1. Fulton Brewing

414 N 6th Ave
2 blocks from Target Field Station
Food onsite
Gameday specials: Kitchen specials and Monday drink discounts

The elder brewery of the bunch, Fulton is the closest to both stadiums and is a popular pregame ritual. The taproom is garage chic, but decked out with a mix of picnic tables, high back chairs, and cozy booths inside, plus a relaxing patio in front.

What to Order

Fulton's most popular beers are light in body with modest alcohol, making for a perfect pairing with sports. They're easy going, yet with unique, full flavors. Hop Kingdom 300 and Lonely Blonde are their most popular beers, but the taproom offers a wide variety of styles. Besides beer, there is a huge selection of hard seltzers, THC beverages, and more.

On tap now, Surfin’ Bird is a Berliner Weisse-style ale that is easy drinking, yet complex enough to showcase Fulton’s brewing strengths. A sour ale in style, the beer is tart but not puckering. Fulton dry-hops this beer with Sabro hops, giving it fruity character to compliment the tartness without overpowering it. Pouring a bubbly golden hue, the first impression is an acidic tartness, followed by sweet bread and light citrus, which builds to overripe tropical fruit and pineapple flavors that meld with tangerine. The pineapple note gives a big finish that caps off, thanks to dry-hopping, leaving with a crisp, clean mouthfeel.

2. Bricksworth Beer Co.

305 N 5th Ave, Suite 105
2-3 blocks from Target Field Station
Food onsite

Located next to a public parking ramp referred to by locals as the Darby’s ramp (a closed dive bar previously at the location), Bricksworth makes their beer in Burnsville but opened a second location in Minneapolis in 2022. The brewpub has a large patio along the railroad tracks and ample, air-conditioned indoor seating, too.

What to Order

Bricksworth sells a lot of sour ales and hazy IPAs with a rotating menu. Slime Truck New England-style IPA is one of their most popular beers, a 6.6% ABV beer made with Citra and HB 586 hops. It’s bold and fruity with a thick body. Begin by thinking about a tropical fruit medley, but with nuanced dank and bitter elements that keep it within the beer realm, even with some serious fruit-forward flavors.

Order one of their Detroit-style pizzas or their standard bar food that includes a variety of chicken wings, burgers, and sandwiches.

3. Modist Brewing Co.

505 N 3rd St
2-3 blocks from Target Field Station
Frequently features food trucks

Modist Brewing is very contemporary, and their taproom is industrial in layout. Bright colors and fixtures add to the distinct and vibrant atmosphere. A small patio faces 3rd Street, right across the street from Bricksworth. The brewery also has several IPAs, oak-aged lagers and more unique beers available.

What to Order

Modist is known for making cutting edge beers that often defy styles. But while they often push the boundaries, they are rooted in tradition and quality with a wall of awards to back up that claim.

First Call is a perfect example, as this coffee lager offers the best of a crisp summer slammer, but with a unique coffee touch. It’s refreshing, but with roast coffee tones that pair perfectly with the sweet bread-like grain flavors at its base. While it has both sweet and bitter flavors, the overall beer is right in the middle between those characteristics.

4. StormKing Brewpub + Barbecue

618 N 5th St
2-3 blocks from Target Field Station
Food onsite

Sharing a building with Number 12 Cider, StormKing is a barbecue-focused brewpub with a full kitchen. Besides their own beer, they also offer a full bar with local spirits, draft cocktails, and a few guest beers. They share owners with Black Sheep Pizza, who also has a North Loop location.

StormKing offers a casual environment with tables of all sizes, including a patio. It’s modern and fairly minimal, yet comfortable. They pour a variety of styles, mostly pulling from European brewing tradition with a modern awareness, serving East and West Coast-style IPAs, but also hefeweizen, porter, Kolsch-style ales and more.

What to Order

Czech-Mate is a traditional European-style Pilsner is a fizzy and satisfying beer with a bready base but a lot of complex flavors within. After a mildly sweet first impression, a mix of cereal grains, plus floral and citrus flavors take shape, finishing clean and dry. It’s a complex beer that disguises itself as something you can sip and enjoy without having to think about it. Pilsner is a classic baseball beer, of course, but it’s versatile and fitting for any occasion.

For food, don't skip their Texas-style BBQ. Order meat by the plate, in a sandwich, or by the pound. Get a taste of everything with the “Perfect Storm” — a platter of chicken, brisket, pulled pork, a half rack of ribs, and two sides.

5. Inbound BrewCo

701 N 5th St
3-4 blocks from Target Field Station
Frequently features food trucks
Gameday specials: Daily happy hours, pitcher specials on Thursdays

With a modern industrial style, featuring concrete floors, natural wood accents, and high ceilings, Inbound feels part like an indoor skatepark and part like a music venue. Inbound is well suited to groups, with large tables and a social atmosphere. Their beers are modern craft, spanning from IPAs to sour ales and unique beers made with fruit, coffee, and other atypical ingredients.

What to Order

Lark is a dark lager that’s perfect for an outing. It’s light in body and modest in alcohol, so you can pace yourself, while getting rich, full flavors of roasted malts and more. Brown in color with an amber sparkle, the lager is sweet and nutty with a lightly smoky finish. It has that easy going lager body, with notes of pumpernickel bread, caramel, and raisin. It begins on the sweet side, but finishes with a mix of light campfire plus raisin and toast, giving a lot of depth in a familiar and light delivery.

Other popular beers include Fruit of the Loop IPA, Contains Bees Peanut Butter Honey Blonde, and The Fuzz apricot pale ale, which is a classic American craft pale ale with a unique stone fruit touch.

6. The Freehouse

701 N Washington Ave #101
6 blocks from Target Field Station
Food onsite
Gameday specials: Monday-Thursday happy hours

Still a close walk, but slightly off the stadium mainway is The Freehouse on North Washington Avenue. Surrounded by restaurants, The Freehouse is a full-service brewpub operated by Blue Plate Restaurant Company. Inside, it’s a cozy restaurant with booth seating and trendy flair. There is a large bar, modern decor, and a lot of space to relax, dine, and drink.

What to Order

When picking beers for a day long outing, we recommend session beers that offer complex flavors but without high alcohol or strong, lingering flavors. No. 1 Kolsch hits the spot. Kolsch-style ales originate in Germany, offering lager-like crispness with a fruitier, more nuanced depth on the nose and tongue. This Kolsch ale is light and zippy, with a bready, malty body that’s complimented by notes of grape, pear, berry, and toast.

No. 1 Kolsch is also used as a beer batter for the cheese curds. The food menu offers familiar classics, along with more unique bar options that include gnocchi and buffalo cauliflower. Other popular beers include a brown ale and coffee stout, and the No. 68 Red Lager was a close runner-up for feature in this article.