MN State Fair

About the Flights

With rotating flights made of nearly 200 individual beers from over 90 breweries and brewpubs, the “Brewed in Minnesota” exhibit offers the most diverse beer lineup at the fair and highlights businesses from every corner of the state.

Find us in the Agriculture/Horticulture building to enjoy a flight! Each flight will feature four beers from four different businesses and in a variety of styles.

Flights will rotate throughout the Fair, so every visit is unique! Try out new styles and explore the variety of what craft beer can offer.

NOTE: Because it’s impossible to say when each flight will sell out and rotate to a new one, we cannot offer a beer schedule or find your beers after the fest. Please remember to take a picture of the screen when you order! That way, you’ll be able to reference the flight later.

Breweries Being Poured at the MN State Fair

Presentations & Other Education

Learn all about Minnesota’s craft beer industry! Our free educational sessions will explore the brewing process, all the way from the farm to the pint glass. Visit our exhibit during the times below to hear about local business, agriculture, and people who bring it all together.

No presentation during your visit? No problem! Around the exhibit, you’ll see signs highlighting various aspects of the industry, so you can learn about ingredients, see the process of how beer is made, and get caught up on recent legislative updates.

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Thursday, August 24

11:00 AM | Meet Our Crew and Learn Our Process
Tom Whisenand, Indeed Brewing Company

A fun dialogue with Indeed staff on how beer ends up in your cup!

1:00 PM | From Barrel to Bottle, All Things Sour
Jeremy Pryes, Pryes Brewing Company

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Friday, August 25

11:00 AM | Brewing Communities: How Breweries Strengthen Their Local Communities
Andy Risvold, Forgotten Star Brewing

Breweries are community assets. How breweries around our state give back to their communities, cultivate communities, and can be and generally are massive resource for their community.

1:00 PM | Team Nevertheless
Morgan Smith, Spiral Brewery; Ariel Keeton, Excelsior Brewing; & Ann Fahy-Gust, SXSE Brewing Co.

Team Nevertheless is an all-women’s collaborative brewing group. The presentation will include Women in Brewing, the importance of finding a supportive community within the brewing industry, and the benefit of collaborative brews with a purpose.

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Saturday, August 26

1:00 PM | MN State Fair Homebrew Competition Winner Announcement
Dave Matson, Abby Rouster, and Josh Holbrook, MN Home Brewers Association

The MN Homebrewers Association will be presenting the results of the MN State Fair Homebrew Competition. With over 400 entries across all styles of beer, cider, and mead, judges assess the best of the best. Winners will be awarded the coveted blue ribbon within style categories, for Best of Show in each Mead, Cider, and Beer, along with the Minn-kasi Award to the brewer racking up the most points for beer, mead, and cider placing in this year’s competition. Come to learn about homebrewing in Minnesota and cheer for those who have won.

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Sunday, August 27

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | A Decade of Hop Breeding at the University of Minnesota
Joshua Havill, University of Minnesota

Dr. Josh Havill recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, studying hop genetics and disease resistance. Over the past decade, Josh has been involved in helping to reestablish a hop industry in Minnesota, through both basic and applied research activities as an undergraduate and graduate student, and through coordinated outreach and communication activities as a member of the Minnesota Hop Growers Association.

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Monday, August 28

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | Women in Brewing
Amy Fox, Jen Fox & Morgan Smith, Spiral Brewery

Learn and hear what it’s like be a women owned and operated brewery in Minnesota!

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Tuesday, August 29

1:00 PM | Changes in the Non-Alcoholic Beverage Scene
Ashley Hauf & Alex Wegehaupt, ABV Technology

Learn about changes in the NA craft beer scene, discover why NA craft beer is better than what was available 20 years ago, and sample some NA products.

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Wednesday, August 30

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | How the Germans Saved a Drunken Nation
Tom Schroeder, Waldmann Brewery

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Thursday, August 31

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | Community: Just Add Water, Malts, Hops, & Yeast
Bill Cronin, Mineral Springs Brewery

Community is the life-blood of success for thousands of businesses around the state, and is a word somewhat synonymous with smaller communitys’ relationships with their breweries. Cronin will share MSB’s community story tied to their pre-Covid (Nov 2019) opening of the MSB taproom in Owatonna.

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Friday, September 1

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | From Mesopotamia to Minneapolis – The Story of Beer
David McNicoll, Finnegans Brew. Co.

12,000 years ago, people began domesticating wild grains, among them the versatile barley, which could be turned to a number of applications, from bread to beer. This is the start of the story of beer-making that would take us from the banks of the Euphrates, through Europe and Britain, to the shores of America. Minneapolis and Saint Paul have a long lager, ale and beer-making heritage, a culmination of those traditions earned along the way and then given their own unique Minnesotan twist. Let me take you on that journey.

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Saturday, September 2

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | Pride in Brewing
Riley Yawn-White, Pride in Brewing Scholarship with the Dabbler and Friends

Learn more about the Pride in Brewing Scholarship and the different scholarship opportunities open to those inside and outside of the industry. We’ll also highlight the importance of DEI in the brewery industry and why it’s an issue we are actively addressing.

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Sunday, September 3

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | Local Hops for Local Beer
Eric Anderson, Minnesota Hop Growers Association

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Monday, September 4

11:00 AM & 1:00 PM | The Mark of the Yeast
Jim Parejko, LocAle Brewing Company

We are currently living in a golden era for yeast research and innovations that you can experience in numerous Minnesota craft beers. This presentation will help attendees better appreciate the yeast-derived differences between German and Czech-style lagers, the unique science and character of Norwegian ‘kveik’ yeast and the recent exciting innovations in ‘thiolized’ yeast that can enhance certain the flavors and aromas in some beers.

Brewery Maps

Are some of the MN breweries listed new to you? While at the exhibit, check out the large 2023 brewery map hanging on the wall – then grab one to-go as you head off to explore MN craft beer throughout the rest of the year! Brewery maps are free and can be folded to any size, whether you keep it in your glove compartment, pocket, or purse.

With a free 2023 MN Brewery Map, you’ll always know where the closest fresh, local beer is!

Craft Beer Merch

Grab some new swag for yourself or for a fellow craft beer lover! The fair is where we debut our fall and winter items, all showing your love of drinking local. The MNCBG merch booth has t-shirts, hats, pint glasses, and more. Get a head start on holiday shopping, or just treat yourself.

All proceeds support the MNCBG non-profit mission to promote, protect, and grow a robust Minnesota craft brewing industry.

Brewed in Minnesota FAQs

How many breweries are being poured?
This year, 96 breweries and brewpubs will have a total of nearly 200 individual beer styles poured during the MN State Fair.

How many kegs will we go through?
We have planned on roughly 500 kegs from breweries and brewpubs all around the state!

Who is giving presentations and what are they about?
Presenters are typically brewers, owners, taproom managers, or other brewery staff, and presentations cover a range of topics – from the earliest ingredient, to the process of brewing, to the business of getting beer to the people, and the culture in which this all happens. We also are featuring several industry partners this year, like the University of Minnesota, the Beer Dabbler, the Minnesota Hop Growers Association, and the MN Home Brewers Association, who will be awarding their MN State Fair Homebrew Competition winners in our exhibit!

What Makes This Exhibit Unique?
The MNCBG “Brewed in Minnesota” exhibit represents the largest number and variety of Minnesota beers and businesses at the fair. Because of this exhibit, dozens of small breweries from across the state are able to have their beers poured for fairgoers. This means that fairgoers get a real representation of the quality and variety of craft beer brewed all over our great state!

Press Release & Downloads

• Brewed in Minnesota Press Release (PDF to view or download)
• Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild Logos (download)
• About the MNCBG (PDF to view or download)