Minnesota craft brewer hits million mark

Sometimes it's fun withnessing an historic occasion. A local TV station in Minneapolis has posted a video covering the production of the one-millionth case of beer from Minnesota's oldest brewery.

August Schell Brewery of New Ulm, MN, which has been making beer and ale for 147 years, hit that mark on Thursday of this week with its run of Schmaltz's Alt Creamy Dark Ale.

A million cases may be just a drop in the mug to the brewing giants of the world (Anheuser-Busch, for example, sold 122 million cases last year), but it's a pretty significant mark for a craft brewery. Schell, still family run, calculated that one barrel of beer equals 13.78 cases, so the million mark was hit during the middle of Thursday's production run.

Ted Marti is the current head of the company. The Schell and Marti families have always been in charge and Marti says his two sons are interested in extending the managemenbt line to a sixth generation.

Schell brews four beers year-round, as well as seven seasonal brews.

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