Twin Cities Selected Among Top U.S. Home Brewing Destinations

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Raise your pints beer lovers. The American Home Brewers Association listed the Twin Cities one of the top home brewing destinations in the United States.

The trend can be credited to a thriving craft beer community and growing access to the basics in home brewing.

Add beer to the list of bragging rights here in the Twin Cities. Specifically, our thriving community of home brewers.

"It's art and science. You're creating something, something that you can share with other people," Andy Grage said.

Andy Grage has been home brewing for 26 years. He loved it so much he turned it into a business. Here at Vine Park, they teach you how to brew your own beer with their ingredients, equipment and expertise.

"It's absolutely a labor of love. I think a lot of the small breweries and the people getting into it, you're not gonna get rich," Grage said. "You have to love it."

Grage says our thriving craft brewing industry helps fuel home brewing with an explosion of small shops popping up in The Twin Cities, especially northeast Minneapolis. He said it's a trend that actually began years ago.

"Summit kind of anchored everything. Then when Surly came along, everything exploded," Grage said.

Another reason for the explosion, places like Vine Park, where experts walk you through the entire process. And a couple weeks later, you're sampling your own beer.

"I've been brewing for many years and have a lot of knowledge about brewing and the ingredients and beer styles and I'm happy to share that with people," Grage said.

Whether it's IPA, EPA or seasonal on tap, bottoms up to all the home brewers out there.