Craft beer is having quite a renaissance. As major beer players including Miller and Budweiser have seen their sales decline, craft beer’s popularity is soaring. Chances are craft beers are taking up more tap space at your favorite bar than ever before. And smaller breweries are popping up all over the state thanks in part to some updated laws.

Beer lovers Ed Bremer of St. Paul and Matt Sandell of Shakopee are smack-dab in the middle of the craft beer craze. Bremer, who owns Heritage Liquor in Maplewood, and Sandell, a former beer distributor and bartender, got to talking last year and what started off as a mutual love of beer turned into a partnership. The two are the brains behind “Beer Geeks,” a new TV show featuring the world of craft beer. Produced locally and hosted by Jeff Angell, “Beer Geeks” kicks off its debut season on Sunday (11 p.m., KSTC-TV, Channel 45).

The first of 16 half-hour episodes includes a tour of August Schell Brewing in New Ulm, one of the oldest family-run breweries in the country, and a look at the Hanger Room, a restaurant and bar in Mahtomedi with an extensive selection of craft beers on tap. Future episodes will include tours of local microbreweries Flat Earth Brewing Co., Harriet Brewing, Summit Brewing Co., Lift Bridge Beer Co. and Surly Brewing Co.

“I have a real interest in craft beer from the aspect of who is making it, why they are making it and the passion they have behind it,” Sandell says. “The show revolves around some beer geeks going from brewery to brewery getting an intimate detailed tour. These breweries and these brew masters have a huge passion for what they’re doing. That’s what I think sets them apart from the BMC – the Bud, Miller, Coors – is they really care about what they’re doing and brewing is their craft.”

The Brewers Association describes a craft brewer as “small, independent and traditional” with a production of 6 million barrels of beer or less a year. Most produce well below the 6 million barrel mark.

Bremer calls these brewers “artists.”

“You can take two craft brewers and give them the same recipe and they would come up with a completely different beer because they all do things a little bit differently,” he says. “One of the other things we hope to do is utilize some of these craft brewers for a segment on the show where they give tips to home brewers.”

The show also will include a segment on beer tasting by self-described “beer geeks,” folks who are experts in the craft beer arena. One of the “geeks” is craft beer advocate Mark Opdahl, a former beer buyer for 1st Grand Avenue Liquors in St. Paul who now organizes craft beer festivals. For an upcoming episode of “Beer Geeks,” Opdahl tasted a bunch of beer cocktails.

“I said before I went, are you guys sure you want me there? I’m a beer purist,” Opdahl says.

“If you give me a martini made from beer, I’m going to throw it against the wall, at least the first one. Then the second one, I’ll try it, but I’m not going to like it,” he says, only slightly joking. “And even if I like it, I’ll give my honest opinion. They were cool with it and we did it. It was actually really fun, and the drinks were all right. I would never order one. But they were OK.”

Both of the show’s creators hope that people – whether they’re beer geeks themselves or novice beer drinkers – will get something out of the show.

“People come into the store and tell me they don’t like beer,” Bremer says. “I say no you just haven’t found the right beer yet. You ask them a few questions and you guide them to a beer and they have this epiphany of ‘wow.’ Because they’ve been marketed and told what beer is supposed to be for so long. We’re trying to change that perception.”

Amy Carlson Gustafson can be reached at 651-228-5561. Follow her at twitter.com/amygustafson. Read more about local arts and entertainment at blogs.twincities.com/eatshopplay.

What: “Beer Geeks,” a Minnesota-produced TV show about craft beer

When: 11 p.m. Sunday

Channel: KSTC-TV, Channel 45