The Twin Cities brewery and music scenes have a lot in common, and this week that unfortunately includes shared shock and grief over the loss of Tom Berg.
The co-founder of one of Minneapolis’ most reputable breweries, Falling Knife, Berg died unexpectedly over the weekend. The cause of death is believed to be heart failure, the brewery’s representatives said. He was 46.
“We are devastated to lose our dear friend, the visionary architect of what Falling Knife brews,” northeast Minneapolis-based Falling Knife posted on its social media pages Monday. “There was nobody more passionate about Falling Knife, beer and his friends.”
In addition to his knack for piquing beer drinkers’ taste buds, Berg was also well-known for bringing out local music lovers’ ear plugs. He served as bassist and co-vocalist in the intense indie-rock power trio Self-Evident and was also a member of the instrumental prog-metal band Zebulon Pike.
After winning several awards as a home brewer and then making beer professionally at Wicked Wort Brewing Co. in Robbinsdale, Berg created Falling Knife in 2019 with partners Andy Rutledge and Dan Herman. The brewery quickly won awards and earned favor with many popular restaurants, bars and liquor store owners around the Twin Cities with its flagship brews, including Tomm’s Lager and Verbal Tip New England IPA.
On Monday, the brewery announced it would be closed to give staff the day off to mourn Berg. However, his partners pledged to carry on with his work there.
“We’re feeling a new purpose to honor Tom by keeping the company moving forward, like he would want us to,” said Herman, the brewery’s chief revenue officer.
Herman praised his late partner for having a unique understanding of recipe development, process and flavor “honed from years of home brewing, beer judging, and literally building breweries with Northland Mechanical.” Berg also served as board member of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild and “was always willing to help anyone in the industry with whatever they needed,” Herman said.
