20 for 20: New Brewery (2013)

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lakeland News, we’re taking a look back at some of the memorable local stories we’ve covered over the years. We’re calling it 20 For 20 – twenty stories in all, one for each of the twenty years we’ve been on the air with Lakeland News.

The Brainerd Lakes Area is now home to six different craft breweries. The brewery boom started in 2012 when Jack Pine Brewery opened in Brainerd. It was the first brewery in the Brainerd area since prohibition, and reporter Hannah Tran told us what is was all about.

In the spring of 2017, Jack Pine Brewery moved into a new 7,400 square foot facility in Baxter. Other breweries in the Brainerd Lakes Area include Roundhouse Brewery in Brainerd, Gull Dam Brewing in Nisswa, Big Axe Brewing in Nisswa, Cuyuna Brewery in Crosby, and 14 Lakes Craft Brewing in Crosslake. And other breweries in the Lakeland viewing area include Bemidji Brewing, Portage Brewing in Walker, Starry Eeyed Brewing in Little Falls, and Klockow Brewing in Grand Rapids. A new brewery called Drastic Measures also plans to open in Wadena this year.

Reporter Hannah Tran is now a video journalist for the Gazette in Colorado Springs, CO. The Gazette is the second largest newspaper in the state.