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UPDATE: Union Pizza & Brewing is now open and serving pizza. Their first beer is on tap plus they do have a very nice selection of MN and ND brews.
Per the article in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal and Facebook, Union Pizza and Brewing Company is under construction and hope to be open in February 2015. They will be located on Union Avenue just south of Lincoln Avenue where a Domino’s Pizza used to be. The restaurant will serve brick-oven baked pizza and a variety of beers, some of which will be brewed on location.
Current city council member Ben Schierer will handle the pizza side of the business (he built a pizza brick-oven at home 8 years ago and just built another one for the restaurant) and he has brought in Matt Ecker as the brewmaster to craft beer on location. “We want to keep things simple,” Schierer said. “We want to make good pizza and good beer.”
The sourdough crust pizza will be cooked in a wood-fire brick-oven that will get up to 800 degrees. “We’re making our dough here,” Schierer said, adding that that goal is to purchase as much of their products locally as possible. They will also offer a small selection of appetizers, salads and desserts, as well as homemade rootbeer.
“We still want this to be a family restaurant,” Schierer said. “It’s not going to be a 2 a.m. bar.” However, the beer stands to be the highlight of this venture.
“We have six 90 gallon tanks,” Schierer said about the brewing that will take place inside the restaurant. All of the brewing equipment will be located at the front of the store so it will be able to be viewed from the sidewalk window, as well as through two windows inside the entrance.
“We’ll sell beer we make here,” Schierer said. “We will also sell local, Minnesota craft beer. As well as some from North Dakota. There are a number of places that are small, independent, breweries.” They will make a pale ale, an IPA and a porter to start off as well as some seasonal beers, according to Schierer. “We will offer the whole range,” Ecker said. “We will have 10 on tap. Our goal is to cover the whole gamut, whether we make it here or whether it is made in Fargo.” One of their goals is to offer varieties of beers that people have had the chance to try before.
