Surly Brewing scores a $500,000 grant to make a brownfield into a new brewery

There’s nothing ill-mannered about Surly Brewing Company’s community spirit. Just take a look see at its Twin Cities community outreach page, graciously titled Surly Gives a Damn. To help furnish the homes of struggling families this January, Surly volunteered to help build dressers with the excellent non-profit Bridging. Throughout 2013, Surly has plans to lend its services to the Emergency Foodshelf Network, Senior Community Services, and the Memorial Blood Center.

Now, according to a report by the StarTribune in Minneapolis, Surly will be cleaning up a brownfield, which will be the site of its future brewery. Can these guys and gals get any less surly? According to the article, “the Metropolitan Council announced Wednesday that it has awarded the Brooklyn Center-based craft brewer a $545,300 grant to assist with environmental cleanup at a former potato plant in Prospect Park. It’s one of three grants the company said it needed to select the site and conduct $2.5 million in remediation.”

Surly Brewing hopes to build a $20 million destination brewery in Minneapolis, with plans for a brewery, restaurant, beer garden and event center. As mentioned, the $500K-plus grant is just part of the puzzle. Surly has also asked the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for $1.5 million in cleanup funds and Hennepin County for $450,000. We’ll keep you updated on the results.