Saturday, December 17, 2022 | Country Acres South • Page 1 PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #278 Madelia, MN 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave Sauk Centre MN 56378
SOUTH S OUTH Saturday, December 17, 2022
Volume V Vo ollu ume 1, Edition 14
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
GRAIN TO GLASS Brewery showcases years of experience, local mindset BY SARAH COLBURN | STAFF WRITER
PINE ISLAND -M Master brewer Ann Fah Fahy-Gust spent five years in the UK working aas the international dire director of quality for Guinnes Guinness. Now, she and her busine business partner are the mastermin masterminds behind South x SouthEast Minnesota Brewing Compa Company. The w women, Fahy-Gust and Tessa Leung, met through a mu mutual utual t l ffriend r and formed a bbo bond over their desire to supply southeastern Minnesota with a truly regional craft beer. “We felt like it’s been left out oof the craft beer cculture for quite a w while,” Fahy-Gust sa said. a “There are sm small m craft breweries inn little towns but not on one ne that speaks out to the larger region. Non None n of the breweries
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Publications bli ti The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
here have that reach.” Fahy-Gust, one of the first female master brewers in the country, spent 23 years with Coors before being headhunted to work for Guinness. She spent another four years running Scottish Courage, the largest brewery in the UK. After returning to the states and continuing work in brewing, she partnered with Leung, who has been in the restaurant industry since the age of 15. Leung went to culinary school, opened a wine bar and restaurant in Rochester and then a brewpub. With their leadership, South x SouthEast now serves bars, restaurants and liquor stores within a 100-mile radius of its Pine Island base, and its focus is hyper-local. This spring, the brewery plans to bring equipment online to triple its beer-crafting capacity. They offer a full line of craft brews. Their core staples include a blonde ale which they said is a gateway beer for
those who aren’t quite sure about craft beer yet, Trailhead Amber which Fahy-Gust created with the help of a focus group, a Hazy Lazy Day IPA and a stout – peanut butter for fall, Belgian chocolate for winter and toasted coconut in the summer. Additionally, they offer seasonal and specialty beers including a Woodsman Porter, a Seasonal Yulefest and a Golden Coffee which has proven to be the most sought after in the line. “It’s our most asked for beer when it goes away,” Leung said. “It has a cult following. It’s like beer and coffee had a baby – Ann worked with Trail Creek Roasters a lot to get the beans correct. It’s golden and see-through. It’s magical.” When it comes to the brewing, Leung said it takes an expert like Fahy-Gust and her son Conor, who is a brewer in his own rite at the site, to get it right. Ann has rebuilt and built hundreds of breweries around the world and oversaw The Berkshire Brew-
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(Above) Ann Fahy-Gust (left) and Tessa Leung founded d South x SouthEast Minnesota Brewing Company to supplyy southeastern Minnesota with a truly regional beer. (Main) South x SouthEast Minnesota Brewing Company has set up an outdoor tent to host events, including rehearsal sal dinners, retirement parties, baby showers and comedy shows. ws.
ery, one of Britain’s largest breweries. Leung said that, although Fahy-Gust is too humble to talk about it, she teaches fermentation and brewing to brewers around the world, and it shows in their local product. “There’s just experience and laser-focus attention to detail, which makes an outstanding product,” she said. “They want to make the beer perfect every time, and if it’s not, they’ll fix it. The customers know if the beer is different.” The product is grain to glass in about four weeks. “That also showcases
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Grown-up Christmas list Grace Jeurissen column
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what we can do really, ally, really well,” Leung said. “Fresh beer is just really eally delicious beer.” While Ann and Conor work on crafting, Leung ung is out in the communityy helping potential customers ers understand what the brewery has to offer. She literally ally carries samples in her purse urse and spends her days visiting ng with often-hesitant business ss owners and customers alike ke about the idea of craft beer. “People think all ll craft beer is hoppy andd dark, but they love thee amber right away,” shee said.
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