AEGIR Brewing Co. | Elk River, MN
Beer Trip: AEGIR Brewing Company in Elk River, Minnesota
During a recent work trip, we found ourselves north of Minneapolis looking for somewhere to kill a few hours and satisfy our thirst. AEGIR (pronounced Eye-Year) Brewing Company popped into our GPS and away we went!
The Brewery
Our first and most important task upon arrival was to ask the bartender what the heck “AEGIR” was! We were informed that AEGIR was a giant in Norse mythology who was often said to be the brewer of the gods - you learn something new every day!
Awesome interior with Greek mythology artwork on the walls
Large outdoor space for the warmer months
AEGIR was a little tough to find using Google Maps as it takes you to the back of the facility, but once you drive around you can’t miss the place and its fantastic sign out front. To get inside you walk past the huge outdoor space, complete with lots of seating along with a massive tent (which we’re sure gets enclosed during the winter months). The outdoor area connects nicely to the inside, with a large overhead door making the two spaces feel like one. The inside is also spacious and features a hodgepodge of differing tables and chairs.
The staff here was extremely friendly and were consistently making beer suggestions during our visit. One of the owners, Jeremy, even sat and talked for 10 - 15 minutes about the place and his favorite NFL team (the Vikings). In fact, during Vikings games, they have a special of $20 all-you-can-drink beer until the game is over. To cap it off, the whole place is dog-friendly and you could tell that many of the dogs were regulars - one of them even tried to order a beer.
Dogs are welcomed patrons at AEGIR!
More outdoor seating decorated for fall during our October visit
The Beer
During our visit, AEGIR offered 15 different beers to choose from. They had one of the more well-organized draft lists we have encountered, with each brew categorized into either light, hoppy, or dark/malty, and then assigned a color so that you could easily filter internally what beer to go with. When we stopped in the menu consisted of multiple blondes, sours, IPAs, and porters, along with one pilsner, Helles, and an American lager. Of their robust list, 5 - 6 options are considered flagships and they rotate the rest of them out. A flight is the best way to sample the list here and it comes complete on a board reminiscent of a Viking ship!
With so many beers, sometimes places slack on the quality - but AEGIR isn’t one of those places. Their brewer incorporates many different fruits within their beer, but what stood out to us was their use of other ingredients you don’t see quite as often such as peanut butter and smoke. Our favorite was their Smokin’ Hot Blonde, which has a fantastic smoke flavor with a nice chipotle-like aftertaste. This is one of Chris’s all-time favorite smoked beers and we liked it so much that he bought a crowler to-go!
Such a neat flight board!
Plenty of to-go beer options!
Color-coded beer list making it easier to choose
Food, Merch, & More
While AEGIR doesn’t have a kitchen, they do consistently have food trucks occupying their outdoor space. If beer isn’t your thing, they also have multiple seltzers, a cider, wine, and even a bloody beer (a Bloody Mary made with one of their beers).
The merchandise section, or “S#!t For Sale” area as they call it, is really robust and rivals that of any brewery this size. This was separated into its own little room and had a table full of hats, lots of shirts, glassware, signs, soaps, and even their own earrings.
S#!t For Sale!
Plenty of cool S#!t
