South Minneapolis is not a haven for craft breweries. There are a couple, but you will find most of the breweries in Minneapolis on the north end of town. But sitting along the 46th Street light rail station sits Venn Brewing, located among some newly built apartments.
Opening a little over a year a ago, Venn Brewing has some unique characteristics about it. The biggest one is that there are no "staple beers." The beers are brewed in batches, and when it's gone, that's it. Sometimes, they will bring back some of the more popular beers, but may change up the recipe in some form.
Venn's logo, painted on a wall
The Atmosphere
Venn Brewing has one of the more laid back atmospheres of any brewery we've visited. It's a fitting name, since Venn is Norwegian for "friend." The patrons certainly do their part to make it friendly as well. Not just the two legged ones, but the four legged ones as well (dogs are allowed inside for all of your petting needs).
The Beer
As mentioned earlier, Venn does not have staple beers. As of this posting, Venn has created over 140 batches of beers-everything from lighter ales, to IPAs, to stouts, and sour beers. There definitely is a beer for every palate. We decided this time that instead of rating the beers we drank on our recent visit (since they could be gone by the time you read this), we decided to tell you some of the best beers we've had from all of our visits.
The tap list from our most recent visit.
Will: The breakfast stout (batch #18) was my first favorite. This is an American style stout infused with coffee and chocolate. I'm always leery about beers with coffee with it, because I don't like beers that have too much of a coffee taste. You really don't taste the coffee in it. My other favorite is the Venn IPA, which I did have on our most recent visit. It's a New England style IPA, with Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe Hops. It was very citrusy, and very easy to drink.
Sami: I definitely like their sours. Their triple berry sour (batch #69) was my favorite. It was a boysenberry/blackberry/raspberry kettle sour. It was definitely tart and sour. You could taste the berry notes in it, and it was very flavorful.
The Verdict
The biggest downside to Venn is parking. There are very few parking spots in the lot, and you're likely going to end up parking on the street. There has been a time where we had to park three blocks away because of how busy they were. There is transit widely available, either by bus or train. The bus also drops people off at the same station as the light rail station. There is a patio that is open during the summer, so you can enjoy your beer, and watch the traffic go by. Regardless, you should make Venn Brewing a must stop on your journey to Minneapolis. The beer and atmosphere make it worth it.