IPA Man
The Vikings arrived in America long before Columbus! If you’re from Minnesota you BELIEVE that because of the Kensington Runestone found in North Central Minnesota in the 1920's. The Runestone dates the travels of the Vikings as early as 1310. But did you know the markings on the Runestone talks about the Vikings slaughtered on the shores of a lake about a day's travel north ogf Kensington? And, that in 1931 they found eight Anglo Saxon burial sites just outside of Ashby? Host a pint of IPA MAN and tune into the series "Secrets of the Viking Stone" on AMAZON PRIME starring Peter Stormare (woodchipper guy in the movie Fargo) and see the ABC Brewery highlighted in the series!
Norwegian Blonde
When you think blonde, you think blue-eyed Scandinavian blondes. Well, our Norwegian Blonde is a light blonde ale made by blue-eyed Norwegians in Ashby, Minnesota. It’s not hard to have the beer made by blondes in Ashby. There are more blondes per capita in Ashby, Minnesota than anywhere else in the country. How do we know this? We went to the local high school and counted the number of blondes in each graduating class from 1962 - 2019. Over 73% of the graduating classes were blonde. With that many blondes, there has to be a blonde joke to go with the beer.
Ole and Lena were at the breakfast table when the local radio station announced that everyone living in Ashby should park on the left side of the street to allow the snow plows to operate. Lena dilagntly moved the family car to the left side of the street.
The next week, the announcement repeated for the right side of the street.
A week past and the announcer announced everyone in Ashby please move your car to the…
The electricity went out! Lena said to Ole, “What do we do now Ole? Does the car go on the right side or the left side for snowplowing?”
Ole lovingly replied, “Lena, let’s just leave the car in the garage this time.”
Kittson Kolsch
Aces over duces! That’s how you built a hotel in the frontier of rural Minnesota in the 1880s. James Hill (founder of Burlington Northern Railway), and Norman Kittson (steamboat mogul) found themselves in a poker game one dark night in Ashby, Minnesota, a newly opened stop of the James Hill Railroad empire. Both avid outdoorsmen and duck hunters of Christina Lake, they decided that Ashby should have a grand hotel to showcase the area. Who should pay for it? Why whoever lost the hand of poker.
AAA Harvest Amber
Threshing was a community effort in the 1800 and 1900s around Ashby. Steam engines, harvesting machines, and horse drawn farming was done with groups of neighbors getting together to bring in the harvest. Today, this timeless event is hosted by the Lake Region Threshermen’s Association in Dalton the weekend after Labor Day. Part of the tradition was to grow local hops and barley to brew and drink after a hard day’s threshing. Come and join ABC Brewing’s Threshing event and work with us to harvest, clean, process, and brew beer on the event grounds - just like our forefathers did. ABC strives to be farm to foam stewards using ingredients from the surrounding Ashby community.
Pig Farm Porter
About seven miles North of Ashby MN lies the ruins of a pig farm where a gruesome murder occurred in the late 1800’s. The only murder that resulted in the only hanging in Ottertail county. Poor fifteen-year-old Lilly shunned the advances of an entrusted hired man which resulted in the stabbing and feeding of Lilly to the pigs. All of the locals grew-up hearing tales of the pig farm and when visiting late at night, swear we hear the oinks of piggies.
Battle Blueberry IPA
The most fearsome of the Ojibway band of natives were responsible for the naming of the town of Battle Lake. In 1795 This band raided the Dakota Sioux hunting camp camp on the banks of the French named “Lac Du Battile”. To deter the Pilagers from engaging in battle prematurely, A French trader by the name of Caddotte persuaded the Pilagers to hold off until the next year with the enticement of an elixir brewed from local blueberries. The pillagers agreed and went home to their camp at Leech Lake to celebrate.
At the end of their celebration, their chief Uk-ke-waus was riled up enough with blueberry elixir to paint his face blue and proclaim that he was brave enough to go after the Sioux. 50 men joined him and proceeded to engage the Sioux at the shore of what is now the municipal park of Battle Lake. Things did not go well. Half of the Pilagers were massacred by the red painted Sioux and the other half returned to Leech Lake vowing never to drink too much Blueberry IPA again and never, ever follow a guy who was painted in blueberry juice.