Authenticity. That’s the word being thrown around the Surly beer hall over in Prospect Park. They called a select group of media together to announce how they planned to replace their original brewer and trendsetter Todd Haug.

Ben Smith and Jerrod Johnson will carry the torch for the brewing team as co-head brewers, and they have plans to create more unique beers for the market and also to pair with the highly acclaimed food being served at The Brewer’s Table. In order to do this, they are starting a “Brewers Series” to showcase their unique talents. Ben has been there for over 3 years while Jerrod was employee #5 back in 2008. The first experiment will be a “champagne beer” created in cahoots with Jorge Guzman and his team for the New Years Eve Dinner which is being hosted by the restaurant. “Collaboration is the name of the game” says Smith. “We’ve always set trends. We make the beers we wanna make here.”

What about the image of the brewery going forward? Well Ben’s probably not gonna grow out his hair and cover himself in tattoos, but he’s also a metal head—and Jerrod is probably the brewing industry’s biggest Zelda geek. So probably more of the same, and somewhere in between. “We’re gonna continue to build this dysfunctional family. Change has been the only consistent thing here at Surly” says Johnson.

Something that was emphasized throughout the event (as they poured all four of their IPAs) was that they are not limited to making hop forward beers, but at the same time they won’t apologize for their love of hops.

Owner Omar Ansari also spoke about growth of the brewery and mentioned that they may one day go worldwide. “When we envision the growth, we want to continue to explore and create new beers. They’re [Ben and Jerrod] just as excited to try the new beers as others.”

Here’s to hoping for some Zelda themed beers.

Todd and Linda Haug have been bombarded with questions since they stepped down (Linda in February, Todd less than 2 weeks ago) at Surly Brewing. Most of their friends and family assumed they would start a brewery here in the Twin Cities, but that’s false. The former Café 28 owners are moving six and half hours southeast to Chicago, Illinois where they will be joining forces with 3 Floyds Brewing—a craft beer powerhouse just across the border in Indiana.

Todd will be helping the brewery out with their expansion, distillery and all sorts of things—but the main focus will be new products and engineering. “They need help with a lot of things down there. We respect the hell out of them” Todd says. He won’t be the head brewer, but he’ll have a crack at creating some new beers there at some point in the future. “It’s exciting for us” he says. The biggest thing for me is I get to work with Chris Boggess [the head brewer] down there. It’s a very wide scope of work, and he won’t have to worry about everything.”

Todd plans to continue making music down there as well. The longtime Powermad guitarist sees the band sticking together for the most part, and he’s excited about playing in a city with a great music scene. He also has some musician friends down there that may end of creating some music with down the road.

Linda will be in on the restaurant and will also be helping with some design stuff. The couple sounded very happy on their way back here from Chicago over the weekend. In fact, the house is sold and they are adamantly searching for a house down in The Windy City where they’ll bring their talents along with their family of 5 cats. She says they’ll miss their friends up here in Minnesota, but they have plenty of friends down in Chicago already. “We have lots of friends down there. It’s heartwarming. I’ve always loved the energy down there” said Linda.

The move is expected to happen within the first couple weeks of December and work should start for them sometime in January or shortly after. There will also be other opportunities down the road for the couple which includes traveling the world. Don’t rule out a move to Europe down the road either. 3 Floyds and Mikkeller have a brewpub called WarPigs over in Copenhagen and Todd seemed intrigued as he spoke about it. In other words, this is not the end of their journey.

So what about Surly? Todd was the brand, the attitude, and the culture there. “Omar is going in a different direction. I see it getting worse. But no blame. I poured my heart and soul into that place” he stated. It sounds like he’ll really miss the brewing staff though that he helped build over his 10 years at the brewery. “Surly is left in very capable hands. I won’t be there to help them out. That’s the shitty part.”

“When the door closes, a window opens. We’re going in a different direction” said Linda.

Minnesota wishes you well.

—

Dara grabbed the story last night as well. Read her take here.

Where’s the beard? Todd Haug on Surly Brewing Co.’s first public tour.

Here’s the official and final word from Surly Brewing Co. TL:DR, Head of Brewing Operations at Surly Brewing Co., Todd Haug has resigned his position with the brewery to pursue new challenges. First and foremost, we wish him well – Surly Brewing got its start not long after I launched MNBeer.com and Todd and Omar have been huge supporters of the site for as long as I can remember.

It’s a sad day. Todd & Linda, Surly Brewing folks… we’re thinking about all y’all today. Cheers!

 

After more than 10 years setting the pace of the craft beer revolution in Minnesota, Surly Brewing Co., Head of Brewing Operations Todd Haug has resigned his position at the Twin Cities brewery.

“I’d like to thank our family, friends and fans – Surly Nation – for always believing in our vision. It never gets old to hear people tell you how much they enjoy your beer.  Omar and I set out with the modest goal to build a brewery so we could create a different kind of craft beer – the kind we wanted to drink – and I think we achieved that.”

Todd earned a reputation for refusing to brew-to-style. He defined the undefinable and brewed beer his way, which was rarely the easy way, earning the brewery gold medals in the process.

Omar Ansari, Founder and President of Surly Brewing says, “Todd has been an incredibly influential part of Surly since the beginning and was instrumental in building the brewery from the ground-up, often with his own two hands; brewing, welding, making connections and forming collaborations to establish the irreverent brand it is today. His talent is undeniable, and he will always be a huge part of who we are. He will be missed.”

Todd is stepping down from his role to pursue other opportunities and challenges in the industry that he has worked in for 25 years. The future is bright, and adventure awaits.

“I leave my brewhouses in the extremely capable hands of our co-lead brewers and the innovative brewing team we’ve mentored together. I eagerly look forward to seeing what the next generation of Surly brewers will create,” says Haug. “This is an opportunity for them to take the torch and continue the legacy we’ve been building for 10 years now.”

It’s been a hell of a ride with Todd in the front seat, keeping the music loud and the speed fast. He’s the wizard, the bitter brewer and the creative genius.

Surly Nation thanks you.