The Fitger’s Brewing Company of Duluth, Minnesota, operated continuously from 1881 to 1972, making it Duluth’s oldest continuously operating business. Through astute business acumen, Fitger’s was one of the few breweries in the country that operated through the entire period of prohibition, manufacturing soft drinks, candy, and other products.
Times change, and owners did too.
Today the 10 building complex operates as a posh hotel, microbrewery, banquets facility with attached shops and restaurants, one of which is the Fitger’s Brewhouse.
Owned by local fitness guru and restaurateur Rod Raymond, the brewhouse cooks up microbrews and does the whole locavore thing to the point where they have purchased a small cattle operation to have a steady supply of premium beef.
Kawika and the Minnesota Burger Posse, along with their musician pal extraordinaire Todd Eckart, and sampled the Drunken Brewhouse Burger with Cowboy Sauce, a third pound of freshly ground beef, topped with bacon and onion straws. The sauce resembles a light BBQ.
They liked it, and in an age of ‘we’ll prepare it the way WE want’, the posse was impressed that the burgers were prepared exactly as ordered.
Here’s the Brewhouse menu.