The Twin Cities’ latest brewery, Dual Citizen, is all about keeping the peace. The name is a nod to quelling the rivalry between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, a rivalry that I definitely subscribe to. (Saint Paul is boring! But that’s ok!) The brewery is right over the Minneapolis-Saint Paul border, on the Saint Paul side in Midway and is a space that has been years in the making.

Co-Owner and Head Brewer Max Filter and his cousin, fellow owner Tim Kessler, first started homebrewing in a space that eventually got shut down by the fire marshall. Since then, Filter has built up an impressive resume, continuing his homebrewing when he went to college in Portland, attended the Siebel Institute in Chicago, moved out to Colorado and worked for Left Hand and Renegade Brewing. The name Dual Citizen also refers to how Filter feels about his ties to Colorado.

With these years of experience, the cousins set out to start something of their own and began work on the taproom back in July. On my visit this week, they had five beers on tap: Grand Imperial Stout, Broadway IPA, Kellogg Cream Ale, Lyndale Session Pale Ale and Iglehart IPA. You know the imperial stout was going to be my favorite. The cream ale was my number two. It was well-balanced and just what I’m looking for in a cream ale. My boyfriend Mike loved the Iglehart IPA, a more experimental take vs. the Broadway, which is a traditional PNW IPA, this one is citrusy with strong notes of lemongrass.

I love the branding they’ve established. The glassware looks great and they’ve got a lot of great merchandise. When you stop by, there’s some great food available too. The Naughty Greek is located in the same building and will deliver your order to you. Also, how fun is it that the Naughty Greek’s owner has dual citizenship in Greece?! Cheers to that coincidence!