Phil Gagné,
Brewer
kegs ,
keepsakes and conversations
If the brick and steel walls of Keg and Case West 7th Market could talk, they’d probably sound a lot like Phil Gagné. As the last brewmaster at the old Schmidt Brewery, which closed in 2002 after a 150-year run, he’s made it his business to know everything about a place that shaped a neighborhood and America’s beer history.
Since 1979, when he started working on-site as a brewer, Phil's story has been the story of the brewery. He’s made it his business to know everything about the place — from the original Cave Brewery in 1855 (which explains the underground tunnels beneath the campus) to the Stahlmann Brothers and Jacob Schmidt years all the way to the end, when it closed as Minnesota Brewing Company. “I’m the last man standing,” says the North Saint Paul man who’s dedicated 42 years to this iconic Saint Paul destination. “I’m the captain that went down with the ship. But I can tread water really good.” When brewing operations ceased, Phil stayed on to help developers as the brewhouse and bottlehouse were transformed into artist lofts. He oversaw the restoration of Keg and Case Market, a former keg house built in 1937. Then he helped overhaul and revive the Rathskeller, a 1935 building known for its ornate German-style basement beer hall that has reopened as an event space on the historic Schmidt Brewery grounds. “For me to be able to do something like this is the cherry on top of the whipped cream,” says Phil, who continues to
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V I S I T S A I N T PA U L
Official Insider's Guide
be the go-to guy for all things Schmidt and anyone who likes a good story. On any given day, you’re likely to run into him chatting up merchants selling everything from coffee and halva to fresh spun cotton candy, baked goods and beyond. With more than two dozen artisans on site, everyone knows him. He’s the historian, unofficial “mayor” and, more officially, Keg and Case director of operations. “They’ll probably have to carry me out of here one day,” says the man who made it his duty to preserve and restore many historic brewery artifacts. “And if it weren’t for the support of my wife and family, none of it would’ve happened.” The objects he saved from demolition or dumpsters are now on display throughout the building. Stroll through the former keg house turned 33,000-square-foot food hall and you’ll see Phil’s imprint on surfaces at every turn. Photos he kept were enlarged and given cheeky placement in the bathrooms. A hops scale, which was used to weigh more than 19 million pounds of hops in its 50 years of
