outside the front entrance of one fermentary
New drinks in North Loop.
You've been there, right? Out for the night, pals in tow, and thinking you might settle into some low-key fun at a taproom ... BUT ... not everyone in your crew is up for brew. Sam is gluten-free and Jamal's more of a cocktail guy at this point in the night, but does that have to squash your craft brew dreams? Nah.
Welcome ONE Fermentary & Taproom to the North Loop this weekend and all drinkers will have a place to hang. That's because this little brewery sought to carve out a different kind of corner in the craft brewing neighborhood, which in this case includes InBound, Fulton, Modist, and Number 12 Cidery within strolling distance. Good company. But beer expert/co-owner Joe Alton and brewer Ramsey Louder, decided, along with other owners Sally Schmidt, Bob and Ryan Kovich, that this brewery should actually be a brewpub.
It's all in the licensing. Applying for a brewpub license basically means that they can brew up to 3,500 barrels a year, but they can't distribute their beer, and they have to have some sort of food presence. But it also means that, unlike other breweries, they can sell beverages other than the beer/selzter/soda they make. That means wine and cocktails. "Right away we knew we wanted to be an inclusive space, we wanted people of color and people who are not normally drawn to craft brewing to be able to find a space here. We decided to be a brewpub, because that would allow us to pour things that would appeal to more people," Alton told me. "Being near the Fillmore and Target Field, it's less likely that a group of five people will all want craft beer. So maybe three want Ramsey's delicious beer, and then the others can get a Prosecco on tap or a Tattersall cocktail on tap, and they're all happy."
lounge area inside one fermentary
But it's still about beer. As a fermentary, the brewing crew will be taking other brewery's wort and create the beer from there. "So we might get barrels of Surly's Helles wort and we'll put 10 barrels in concrete, 10 barrels oak, and 10 barrels in stainless and put them side by side when they're done. You'll get to see what that beer, that you're already familiar with, can be like in other forms." They want to drive the discussion of beer towards vessels and fermentation, beyond just what hops get used.
three different styles of fermentation at one fermentary
Fermenting tanks: Stainless, oak, and concrete.
Most brewpubs tend to be restaurants with a small brewing presence, but they want to be a brewery with a small food presence. And that food presence? It comes with cred. Alton, in one of his former lives, helped to open Brasa, so when he needed some food advice, he went home. Alex Roberts and his team have been expanding their catering abilities and with that, they've agreed to take on the food program at ONE.
"We'll have Brasa pulled pork, and Alma speck and put it on a Rise Bakery roll and have something super simple, but really good. Eventually we'll do five panini, like a margarita or a pimento dip hot sandwich. Cold sandwiches will be like smoked white fish or salumi. We'll build from there. But we'll also partner with other chefs, we're hoping that Yia Vang will come here and do his Kamayan feast once a week, family style, 30 seats for Sunday Supper with Yia." They're also thinking about an industry Monday Brunch. But they plan to be open at noon everyday.
As for other bevvies, Chris Foster of Libation Project is handling their wines on tap. They'll have a red, a white, a pink, and a Prosecco for you (3/6/9oz. pours). Four tap cocktails are from Tattersall, and include a vodka drink, a whiskey drink, an agave drink, and their Fernet flowing from the spigot. Deane's Kombucha, Fulton's Hop Water, and some other NA beverages will also be poured.
the front entrance inside one fermentary
The space definitely reads brewery over restaurant. It's open with big windows bringing in light, plenty of barn wood and different areas to gather. This giant wood table near the front door has a very cool history. "This is the coolest thing in the whole place, this was a table in the lunchroom of the old Schmidt Brewery. You can see the marks where dudes would put out their cigarettes. But before that, these boards were lagering tanks at Schmidt. So in 1880 they were decommissioned and turned into scrap wood, and then in 1910 turned into a table. The former brewmaster of the brewery is a friend of mine, and he hand re-furbished this for us."
the team at one fermentary
"I can't think of another brewery that has taken the brewpub license and applied it to a bar, you know, a place that feels like a brewery," Alton mused. And that fits with their mission of looking at things differently than the craft brewing status quo. The idea of hospitality and inclusion for all isn't just an afterthought, it's the core of the mission. Just a part of the crew that is making this all happen, above, L to R: Charles Galloway, Caroline O'Halloran, Robb Osterman, Ryan Kovich, Mahad Muhammad, Ramsey Louder, Joseph Alton, Phillip Owens.
the bar inside one fermentary
So gather your gang, whatever they drink and whomever they be, and pull up a seat at that zinc-dipped blinged out gold bar. They open this Saturday, November 16!
ONE Fermentary & Taproom, 618 N 5th St, Mpls., 612-605-7573, fermentary.one
