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When Bauhaus Brew Labs closed its doors at the end of June, it marked the end of a decade-long residency for the taproom in northeast Minneapolis. 

It fell victim to the national trend in the brewing industry, which has seen a seismic shift in sales and brewery closures across the country. But now, Bauhaus Brew Labs has been given new life. 

The roughly 2,000-square-foot taproom is being brought back by a St. Paul alcohol-adjustment tech startup known as ABV Technology. The company has a new approach to beverage technology that’ll allow customers to adjust the amount of alcohol in their their drink.

“It's standard cocktail making and has the allure and the beauty of a well-made cocktail,” said Ben Jordan the CEO of ABV Technology. “We think that the innovative part of that is that you get the freshness of a draft beer applied to all these other cocktails that people are screaming for them to be craft.”

Bauhaus Brew Labs was a client of ABV Technology. Jordan explained his company worked to purchase the brewery after they announced their closure earlier this year. Now, he’s hoping to reopen the staple taproom, in a month, with an extended drink menu, options for alcohol content ranging from zero to 20% and food options. 

“We we want people to have kind of a uniform experience, I will also say that there's a second component to that diversification that we want to really emphasize,” Jordan said. “Some people are choosing not to drink alcohol, and the story is that they just don't like it, but in fact, the macroeconomic factors that have led to people not getting paid as much: interest rates rising, jobs not being available. All of these factors have led to people not being able to afford a $9 pint of hazy IPA.” 

With weeks left to reopening, he’s investing in the idea that a brewery, like Bauhaus, can still be a communal place showcasing more than craft beer — he hopes to make space for music and the arts. Everything the brewery offered for over a decade.   

“Craft brewing is not dead,” Jordan said. “It's the lubricant that provides that social experience for a lot of people, and it doesn't have to be a beer, it's that craft and arts culture that makes Minneapolis so important.”

Bauhaus Brew Labs will reopen their doors in August of this year. 

Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.

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“We've got options that might be tailored to you, we don't want [people] to feel excluded from this place,” tech CEO Ben Jordan told MPR News All Things Considered host Clay Masters. 

Bauhaus Brew Labs to be revived with broader menu aimed at changing drinking tastes.

Bauhaus Brew Labs to be revived with broader menu aimed at changing drinking tastes

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