Well, Shit, Tin Whiskers Brewing Co. Is Closing

One of the most significant local brewery closures of the craft-brew era.

11:10 AM CDT on March 18, 2022

Tin Whiskers

There’s going to be one less place to enjoy an original brew in the Twin Cities. Tin Whiskers Brewing Co. announced today that they have decided to “power down the robot.”

The downtown St. Paul brewpub has been making robot-branded beers for eight years, including award-winning selections like the Lowertown Lager, Phobos Dark Sour, and the Blueberry Wheatstone Bridge.

Sadly, the brewery announced this morning via Facebook that they will be closing up shop.

For the last eight years we have worked to brew the best and most innovative beers we could come up with, but the decision has been made to power down the robot. We have fought hard to keep our brewery running and continue to make the beers you love to drink, but the brewery is no longer sustainable to keep going.

Thankfully, for those who want to wish them well, Tin Whiskers plans to give us a long “Minnesota goodbye.” Which means you can still enjoy many of these brews for the next couple months, as they plan to close at the end of May. They’re even going to give us a farewell in beer form: So Long, Goodbye, a hazy IPA made with three types of dry hops (“over 12 pounds of hops per barrel!”) and a bit of pineapple.

Head Brewer Mike Willaford and the Whiskers crew are especially known around town for their sweet collabs, including the Nut Goodie Porter, a chocolate, maple, and peanut-y brew made with Pearson’s Candy Co. The gang has also taken inspiration from General Mills cereal (Synonym Toast Crunch), orange creamsicles (Orange Dream State), and Girl Scout cookies (Barrel-Aged Mint Patties Stout). These experimental brews also often showed up in colorful canned four-packs at local liquor shops.