Fulton releasing beer celebrating Star Tribune's 150th anniversary

A beer with your newspaper? Why not?

Minneapolis-based Fulton Brewing Co. is launching a limited-edition brew, EXTRA! EXTRA! American Pale Ale, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Star Tribune.

The beverage is one of a variety of activities and items the Star Tribune Media Co. announced Thursday to commemorate the milestone, including restoring a giant globe for the Star Tribune building's lobby and lighting up the Minneapolis skyline in the newspaper's signature green.

"Very few institutions survive and thrive for 150 years," Star Tribune Publisher and CEO Mike Klingensmith said. "Fewer still have the lasting impact on civic life that the Star Tribune has had."

Many of the 150th-anniversary festivities revolve around May 25, the date of the Minneapolis Tribune's founding in 1867. The Minneapolis Daily Star was founded in 1920. Eventually, the Tribune became the city's morning paper and the Star became its evening paper before the two papers merged in 1982.

The Star Tribune Globe, a 6-foot wide, 300-pound aluminum behemoth that used to sit in the former Star Tribune Building on Portland Avenue, has been restored and will be unveiled on May 25 in the newspaper's new lobby.

The globe was removed decades ago during a building renovation and thought to be lost. After recently being rediscovered and restored, the globe will now permanently reside in the Star Tribune Building lobby at 650 3rd Av. S.

Other festivities include the display of rare first-edition copies, the release of digital archives for every page in the newspaper's 150-year history, four special sections celebrating the past 150 years, tours of the newspaper's North Loop neighborhood printing plant and community events and live journalism forums across the state.

EXTRA! EXTRA! American Pale Ale will be available to the public at the Fulton taproom on May 25. It will be on sale at liquor stores throughout Minnesota the following day until supplies run out. Fulton will also feature the ale at the Stone Arch Bridge Festival in June.

The beer "is an American pale ale made with American pilsner malt and high-quality German specialty malts," Fulton's head brewer Mike Salo said in a statement. It features Cascade hops and a new experimental variety. "These ingredients come together to create a pleasantly crisp and aromatic pale ale with notes of citrus and tropical fruit."