and More on the Hop Crisis From KARE 11

http://www.kare11.com/video/player.aspx?aid=57571&bw=

More on the Hop Shortage From WCCO

http://wcco.com/video/?id=33291@wcco.dayport.com

McCann's Golden Ale Logo

Here's the logo for the Golden Ale. Big ole thanks go to Jon Wittman for the design. Jon has more on the way, so stay tuned. Jon loves beer.

Some Photos to Tide You Over

Buried in Paperwork

Sorry about the lack of McCann's updates recently. As far as the restaurant and bar things are moving very well. The building is really coming together.
As far as the brewing side goes, it's been a bit frustrating. I have all the paperwork in for the federal and state side and I'm just waiting to hear back. It's getting to the point that I'm worried I won't have beer on for opening. That just kills me. I will do everything in my power to have something on, but it's kinda out of my hands at the moment. I'll be making calls Tuesday to try to light a fire.
Other than that I'm ready to brew. Malt, hops, and yeast are stocked and the brewery is ready to fire up.
Hope I have some good news this coming week.
Anyway...my family took the last day trip of the year up to Duluth before the white stuff flies. The kids had a great time at the zoo-even with some snow flurries. We stopped at the Brew House at Fitgers for a late lunch. The food and service were on point and of course the beer was spot on. Dave Hoops has done a great job up there. Growlers were flying out of the place. We need to support our small local breweries more than ever now with rising ingredient costs(if you can get ingredients at all). I practice what I preach folks.
On a side note, my band Cannery Row will be playing the St. Cloud Federal Building downtown on the 16th from 5-9pm for the Art Crawl. Stop in and say howdy.
http://www.myspace.com/canneryrowband

Don't Say I Didn't Warn Ya...

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_7389125?source=rv

It's Coming Back Home

I just won this on Ebay.

Many local folks don't know about St. Cloud's rich brewing history. The St. Cloud Brewing Co. was in business from 1933-1939(after operating under different names and owners since the late 1800's). The building later became the Purity Milk Company. I was fortunate enough during high school to be a volunteer for the March of Dimes "Haunted Dungeon" which used the old building as a halloween fund raising event. I remember vividly being in the basement lagering cellar-a beautiful stone structure with a healthy population of bats. There were other breweries in town as well. Caves in a ravine near St. Cloud State University were used to lager(age) beer. A rival brewer was accused of starting a fire at the Frank Funk Brewery in 1878. So, competition must have been fierce.

I may display this at McCann's and I'm searching for other items from local breweries. If you have anything interesting, or you know somebody who can help me on this quest, please let me know.