ALL FOR ONE

from September-October 2020

by Austin Daily Herald

NATURE NOTES

Chapel Brewery

Imminent Brewing

Northfield breweries, distillery provide a tasteful tour

By Rocky Hulne PHotos PRovided

There is a cooperation that goes beyond company names in the Northfield area that combines people with spirits, history and relaxation all at once.

Imminent Brewing, Tanzenwald, Chapel Brewery and Loon Liquors Distillery have all emerged in the last three years and they’ve taken an all for one approach in keeping visitors coming in.

Tracie Vranich, owner of Chapel Brewing, has seen all four establishments work together since they opened around around the same time three years ago and she often recommends Imminent Brewing for those who are looking to see live music and Tanzenwald for those who are looking to grab a bite to eat.

Loon Liquors

Tanzenwald

When Tanzenwald ran out of cans during the COVID-19 shutdown, Chapel Brewing lent them cans and one of the brewers from Imminent Brewing helped mentor a brewer from Chapel Brewing, which has its tap room in old Chapel in Dundas that was built in 1880 by a family that were Plymouth brethren.

“We get a lot of people coming to Northfield and Dundas because of the breweries and because we’re close to Austin and Rochester. It’s another layer when you think about people wanting to go on a day trip. Breweries have always allowed people to make these day trips with a sense of being able to do other things in conjunction with going to a brewery,” Vranich said. “We don’t compete with one another. Honestly we collaborate with one another and we help one another. We think it’s great that people come and they go to all three of the breweries.”

All three breweries can be reached on the East Cannon River Trail, which is paved and allows bikers and walkers. They all offer a unique experience, with Chapel Brewery offering a glimpse at history and a comfortable place to sip down a beer while overlooking the Cannon River.

Jenaveve Bell-Pittman, co-owner and general manager of Tanzenwald, and her husband Steve Pittman, co-owner and brewer, were the first ones to start the brewing trend in Northfield as they took on the early struggle of trying to balance a new brewery that also serves food. Besides having to get their name out, Tanzenwald had to shuffle it’s menu back and forth to find the right audience and it also had to find reliable staff.

“It was really hard at first. Now, it’s much easier after being established,” Bell-Pittman said. “It’s a huge initial investment. The equipment is outrageously expensive and our building was horrendous when we moved in. It’s a huge risk and it was all just very scary.”

Bell-Pittman said that Tanzenwald is now starting to emerge and it’s picking up its distribution, while also adding a new front patio to the brewery. She said it is helpful to have other brewers nearby who are always willing to offer a helping hand.

“We all give each other free beers and we’re the only ones that can commiserate with each other because we can relate to each other,” BellPittman said.

Imminent Brewing was the first of the three breweries to open and is located in an old National Guard Armory Garage. It is placed right next to the old Armory Square that is now an event space.

Owners Derek and Laura Meyer have taken a customer first approach, where they treat employees like family and customers like friends.

“Our motto is ‘it’s about time,’ Laura said. “It’s about the time we spend with people, connecting with old friends or making new friends over a beer. Also, it’s about the time we take picking ingredients and crafting beers.”

Laura said she was excited when Chapel and Tanzenwald announced they were opening and she has also been welcoming to Loon Liquors and Keepsake Cidery, which is also located in Dundas.

“It is possible to all come together and make the ‘south of the metro’ a destination for all craft beverage lovers,” she said. “We work together with several of the local beverage joints.”

The Loon Liquor Company’s tap room is also located near the Cannon River and they’ve blended in well along with the breweries in a community that is famous for the defeat of the outlaw Jesse James.

Mark Schiller, the CFO and co-founder of Loon Liquor, started making booze with his high school friend and current business partner 10 years ago. Schiller said the brewery boom hit Northfield once the state of Minnesota’s charge of selling your own distilled liquor and brew went down from $30,000 to around $1,000.

Since opening, Schiller has tried to stay as local as possible as Loon Liquor gathers 90 percent of its ingredients from a 10 to 15 mile area around Northfield. He said the business has been good and Northfield has become a destination area for thirsty customers.

“We get a ton of people from out of town from all over the state. It’s been great,” Schiller said. “It’s still very new and there are still people asking how do you make vodka and gin.”

When Schiller and his friend began their venture into distilling booze, it began with making coffee liquers in college. Since then, they’ve learned a lot more about making products like whiskey, vodka, gin and rum.

They’ve also given back to the community and beyond by producing hand sanitizer and distributing it to local police departments and hospitals.

“We’ve been giving out a lot of Southern Minnesota love and it’s been super rewarding,” Schiller said. “Not bad for an idea, we stumbled into at a white Russian party.”