The much anticipated opening of the new Surly brewery is upon us. On Friday, December 19th at 11 AM the doors to the Prospect Park neighborhood will open and droves of people will flood the taproom floor eager to try the all new chef driven food menu and of course their beloved brews.

Omar Ansari’s dream is a thing of beauty featuring natural woods and plenty of shiny metal with all brand spanking new brewing equipment for brew master Todd Haug to play with. This will be a huge change for the brewery but don’t expect the quality or the attitude to change as these are what have driven the Surly brand from the very beginning. The past month or so I’ve taken some time to reflect on the Twin Cities craft beer scene since Surly arrived and it’s really quite impressive what has taken place around here.

Looking back I remember strolling through Hum’s Liquors on Lyndale when Surly first hit the shelves and upon spotting it in the store I wondered if it would be any good. At the time I was skeptical of craft beer found in a can as most everything worth drinking was sold in bottles. Surly proved me wrong.

The first Surly brew I tried was a can of Furious poured into a glass. The color was a deep red and the aroma of the hops was almost overwhelming. I’d considered myself a hop head but this was promising me something I hadn’t had before. I’ll never forget how that first sip punched me in the mouth and it definitely taught me never to trust the packaging before judging a beer. Ever.

The beer scene itself was changing. Summit and Schell’s had been making and packaging great beer but they were the only real local options on store shelves across the metro. Many stores weren’t storing beer properly and couldn’t turn over their inventory so you wouldn’t always be getting a quality product. That all began to change after Surly hit shelves.

Their beer was to be refrigerated and the demand for it kept all the available inventory fresh. At a time when PBR was “cool” and the economy was struggling, craft beer was suddenly becoming a hot commodity. A lot of this had to do with people needing to feel a sense of community and craft beer provided that. It gave people control of something in their lives (purchasing choices) when everything was going to crap. It was a hobby as well challenging people to try something new—similar to what foodies seek out on the restaurant scene. Since the Surly Bill passed in 2011 we have seen a huge growth in Minnesota breweries. We now have over 70 in the state, by far the most since prohibition.

Surly embodies all of these things. If one thing stands out about Surly it is the sense of community they have built over their nine years. Case in point they started Surly Gives A Damn where volunteers go out in the community and help build furniture, put together meals, donate blood, and much more. They have volunteered well over 9,000 hours and over 70 projects in four years. That is pretty damn impressive.

But what I’ve been most impressed with is the humble nature of the Surly family. These people will get out and talk to anyone despite their rock star auras. All of it comes from the heart. It’s authentic and the pride bleeds into everything that they do. I’m proud to know these people and the best part is that their story is just beginning.

Cheers!