July 19 is the second anniversary of the premiere of Crafted to Last – Minnesota Beer Blossoms.  The 2 years since my home-brewed film went public has seen the fruition of a few of the stories told in the documentary. The Surly destination brewery is wowing the beer and restaurant worlds. Badger Hill, Lucid, and Bad Weather breweries have all grown and responded to a fast-changing craft brew market that has already outgrown such quaint labels. Leech Lake is out of business, the unlikely partnership at Harriet Brewing has landed in court, and everyone is expanding while new breweries open every other month and pump up the promise of a bursting bubble.  The departure of Dave Hoops and Tim Nelson from Fitger’s Brewhouse may be the most surprising development since they worked with us on Crafted to Last. The documentary has Hoops talking about designing a new brewery for Fitger’s in Duluth as Nelson emphatically agrees. The times truly were a changin’.

Since the premiere in Minneapolis and debut in Duluth, our efforts have turned to free public screenings, CTL Film Tour 2015 and The MN Craft Beer Festival 2016, and DVD sales. We have plenty of glasses and a few T-shirts for sale. Contact us at [email protected] to buy our stuff.

Its time for me to put Crafted to Last aside. Its time for a new project.

Many of you know me primarily because of my work with Crafted to Last, MN Beer Activists, The MN Craft Beer Project, and Sunday Sales MN. That is, through beer. My mission is bigger than beer. I know that some of you won’t quite understand something of value beyond beer, but I’m not talking to you, anyway. I took on the subject of locally brewed beer because I like beer and I like smaller operations run by people that I can respect, or at least understand.  I was lucky enough to be able to capture the earliest days of the current boom. The past two years underscore the value of CTL-MBB as an historical document of that time.  I owe a debt of gratitude and thanks to everyone that made it possible.

The next step is very likely the general release of Crafted to Last on a pay to play format through vimeo. There will, of course, be many ways to get free access – if you pay attention.

The next project will be revealed soon. Its a return to the satirical news channel that gave rise to Brixton Hughes but without the satire.

Stay tuned.

It’s been a few weeks since the MN Craft Beer Fest at the Convention Center. We got some attention from the crowd and convinced a few people to buy a DVD. A couple guys were digging the music from the monitor and were happy to find out it was original and local. Of course they bought a CD that Zachary Lozier remixed from his score.

We are working on a screening or three throughout the Summer. There is a chance of new video, too. Not just recycled video compost from the strategic piles nested in the CTL vaults, new video from new locations. Get in touch if you would like to host a screening and we’ll make it happen.

This Summer will mark 2 years since Crafted to Last premiered in Minneapolis and Duluth; almost 5 from conception. It has gained historic elements as it aged these 2 short years. I was shooting video until the very last moment before the premier in July 2014, so the video track froze in early June of that year.

From places that have changed, to the people that have moved on as a brewery closes, opens, or expands, the documentary flavors of the film begin to unfold. Many viewers have remarked on seeing the old Surly Tap Room in Brooklyn Center in action, the gutted building that becomes Dangerous Man Brewing Company, or the serene birdsong at Olvalde Farm. Hippity Hops Farm and Leech Lake Brewing have given the film a sense of loss, underscored by the departure of Hoops and Nelson from the Fitger’s scene.  Two years on, it is apparent that CTL is a snapshot of a dynamic moment in the early expansion of the Minnesota beer and brewing sector. A photographic movie of a short time that has become a long time ago.

Stay tuned.