FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — For craft beer fans, a must-stop destination at the Minnesota State Fair is the Agriculture Horticulture Building.
Here you will find crop art, Christmas trees, and plenty of craft beer. The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild brings in more than 450 kegs for the fair, made up of more than 200 beers from over 90 craft breweries. The drinks on tap rotate throughout the fair.
"It's a celebration of craft beer. No other state fair celebrates craft beer like this," said Bob Galligan, director of government and industry relations at the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild.
Galligan said it takes a few days to get the beer hall ready before the fair starts, but a few months to get all the beverages ordered.
This year is a unique one. They brought back flights based on beer type, and for the first time the guild is offering non-alcoholic (N/A) flights.
Galligan said they were able to do this because for the first time, enough breweries are making N/A options. You can expect to see N/A beer, hop waters and kombuchas.
"Our members are beverage producers and they're expanding beyond beer," Galligan said.
He said he's been surprised by just how positive the feedback has been. There have been people who maybe come to the fair in the morning, or who just don't want alcohol but still want to be part of this type of third-space.
"The new rallying cry is 'everyone deserves a barstool,'" Galligan said.
The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild is not the only place to get a drink at the fair, but it is a popular one. Two friends, Jenny Zhang and Clemence Veronneau said this was the first stop when they got to the fair on Tuesday.
"I like trying out new breweries, especially ones we're not as close to, and to try new beers," Zhang said.
"I like that the sizes are small, I get to try a small beer instead of committing to a large one," Veronneau said.
They agreed being close to the crop art doesn't hurt, either.
Galligan said sometimes people ask about their location in the Agriculture Horticulture Building. But he said this is the location that makes the most sense to what they're trying to celebrate.
"If we don't have the barley and the hops, we're screwed," he said. "It makes sense for us to be surrounded by growers."
And in recent years, the guild has tried to grow the educational component of their space. They have people come and speak daily about brewing and it's history.