Haggard Barrel Brewing
The Tulip and Schooner newsletter for August 1, 2025
The Tulip and Schooner is edited and primarily written by Louis Livingston-Garcia.
Talk as of late is how out-of-state breweries need to pay to attend the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, Wisc. I haven’t read the article deep dives, but basically, it sounds like a change means breweries from, say, Minnesota, need to pony up over $1,000 to attend. Places like Dimensional in Iowa are able to bypass it with a distributor license for Wisconsin, but from what I’ve heard second hand is a brewpub like Forager doesn’t have that option (a Minnesota brewpub can’t distribute), or breweries not distributing in Wisconsin.
Anyway, it’s caused some jimmies to be ruffled as fest goers looking for the rarest and best beers are nervous about what that means for the fest moving forward.
I think it will still be packed, but I wonder if lines will be longer if there are fewer breweries. Will we see heavy hitters vanish? Maybe not places like Toppling Goliath who print money these days, but if the Forager news I heard about them pulling out is true (I haven’t heard back from them at this point), that’s a huge loss. It’s one of the breweries I beeline for every year, along with Lua. I also read this change came from the Wisconsin Brewers Guild. I just don’t see how this works in anyone’s favor. It feels like government at its worst: making changes for no real reason or real benefit.
I’m not attending Great Taste this year, so I won’t be able to see firsthand how the fest is affected. I’ll be messaging a load of friends and brewery owners about this to gauge where the fest is at. Instead, I’ll be with both boys while mom works, attending a Great Taste pre party at a friend’s home in New Glarus to crack some whalez with longtime friends.
It is always hard to miss the fest because of fear of missing out, but it is nice to take a break. I’ve gotten larger, more tired, and more busy, making it an endeavor to partake. But going to a pre party and then skipping the fest for a weekend of connecting with the boys seems like a nice alternative.
I’ll most likely be back next year, even if a number of breweries are missing. Perhaps the special member bottles I bring to the pre party will be the only Forager my friends get these Great Taste weekends, but even that is kind of special.
At the very least, I’m not writing about numerous breweries missing due to closing… but more on that later in the newsletter. Also, here’s a photo from the Fourth of July. The family and I totally kicked this mini keg of Oberon and I look forward to doing it again.
HAGGARD BARREL BREWING
The Saint Louis Park-based brewery boasts Tony Hawk video games, Thrasher, and a good variety of beers.
By Loren Green
I was going to write something about the (maybe) 20x20 foot space of Haggard Barrel’s minimal taproom, but I think the true story is told by customers. On my second visit, here’s what I overhead as I sat in the corner:
“Do you have a light lager on tap?”
“We have two…”
It’s not a common exchange in any modern brewery, not to mention one that only has about six taps. I’m not going to cast them as a lager brewery by a longshot, but it does say that Haggard Barrel does things a little differently. Inside, as I write this, patrons are playing Tony Hawk 2 on the PS2, mounted above a wall of Thrasher magazine covers. Behind them, there’s a small bar with six more seats and a chalkboard listing of beers.
That’s it. That’s the taproom. A patio is coming (probably before this publishes), which will be a small paved space that faces an industrial zone in St. Louis Park that’s somehow become a bit of a beverage destination, with Copperwing and Dampfwerk practically next door.
