Posted by Mark Weber

Elizabeth Anderson: Fat Pants Brewing

Our featured speaker Feb. 4 was Elizabeth Anderson, who is part of the Eden Prairie Anderson family that opened Fat Pants Brewery – EP’s first craft-beer brewery – in November.
 
Elizabeth might well be called the lager queen of Eden Prairie, one of the youngest brewery owners in the world. Officially she’s the operations manager of Fat Pants Brewery, but the job duties are many and varied. She incorporated the business in 2017 after her dad, Don Anderson, had been home-brewing for some time.
 
Setting up the family business has meant overcoming one obstacle over another. They needed their congressman’s help, for example, to secure licensing during a government shutdown. But they are up and running in the former Panino Brothers restaurant building and on their way to having 24 taps and 18 unique beers, and being able to produce about 2,500 barrels of beer per year (which equates to more than 620,000, 16- ounce pints).
 
You can learn more about Eden Prairie’s new brewery at www.fatpantsbrewing.com.
 

 

Announcements

  • Upcoming programs include Superintendent Josh Swanson of Eden Prairie Schools on Feb. 11 and Pam Hulstrand of Bellis Adoption, Education & Support on Feb. 18
  • The next Swallowship is Feb. 12 at Fat Pants Brewing.
  • Exchange student Ricky raised more than $300 for Special Olympics at his Feb. 1 Polar Plunge.
  • Bev Aho on Feb. 4 presented the results of the Winter Wellness Day fundraiser.
  • Carol Kampman was introduced as the new club administrator.
  • Club member Carol Bomben was introduced as the Community Legacy Award winner that the Foundation for Eden Prairie Schools will honor Feb. 22 at its Red & Black Gala.
  • Anyone interested in helping organize an informative fundraiser at Eden Prairie High School that focuses on Rotary Youth Exchange should contact Nathan Nyren or Jane McGinty.

Spotlight on Jeff Jiang

Club member Jeff Jiang is a pay-it-forward kind of guy. Once a foreign student from China working on his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota, he is now a U.S. citizen and an international education counselor who helps Asian students prepare for an American education. He grew up in Beijing in the 1970s and ‘80s when being a community builder of the Rotarian type was discouraged. So, he’s making up for lost time by being involved in a number of civic efforts, including A.M. Rotary. He and his wife have two sports- and music- minded sons, Michael and Daniel, and they have lived in Eden Prairie since 2006.

 

 
 
 
 

Happy Fines

We’re happy and we’ll happily pay to share our stories because doing so also helps The Rotary Foundation eradicate polio worldwide. PG Narayanan is happy to report that 82-degree water was the norm during a recent Mexico trip that he and his wife won at last year’s EP Gives event. Roger Jorgensen is happy to have received a $1,000 check for the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Foundation and is also happy about a weight loss.

 

Visitors

Jennifer Langhart - Prospective Member
Mary Jo Sherwood - Guest of Frank Sherwood
Tim Connors
Ricky Arteiro - Exchange Student