Rogers microbrewery plans to open doors in August

Ripple Effect Brewing will open in former Hardee’s

by Jessica Charpentier

APG of East Central Minnesota//Crow River News

Chris Guttormson set his sights on the vacant former Hardee’s property located on the corner of Highway 101 and County Road 144 in Rogers, and the plans are underway for a microbrewery. Ripple Effect Brewing will be the first microbrewery in a 10-mile radius and will be a place for people to enjoy a variety of beers.

While working with Leanne Ritz in health care at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, Guttormson and Ritz became friends.

“Chris has always been a home brewer, so I was very familiar with his skill with brewing beer. Then he kind of decided to make it his career, so he quit at North Memorial and he became a head brewer at AEGIR (Brewing Company) in Elk River. So then we were talking and he was like ‘You know, I really would like to open my own brewery,” Ritz said.

The two decided to team up and became co-owners. Guttormson lives near the Hardee’s site, but it wasn’t available. So when the sale of the property to another buyer fell through, he grabbed hold of the opportunity.

From hobby, to job, to a vision for a business, the microbrewery is predicted to open its doors in mid to late August.

“Mostly, what we’re focusing on is repurposing the building and then building the taproom. We’ll have a patio, that might be a little bit of a work in progress, but definitely our focus right now has been the taproom and the brewhouse. We’re looking at about a two month construction phase, which would take us into July, and then probably another month at least,” Ritz said.

Beers will be produced on-site at Ripple Effect Brewing and the majority of brews will be sold on-site. The beer line up will consist of around 10 beers, there will be some rotating taps based on the season.

For those who aren’t beer enthusiasts, Ripple Effect Brewing plans on selling two seltzers. The microbrewery will sell prepackaged snacks and encourages customers to bring their own food or have it delivered if they are craving something else.

They also plan on hosting food trucks on-site.

“The city has had a lot of requests from residents over the years to kind of bring their own community-based microbrewery, and that’s really our vision, is to be Rogers based and to kind of ingrain within the community,” Ritz said.