Located in Minnetonka, Badger Hill Brewing is setting out to create great tasting and well-balanced brews adding to the lineup of successful Minnesota breweries. They are not; however, going the conventional route of producing beer in their own space. Instead, they are opting to share brewing space with Lucid Brewing under an Alternative Proprietorship Brewing Agreement. This will keep start up costs low for both breweries in this tough economy and will help them to expand, if needed, in the future.

The cooperative business model dates back to the Rochdale Pioneers who, in 1844 decided that a grocery store run by its customers would be a much better way to do business than that of a private shop where all profit funneled into one place. The group of 28 pioneers realized that cooperating allowed better control of the quality and allowed the profit to be enjoyed by all who invested in it and not just a single person.

Today there are many examples of cooperatives including; grocery stores, energy companies, farms, and now Badger Hill and Lucid breweries. One can see why a brewery would be concerned about quality and watching operating costs, especially in today's market, which is chock full of quality craft breweries.

Badger Hill Brewing recently released their MSB (Minnesota Special Bitter) at Señor Wong's in St. Paul and is currently producing two other varieties; Three Tree American Rye and Foundation Stout. You can try out the MSB next Wednesday at Midweek Beer Geek—an event held at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis and hosted by Andy Schmitt, the man behind Minnesota Beer Activists. You can also find Badger Hill on tap at these locations.

Cheers!