Forbidden Barrel Brewing Company
Our Name
We were among the first members of the colony to arrive at the station of an unfinished railroad… There was a good hotel, well and comfortably furnished, one or two stores neatly furnished and already stocked with goods, [and] several other[s] in process of erection… The streets, scarcely to be defined as such, were full of prairie schooners, containing families waiting until masters could suit themselves with “claims,” the women pursuing their housewifely avocations meanwhile—some having cooking stoves in their wagons, others using gypsy fires to do their culinary work; all seeming happy and hopeful.
Some settlers from New England were drinking men, most of them Civil War veterans from Massachusetts and Maine, who came into conflict with the temperance movement. A curious event took place on Worthington's very first Fourth of July celebration. Hearing that there was a keg of beer in the Worthington House Hotel, Professor Humiston entered the hotel, seized the keg, dragged it outside, and destroyed it with an axe. A witness described what happened next:
Upon seeing this, the young men of the town thought it to be rather an imposition, and collected together, procured the services of the band, and under the direction of a military officer marched to the rear of the hotel, and with a wheelbarrow and shovel took the empty keg that had been broken open, and playing the dead march with flag at half staff marched to the flagpole in front of Humiston's office where they dug a grave and gave the empty keg a burial with all the honors attending a soldier's funeral.
They then, with flag at full mast and with lively air, marched back to the ice house, procured a full keg of beer, returning to the grave, resting the keg thereon. Then a general invitation was given to all who desired to partake, which many did until the keg was emptied... In the evening they reassembled, burning Prof. Humiston in effigy about 10 p.m. Thus ended the glorious Fourth at Worthington, Minn. —Sibley Gazette July 5, 1872
Our Business
Forbidden Barrel Brewing is owned by Brent and Cheryl Droll of Worthington MN. Cheryl bought Brent a beer making kit for Father's Day in 2010. Brent found he had a passion for making beer and made so much they couldn't drink it all. They started hosting get togethers with family and friends to be able to continue brewing. Cheryl mentioned he had too much beer and equipment for the house. The next reasonable step was to open a brewery! Their sons work at the brewpub and they now own and operate Forbidden Barrel Brewing Company where all of our guests quickly become their friends. We are passionate about using local ingredients and bringing the community together for exceptional beer and wonderful conversations!