MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — You could call 612 Brew the new kid on the block. It opened to the public in February, in a renovated building in northeast Minneapolis.

Jamey Rossbach and three of his buddies started 612 Brew after spending years making beer at home.

That’s where they perfected their recipes.

“We are just all friends who used to brew in our garage. Real simple, but we got real ambitious. Got our

bank loan, licenses, found the space, built it out,” Rossbach said.

And they are off to a great start.

“We have been open about four and a half months. We are just doing fantastic, well over our projections. Making a lot of great regulars in the area. Phenomenal neighborhood in northeast. This corner has turned out to be a fantastic corner,” Rossbach said.

Adam Schill is the head brewer. He makes sure the taste is right.

“What I am doing is taking a sample of the fermenting beer — a gravity, which is essentially a measurement of the fermentable sugars to monitor the process of fermentation,” he said, as we watched.

The guys put a lot of thought into how they used this space, choosing to keep it open so that customers could see the production area.

“You know I think that it is nothing but a positive for the state. It’s creating a lot of jobs, it’s creating a lot of buzz,” he said. “It’s nice, safe places for people to hang out. We get a lot of families — that’s been one of the biggest surprises. Saturday days are like a day care in here, which is great.”

612 Brew already has 55 bars, selling their beers on tap.

One of the most popular ones is called Main Stage.

Next weekend, they will join 100 other breweries from around the region at the state fairgrounds, for the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest.