With beer sales down, 15 ways Twin Cities taprooms are brewing up new customers

Of all the reasons to go to a brewery in the Twin Cities nowadays, drinking beer is not at the top of the list for a lot of people. And that’s OK — or “esta bien,” as patrons inside La Doña Cervecería would have told you on a recent Tuesday night.

“I come here to practice my Spanish, but don’t mind having a good beer, too,” said Alex Kurth, a regular at the Minneapolis brewery’s weekly Hablamos Pues night, promoting Español conversational skills.

Less than a mile away at Sisyphus Brewery, about 60 people gathered on the same Tuesday night to create a little magic. Literally. The brewery’s monthly Magic Underground series is like an open-mic night for aspiring magicians.

“Beer and magic both mess with your mind a little, in good ways,” that night’s magician host, David Jambor, explained of the pairing. “People love seeing things that seem impossible.”

Lately, for many breweries, drawing a crowd the size of the Magic Underground audience has seemed impossible.

With beer and alcohol consumption steadily declining nationwide — particularly among the Gen Z customer base — beer makers in the Twin Cities are trying to brew up new reasons for people to patronize their taprooms. Several once-popular breweries around the metro area closed in 2025 following slumping sales, including LynLake and Wild Mind Ales in Minneapolis and Chanhassen Brewing Co. and Alloy Brewing Co. in Coon Rapids.

“It isn’t just about getting traffic through the door, it’s getting harder to get people to order another of whatever they’re having,” said Ryan Bandy, chief business officer of Indeed Brewing Co. “You want to give them a reason to stay a while.”

Indeed’s operators weren’t alone in thinking a permanent food menu was one way to maintain traffic at a brewery. Here’s a rundown of who else had that plan, and a list of other ideas being hatched at struggling local breweries.

The days of gambling on any random food truck being parked outside are over at some breweries. Before Indeed commandeered the Lola truck permanently to its beer yard, Fair State Brewing Co-op enlisted another popular artisan pizza maker, Farina Rossa, to open a full kitchen next to its northeast Minneapolis taproom with salads and appetizers, too. Most ambitious of all, Fulton opened a full kitchen in its North Loop taproom in October, serving smash burgers, seared tuna sandwiches, chicken wings, beer-battered cheese curds and a lot more.

Yes, this is very much a thing. “It’s not hard to get people to stay afterward and talk in a taproom, unlike a lot of other yoga classes,” said instructor Viv Miller, who started her Yoga & a Pint series at St. Paul’s Lake Monster Brewery back in 2015 and has watched similar classes pop up at other taprooms in recent years. Now held every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m., the Lake Monster class “has become its own unique community,” Miller said.

Earlier this month, Forgotten Star Brewing Co. in Fridley started a new weekly yoga session happening every Saturday. Utepils Brewing (Minneapolis) and Urban Growler (St. Paul) also both host them Sundays at 10 and 10:30 a.m., respectively. La Doña goes the happy-hour route with its yoga classes on Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m.

Pryes Brewing Co. (Minneapolis) has opened its Winter Sauna Village, with sweat times reservable daily. Bauhaus Brew Labs (Minneapolis) also hosts Sauna Sundays every week through March.

La Doña hosts Jeopardy Bar League every Thursday night. Board-game nights are offered in many taprooms, including the St. Paul Game Group meetup every first and third Monday of each month at Lake Monster and Bad Weather’s game night on Tuesdays. Brühaven (Minneapolis) hosts sporadic DD&D nights (Dungeons, Dragons & Drinks). Cribbage players can throw down every Thursday night at Utepils or every first Tuesday of the month at Fulton. Pinballers can get into an afternoon tournament every fourth Sunday of the month at 56 Brewing (Minneapolis).

There are some games outside taprooms, too, thanks to La Doña’s soccer field and Forgotten Star’s winter curling rink, each hosting different leagues. And don’t forget Pryes’ indoor feather bowling alley.

The Magic Underground crew’s open-mic nights are booked the second Tuesday night of every month at Sisyphus. Fair State hosts local psychic Shaun Laveau every fourth Saturday night for its monthly Tarot Night. Several breweries also regularly host “Magic: The Gathering” card-game nights, including Insight (Minneapolis), Indeed and Forgotten Star.

Artisan markets occur seasonally at many taprooms, including upcoming holiday markets at Forgotten Star (Dec. 6, 13, 20), Utepils (Dec. 5-7), Fulton (Dec. 12-14), and BlackStack (Dec. 14) and Wandering Leaf (Nov. 29) in St. Paul. On the foodie side, 56 Brewing hosts the Northeast Farmers Market again Dec. 7.

The Sweet Lou’s Meat Raffle happens every Wednesday at 56 Brewing (7 p.m.). Utepils also throws in cheese with its meat contest every Tuesday (6 p.m.).

Singer/songwriters have been common in taprooms for years, but instrumental jazz is starting to take hold; might have something to do with the proliferation of THC drinks at many breweries. Indeed’s From Scratch in the Ox series features an instrumental-groove group and improv sessions every Tuesday night in its side room, the Ox Taproom. Rail Werks (Columbia Heights) is also hosting a monthly First Thursdays jazz series. And, of course, downtown St. Paul’s musician-co-owned MetroNome regularly hosts jazz acts alongside other live music in its cavelike basement space several nights of each week.

Like a jigsaw-puzzle answer to the omnipresent Trivia Mafia, the local organization Sarah Does Puzzles hosts competitive nights weekly in numerous breweries, including Steel Toe in St. Louis Park (Dec. 1), Edina’s Wooden Hill (Dec. 8), Badger Hill Brewing (Dec. 9) in Shakopee and Hackamore (Dec. 10) — and many sell out.

Paint & Sip nights happen every third Friday of the month at Urban Growler, and Forgotten Star also has one coming up on Dec. 21. Bauhaus hosts the Draw League competition on the third Thursday night of the month.

Look for sporadic Sip ’n Bloom workshops teaching flower arranging at different breweries including Bauhaus, Hackamore and BlackStack (St. Paul), the latter of which hosts one on wreaths Dec. 14. A brewery co-founded by a botanist — with lots of indoor greenery to prove it — Wandering Leaf in St. Paul hosts classes for plant lovers. BlackStack also sporadically hosts Plant Bingo, with house plants for prizes.

The dating group Pitch-a-Friend hosts at least one event a week at local taprooms, including Sociable Cider Werks (Minneapolis), Gambit (St. Paul), Inbound (Minneapolis), Forgotten Star and La Doña. Brühaven hosts a Sapphic Speed Dating night every third Wednesday. And there’s the Break the Bubble meetup third Sundays of each month at 56 Brewing.