Clutch Brewing founders Max Boeke (left) and Jordan Standish
This week Keg & Case opens for real. What will the mega-locavore food hall in the old historic Schmidt Brewery bring to all our lives? We're about to find out, but this much is clear: the upper deck is dominated by a brand new brewery, Clutch Brewing, and it will likely be where you go to chill out with your Bogart Donuts, Sweet Science Ice Cream, pizza from MN Slice etc., to have with a beer. But you don't want to go in drinking without insider's knowledge, do you? Of course not.
Best Friends 4EVR!
Co-owners Max Boeke and Jordan Standish met in the sixth grade up in White Bear Lake, the sons of big families with many St. Paul roots, tendrils, and offshoots. They became super best friends, stayed close even after Standish's family moved to Chicago City, maybe started home-brewing a titch before they legally should have, built a legit brew system out of some bed frames once they were of age, and never looked back. Around three years ago, they started buying equipment in auctions and stashing it in storage units and friends' garages. While perfecting their techniques, they won the home brew contest at the Renaissance Festival, and their milk stout was brewed and served at Town Hall and taken to the Great American Beer Fest. Then they got involved with MnVest, raised almost half a million dollars, and here we are.
Before settling into the upper level of the Keg & Case, the two estimate they moved one of the coolers seven times since buying it at auction—and the other cooler is a weird, big, irregular pentagon, and the space they ended up with is a big, irregular pentagon that exactly fits it. Spooky! Max Boeke's dad is a carpenter, and built most everything in the space that a carpenter can build. And his grandpa collected pennies—steel pennies, wheat pennies, all the pennies. They Krazy-Glued thousands down onto the bar, and poured epoxy over them to hold them in place. Sit at the bar and marvel. Then raise a glass to grandpa!
Pennies in the bar at Clutch Brewing upstairs at Keg & Case
Brewing Like They Wanna
Boeke and Standish have been brewing the way they want to for quite a while and don't plan on aligning themselves with any particular tradition. "We dabble in all the styles," Boeke told me. "We don't want to focus on one thing or another." Standish added, "There will always be a wide variety of beers here. Our focus is on the brewery, the history of the building, and celebrating different traditions of brewing." That said, they both are big fans of smoked beers and expect there will always be one in their line up. They will also have two non-alcoholic tap lines, probably one local craft soda and one cold coffee, perhaps from co-tenant 5 Watt. They offer several seating areas, including the very sexy main bar, an area of sweetheart booths for cozy relaxing, and a bar-rail for sitting and watching the crowds below.
Opening beers at Clutch Brewing
Left to right; Cream Ale, September Citrus Wheat, Straight 8 IPA, and Milk Stout
The Opening Day Brews
I tried the beers they have for their opening. Left to right, in the picture above:
Out of Style Cream Ale was a very enjoyable odd duck, creamy like a cream ale, but also very crisply hopped, which was not like a cream ale at all. "This was the first recipe we ever created home brewing," Standish told me. "It doesn't fit any style, it just embodies our entire journey to this point." I thought it had a fragrance almost like a Jamaican Ting grapefruit soda, which Standish attributes to late additions of Cascade hops. I think it will pair well with the coming foods from Pimento Jamaican Kitchen.
September Citrus Wheat #2 had surprising dank, stanky-hoppy notes. Standish and Boeke broke into grins when I mentioned that, as they worked different New Zealand hops into the mix seeking just that surprise in a wheat beer. This is going to be my pick to pair with cheeses from Gazta down below.
Straight 8 IPA is an all Mosaic hop, all American IPA, and it's a very pretty crisp and clean beer. Clutch doesn't filter any of their beers, and the racy elegance of this one speaks well of their technical abilities and future.
Milk Stout is already their most awarded beer, this is the one Town Hall served after they won a Ren Fest prize. It's a very well-rounded, silky stout with a definite scent of fudgsicle—the day you can try this as a float with Sweet Science vanilla ice cream will be a good day.
ExhaustDead Smoked Black IPA is not pictured, because it was not yet in kegs, but I got to taste Clutch's smoked black IPA from a bright tank. It was a very intriguing beer, combining green, herbal, bitter notes, like a Fernet-Branca, with a lacy and light texture and density.
Clutch Brewing beers will be available only at Keg & Case, at least initially and perhaps forever, as well as in growlers. I think they'll find a lot of love from the crowds who come to gawk and shop at Keg & Case—and if anyone in the state ever needs a lucky penny and a beer to get through a tough day, it's good we can now get both in one place.
Clutch Brewing at Keg & Case; 928 W. 7th St., St. Paul
