Shall live on forever in our hearts and pints.
The Tap Room was founded in 2014 in historic downtown Minot by Oregonians Erin and Corey Hash. It remains the only 100% craft beer establishment in North Dakota to this day.The Tap Room first opened it’s doors for business on July 4th, 2014 following a six month build. Corey performed all the work inside the bar, including the location, removal and fitting of the barn wood that adorns our walls. The wood comes from barn located on the Yabo Gjellstad property in rural Velva, ND. The building in which we are located dates back to the 1910’s and is known as Kemper Block building. We don’t know much about the history of the space we occupy; however it is not hard to imagine what might have taken place inside the granite stone walls of the basement during the roaring 20’s. The building’s foundation is exposed to make The Tap Room feel like stepping back in time to a speakeasy in the basement of 23 Main Street South in Minot.While the days of Little Chicago, as Minot came to be known during Prohibition, are firmly behind us; we carry on the speakeasy feel in the hard-to-find spot in the heart of downtown. We like to think of The Tap Room as a place to gather with friends and family to converse, play games and experience beer when social networking meant stopping by the local pub. The Tap Room is analog social networking for the modern age.In late 2015, the Erin and Corey decided it was time to depart Minot to spend more time with family in the Portland area. They began the search for someone to take over their passion for craft beer in The Tap Room and take it a higher level.At roughly the same time, local beer professional Jon Lakoduk was hanging up plans for a production craft brewery in the Minot area after 4 years of planning. His plans were considered to be too much exposure in a niche market according to local lenders. He was fresh off 3 years of studying for the Certified Cicerone® exam, which he passed in 2015 to become one of the approximately 2,500 people around the world and first in North Dakota to pass the difficult exam. The Cicerone® Certification program is to beer what the sommelier is to wine. To learn more about the program, click here.In June 2016, the sale of The Tap Room was finalized but not announced to keep the focus about the beer flowing through the taps and not the arrival or departure of either party. Erin and Corey have since moved back to Oregon but not out of our memories of the events and parties at The Tap Room.While employees will come and go, The Tap Room developed in the hearts and glasses of our customers and without them, the space would simply be another basement storage area in downtown Minot.While it is nearly time for The Tap Room to be solely placed in our hearts, minds, and the history books…what comes next will pay homage to our roots in the basement of 23 South Main Street.But that’s another post…