Mini Donut Beer maker Lift Bridge has become the Minnesota State Fair’s most avid brewery

Oh, the things people dream up when they’re sitting around drinking beer at a brewery.

In the case of Lift Bridge Brewing, one of those grand ideas became the Minnesota State Fair’s first and still-most-popular exclusive brew, the Mini Donut Beer, which debuted in 2013.

This year, the Stillwater brewery will have 27 specialty beverage concoctions on tap at the fair, 16 of them making their debut — and some of them rivaling the donut beer in outlandishness.

Lift Bridge’s new State Fair offerings include: Spicy Pineapple Margarita Slushie, Tutti Frutti Bubble Gum Slushie, Grumpy Old Manhattan Seltzer, Dirty Shirley Hard Seltzer, Chelsey’s Southern Sipper Hard Tea, Lake Dayz Wine Spritz and a dairy-free ice cream shake called the Mud Slide.

There’s one new beer on the list, too (just one!): Golden Spike Ale, infused with prickly pear cactus juice. These drinks are in addition to Lift Bridge’s returning fair favorites, like the Key Lime Pie Beer and Great Ape Hard Seltzer (a lower-alcohol version of the brewery’s more widely available Grape Ape Seltzer).

As was true of the Mini Donut Beer, most of these beverages started with folks sitting around throwing out ideas, according to Lift Bridge’s co-owner and creative director Brad Glynn.

“I’ll meet with the vendors here at the brewery in the off months, and we’ll just start talking: ‘What about this?’ What about that?’ ” Glynn explained.

“And then the fun really begins.”

The fun part, in Glynn’s mind, is the challenging, sometimes monthslong process of sorting through different ingredients and brewing techniques to get the unique flavors just right. There’s a lot more to it than simply adding hops, barley and yeast to hot water.

For example, Glynn said the Grumpy Old Manhattan Seltzer — specifically requested by its fairground vendor, the Hideaway — will be served with oaky “smoke bubbles” from a smoke gun. That required a lot of experimenting alongside months spent finding the right blends of cinnamon, cherry and faux vermouth and whiskey flavors.

“We had to make it taste like a bourbon Manhattan without having actual bourbon in it,” Glynn explained. “That’s hard — especially for someone like me who’s partial to Manhattans.”

Many of these new specialty drinks may sound like cocktails, but beverages have to officially be fermented, not distilled. State Fair policy prohibits liquor sales and only allows beer and wine. This explains why breweries like Lift Bridge are being tapped to make these.

Other prominent Minnesota breweries making a push at the fair with new specialty drinks this year: Fulton (debuting its Triple Berry Cream Ale); Urban Growler (S’more Than a Feeling Slushie); Indeed (Blackberry Limeade Lager); Bauhaus (Blackberry Mojito Hard Seltzer); Third Street (Blueberry Pancake Lager) and Mankato Brewery (Cinnamon Lemoncello Cake’d Up).

Cideries are getting in on the fun, too, including Sociable (Black Currant Mead) and Wild State (Apple Pie Hazy Cider).

The months’ worth of effort spent on these drinks may result in only modest profits from just 12 days of sales at the fair, Glynn said. However, he believes the work pays off exponentially on the promotional end.

“It’s an opportunity to market your brewery to 2 million people from across the state and beyond,” he said. “That’s bigger than having the Super Bowl here in town.”

Lift Bridge was already a reputable brewery in 2013 thanks to its Farm Girl Saison and other widely available brands. However, Glynn said the instant success of the Mini Donut Beer “gave us a different level of recognition and maybe more of a fun reputation.”

It’s only been 24 years since a law was passed allowing fairground vendors to sell beer stronger than the 3.2% alcohol limit. The State Fair’s new CEO, Renee Alexander, said it should be no surprise the options have changed greatly since then.

“The State Fair has always been meant to be a reflection of the community around it, and of course we’ve seen breweries pop all over Minnesota in recent years,” she said.

Alexander noted that alcohol sales are still limited to only 26 vendors out of more than 300 at the fairgrounds. She also said State Fair safety staff has not reported an increase in alcohol-related incidents. So she’s all in favor of the increased diversity in beverages being offered.

“It fits in with the spirit of the fair and all the new foods and flavors people want to try,” she said. “People want to share and sip on all these new drinks together, too.”

Another fan of the expanded options is Dan Thiesen, owner of the Ball Park Cafe, known as a hub on the fairgrounds for specialty beers (and garlic fries, too).

It was Thiesen who brewed up the idea of the Mini Donut Beer with Lift Bridge in 2013. He’s still the only concessionaire selling it — “and still selling a lot of it,” he noted. This year, he’s also opening up his taps to five other Lift Bridge specialty drinks, including the Great Ape Seltzer and Frozen Mango Tango.

“It’s nice to have more options for people to try, which I think is a big part of what the fair is all about,” Thiesen said, praising Lift Bridge’s creativity and know-how in concocting the new offerings.

“They took the idea of making these specialty drinks and ran with it. They’re just really good at making them taste great.”

With 27 different varieties of Lift Bridge drinks now being offered exclusively at the fair, the brewery’s co-founder did ponder if it was too much.

“Maybe we went a little overboard,” Glynn said, “but it’s the State Fair. That’s what it’s all about.”

Click here to see the full list of the 63 new beers, seltzers and other adult beverages on tap at the Minnesota State Fair this year. Here’s where to find all of Lift Bridge’s specialty brews:

Andy’s Grille: Salted Caramel Milkshake, Dirty Shirley Hard Seltzer, Orange Dream Slushie, Tutti Frutti Bubble Gum Slushie. Carnes Av. between Liggett and Nelson Streets.

Ball Park Cafe: Mini Donut Beer, The Bomb Hard Seltzer, Great Ape Hard Seltzer, Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri, Frozen Mango Tango, Frozen Ball Park Vice. Underwood St. between Dan Patch and Carnes Avenues.

Cafe Caribe: Key Lime Pie Beer, Piña Colada Slushie, Paloma Hard Seltzer, Spicy Pineapple Margarita Slushie. Carnes Av. between Chambers and Nelson Streets.

Coasters: Mud Slide, Cosmo Slushie. Carnes Av. and Liggett St.

Frontier Bar: Golden Spike Ale. Carnes Av. between Liggett and Nelson Streets.

Bandstand Concessions: Great Ape Hard Seltzer. Grandstand.

The Hideaway Speakeasy: Grumpy Old Manhattan Seltzer, Veranda, Grandstand upper level.

LuLu’s Public House: Blue Hawaiian Slushie, Mai Tai Slushie, Pineapple Party. West End Market.

O’Gara’s at the Fair: Lake Dayz Wine Spritz, Watermelon Crush Slushie. Dan Patch Av. and Cosgrove St.

Ragin Cajun: Pink Lady Lemonade Slushie, Red Devil Hurricane Slushie. The Garden, west wall.

RC’s BBQ: Chelsey’s Southern Sipper Hard Tea. Dan Patch Av. between Liggett and Chambers Streets.

Shanghai Henri’s: Baja Breeze Slushie. International Bazaar.