Two and a half years ago, Minnesota craft favorite Surly Brewing announced plans to open a new $20 million “destination brewery” in Minneapolis. There was just one problem. It was illegal.
A Prohibition-era law still on the books in Minnesota forbid breweries from serving their beer on premises. The Free Enterprise Tour stopped at Surly Brewing for a tour, a sample of Furious IPA, and background on the fight to get the outdated law repealed. The original law, Surly Brewing President Omar Ansari explained, was designed to maintain a three-tier system keeping alcohol manufacturers, distributors, and retailers apart.
It’s fitting that Surly was given its name to describe “the anger fueled by the inability to find good beer,” and perhaps even more fitting that Surly led the charge to change the law and put good beer in the hands of beer lovers. The so-called “Surly Bill” to get the antiquated law repealed was championed by beer lovers throughout Minnesota. “Surly Nation”—which includes other craft brewers, an active social media community, and beer lovers alike—demonstrated what the brewery dubbed the “Power of the Pint” through a massive grassroots campaign to garner support for the bill. (more…)