The Research
& Development Department of Glewwe Castle
Brewery, Spring Lake Township,
Minnesota USA
Home Made Root Beer since 1994
We have been making home brewed beverages since 1994. In
the Spring of 2004, we were approached by the Prior Lake Farmers
Market to sell our Root Beer. Our
product has also been available at various craft fairs and
events. Ask to be on our distribution
list and we will gladly keep you informed of future sales.
Current Products
Root Beer
Our flagship product is root beer. It is a creamy blend made
from 2 different concentrated extracts (root beer and birch
beer). After a few years of experimentation, this recipe was
settled upon in 1998.
Cream Soda
Many folks have liked the creaminess of our root beer and wondered
how we would do with cream soda. We solicited feedback on
several recipes during the winter of 2005 and have settled on
one. It is available now, but will have its grand introduction
in May 2005 with the opening of the Prior Lake Farmer's Market.
Ginger Ale
The head brewer is also fond of Ginger Ale (but likes to taste the
ginger). Made up primarily of lemons, limes, and ginger, the
aroma has tended to overwhelm the rest of the family - and makes a
very strong ginger flavor. We refined the recipe to our
satisfaction in 2010. And also have two variations to satisfy
others: Raspberry Ginger Ale (to hide the strong ginger
aspect) and Ginger Beer for those that want even more ginger
kick.
Black Cherry
The apprentice has put in his preference to perfect a Black Cherry
soda. A blend of Black and Sweet Cherry, with a touch a citric
acid to accentuate the sweetness. Introduced in 2012 and quite
nice.
Pry-off bottles
Historically, we like glass for containers. Yes, it is prone
to breakage, but environmentally and health/taste concerns, it works
great.
Generally, we have used pry-off crown caps because we found a 10%
failure rate with twist-off caps. So, we have used 6oz (pony),
12oz, and 22oz bottles. Recently, we have backed off
much of these bottles because the cost has become excessive (e.g.,
$10/case for new 12oz bottles adds 45 cents to each bottle, and that
is a cheap price for new bottles.). But we love to reuse your
used beer bottles (assuming they are not painted labels and not
twist-off caps).
Swing-Top bottles ("Growlers")
Besides the classic long neck beer bottles, we bottle in half-liter
and liter swing-top glass bottles. Originally, it was for folk
that want larger resealable containers or the ability to control the
portion size. Inspired by Grolsh beer and French cider and the
old milk bottle return practices of our parents, we have proudly
done this since 2007 at the farmers markets. At this time,
most sales at farmer markets are in these swing-top bottles.
Current/Past Development
Please Note: The original recipe took four years to
perfect, so don't look for immediate results from our laid back
development process.
Low Calorie/Carb Root Beer
The head brewer was diagnosed in October of 2003 as being diabetic,
so he is slightly motivated to find a low calorie (if not diet) root
beer that closely meets the satisfying nature of our root
beer. The first taste tests were held on early July of
2004. Research continues. Low calorie sweeteners leave
much to be desired.
Orange Soda
The household matron and son are fond of Orange Soda. We
experimented during the winters of 2005 and 2006. Erik
eventually overcame our quality control problems and we have another
hit and have sold it regularly beginning with the 2007 farmers
market. As with the other flavors, this is special with
vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, due to some difficulty with
securing ingredients and short shelf life, we agreed to discontinue
this recipe for the foreseeable future. We do have a new
recipe but it is different and not quite so beloved.
Lemonade
The household loves a tart lemonade especially during the hot days
of summer. So in the summer, we make larger batches for the
folks that want to join us. Trust us, it is not sweet and uses
a lot of lemon juice.
Chocolate Soda
Our good friends from Lititz
Chocolate Walk had asked us to work on a chocolate soda.
Sounds kind of different, eh? But some research tells us that
Chocolate Soda was popular during the dark days of
Prohibition. So at least there is some hope. So far, we
have tried several options, but have not found anything that seems
promising. And the annual walk is coming up in October.
Yikes!!
Mango Ginger Ale
The head brewer again is contemplating what else would go well with
ginger. He was recently drinking Mango-Orange juice and
thought "Ooh - Mango ginger should be good". So you can expect
some experimentation.
Bottle Carriers
We are looking for a plain white bottle carrier for our large
bottles. Or if we win the lottery, maybe carriers with our own logo
on it. Then again, we would need to develop a spiffy
logo. By the way, did you see our new banner starting in
2026?
Promotional Items
We are always looking at items like bottle openers, aprons, shirts,
and glassware.
Contact us with your suggestions and
let us see if we can help.
Sales Page for Glewwe's Castle
Brewery of Prior Lake, Minnesota USA
Research Page for Glewwe's Castle
Brewery of Prior Lake, Minnesota USA
History Page for Glewwe's
Castle Brewery of Prior Lake, Minnesota USA
Last modified February, 2026
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