On December 29, 2017, one of the coldest days of the year, we got down to business brewing our first beer. This marks the first time in history a beer was legally brewed on a commercial level in Edina.

The day got started early in the morning by pouring hundreds of pounds of German Pilsener malt into the mill, which crushed the grain and send it down to the auger system. The auger transported the grain up 10 feet, through the wall, and straight into the mash tun on the other side.

Very hot water was added to the crushed grain, mixed, and the process of extracting flavors and sugars from the malt began to take place in the mash tun.

After sparging with more hot water, a transfer to the brew kettle was made where the wort was brought to a boil and hops were added.

After the boil was complete, the wort was transferred to a nearby fermenter via a heat exchanger, which cooled the wort down to about 70 degrees so that yeast could be safely pitched (brewing term for adding yeast) into the fermenter (otherwise if it’s too hot, the yeast won’t be viable).

We were lucky to have Valerie Brunnette on hand documenting our first brew day. Please check out her new blog where she dives into more detail about our first brew and has several more photos of this awesome day.

So what did we brew?

The recipe for this beer is based on an IPA James home brewed back in Fall of 2016.

Name: V Stitches

Style: IPA

Description: Bursting with juicy hops over a bed of German malt, this gravely-named brew commemorates the trials and tribulations of five months of brewery construction and the pain of waiting for opening day. Heal yourself.