WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT:
Here at STB we believe in working our ass off for what we believe in, following our passion, giving back to and working with the community that supports us, being conscious of the world around us, producing the best quality product we can, and kicking back with great beer at the end of the day. We are a small MN craft brewery with big dreams of staying small.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN:
Steel Toe started like a lot of other craft breweries, with an avid home brewer and a wife tired of listening to the carboy ‘plunk, plunk, plunking’ all night long, because the bedroom was the only spot in the house with the most constant temperature for the fermentation of the latest creation. So, after many sleepless nights, many many home brews, and countless talks about the dream of someday doing it as a career, the day finally came that they decided to get serious and create the blueprint for STB.
The plan involved Hannah putting on her ‘chief enabler and support crew’ gear and Jason getting an education and working in the field before the attempt was made at starting a brewery. Jason worked at Lightning Boy Brewery in MT as a Cellarman and then Assistant Brewer to ensure he would still love the work after 21hr brew days and 15 hr bottling days. He then headed off to the Diploma Course at the World Brewing Academy for 3 months of intense beer schooling and loads of ‘sampling’ all over Chicago and Germany. After graduation he landed a job with the Pelican Pub and Brewery in OR as a Cellarman. Over the course of 4 years Jason worked his way up to Head Brewer, was involved in all aspects of the brewery and running the business, learned the art of brewing and how to have the brewery be a positive part of the community. The trigger date for STB came in November 2009 when Jason and Hannah took the plunge to move back to the midwest and to call MN ‘home base’. They joined up with the Saint Louis Park SCORE group and developed a business plan, found equipment, leased a space and got all the loose ends tied up over the next two years. During that time they started working with Chux to develop the logo, labels, website and gear and fine tuning the image of STB. It took 10 years from the day they decided to seriously pursue the dream to the doors being open.
WHERE WE ARE NOW:
STB opened its doors as a family-owned brewery in August 2011 with a 14bbl system that was pieced together from all over the country. We have six year round brews, several barrel aged monsters that make an appearance regularly and several seasonals. We continue to expand each year to add to our brewing capacity and to allow for more tank space to create some one-off brews for the tap room. Our bombers, cans, and kegs are slowly spreading out into the TC market with the mindset that we do not take on any new accounts until we can keep the ones we currently have fully stocked at all times. We opened the doors to our tap room in early 2013 and have pints, sampler trays, 750ml bottles, and growlers for sale.
WHY STEEL TOE?
Jason has worn steel toed boots for most of his work career. It’s not a colored-collar thing, its a hard-work thing. That’s what we’re about. Your ‘steel toes’ might be stilettos, loafers, wing-tips or hiking boots…..it doesn’t matter. It’s just about what makes you feel like you’ve earned the rewards at the end of the day, namely a great craft beer.
Prost!
