spotted Cow fans? Check. A Friday fish fry giving off Wisconsin supper club vibes? Check, check, check. While walleye and cream ale are great, Urban Growler (literally a stone’s throw away from Bang) features a full menu of food, tasty seltzers like one with pineapple and jalapeno, and a rotating hazy IPA series.

You can tour the nearby Wabasha Street Caves for some local history and stop at Wabasha Brewing afterward for its delectable West Side Popper ale, a cream ale with smoked jalapeno pepper flesh flavor. Close to downtown St. Paul, the brewery also has a two-bedroom Airbnb upstairs, making for one easy commute for a pint.

This Roseville brewery is unique in that it is also a distillery. In addition to grabbing a beer, patrons can also purchase cocktails like an Old Fashioned made with the brewstillery’s own spirits. If you like crawfish, keep an eye out for Bent’s annual crawfish boil.

Vadnais Heights is now the home of Big Wood Brewery, what was once a White Bear Lake staple. The beer remains the same, with Forest Fire smoked imperial rye still a shining star of its portfolio. Since 2009, its Dunn Brothers coffee-infused Morning Wood has been one of the state’s finest coffee stouts.

Located right across the street from Modist — with a separate flagship location in the south Minneapolis suburb Burnsville — Bricksworth is actually from the same family that brought us BlackStack. Meaning you’ll find plenty of hazy IPAs on tap and even a lager with lime, perfect to pair with Detroit-style pies modeled after Happy Meals, elote, supreme pizzas, and more.

Curling, Kubb, and Bocce Ball leagues are all part of Forgotten Star’s year-round programming. If curling in the cold isn’t your thing, Forgotten Star has several U.S. Open Beer Championship-winning beers, including its North Star Cream Ale, Schwarzbier and Bonspiel Bock. Plus, if you have kids, Forgotten Star has plenty of board games and coloring sheets, and a new Hodgepodge food truck helmed by hit recipe blog Fit Foodie Finds.

Farm Girl might be the most well-known beer at Lift Bridge, but the brewery in scenic Stillwater on the beautiful St. Croix River (make sure to check out the Stillwater Lift Bridge) makes several great beers. One is the Irish Coffee Stout, a sweet milk stout with hefty caramel whiskey and French-pressed coffee flavors. And don’t miss the Mini Donut beer they release at the Minnesota State Fair with a sugar-topped cup. It’s delightful and a State Fair staple.

Hooey and Blissful Ignorance were two of the best hazy IPAs in Minnesota available in cans and stores before the style took off in the Midwest. Lupulin has continued to push its beers as others have caught up, adding the Scribbled Lines brand of barrel-aged sours. These complex beers feature fruit like citrusy yuzu or a cutting-edge combo of cherry and coffee. Lupulin also doubles as a slick wedding venue.

9milebrewing makes technically sound and creative beer like a Lithuanian farmhouse ale (Lithy) and thick, heavily fruited sours, including some NA options. Mall of America is only a 10-minute drive away from the cavernous taproom (it seats 200 people), meaning you can visit the local icon and grab some crowlers on your way home.

Travail’s former Pig Ate My Pizza space now features a broader menu of burgers, pizza, and fries cooked in bacon fat with truffle ketchup. A Doritos Locos pizza with Doritos and pulled pork is one example of the creative pies Nouvelle makes alongside such perfect in-house pairings as lagers that are laced with jasmine rice and strawberry lemonade.

Arguably Minnesota’s most underrated brewery, Steel Toe has three beers you need to try: Size 7, Size 11, and Sticker Fight. In addition to these hoppy offerings, Barrel-Aged Lunker is one of the state’s finest beers to rest in oak. Cascadian Dark Ale is a rare black IPA — think citrus hop flavor and roasted malt — worth seeking out during its fall release.

Live plants and huge windows transform this strip mall brewery into a place of wonder. The ambiance and liveliness of the green taproom are made better while enjoying a grainy and herbal Tractor Beam Cream Ale. With nearly 20 beers on tap and both a dog and kid-friendly environment, there’s a beer style for everyone. Swing over to Soul Lao for such takeout stars as crispy coconut rice with pork and Thai-style fried chicken.