Surly's $34 million suds palace is the biggest story in Minnesota beer in 2014

Call it the living room of a $34 million suds palace or a transit-accessible beer mecca built on blood, sweat and lobbying. Just don't call it a taproom.

"It's a whole different animal," said Doug Hanson, of Bloomington, at the opening of Surly Brewing Co.'s new complex last Friday in Minneapolis.

Surly, led by founder Omar Ansari and brewmaster Todd Haug, made Minnesota history when it spurred a law change in 2011 that paved the way for breweries to sell on-site pints. Since then taprooms, once a novel concept here, have sprouted up across the state and altered the way people experience their beer. Now with the realization of Surly's 49,000-square-foot dream, the Surly folks have leapfrogged them all.

"I hope when people walk into the space they say 'Oh, this is why they changed the law,' " Ansari said. "This isn't just a taproom."

No, it's the new capital of Minnesota craft beer.

On opening day, servers (yes, servers in a "taproom") wove through a gantlet of tables, dropping off charcuterie boards and pheasant terrine that could've been stolen from Butcher & the Boar's kitchen. The beer line for the standing-room-only crowd (capacity is about 220) extended from one end of the sprawling stainless steel bar around the glass walls overlooking a 1.5-acre beer garden that will eventually feature fire pits and a satellite building slinging beer and food.

Surly's modern take on an old-world German beer hall — which is roughly triple the size of the average Twin Cities taproom — likely won't stop buzzing for the foreseeable future.

"That was fast," he exclaimed when his cheese-covered hog frites arrived 90 seconds after he'd ordered them. "It continues to impress. We thought it was going to be a long line. We got in right away, we got food right away."

Surly's ballyhooed "destination brewery" boasts a 4,600-square-foot beer hall with 20 draft lines, mostly communal tables and some wood-lined walls using reclaimed elm and walnut via Wood From the Hood, the Minneapolis wood recycling business. Large glass windows make Haug's brewhouse the centerpiece — a $4 million piece of functional bling.

A full kitchen is the big distinguisher between standard taprooms and Surly MSP, as the new site is dubbed because it's near the Minneapolis/St. Paul border. Executive chef Jorge Guzman, formerly of Solera, designed a menu of accessibly upscale gastropub grub that goes beyond pizza and burgers (though you can get those, too) and includes foie gras French toast, duck rillette and pulled pork shoulder.

Come late spring, a second floor will open with an 85-seat fine-dining restaurant and a deck offering views of TCF Bank Stadium and Prospect Park's Witch's Hat Tower. Think white tablecloths, reservations accepted and higher-end fare. "It will be much more the chill side of Surly," said Linda Haug, head of restaurant operations and wife of Todd Haug.

Also upstairs, a 2,300- square-foot event center overlooking the brewhouse is scheduled to debut in March.

"We don't want to just be Furious Brewing Company," he said.

Thinking long-term, Ansari said there is still room to expand on the 8-acre plot of Surly MSP, which is near a Green Line light-rail stop. "My kids can build the next brewery," he joked. "I'm feeling pretty tapped out."

The day before opening, a snifter-clutching Ansari discussed the turbulent four-plus years it took to get here, pretending to plunge a metaphorical sword into a rock and holding on for dear life. But the upbeat company president sounded up to the task of keeping the bigger, badder Surly machine rolling.

"I shaved my head, it's like my old Ultimate [Frisbee] days — let's go!" he cracked. "It's going to be a lot of work for the next rest of our lives."

Michael Rietmulder writes about beer, cocktails and nightlife.