Minnesota craft brewing is not just a 21st century story of taprooms and food trucks. During Prohibition one of the best and most popular moonshines in the country, known as Minnesota 13, came from Stearns County, Minnesota. Local directors Norah Shapiro and Kelly Nathe pull the curtain back on this little-known story in Minnesota history. Widely regarded as the only branded moonshine of its day, Minnesota 13 was created by church-going farmers with the support of everyone in their community. Double-distilled and aged in oak barrels, Minnesota 13 was far from the bathtub booze the era was famous for.
Directed and Produced by the documentary duo who brought Shapiro’s Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile to MSPIFF in 2015, Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass is partially based on Elaine Davis’ book, Minnesota 13: Stearns County’s Wild Wet Prohibition. The film blends interviews with historians and participants in the illegal activities of that era with a compelling assortment of archival photographs and recordings, and current footage of an upstart distillery in St. Paul, MN.