Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Ankrum.
Hi Lee, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Oh yikes, I’ve been told I’m not very good at talking about myself, but I’ll give it a try. I guess I pull inspiration from all stages of my life, so let me start after high school.
I moved down to the SE Como neighborhood in Minneapolis with a few friends who were heading to college in the area. For whatever reason, I found myself drawn to cooking for the house. Cooking became more than just a necessity. I started working at a very early age but mostly at a garden center planting trees and landscaping. I also worked at a Board shop in Forest Lake but never in a restaurant.
So, I decided to pursue my passion for food by enrolling at the Art Institute in Downtown Minneapolis for culinary arts.When winter came, I started snowboarding instructing at Afton Alps, hoping to cover rent. It didn’t work out like I’d planned, and by summer, I was broke. But just as things were looking bleak, I found a cooking job on Craigslist at a little place called “the joint.”
That was hands-down the best job I’d ever had. I got to work outside on a grill, with a 360-degree bar, flipping burgers. Every Sunday, we’d do a breakfast service out of this tiny kitchen, and a line would form down the street before we even opened the doors. It was chaos, but it was also magic.
I got sidetracked there, but I wanted to share that story to show where my journey into cooking really began. It was at that point I realized I was learning more on the job than I was at culinary school, so I made the decision to quit and pursue the craft in the real world.
After I turned 21, a new chapter opened up in my life. The itch to travel became overwhelming, and I decided to follow it. I headed to Southern California to work on my uncle’s rental properties. I had no experience in construction, but I was determined to help.
After a summer of fixing up houses, I bought a car at a garage sale for next to nothing and hit the road. I drove up the coast, through winding mountain roads, until I reached Canada. Then I took a right and found myself in Livingston, Montana. My uncle had a room at the historic Murray Hotel there, and he offered for me to stay for a while. I took the chance, and one day, on a whim, I drove up to Big Sky Resort. I wandered into the ski school office, applied to be a snowboarding instructor. I ended up staying in Montana for four years, teaching snowboarding in the beautiful mountains. But as much as I loved the snow-covered peaks and the quiet of Montana, I missed something—the energy of community, the connection to people that I had found back in Minnesota.
Visiting Minnesota in the summers a couple friends had gotten into brewing their own beer, and because I like beer, I found myself helping them whenever I could. One day, a friend mentioned that some wealthy guys were looking to start a brewery and asked if I’d be interested in joining.
I helped renovate the building where Lyn Lake Brewery now stands and then joined the construction crew. After the brewery was up and running, they asked me to work as a cellarman—cleaning tanks and moving kegs. It was a start, I was eager to learn. Over the next few years, I brewed small batches and even experimented with a few of my own full-batch brews.
But as much as I loved the craft, the owners at Lyn Lake weren’t exactly my ideal match, so I began searching for a new direction. Eventually, I found a spot at Dangerous Man Brewing in Northeast Minneapolis. There, I spent seven years growing as a brewer. Brewing was always a collaborative effort, and while we didn’t have a formal head brewer, it was like we were all equally invested in every batch.
I kinda knew that the owners of DM weren’t going to keep the taproom in Minneapolis for much longer so I started a business plan for my own type of brewery. I wanted to create a brewery that wasn’t just about the beer—it was about the experience. A place where good times were the focus, a place where people could come together to enjoy life, music, and great beer. I drew up business plans, toured spaces, and even looked into a motorcycle-themed brewery, Burnouts, in an old building near Broken Clock Brewing. But like so many things in life, it fell through. The landlord pulled out, and I found myself back at Dangerous Man, without a clear future in sight. The owners of Dangerous Man announced they were moving out of Minneapolis, and that’s when I got the call from 320 Brewing in Pine City. The only thing I knew about Pine City was that my high school baseball coach would take us to Pizza Pub once a year after games against Hinkley. The spot was perfect—just the right size for what I had in mind. It was an old restaurant building, with history and character. I could brew and cook!
So here I am almost a year in and it’s slowly forming into the place I dreamt of. We have fun events all the time. My staff is wonderful. The beer is good. The vibe is good. We leased out the kitchen originally but this summer we’ll be taking it over with a small elevated street food menu. We partner with a lot of local organizations and it seems that the community has kind of adopted me and I’m very grateful for that.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life in Minnesota is full of pot holes and road construction. We all get to where we are supposed to be eventually.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about 320 Dwellers Brewing?
We are one of the few brewer owned breweries in the state. Most breweries a owned by the rich. We make all types of beers for all types of people. We have a very diverse tap list. Most known for the porter and hoppy options. I am proud of our staff in being able to set a great vibe every day. I am proud of the fun events we always have going and the events we have coming. We offer great beer in a cozy welcoming taproom and will also be offering food this summer. With 2 exits off the highway it is a convenient stopping spot in between “the cities” and duluth.
What were you like growing up?
weird, artsy, well liked i think
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.threetwentybrewing.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threetwentybrewing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threetwentybrewing/
