Gov. Walz Signs Revised State Liquor Law, Benefitting MN Breweries

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Five breweries in the state of Minnesota are celebrating as Governor Walz has signed a bill into law on Saturday that massively ups the cap of what a brewery can produce to still be able to sell growlers.

The Minnesota growler cap was created years back, but in 2012, it was decided that once a brewery produces more than 20,000 barrels in a year, they have to stop selling growlers for that year.

That all changed Saturday as Governor Walz signed the re-written version of the bill, which ups that limit to 150-thousand barrels of beer.

This means that bigger breweries that could never sell growlers, such as Surly in the Twin Cities, now can.

Locally, Castle Danger up in Two Harbors expects business to get a whole lot better, even releasing its own “Free The Growler” brew.

“We all joined together and formed the alliance of Minnesota craft breweries three years ago, and have been educating lawmakers, talking to lawmakers as to why it’s important not just to our businesses but also why it’s important for the customer, and their experience at a brewery because you can go to every other brewery in every other state’s in this country and get something to go, and now those people can get it in every brewery in Minnesota as well,” Jamie Macfarlane, the Chief Financial Manager for Castle Danger Brewery said.

This all goes into effect on Monday, but Castle Danger is still getting its off-sale license renewed, and once it is, growlers will finally be back.