Yoerg Brewing Co. ditches wine shop plans, will add European beer bar instead

Jess Fleming, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—Yoerg Brewing Co. is expanding its brew-pub operations — to the space next door.

The St. Paul brewery, which re-created the beer and borrowed the name of Minnesota's first brewery, is vastly expanding its selection of European beers and branding itself as a European beer bar.

"With every beer bar in the state fighting to have the biggest selection of India Pale Ales, we thought we should go the exact opposite route," owner Thomas Keim said in an email.

They have already expanded their beer offerings, which include an impressive amount of Belgian (especially Trappist) beers, and a wide variety from Germany and England.

Keim and his partner Carole Minogue are installing a 100-year-old bar and lots of vintage and European-inspired beer hall furniture.

They are hoping for a late June/early July opening and are planning a Belgian beer fest to kick things off.

Keim has given up on opening a wine shop in the space after the St. Paul City Council delayed a decision on changing its liquor store laws. The pair were asking to open a boutique wine shop, and the space is currently closer than a half mile to another liquor store as the crow flies, so that is not allowed.

Council member Jane Prince said the Department of Safety and Inspections has been studying the issue, and might sign off this month on a study of wine-shop distance requirements, but she's skeptical.

"DSI has promised us they'll be letting us know what's going to happen," she said. It comes up before the council a week from this Wednesday, "but I'll believe that when I see it."

Prince said the change in the law was intended to help businesses during the pandemic, and the five months it has taken for the department to study the issue is "too long."

Mayor Melvin Carter implied that he would veto the issue unless the study was done.

"All of our surrounding communities have done away with distance requirements for off-sale liquor," Prince said. "That in itself is indicative of the changes of public attitudes. The trend in the industry is distance requirements are going out the window."

Yoerg Brewing: 378 Maria Ave., St. Paul; 651-330-2076; yoergbeer.com