Surly Brewing tentatively schedules reopening for June 1

Surly Brewing plans to reopen its Minneapolis beer hall and brewery on June 1, it announced Wednesday.

The brewery announced last September — days after workers announced a plan to unionize — that it would close "indefinitely" on Nov. 2, 2020. 

"Thanks to the remarkable progress being made on the vaccination front in MN, the Surly Beer Hall and Beer Garden will tentatively reopen on June 1," Surly posted on Twitter Wednesday.

The brewery said the reopening date "may change" as public health guidelines evolve, adding, "More updates as they become available."

Back in September, Surly said it didn't make sense to stay open amid COVID-19 restrictions and a decrease in people going out and drinking, saying revenue at the beer hall was down 82% and it estimated it would lose "another three-quarters of a million dollars" over the winter months if it stayed open.

"As we complied fully with the (COVID-19) safety measures, it became clear that beer halls are by definition gathering places and gathering places and pandemics don’t mix," Surly said in the Sept. 2 statement.

The announcement to close came the same week its employees announced they intended to form a union, but Surly said it had no bearing on the decision to close, though admitted the timing of the announcement was "not ideal."

The local hospitality union that was working with Surly employees called the brewery's decision to close an "illegal and disgusting act intended to intimidate and retaliate against the employees for forming a union."

In the end, the attempt to unionize failed by a single vote. 

And the comments on Twitter after Surly shared news it plans to reopen in June show the brewery has lost some support, with dozens of replies about unions including some saying they won't buy Surly until they recognize the union or until it's brewed by union members, while others called on the brewery to hire the former employees and accommodate a fair union vote without an impending closure. 

Similar comments were shared on the brewery's Facebook post about the reopening, while some expressed support and excitement for the beer hall to reopen.