LOCAL HEROES
Dangerous Man Brewing Company Meet the husband and wife duo behind one of Minneapolis’s coolest breweries—and some of its tastiest beers. Words by RITA FARMER Pictures by CONNOR SIEDOW
It’s no secret that Minneapolis is a booming beer city. In
Sam led us inside. It was “brew day,” and incredible
2011, the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Surly
smells greeted us upon entry. The brewery resembled
Bill, making it legal for brewers to sell pints on their
a large-scale high school chemistry lab with huge
own premises. The law spurred the opening of a host
copper and stainless steel tanks. In addition to the
of new breweries with adjacent taprooms. Northeast
Dangerous Man brewing crew, several people from
Minneapolis, known for its artist studios and creative
the Minneapolis beer powerhouse Surly Brewing Co.
inhabitants, became a magnet for breweries.
were present.
Dangerous Man Brewing Company was one of the early
We came to learn that the two breweries were working
ones in Northeast, and it remains one of the best. What
together to make a special edition collaborative brew
is its recipe for success? There are several—they all
for May’s Art-A-Whirl festival. Rob came over to say
involve hops, malt and yeast, and they’re all delicious.
hello, but he wasn’t able to say much more as he was
Dangerous Man’s approach is simple: brew good beer
eyeing the timer on his phone to let the others know
that people want to drink. The brewery doesn’t have
when each hop addition was ready to combine with the
the city’s glitziest taproom or even an outdoor patio for
boiling wort.
imbibing al fresco in the summer months, but the team consistently makes some of the best beer in the city and people keep coming back for more.
Brew day On a brisk morning in April, Citinerary correspondent Connor and I visited Dangerous Man Brewing Company to chat with owners, husband-and-wife team Rob Miller and Sarah Bonvallet, along with a few members of the staff. We arrived before opening hours, so we entered through a back alley lined with tubs of soggy, golden grain that had been used in the brewing process. Taproom manager Sam Holzinger, who met us outside, explains, “We donate the spent grain to local farms to feed their livestock. Occasionally, urban farmers even come by to collect a scoop or two to feed their backyard chickens.”
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