Over the last five years, the craft brewery movement has grown exponentially in Minnesota. The Associated Press says licensing records show two-thirds of Minnesota breweries have opened just since 2010. So, we decided to help you – and your livers – keep up with the taproom trend by stopping by some of these Twin Cities brewhouses. This time, we headed to Barley John’s Brewpub.

Just north of Minneapolis stashed away in its “oasis” of New Brighton, you’ll find a quaint little brewpub bearing the name of Barley John’s. The brewpub’s beer, however, packs quite a bigger punch.

In March of 2000, nutrition/biology-inclined John Moore and his wife, Laura Subak, a nurse, founded the brewpub.

The gears for the business started turning years before, when Moore was introduced to home brewing.

“I was at Pillsbury as a consumer respondent with a nutrition degree and a buddy of mine, a biologist, was home brewing beer. (Meanwhile,) I’m going to Surdyk’s and spending half my paycheck getting craft beer, and I go to his place and his beer is better than the beer I was buying!” Moore said.

Moore’s thirst for brewing beer only grew from there.

“Soon, five gallons of all grain isn’t enough and we’re figuring out how to do 15 gallons, because all our buddies were drinking our beers … and it just continues to roll,” he said.

After leaving Pillsbury, Moore began honing his skills, brewing for District Brewing and James Page Brewing – both of which are now closed. He also completed coursework at the Siebel Institute of Brewing Science.

After acquiring all his skills, however, brewing jobs were hard to come by in the late-90s.

“I knew the head brewer at Strohs in St. Paul and a guy at Landmark. Both of them said ‘yeah, we could probably get you a job. Now’s not a good time.’ And sure enough, three months after, Strohs shut down and moved down to La Crosse, and then Landmark was on the skids,” Moore said.

Not finding work, the couple decided to have the work come to them! Moore and his wife soon started writing a business plan. And with the help of Subak’s nursing job funds keeping them afloat, the brewpub was born. Oh … and two kids were born around that time, too, just to keep them on their toes.

Now, Barley John’s serves customers uncompromisingly rich brews (some hit the 11-12 percent alcohol mark!), along with fresh food featuring produce from their garden.

“If you’re going to make beer from scratch, you gotta make the food from scratch too,” Moore said.

For more Barley John’s info, check out the interview below!

So, what was your initial vision for the business?



Laura: At that time (early stages), we didn’t know if we were gonna do a brewpub or a brewery. We actually started in our sunroom and it took us four years from conception to opening up this place.

The brewery vs. brewpub was because we like food, and food is as important as the beer. So that was a clear decision there.

John: The (liquor store) shelves were bursting (back in 1999) kinda like they are now to the point that there was so much selection, so we were like, “if we do a brewpub, they’ll be the attraction of the food as well versus a brewery where we’re fighting for shelf space with no name recognition.”

Laura: The success point of it all has to do with the people that come here and how we make them feel. We hoped that this is a place where someone might, you know, ‘pop the question’, come back here every year for their anniversary … have special memories. And that’s exactly what happened. It’s a place where if you stop coming, you’re missed.

Why move to New Brighton?

Up here, you know, it’s a little more laid back. People come up here with their dogs, the kids, there’s a recreational fire place … It’s less hipster I guess (smiles).

Were there any obstacles with the brewpub?

Not for the brewpub. In fact, the city of New Brighton was extremely helpful in the get-go. They’re still a good city to work with.

Tell me a little bit about your philosophy for your beers.

John: The Wild Brunette … when I was working at James Page, they had a wild rice boch. It was something silly, like 2 percent wild rice. And I’m like, “at least get enough where you can taste the wild rice.” Have some character present. So that was one that was for sure going to happen.

I also really liked porters, so I researched porters … IPAs were even hot back then, so that was a gimme.

The Little Barley (Bitter), which is a British-style bitter, was actually supposed to be a pale mild, but it was the first beer brewed on the system and the efficiencies were higher then estimated. So we checked the ABV and all that kind of stuff and it wasn’t a pale mild, it was more of bitter. That’s named after our first child, who was called Little Barley when he was in Laura’s womb!

Laura: Rosie, our daughter who is 14, has Rosie’s Old Ale. I have the Wild Brunette, but there’s no beer named after you (John) … yet.

John: I was once asked to lower the alcohol in some of my beers, but I was like “you know, I could do that, but the beer that they have will be less memorable. It will be less like what I’ve made that beer to be.” So, it’s like: if I fail it’s going to be on my own terms. It’s going to be because I’m making this beer the way I think it should be made.

How’s your relationship with other breweries?

Laura: The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild is very popular. That’s gotten much bigger. When we first started, we were able to host the Minnesota Brewers Guild party here and I remember there was only, you know, 20 people. But that was 15 years ago. How many breweries or brewpubs were here in Minnesota? 15? Not many and now there are so many. They just had their gathering at Surly, the big complex. We pretty much know the old time brewers.

What’s it like running a business as a married couple?

Laura: Well, when we first opened up the business, we were here quite a bit. That became challenging because there were too many cooks in the kitchen… we had heated discussions about this and that … I’m a nurse, cover the insurance and house bills, which was critical at the very beginning. Then two kids … so I kind of just stepped back and said, “you go ahead, baby.” That was an important thing, because then I was there as a consult, not decision maker. It made much more sense and went more smoothly. After that, piece of cake.

Sometimes he forgets to talk to me about certain things, he’s got a lot on his plate. But we have a cool relationship and a lot of support with the kids. That’s huge. Without my parents being able to watch the kids and the balance, it would have been a nightmare. We had a lot going for us.

Having a business that’s stressful taxes a marriage, but we were very blessed to not have any of that happen.

Do your kids help out with the business?

Laura: Oh yeah they do. Oh my gosh. They help out in the garden. Every summer. They’ve had their summer jobs for two years in a row. Nick wants to start in the kitchen. They’re up here a lot.

How has it been observing the changes in the brewing industry?

John: Back when we started, trying to get a bourbon barrel was as simple as calling the distributor and saying, “yo, throw one on the truck!” They literally just fell into your lap. Sometimes it cost you a little dough and a lot of the times you could get them for free. But now you gotta get into a bloody waiting list – even with people you used to get barrels from! They’re like, “ah well we’re booked up.” Which is one side.

Just the notoriety and acceptance of craft beer not only in the marketplace, but among people you know. I mean, we into the game, but when you’d go to a party … we’d be the geeks with the two six-packs and you’d have the rest of them with two 24-packs … now beer drinking is a bit more focused on the quality of the product.

Future ambitions/goals?

John: Yes. Evolution. You either stay vital or continue to create an environment that continues to grow, I guess, or it becomes stagnant. Not that you have to grow per say, but you have to continue to improve efficiency in what you got going on. Efficiency might not be the right word, but you gotta keep it intact with the times.

There’s a patio to be worked on eventually. We expect to have it torn out and paved – those plans still exist.

Final note:

John recently separated from the pub in December 2014 and it is now completely owned by Laura. The decision was made because John will be opening up a brewery.

“It is important that I am no longer considered an owner of the pub,” he said. “It was the only way to keep the brewpub open and open a brewery.”

Address: 781 Old Hwy 8 SW, New Brighton, MN 55112