{"id":142043,"date":"2025-04-18T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T23:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=142043"},"modified":"2025-04-18T18:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T23:59:07","slug":"sleepy-eye-brewing-placed-3rd-in-strong-beer-category-at-minnesota-brewers-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/sleepy-eye-brewing-placed-3rd-in-strong-beer-category-at-minnesota-brewers-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleepy Eye Brewing placed 3rd in “Strong Beer” category at Minnesota Brewers Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
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These are the state\u2019s best beers, according to the 2025 Minnesota Brewers Cup<\/h1>\n

Boom Island, Luce Line, Lupulin and Spilled Grain were among the small craft brewers to win in the annual taste-test contest.<\/p>\n

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By Chris Riemenschneider<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Minnesota Star Tribune<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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April 18, 2025 at 8:22AM<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Minnesota Craft Brewers Cup trophies were lined up to be handed out at last weekend’s Minnesota Brewers Conference in Bloomington. (Eidem Visual Media)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Even with a lot of gloomy industry news to discuss, brewery representatives from around the state still got to the fun stuff at the Minnesota Brewers Conference last weekend: They drank a lot of beer and celebrated the best of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Many smaller, newer and\/or lesser-known breweries took a lot of the top honors in the\u00a0Minnesota Brewers Cup<\/a>, a contest and awards ceremony that took place at the Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Hotel in Bloomington as a part of the conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Minnetonka\u2019s Boom Island Brewing had a surprise win atop the best in show category. It wasn\u2019t an unexpected win for the reputable brewery itself, but for the style of beer it won with: a pumpkin ale it calls Punkin\u2019 Pie, which also topped the individual category for best spice, herb or vegetable beer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Runners-up on the best in show list were: another western suburb brewing hub, Plymouth\u2019s Luce Line Brewing Co., with its Maibock (also the winner in the German and international pale lagers category); and Annandale\u2019s national-award-winning Spilled Grain Brewhouse with Bearded Man Old Ale (which topped the strong beer list).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"Boom Island Brewing owner Kevin Welch opened his brewing operation in Minneapolis in 2011 and relocated to Minnetonka in 2019.<\/div>\n
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More than 450 beers total were submitted by 90-plus breweries from around the state for this year\u2019s Brewers Cup, which is put on by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild as an all-Minnesota version of national competitions like Denver\u2019s Great American Beer Festival. The contest is conducted as a blind taste-test by a team of 15 or so judges from within the industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While bigger breweries like Surly and Summit have won big nods in prior years \u2014 Surly\u2019s old-fave IPA won best in show in 2024 \u2014 this year\u2019s Minnesota Brewers Cup pointed to the state becoming more of an \u201cegalitarian\u201d brewing community, said Bob Galligan, the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild\u2019s director of government and industry relations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt shows how even smaller brewers around the state have upped their game in matching the reputation Minnesota has earned for producing high-quality beers,\u201d Galligan said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some of the other breweries to win Brewers Cup awards last weekend included: Princeton\u2019s Sunken Ship Brewing Co., which won in both the stouts category (with its Aran Sweater) and for best English, Scottish or Irish ale (the Old Crown); Big Lake\u2019s Lupulin Brewing for best hazy IPA (Boss Battle) and best German or New Zealand pilsner or export lager (Dortmunder); Grand Rapids\u2019 Klockow Brewing for best American amber, brown and pale ale (BHK nut brown ale); Spring Park\u2019s Back Channel Brewing for best Czech-style lager (Jagr), and Minneapolis newcomer Br\u00fchaven Craft Co. for specialty beers (Over the Line smoked lager).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A few larger or better-known breweries did win in some categories. The oldest beermaker in Minnesota, Schell\u2019s in New Ulm, won for best amber (Firebrick). Utepils in Minneapolis also topped the German ales category with its ever-popular Ewald the Golden hefeweizen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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One bittersweet win came in the double and specialty IPA category, which went to Falling Knife with its double hazy Cosmic Trailblazer. The northeast Minneapolis brewery was hit by the sudden death of its co-founding brewer\u00a0Tom Berg<\/a>\u00a0last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Along with the rising challenges in the industry that led to spate of recent brewery closings \u2014 including\u00a0Dangerous Man<\/a>\u00a0just last month \u2014 Galligan said this year\u2019s Brewers Cup \u201coffered some nice catharsis for all the bad news.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s the full list of winners from the 2025 Minnesota Brewers Cup.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Specialty Beers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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  • 1st place: Br\u00fchaven, Mpls., Over the Line<\/li>\n
  • 2nd place: Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub, Mpls., Wild Brunette<\/li>\n
  • 3rd place: Waldmann Brewery, St. Paul, Rauchbier<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    Wood-Aged Beers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    • 1st place: Canal Park Brewing Co., Duluth, Night Trekker Baltic Porter-Barrel Aged<\/li>\n
    • 2nd place: LocAle Brewing Co., Mankato, 2024 Anniversary<\/li>\n
    • 3rd place: Lupulin Brewing Co., Big Lake, Night Witch 2024<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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      Spice, Herb and Vegetable Beers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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      • 1st place: Boom Island Brewing Co., Minnetonka, Punkin\u2019 Pie<\/li>\n
      • 2nd place: Thousand Lakes Brewing Co., Parkers Prairie, Give \u2018er The Beans<\/li>\n
      • 3rd place: Venn Brewing Co., Mpls., Choconut<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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        Fruit and Spice Beers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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        • 1st place: Blackstack Brewing, St. Paul, Uncut Jams<\/li>\n
        • 2nd place: Thousand Lakes Brewing Co., Sassy Redhead<\/li>\n
        • 3rd place: Uncommon Loon Brewing Co., Chisago City, Force of Nurture<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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          Wild, Sour and Funky Ales<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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          • 1st place: Bad Weather Brewing Co., St. Paul, Winter\u2019s Night<\/li>\n
          • 2nd place: LocAle Brewing Co., Mankato, Many Moons<\/li>\n
          • 3rd place: Pryes Brewing Co., Mpls., Idyll Forest: Soiree<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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            Strong Beers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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            • 1st place: Spilled Grain Brewhouse, Annandale, Bearded Man Old Ale<\/li>\n
            • 2nd place: Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub, Mpls., Doppelbock<\/li>\n
            • 3rd place: Sleepy Eye Brewing Co., Sleepy Eye, Five<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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              Belgian and Monastic Ales<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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              • 1st place: Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub, Mpls., Bridge Hanger<\/li>\n
              • 2nd place: Forgotten Star Brewing Co., Fridley, Tripels Is Best<\/li>\n
              • 3rd place: St. Paul Brewing, St. Paul, Dubbel Agent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                American Amber, Brown and Pale Ales<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                • 1st place: Klockow Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, BHK<\/li>\n
                • 2nd place: Nouvelle Brewing, Robbinsdale, Lucky Rooster<\/li>\n
                • 3rd place: Omni Brewing Co., Maple Grove, Lake Day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                  Stouts<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                  • 1st place: Sunken Ship Brewing Co., Princeton, Aran Sweater<\/li>\n
                  • 2nd place: Brau Brothers Brewing Co., Marshall, Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout<\/li>\n
                  • 3rd place: Thousand Lakes Brewing Co., Parkers Prairie, Breakfast for Supper<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                    English Brown Ales and Porters<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                    • 1st place: Heavy Rotation Brewing Co., Brooklyn Park, London Calling<\/li>\n
                    • 2nd place: Bent Paddle Brewing Co., Duluth, Towering Pines<\/li>\n
                    • 3rd place: Bear Cave Brewing, Hopkins, Bearly Nutty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                      English, Scottish and Irish Ales<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                      • 1st place: Sunken Ship Brewing Co., Princeton, the Old Crown<\/li>\n
                      • 2nd place: Bent Paddle Brewing Co., Duluth, 14<\/li>\n
                      • 3rd place: Padraigs Brewing, Mpls., Red Chimney Irish Red Ale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                        Double and Specialty IPAs<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                        • 1st place: Falling Knife Brewing Co., Mpls., Cosmic Trailblazer<\/li>\n
                        • 2nd place: Modist Brewing Co, Mpls., Dreamyard<\/li>\n
                        • 3rd place: Montgomery Brewing, Montgomery, Haze Against the Machine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                          Hazy IPAs<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                          • 1st place: Lupulin Brewing Co., Big Lake, Boss Battle<\/li>\n
                          • 2nd place: Blackstack Brewing, St. Paul, Local 755<\/li>\n
                          • 3rd place: Headflyer Brewing, Mpls., It Was All a Dream-Juicy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                            American IPAs<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                            • 1st place: Wooden Ship Brewing Co., Mpls., Pattern of Pieces<\/li>\n
                            • 2nd place: Lake Monster Brewing, St. Paul, Depth Charge Juicy IPA<\/li>\n
                            • 3rd place: Nine Mile Brewing Co., Bloomington, Standard Operating Westy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                              German Ales<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                              • 1st place: Utepils Brewing, Mpls., Ewald the Golden<\/li>\n
                              • 2nd place: Blacklist Brewing Co., Duluth, Royal Hefe<\/li>\n
                              • 3rd place: Bucks Mill Brewing, Detroit Lakes, Kolsch-Style Ale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                German and New Zealand Pils and Export Lagers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                • 1st place: Lupulin Brewing Co., Big Lake, Dortmunder<\/li>\n
                                • 2nd place: Arbeiter Brewing Co., Mpls., Haha Pils<\/li>\n
                                • 3rd place: Schell\u2019s Brewery, New Ulm, Notorious Pils<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                  Czech Lagers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                  • 1st place: Back Channel Brewing, Spring Park, Jagr<\/li>\n
                                  • 2nd place: Dangerous Man Brewing Co., Maple Lake, Dark Czech Lager<\/li>\n
                                  • 3rd place: Unmapped Brewing Co., Minnetonka, Purgatory Pils<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                    Dark Lagers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                    • 1st place: Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub, Mpls., Midnight Elf<\/li>\n
                                    • 2nd place: Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative, Mpls., Eagle 5<\/li>\n
                                    • 3rd place: Schell\u2019s Brewery, New Ulm, Bock<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                      Amber Lagers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                      • 1st place: Schell\u2019s Brewery, New Ulm, Firebrick<\/li>\n
                                      • 2nd place: Klockow Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Lundr\u2019s Lager<\/li>\n
                                      • 3rd place: Bucks Mill Brewing, Detroit Lakes, Polar Lager<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                        German and International Pale Lagers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                        • 1st place: Luce Line Brewing Co., Plymouth, Maibock<\/li>\n
                                        • 2nd place: Fulton Brewing, Mpls., Chill City<\/li>\n
                                        • 3rd place: Utepils Brewing, Mpls., Helles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                          American Blonde, Wheat and Cream Ales<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                          • 1st place: Shakopee Brewhall, Shakopee, Cinco De Shako<\/li>\n
                                          • 2nd place: Excelsior Brewing Co., Excelsior, Big Island Blonde Ale<\/li>\n
                                          • 3rd place: Uncommon Loon Brewing Co., Chisago City, Speckled Loon Cream Ale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                            American Lagers<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                            • 1st place: Wooden Hill Brewing Co., Edina, Hill Style<\/li>\n
                                            • 2nd place: Elm Creek Brewing, Champlin, Elm Creek Light<\/li>\n
                                            • 3rd place: Back Channel Brewing, Spring Park, Lake Maker<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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                                              Member-Voted Awards<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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                                              • Best Member Volunteer: Ashley Hauf, MNCBG Board President<\/li>\n
                                              • Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild Event Volunteer of the Year: Jeff & Tatiana Allen<\/li>\n
                                              • Outstanding Allied Trade Member: RahrBSG<\/li>\n
                                              • Best Collaboration Beer: Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative & Wild State Cider for \u201cApple Pie Blonde Ale\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                These are the state\u2019s best beers, according to the 2025 Minnesota Brewers Cup Boom Island, Luce Line, Lupulin and Spilled Grain were among the small craft brewers to win in the annual taste-test contest. By Chris Riemenschneider The Minnesota Star Tribune April 18, 2025 at 8:22AM The Minnesota Craft Brewers Cup trophies were lined up …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-05-18 18:50:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142045,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142043\/revisions\/142045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}