The August Schell Brewing Company made history on Saturday December 30th, 2017 when they re-lit the
historic Grain Belt sign on Nicollett Island in Minneapolis. We ll skip all the history about the sign as you ve
no doubt read all of that. It s a good read but let s move on. This sign has had the lights totally refurbished
while the metal/porcelian is original. So you have that great patina and these brilliant new LED lights
combined with beautiful neon. The brewery like always had a special day planned. It started with a walking
pub crawl in the Nordeast neighborhood just across the river noth of the sign. We walked to some great
bars and pubs drinking Grain Belt and singing the Grain Belt song at each bar. We exposed some new
people to the Grain Belt song which was a hit everywhere we went. We hit about 5 pubs and then it was
time to board the shuttle and get ready to watch the sign come to life. We were dropped off at Hennepin
Ave bridge about 30 minutes early and nearly froze in the sub-zero cold. Finally it was time for the big
reveal. As Ted was giving his speech my camera battery died. So I had to make a quick switch to the cell
phone for recording this grand event. As they counted 3, 2, 1 and there was a pause which made everyone
nervous and then it sprung to life. This sign is truly magnificent and you must see it in person. It lit up
with its traditional look first and then showed of some its tricks as it turned various colors and then the
letters all went purple for the Vikings. This summer I am going there when it s warm to drink a Grain Belt
and bask in the glow of this beautiful sign when the weather is much warmer. It was a fun day and then we
hit some neat places on the way back to Iowa including the Lion Tap for a great burger and the breweries in
Jordan and U4IC in Belle Plain. Thanks to August Schell Brewing and the Marti family for making this great
Minnesota icon come back to life.
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