How two fire-eating friends came to open Minnesota’s lone gluten-free brewery

In the early 2010s, at the start of the big craft brewing boom, longtime friends and fire-eating partners Dane Breimhorst and Thom Foss wanted to open a brewery in the Twin Cities. The business plan was written, and funding was being secured. But life took an unexpected turn.

Breimhorst was diagnosed with celiac disease, and the dream was put on hold. Just handling the grains needed to make beer would have spelled trouble for him. The necessary sampling and drinking were out of the question.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way. The pair saw a growing demand among beer-loving celiacs and a dearth of quality beverages to satisfy it. The business plan was retooled, and in 2014 they opened Burning Brothers Brewing, a nod to their time spent on the Renaissance Festival circuit as professional fire eaters. It was the first — and is still — the only dedicated gluten-free brewery in Minnesota.

While several Minnesota breweries make beer with reduced gluten, to make truly gluten-free beer, the entire facility must be gluten-free. Cross contamination from glutinous grains would render the beer undrinkable to people with serious intolerance. Burning Brothers is a dedicated facility — nothing containing gluten is allowed through the door.

Foss and Breimhorst released their first beer, Pyro American Pale Ale, in March 2014 and opened their St. Paul taproom the following month. It was a rough start, with only the one beer to serve.

“And it wasn’t even poured from real taps,” Breimhorst said, laughing. “It was from a cooler, a jockey box on the counter sitting on a towel to catch the drips. Nothing but five-gallon buckets underneath to catch and then two kegs on the sides.”

A lot has changed in 11 years. There are now many beers available, and while they have always been good, the beers are better than ever. “We’ve learned some things,” Foss said.

“I came in with knowledge, but a lack of wisdom,” Breimhorst said. “Let’s be fair. I walked into here and I had never brewed on a commercial system. My first time even witnessing a full brew on a large system was me, here.”

There weren’t a lot of resources for gluten-free brewers back then, either. “The joke we always make is that we wrote our own book,” Foss said. “When we were getting started this was all by gosh, by golly. We were experimenting is really what it came down to.”

Through experimentation, they have honed their process to better utilize the available ingredients.

“I think the big one is we’re utilizing the yeast better,” Foss said. “Yeast is very scientific, but the research is all centered around barley. The big thing that Dane has picked up on over a decade of doing this is to see where the differences are with gluten-free grains.”

For Breimhorst, it all comes down to taking care of each of the ingredients the way they need to be taken care of.

Another big change: the wider availability of ingredients. “There used to be one gluten-free maltster,” Breimhorst said. If he wanted grains other than sorghum, he had to malt it himself, which he did on a small scale. Now there are several domestic and imported malts, and access to a range of rice malts, millet and buckwheat. With all the non-gluten grains now available, nearly every style of beer is within reach.

You’ll still find their inaugural beer, Pyro American Pale Ale, on tap, along with IPAs, Irish red ale, radlers, coffee ale and rotating flavors and styles.

While the past 11 years have seen growth, Breimhorst and Foss see challenges ahead. Burning Brothers is not immune from current trends impacting the entire beer industry; changes in consumer tastes and habits are forcing them to adapt.

“Now the trend is not to drink alcohol,” said Breimhorst, citing an overall post-pandemic decline in alcohol consumption. “During COVID everybody stayed home,” added Foss. “Everybody drank way too much for too long. What happens when you drink too much? There’s a big recovery period.”

Foss said he believes the market will come back, but never to the level that it was before. The craft beer craze has peaked, he says, and drinkers have moved on to other options. This has created a lot of competition — even in the gluten-free realm. “Ready-to-drink cocktails are mostly gluten-free,” Foss said. “Seltzer is gluten-free and lower in calories. THC drinks are mostly gluten-free.”

In response, Burning Brothers has expanded their product line to include those options, too. The taproom always has hard seltzers, and their Tinker line of 10mg THC drinks is available in cans, with the four flavors inspired by Italian sodas.

Tariffs being imposed by the current administration also pose a threat. Most recently, President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports and an additional 25% across-the-board tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, where much of the aluminum used in the United States is sourced. This promises to greatly increase the cost of cans.

“I would be lying if I said we aren’t concerned,” Foss said. “A good chunk of our income is canned beer. If you’re going to increase cost by 25% or more, yeah, that’s going to hurt a lot.”

It’s a concern for the entire industry, he adds. “This is going to be the thing for some of these breweries that are hanging on by their fingernails, this is going to shove them over the edge.”

The increased cost is particularly hard for a gluten-free brewery, where the cost of raw ingredients is already significantly higher. “Barley malt is around 50 cents a pound. Millet malt is more like $50 a pound,” Foss said. Beer is widely considered the affordable alcoholic beverage option; gluten-free brewers need to maintain a price point similar to other breweries despite the higher costs.

Through the challenges, Burning Brothers remains true to its mission.

“Our roots are still strongly planted,” Breimhorst said. “I think the way that we treat the community that we interact with, we’re known for it. I don’t think that’s going to change. We’re still this Podunk, punk rock, gluten-free brewery that also makes weed now, because my guidance counselor said I was going to deal drugs one day.”

Foss said their focus has expanded beyond gluten-free drinkers. “For a while our tagline was ‘Don’t fear the beer.’ The tagline that we’re pushing now is ‘Craft beverages for everyone,‘” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re not going to stop making gluten-free beer. But it’s much more about community and trying to have something for everyone and being able to be a space where you can get together and have a good time and enjoy being with each other. Beer has always been about community to me. We’re doing our part to help foster that.”

When: April 4-6

Where: 1750 Thomas Av. W., St. Paul, 651-444-8882, burnbrosbrew.com

Details: The brewery is celebrating its 11th anniversary with a Friday-night fish fry, food trucks, trivia and a Sunday beer brunch. Look for special tap releases all weekend, including one special beer that brewer Dane Breimhorst won’t reveal in advance. Find the details on the event’s Facebook page.

Taproom hours: Tue.-Thu. 4-10 p.m., Fri. 4-11 p.m., Sat. 1-11 p.m., Sun. 1-7 p.m.