Excelsior Brewing (MN)

In this Episode we visit Excelsior Brewing in Excelsior Minnesota.  It is a lake themes brewery that sits in a quaint little town on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, a large lake system just to the west of the Twin Cities.  Courtney was not available for this recording so Tim is joined by a special guest host, his wife Krista.  Excelsior is one of this couples' favorite breweries, and visiting this little town is a special treat.  We talk about the beer, the restaurants nearby, and the opportunities for a nice stroll along Water Street and along the lakeside.  Come join us!

Visit our website at https://thebreweryadventure.com or contact us by sending an email to courtney@thebreweryadventure.com.

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Transcript

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Timothy Larsen (00:00.844)
Welcome to the Brewery Adventure, where we explore the vibrant world of local breweries and the incredible atmosphere they create. My name is Tim, and if you've ever wondered what makes a brewery more than just a place to grab a drink, you're in for a treat. In each episode, we cover the places making beer, from the cozy corners of neighborhood taprooms to the bustling energy of larger brew houses. And we're not just talking about the beer. We're celebrating the ambiance, the culture, and the community that make each brewery a unique destination.

Timothy Larsen (00:28.226)
So whether you're regular at your local brew pub or just curious about what's out there, join us as we uncover the magic behind the taps. Let's embark on this brewery adventure together. Cheers, everybody. Well, as you can tell, this intro is a little bit different than our normal podcast. Courtney is usually here and we co-read that intro, but unfortunately, Courtney is not here tonight. And so we're going to do this episode just a little bit different. We're still going to cover the brewery that we were going to cover.

but in a little bit different way. So instead of having Courtney here, I have my wonderful wife, Krista here with me. Say hi, Krista.

Krista (01:05.647)
Hello there!

Timothy Larsen (01:07.148)
And Krista is an expert on Excelsior Brewing because she has been there about as many times as I have. So we have lots to talk about about Excelsior Brewing tonight and that is in the city of Excelsior, Minnesota, believe it or not.

Krista (01:24.091)
named.

Timothy Larsen (01:24.878)
Yes, aptly named. They didn't go way out of their way to name this one. But but it is a cozy little brewery. It's a family owned and operated microbrewery located in the heart of Excelsior. A welcoming community centric gathering since 2012. They brew a wide variety of beer styles with a focus on traditional methods and ingredients. Inspired by the lake lifestyle, they strive to be a family and community based brewery that leads by example. Wow.

That's pretty cool. And it is, that's one of the reasons that Christa and I really love going out to Excelsior Brewing. It's not just the brewery, it's the whole town.

Krista (02:04.569)
It's a special location. The Excelsior, especially, it's the brewery is right off of Water Street. So you're right there in the heart of Excelsior with so many different restaurants and other things to explore, as well as to order from while you're drinking at the brewery.

Timothy Larsen (02:24.908)
Yes, and speaking of drinking, we should start doing that. On each episode of this podcast, if anybody listens to us regularly, we drink a beer from the brewery as we're recording the podcast. And we have a couple of good examples here tonight. I have one that I've not yet tried because I don't think they really carry it on tap at the brewery, but they do can it. And I bought some and brought it home. It's called strawberries and cream ale.

Krista (02:28.189)
that's right, that's best part of this podcast, I think.

Timothy Larsen (02:52.374)
It's obviously a cream ale and it sounds delicious and I'm going to pop it open and give it a try.

Krista (03:01.039)
love that sound.

Timothy Larsen (03:07.182)
It's a good, good, good sound. Let's see how it smells. Ooh, that does smell like strawberry.

Krista (03:12.411)
I like that nobody can see this, but we're drinking from Excelsior glasses.

Timothy Larsen (03:16.446)
Mmm. We are both drinking from Excelsior pint glasses that we purchased a number of years ago.

Krista (03:23.193)
Yes, definitely.

Timothy Larsen (03:25.332)
Mm, that is delicious. If you like strawberries and cream, it is a good example of that. Krista, which beer are you going to be trying tonight?

Krista (03:34.223)
I have the Oktoberfest Lager, which I remember that we bought a ton of this last fall in Oktoberfest. And we go through quite a bit of Oktoberfest beer around here. But I'm very excited. Let me pop it open.

Timothy Larsen (03:37.678)
Yes

Timothy Larsen (03:49.321)
Yeah, we do.

Timothy Larsen (03:56.586)
Yes.

Krista (03:58.489)
I shall pour.

Timothy Larsen (03:59.786)
Yeah, and you're gonna love it. I know because I know you already do we both do we both love the October is the marzen style of beers And that an excelsior makes a really good one. This oktoberfest is really good In fact, they don't call it an oktoberfest. They call it docktoberfest because it kind of fits their theme with their docks and their lake theme Yeah, it's it's very good and I I was glad to see that they had it on tap when we were there the other day that it's because it's it's pretty early in the summer so I

Krista (04:03.3)
Mm-hmm.

Krista (04:11.968)
Mm.

Oh, it's so wonderful. I love this beer.

Krista (04:25.167)
Yeah.

Timothy Larsen (04:28.43)
glad that they had it on tap and I had one while we were there and it was very, very good.

Krista (04:28.464)
Yeah.

Krista (04:33.893)
Yep. Yeah. As you know, and the people listening to podcasts probably don't know, I greatly side toward the darker bears. I, anything over a 20 IBU is pretty much a no go for me. So

Timothy Larsen (04:43.756)
Yes, yeah.

Timothy Larsen (04:50.924)
Yeah. Yeah, that's I mean, that's mostly true for me too, although I do have a much wider range of beers that I like than you do.

Krista (04:59.407)
Yeah, and I especially like that if it's coffee or chocolate or some other notes like that, it makes it even better.

Timothy Larsen (05:07.414)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do agree. So as far as Excelsior Brewing goes, we do love the beers there. And that is obviously a very important thing about a brewery is liking the beers. And they do make a kind of a wide variety of styles. They don't just stick to one thing, but they've got a little bit of something for everybody and usually a wide selection of things on tap when you go in, which I really like.

Krista (05:30.949)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Timothy Larsen (05:34.072)
Chris, I want to talk a little bit about what Excelsior brewing looks like when you go in.

Krista (05:39.663)
Well, I I actually asked when we were there the other day of the origin of the building. And they said at one point it was like a car shop and some other, I mean, all kinds of different businesses there on basically what I call Main Street in Excelsior. So it's not, I mean, it wasn't built as a brewery, which I actually like. I prefer when we go to breweries, I love it when they have

Timothy Larsen (05:47.01)
Mm-hmm.

Timothy Larsen (05:59.18)
Yeah.

Krista (06:09.517)
established and put in this cool, I don't know, social feel in the middle of a building that just was originally industrial or whatnot. that, and they have, they previously had a stage more in the front, but now they've moved that in the back and they've gotten more expansive. And again, I think when we first went there, they didn't have the little deck.

area or the places to sit outside. And then they've added that and it just keeps expanding a little bit and definitely has a really cool niche feel for because people are coming either off the lake or biking or there's a lot of that type of people that are coming to the brewery.

Timothy Larsen (07:00.95)
Yes, yeah, every time I go to Excelsior Brewing, there is a kind of a variety of people there. There are people that come into Excelsior because it's near Lake Minnetonk. And if you're not familiar with the Twin Cities Metro area, Lake Minnetonk is a large lake system that's just on the west side of the metro, just to the west of where I live. And it is a very large lake and a lot of very expensive homes on and around the lake. But people flock out there to go to the restaurants and other things that are in the small towns.

kind of around the lake, the two main towns being Excelsior on the south side of the lake system and Wyseta on the north side of the lake system. And we really like going to Excelsior for that very reason, because of the lake feel that this little town has. You're going to a little town on the lake and it just has this really cool feel about it. And the brewery is kind of on one end of what they call Water Street. That's kind of what Christa called the main street of Excelsior. It's called Water Street.

Excelsior is kind of on away from the lake and then as you walk down that street you get closer and closer to the lake down by where the public docks are and It's just a really nice walk, which is one of the reasons we love Excelsior brewing so much. We usually go there have some beer Walk down the street and then get food at one of the many different places this last time we were there We went to the taco place Which was really really good. It's called lago tacos It's wonderful. It's wonderful

Krista (08:22.949)
was it was yep definitely and and the olive pizza is my favorite pizza period

Timothy Larsen (08:31.148)
Yes. And Olive's Pizza is literally like a door away from Excelsior Brewing. They're right off the back patio. so you can just pop over there. You could call them or pop over there and order a pizza, pick it up, bring it back to the brewery, and enjoy your food right there at the brewery, which is really, really nice. And like we were talking about, they do have a lake theme. So inside the building, they do have, you know,

water skis and boards and things like that from the lake and lots of lake-like decorations. then outside, there's picnic tables on the patio, but there are also like docks that you can sit at. And it's pretty cool back there.

Krista (09:15.481)
and their beer poles are booze.

Timothy Larsen (09:19.094)
Yes, That's yeah, everything is themed towards the lake. Absolutely, absolutely everything. We've had many different beers in there. Chris is drinking the Oktoberfest, which I just had the other night. But they make they make lots of different beers and they're all good. So don't be afraid to stop in there and have one.

Krista (09:40.101)
My mainstay for, I mean, almost every time we go is I have the brown ale that they call it the Bayside brown ale. And it seems to be on tap all year round. And it's a beautiful brown. And then I was really surprised when you picked up this pack, they didn't have it on tap, but I was so thrilled to try the espresso.

Timothy Larsen (09:49.219)
Yeah.

Krista (10:08.409)
milked out that, you know, that's completely up my alley. So that was a delightful, delightful malty espresso coffee, numbing, numbing beer. So that was delightful to share with a friend the other night.

Timothy Larsen (10:09.506)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Timothy Larsen (10:22.734)
Yeah, yes, absolutely, absolutely. They have a limited amount of snack food in there. They have some of the typical. Popcorny pretzels, meat sticks, kind of things that you can buy at a lot of Minnesota breweries. But you can also have food delivered there, or you can, like we said, get the pizza from next door and bring it over or bring whatever food you're going to eat with you. That's all perfectly OK in there.

Krista (10:33.861)
Patsos?

Timothy Larsen (10:51.47)
Dogs are welcome inside and outside at Excelsior, which is very cool. long as they behave themselves just like the people. That's the main thing. I just really... Excelsior brings is one of our favorites just because of the town and...

Krista (10:56.283)
as as they behave themselves.

You

Krista (11:14.255)
I would say not the only challenge of going to Excelsior Brewing seriously is the parking. And that's just, that's part of the entire Excelsior complex.

Timothy Larsen (11:22.723)
Yeah.

Timothy Larsen (11:26.784)
Yeah, it's not that there isn't any parking. There's lots of it. There's a very large lot right next to the brewery, a public parking lot that's free. You can also park on the street pretty much all over town. There are some places that are restricted for residents only. There are some places that are a pay on the street, but it's not very expensive either way. yeah, but on a busy night when it's nice out and that's

Krista (11:34.287)
Mm-hmm.

Timothy Larsen (11:56.15)
Excelsior is, especially on the weekend nights, Friday and Saturday night, if it's nice out, it is crazy there. There are so many people that flock to that little town.

Krista (12:06.651)
So it's that's I honestly when we are going down Highway 7 toward Excelsior have my fingers crossed and my toes crossed and everything about finding a nice parking spot especially in the winter because I'm a wimp.

Timothy Larsen (12:20.622)
Yep.

Timothy Larsen (12:23.982)
Yeah, and we haven't been there in the winter all too often a Couple of times but they I know that there are sometimes when Excelsior can be very busy in the winter as well because of snowmobiling So a lot of people that live on the lake or or just come out to the lake to snowmobile around the lake And then they come into Excelsior for the food and the beer and etc etc So it can be very busy on certain winter nights as well

Krista (12:28.015)
couple times.

Krista (12:35.503)
Sure.

Timothy Larsen (12:51.266)
Yep. Very cool. Very cool.

Krista (12:56.091)
Are you going talk about the bathrooms or? Because, know, that's a that's an important part of this podcast as well.

Timothy Larsen (12:57.548)
Yes, yes, yes, yes. haven't gotten to the bathroom review yet. The bathrooms at Excelsior Brewing are right in the main room basically. So if you're ordering a beer, just turn to the left, right on either side of the, right on other side of the merch area where they have their shirts and hats and glasses and whatnot. Men's and women's rooms. And I haven't been in the women's room, obviously, but I have been in the men's room very recently.

Krista (13:08.345)
Right.

Krista (13:12.325)
Turn around.

Krista (13:23.256)
I'm glad for that.

You

Timothy Larsen (13:27.266)
And it was fine. It's fine. It's small. I think in the men's room, there's like a stall and a urinal and a sink. I mean, that's it. It's not very big, but the brewery itself is not huge. So it's fine. It's decently clean. I wouldn't say it's the best I've ever been in, but they provided everything I needed. I could go to the bathroom. They had a place for me to wash my hands that had soap.

And then to get out, didn't have to touch the door. They have one of those toe grabber things on the bottom of the door so you can just pull it open with your foot and walk right out. overall, I would have to give their bathrooms a, let's give them an eight out of it.

Krista (13:59.992)
Exactly.

Krista (14:09.677)
I would agree with that. I the other thing that I, maybe it's just because I slow down and actually pay attention when in our restroom at the breweries, but they often have the posters up of what kinds of activities they're going to be hosting. so trivia night and there was something about cribbage, think, and puzzles. And those are the, I still want to do a puzzle night. still haven't.

Timothy Larsen (14:25.79)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Timothy Larsen (14:34.381)
Yeah.

Krista (14:39.183)
I haven't done that yet, but that always looks intriguing when we go and we see the puzzle contest. I know that's right up your alley,

Timothy Larsen (14:48.146)
Yeah, right. It's not as if they don't post those kinds of things other places in the brewery as well, but it is true that in the bathrooms, that is a quite common place. Right above a urinal is usually where there's a thing on the wall that tells you all the different stuff that goes on every night at the brewery. And like most breweries, Excelsior has a lot of things that goes on. And you mentioned a lot of them, the puzzling, the trivia nights, live music. They have live music at Excelsior quite often.

Krista (15:00.271)
Hahaha!

Timothy Larsen (15:18.988)
I don't think they're the type of brewery that I didn't really notice, but I'm not thinking the type of brewery that has food trucks all that often.

Krista (15:25.849)
I don't know where they would have them park. Yeah, and I think they have that little slant.

Timothy Larsen (15:27.638)
I think they park them out in the parking lot behind. know I have seen them out there, but I don't know if it's common at Excelsior. Maybe it is, maybe I'm wrong. If you know one way the other, please send me a message, comment. You can send any of those messages to tim at thebreweryadventure.com and I will get those messages from you. Do we have anything else to say about Excelsior or Excelsior Brewing?

Krista (15:56.315)
I just, like I said, I'm excited to be your first guest host, I guess.

Timothy Larsen (16:03.308)
Yes, Krista is the first guest host. know that Josh, Josh would like me to say that he was the first other person that was on the podcast. And that's true. if you missed that episode, Joshua, my friend, Joshua Johnson was on the podcast when we did OODA pills. And, if you haven't listened to his podcast that he does with Craig, see my shell, you need to listen to that one. It's a travel podcast called treasures of our town. And you can find that at any podcast place that you.

Krista (16:06.615)
I-

Krista (16:20.859)
Mmm.

Timothy Larsen (16:33.208)
Listen to podcasts.

Krista (16:33.795)
And I don't recall when we were at Excelsior, did they have a sticker wall or someplace to put stickers?

Timothy Larsen (16:39.948)
They had, I forgot to bring a sticker in with me. They have a sticker, like a pole up by the bar area where there's a bunch of stickers. So I think if I was gonna put one there, I'd probably have to cover up something else. Cause there was not a lot of space, but maybe there's another spot I'll look next time I go. But yeah, I forgot to bring it anyway, so it didn't matter. That's the way it goes.

Krista (16:53.901)
Hahaha

Krista (17:03.771)
But cheers to Excelsior.

Timothy Larsen (17:08.268)
Yeah, cheers to Excelsior Brewing. It definitely is, like I said, one of our favorite places. You need to go out there on a beautiful night. And you can go on a weeknight as well. It doesn't have to be a weekend. Go on a beautiful night and have a have a beer or two at the brewery and then waltz down the street. Pick your favorite restaurant. Go to Olive's Pizza. Go to the taco place. Go to walk all the way down to Maynards and try to get under their crazy patio when that's busy.

Krista (17:16.795)
Mm.

Krista (17:35.579)
Hahaha!

Timothy Larsen (17:37.454)
But you can do any of those things and can sit right there. Maynard, can sit right by the water.

Krista (17:41.371)
And we've never had licks, but everybody, the way the people wait for it, the ice cream shop, it must be amazing.

Timothy Larsen (17:46.464)
Yeah, there's an ice cream shop on Water Street called Licks Unlimited and it is very popular. Every time we go walk by there is a line. yeah. But you can walk down that way and then walk up, kind of turn left when you get to the water and then just walk up through the park and right along the water and you can kind of go around this peninsula and then circle back through the neighborhood and look at the huge houses along the lake. That's always a fun time, right?

Krista (17:55.779)
never waited long enough to try it.

Krista (18:08.933)
Mm-hmm.

Timothy Larsen (18:14.798)
Just imagine what it would be like to be rich enough to own one of those places. Maybe you are that person, I don't know. But just take a walk up around that way and then circle back to the brewery where your car is parked. And it's a wonderful evening to be out in a beautiful, beautiful night.

Krista (18:15.701)
Dream, dream room.

Krista (18:21.936)
Yeah.

Timothy Larsen (18:34.584)
So that is everything that we're going to say about Excelsior Brewing. For next time, it is going to be another magic mystery surprise. Don't know what brewery is going to be next. But if you have any suggestions, please send them to me. You can send them to Tim at TheBrewerAdventure.com. You could also send them to Courtney at Courtney at TheBrewerAdventure.com. And you can also just go right to our website. That's obviously TheBrewerAdventure.com. Or take a look at our YouTube channel.

And on that YouTube channel, if you were wondering what the inside of Excelsior Brewing looks like, I'll have a short walkthrough video where you can kind of see what it looks like before you go. So you can kind of plan your visit. But that'll be all for tonight's episode. Thank you so much, Krista, for sitting in and being a guest host.

Krista (19:20.485)
First of a long line, I'm sure. Yeah.

Timothy Larsen (19:23.406)
We might have some other people on too. You never know. We keep changing this podcast all the time. New things will happen. We don't know what will come next. Next brewery, who knows? But tune in for it and we'll see you then. Cheers.

Krista (19:37.915)
Cheers.