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The big food story in Minnesota last year was the explosion of taprooms. The biggest example of that is 

Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine's Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl joined MPR News' Tom Crann to chat about why Surly is such a huge deal, and what it means for 2015.


Here are five things to know about Surly and its new brewery, according to Moskowitz Grumdahl.


1) The food is good. After an intensive search, Surly recruited a big-time chef Jorge Guzman. He's already making some of the best BBQ in the Twin Cities.  


2) Tie the knot with a beer chaser. Guzman came from Solera which in addition to its role in the Twin Cities dining scene was a popular downtown Minneapolis location for private events. This spring, Surly will open its own events center. You may be invited to a wedding at the brewery.


3) The best of both worlds. People are either restaurateurs or they're brewers. Surly is among the few that are striving to do both. 

 in San Diego appears to be the only other comparable venture in the county. Surly is bigger than anything we will see in Minnesota.


4) Surly is just getting started. Surly has already opened an enormous 200-seat beer hall. In the spring, Surly will add an 85-seat fine dining restaurant upstairs, run by Guzman and Brian Hauke, another well-known local chef. Outside, there are plans for a 1-and-a-half acre beer garden with its own menu.


5) Surly gives new meaning to the phrase "destination brewery." It's too early to say what influence the Surly taproom will have over the local craft beer scene. After all, we only have one Foshay Tower. But the Twin Cities has been solidified as a beer tourism destination. People will fly in from the other beer capitals such as Denver and Portland. And, that's something that wouldn't have happened two years ago.

Surly taps start flowing in new age of beer

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Surly gives new meaning to the phrase "destination brewery," says food writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl.

Appetites: 5 things on tap for the new Surly brewery

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