You may have been buying growlers of beer at Granite City and the ND JL Beers locations but getting the beer right at the brewery is a different experience. With Fargo Brewing Company and Junkyard Brewing both open and brewing beer, you can now buy fresh beer literally steps away from where it is made.
If you have never seen them before, growlers are usually a half gallon reusable glass container that the brewery will fill so you can take their beer home. If you treat the growler with care, it will last a week or two without any issues but it is best to serve all of the beer in the growler at one time as soon as you can. Laws vary by state but usually the brewery and the beer has to be identified on the bottle and the cap must be sealed by a sticker or a heatshrinked plastic cuff.
Usually you buy the growler and the fill on your first visit and every time you come back for a refill, you save money since you don’t have to buy the container, just he beer.
Fargo Brewing Company
610 N. University Dr. , Fargo, North Dakota 58102
Taproom & Growler hours: Tuesday-Friday, 4-10pm (Happy Hour prices 4-6pm) and Saturday, Noon-10pm
Tours: Saturdays noon and 2:00PM, each limited to 25 people – click on the times to register, cost is $1 or non-perishable food item (see below)
Prices: Growler & fill $15, refills $10, pints $5
Located on University Drive north of Main Avenue and just south of Sunmart, Fargo Brewing has a large building and large plans. Before they can renovate the east side of the building as a tap room with a kitchen, they have opened a temporary tap room on the west side of the building right by the parking lot. This does give easy access and gives a bit of industrial feel as the taps come right out of the cooler, seating is limited, and there are barriers so you don’t wander off into the brewery. You don’t need much to make this place a cool hangout with $5 pints of regular beers and experiments from their 1 barrel test system that you might or might not see produced in greater volume. Now that they are making their own beer, I can taste the difference as their locally made products are much better than what they contracted out to have made for them.
After you buy a pint or two you can bring your favorite home in a growler. Also you might catch a food truck in the parking lot to make a meal out of it too.
Fargo Brewing is now doing tours for the public Saturdays from starting at noon and 2pm. The tour includes a free pint of their beer.
You must register at the link below and there is a limit of 25 people per tour.
A non-perishable food item or $1 is required for admission.
https://www.eventbrite.com/org/4726699901?s=17915645
Junkyard Brewing Company
1320 1st Ave. North, Moorhead, MN 56560
Growler hours: Wed. 4-7pm, Fri. 4-7pm
Prices: Growler and fill = $15
Bottle fill= $12/single, or $10 each for multiple fills
The brewery is located inside the steel building behind (north) the Country Cannery homebrew store on 1st Ave. Entry to the “parking lot” is from the westbound half of 1st Ave. only. Or turn into Ecowater and go through the alley.
After you go in the door you walk through a short hallway to the brewery where they sell the growlers. They do not have a tap room where you can buy pints of beer but they will give you samples to taste what they have available. Their selection will vary depending on what they have on hand and what experiments they want feedback on. I had some Scrounger made with wild rice that was very tasty on a recent visit.
FMBeer.com – Beer News for Fargo, Moorhead and beyond!
Brews on Broadway, a pop-up patio taproom is now open through the Summer and will be pouring beers from the Fargo Brewing Company. It is located downtown on Broadway in the former Schumacher Goodyear location at 409 Broadway North. Their hours are Thursday and Friday from 4PM-10PM and Saturday 9AM-10PM throughout the Summer Besides the beer they will feature live music picnic tables and bean bags. Brews on Broadway takes cash only to hit the ATM before you get there.
