Back Shed Brewing to Host its Minnesota Goodbye March 1st

Originally published February 11th, 2025 10:36 a.m.

Updated February 28th, 2025 11:26 a.m.

(KNSI) — A popular brewery is closing its doors on Saturday, March 1st.

St. Cloud Christian School bought the Crafts Direct building in October, and Back Shed Brewing was leasing space there. In a Facebook post, Back Shed said their landlord had hoped to keep their portion of the building, but no offers were received to allow them to stay long-term.

A temporary lease of up to six months was in place, which bought them some time to figure out the next steps, but after doing all they could to find a way forward, the owners said they had to close up shop.

The owners have put together Back Shed’s Minnesota Goodbye. It is a very Minnesota goodbye as it goes from 11:00 a.m. to midnight. There will be music, food trucks, bingo, a meat raffle and fun with beer called “beer poking.” It’s a 400 year old tradition that consists of heating up a metal rod in a fire until it glows red hot and then sticking it into a glass of beer for a few seconds and slowly removing it. The process caramelizes the malt sugars in certain kinds of beer.

Siblings Scott Schlecht, Jason Schlecht and Jennifer Schlecht Petersen started their beer brewing journey as a hobby, collaborating with a friend to make beer in the back shed at the Schlecht’s family-owned Crafts Direct in Waite Park. Back Shed Brewing opened to the public in 2021.

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