We have been brewing dangerously good ales on the North Shore of Lake Superior since 2011. After out-growing our 3-bbl brewhouse in Castle Danger, we opened a new location in downtown Two Harbors in 2014 with a 30-bbl brewing system, canning line, and year-round taproom overlooking Lake Superior. This allowed us to grow from 13 local tap lines to state wide distribution. Three years later, we built a packaging hall that houses all cold-side production, including canning, kegging and an expanded cooler. We also updated our taproom by increasing our tap lines from 10 to 22. Our beer is available throughout Minnesota where you find it at bars and restaurants or at your local liquor store.
Castle Danger beers are all designed with a flavor profile in mind. We may start with a base style, but expand upon it to create something unique. There are hundreds of great beers that are true-to-style available in the beer market. We prefer to use traditional brewing practices to produce unique, flavorful beers. In our minds, this is the only way to approach brewing.
OUR MISSION: crafting a North Shore ExpeRience.
Our beers are clean, balanced and approachable. They are brewed with Lake Superior water by hearty souls who embody the North Shore. Wherever or whenever you enjoy a Castle Danger beer, you can taste a little bit of the North Shore in every sip.
2006–2010
HumbLe BeGinNingS
- Clint began homebrewing in 2006 and started developing his own recipes
2011 – 2014
StaRtinG SMalL
- Castle Danger Brewery opened in March 2011 in Castle Danger, MN
- Self-distributing began, facilitating 13 local bars and restaurants
- Sold growlers three nights a week out of the 700 square foot brewery
2013 – 2014
CoNstructioN in two HarboRs
- Began the expansion and build-out into downtown Two Harbors during one of the coldest winters on record
- Constructed a 10,000 square foot production facility with taproom
- Installed a 30-barrel brewing system and canning line, a big upgrade from our original 3-barrel system
AUGuST 2014
tapRooM GraNd OPeninG
- The grand opening of our taproom in downtown Two Harbors took place in August of 2014
2015 – 2017
CoNtinued GrowtH
- Continued to expand our distribution to cover all of Minnesota, and a few border towns of Fargo, ND and Superior, WI
- Increased annual production from 1,500 barrels in 2014 to 14,800 barrels in 2017
- Remodeled our taproom to include a 40-person private rental room, a patio with a deck, and increased our tap lines from 10 to 22 lines
2018
PacKaGing HalL EXpansioN
- Completed construction of our packaging hall; this included moving all canning and kegging operations from the original brewery to the packaging hall, adding a much larger cooler, more brite tanks and fermenters, and a nitro tank
2019-2021
Hit 20,000 BarreLs oF BeeR
- Lost the ability to sell off-sale (growlers and crowlers) from our Taproom on October 1, 2019. (The 1st picture was taken on the last day we could sell growlers (September 30, 2019). We sold 475 growlers on that day, thanks to our amazing customers.)
- Updated our can packaging to cardboard cartons, allowing us to come out with a Variety Pack and other 12-packs.
- Invested in a pilot system! This gives us the ability to brew small, 3-barrel, experimental batches of beer.
2022
Got Growlers Back!
- We worked hard with the Alliance of Minnesota Craft Brewers to Free the Growler. We were finally able to sell them again in June 2022!
- We also started filling and selling crowlers. (Prior, we had only offered 64fl glass growlers and 750ml glass “mini growlers”.