Co-owner and Vice President of Marketing at Lift Bridge Brewing Brad Glynn holds up a can of their oldest brewed beer -- Farm Girl -- at their new Hudson location. 

Lift Bridge Brewing Co. opened it's first location in Stillwater, Minnesota, 900 Tower Dr. West.

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Co-owner and Vice President of Marketing at Lift Bridge Brewing Brad Glynn holds up a can of their oldest brewed beer -- Farm Girl -- at their new Hudson location. 

Hudson was home to one of the first crossings over the St. Croix River. From ​​1913 to 1951, those wishing to venture to the neighboring state would pay a toll. Though not the model for Lift Bridge Brewery’s logo, there’s a resemblance between it and the toll bridge. 

Lift Bridge Brewing Co. opened it's first location in Stillwater, Minnesota, 900 Tower Dr. West.

“It has a lot of those same steel girders and the same structure,” co-owner and Vice President of Marketing Brad Glynn said about the Lift Bridge and Hudson’s old toll bridge.

Lift Bridge opened its first set of doors in Stillwater in 2008, following with a taproom in New Richmond. 

Located just down river of Stillwater, sits the community of Hudson – the future home to the third Lift Bridge Brewery location. Stillwater and Hudson don’t share a state, but they do share the beloved Midwest, river town lifestyle. 

Glynn knows he is far from the first to establish a brewery in Hudson but is looking forward to continuing a long legacy of quality beer production in the community. 

Hudson’s first brewery was established 1857 by the Montmans. It was succeeded by Hudson City Brewery in 1870 and the Casanova brothers’ brewery (who learned to brew in Stillwater) in 1996. In more modern days, breweries like Hop and Barrel have opened establishments in downtown Hudson, providing locally brewed beer options to residents, visitors and beer lovers alike. 

Lift Bridge has plans to add to that variety. 

This wasn’t their first time looking at the location. About six years ago the brewery took a peek at the plot where the old dog track used to be, off of County Road F in Hudson. It was about a year ago that Lift Bridge began detailed conversations about the future of development on the lot. 

The brewery has plans to coordinate with developers who have plans to put a ballpark next door. 

The combination is an American classic. 

“For us, having the baseball field here is a huge positive,” Glynn said. “All the home games that bring other people in, plus the combination of beer and baseball, obviously.” 

Not only are a couple of developers planning brews and baseball for the area, other developments in the works include more housing, office space and a park. 

The currently vacant lot, jumping with grasshoppers and dusty green space, has been imagined into something of entertainment, local business and community growth. 

The conceptual plans for the brewery were approved by Hudson City Council Now Lift Bridge is working with its team to create final development plans which will subsequently need to be approved by council as well. 

The goal is to break ground this fall and open next summer, in 2023. 

The conceptual development plan for Lift Bridge outlines a 33,000-square-foot, two-story building with a proposed future expansion. 

The space would include a main floor taphouse and restaurant, with an upstairs banquet hall, employing about 20 people to start. An additional 20 employees are expected to be hired in a later phase of the project. 

Outside will include 210 parking spaces and a beer garden, which would be multiuse and coordinated with the ballpark. 

Once the Hudson doors are open, Glynn is excited to get to work in the community. 

During the last seven years, Lift Bridge in Stillwater has been hosting fundraisers and space for local nonprofits. Glynn estimates that by now, the brewery has raised nearly $150,000 for various organizations. 

They do this by inviting a nonprofit to set up shop at the taproom on a Tuesday night, when $1 from every beer sold will be donated to that organization. 

“I can’t wait, personally, to get involved and help out with Booster Days and some of the other awesome Hudson events that happen,” Glynn said. 

It is community engagement such as contributions to celebrations, quality local beer production and Midwestern history and culture that reflect the values of Lift Bridge Brewery. 

Lift Bridge is constantly looking for ways to adapt their beer production to meet the palettes of their customers while preserving the classic qualities. 

For those looking for something to try when visiting a Lift Bridge location, Farm Girl, the brewery’s first beer, was recently reformulated just a bit. It is definitely a staple to try, alongside the well loved hoppy brews, like ‘Juice-z’ and ‘Mango Blonde.’ 

Though for those who don’t typically go straight for the beer menu, Lift Bridge has a line of hard seltzers and soda as well.  

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