Root beer from Stillwater's Lift Bridge Brewery, previously available only by the glass from the taproom, will soon be available in select retail stores in the area.
The root beer, introduced three years ago, is available at select Cub Foods on Thursday and will be expanded to Hy-Vee, Festival Foods, Candyland, Lunds and Byerlys and Kowalski's in Minnesota by mid-June. It will also be sold in select retailers in Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Illinois.
Chief Executive Dan Schwarz described the soda pop as "vanilla forward with a little zip of wintergreen and a creamy mouthfeel."
The brewery added cans after receiving weekly requests from customers who didn't live near Stillwater, Schwarz said. Customers at the taproom can also buy a growler, half gallon or cans of the root beer.
Lift Bridge's five co-owners started with home brewing and moved to the current location in 2010. They were among the first brewers in Minnesota to take advantage of the 2011 law allowing craft beer brewers to sell pints on site.
The brewery opened the state's first taproom, where some of its most popular beers include Farm Girl Saison, Hop Dish IPA and Mango Blonde, a seasonal beer introduced in April.
The company has a separate website, liftbridgesoda.com, to promote the root beer and seek distributors.
