It had been more than 15 years, so when Phil Gagné smelled Clutch Brewing making beer in the old Schmidt Brewery keg house, he got a little emotional.

“The first time they brewed, I was up on West Seventh and I could smell the wort,” said Gagné, who was the final head brewmaster at the brewery, which changed names and closed as Minnesota Brewing Company in 2002. “It was a happy moment.”

Gagné, who started as a brewer at Schmidt in 1979, jokes that he’s “the last man standing.”

He had stayed on to care for the grounds as the new vision for the building took shape. He’s now the director of operations for Keg and Case West 7th Market and the coming-soon Rathskeller project.

He took a shine to the young men who were about to open a brewery of their own in Keg and Case’s mezzanine, and Clutch owners Max Boeke and Jordan Standish say they can’t imagine running the place without him. When construction was going on, Gagné had an office on the mezzanine level, and the younger men affectionately began calling him “The Overlord.”

So it should come as no surprise that the three of them partnered on a beer that they’re calling Phil’s’ Pils, a crisp, bright lager that will be released Thursday.

“He was on us about doing a lager from the beginning,” said Standish, who noted that since lagering takes about twice as long as making an ale, and they were running out of beer regularly, it wasn’t really an option until they recently installed two 20-barrel fermenters.

The recipe for the beer is a variation of a recipe Gagné used in the mid-1990s when the brewery was Minnesota Brewing Company. It’s a gorgeous, golden-hued beer’s beer, with some grain character, but also a little kick from Saaz and Perle hops.

“It’s just a really balanced beer,” Gagné said.

While it’s clear the younger men have a lot of respect for Gagné, the three of them also have a playful relationship. Gagné was insistent on one thing about the beer they would make together.

“No dry hops.”

But one day, Standish told Gagné, deadpan: “It’s tasting pretty good now that I threw in a handful of hops.”

“I believed him!” Gagné said, laughing.

“I got him pretty good,” Standish said.

Gagné, who has a wealth of knowledge about the history of the brewery and the area, was also the caretaker of many artifacts now displayed at Keg and Case, including the “Brewer’s Table” at Clutch, which was originally a part of the break room at Schmidt and was made in 1910. It is built from wooden fermentation tanks that date to the 1870s, and Gagné not only saved it when Schmidt closed, but also spent more than 100 hours restoring it. It’s now the place for former Schmidt workers to sit when they visit. A sign asks anyone who’s sitting at the table to make room for those who helped keep the brewery afloat for so many years.

Some of those folks, friends of Gagné’s, will show up for the Phil’s Pils release party.

Gagnè, for his part, seems thrilled to still be hanging around after all this time. It’ll be 40 years on Halloween, but who’s counting?

“I’m the captain that went down with the ship,” Gagné said. “But I can tread water really good.”

International Bittering Units (IBU): 32; Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.8 percent

Clutch Brewing: 928 W. Seventh St., St. Paul; clutchbeer.com