DeRusha Eats: Striving For 'Farm To Pint' At Able Seedhouse
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- You know that Able Brewery is different from every other new craft beer brewery and taproom just by looking at one word above its northeast Minneapolis door: "Seedhouse."
"Can we grow this here, small grains? Can we process it, and can we make beers with it?" asked founder and owner Casey Holley, who left a career in sales at an information technology firm to start the latest Twin Cities brewery.
"Beer is made up mostly of barley, wheat and some rye. We have great small grain farmers in Minnesota. We are in the grain belt," he said.
Calling it "farm to pint" might be going too far; Casey's still going to use malt from Rahr Malting Company in Shakopee. He said ultimately he'd love to create a 100 percent small farmer, locally-grown beer, but getting a percentage of that in is his goal.
"If we can get 5 percent rye into our house or 20 percent of red wheat into 2 Sparrows, we've done something pretty remarkable," he said.
It's not just the beer -- the design of the brewery and tap room is also hyperlocal. The beautiful concrete and metal tables are from Concrete Pig in Northeast Minneapolis. It's a space almost made to be Instagrammed.
"Everything you see was designed and built in the neighborhood to capture that moment and that place," Holley said.
Related: Tap Talk Blog Visits Able Seedhouse + Brewery
But ultimately it comes down to the beer. Brewer Bobby Blasey is starting with four, including a beer called "House" Red Ale, and a wheat pale ale called "2 Sparrows."
Blasey is a veteran from Mankato Brewing. He lives in a farming area. He said the Able concept is right in his wheelhouse.
"When I started talking with Casey, I wondered, 'This is a set-up! It's almost too good to be true,'" Blasey said.
Using local grains, and malting it locally is a bit of a risk. Will it be consistent from year to year? Is it OK if it isn't?
"That'll be a challenge. But it's also one of the most exciting pieces for us," Holley said. "We think its special, it's unique, and it can do something special in our beers."
ABLE SEEDHOUSE + BREWERY
1121 Quincy Street NE
Minneapolis, MN
612-405-4642
