The can reads like a field report: “Beginnings: 1870’s. Concrete structures: 1915-1954. Chrysalis: 1972 – Present. Rebirth: Future Imminent.” That’s Graffiti Mill West Coast IPA, a 7.0% ABV collaboration between Minneapolis’ Utepils Brewing and Graffiti Mill, and it officially releases today, Friday, Oct. 9, at the Utepils taproom. Earthlings, the lager specimen has gone West Coast.
Spec line: West Coast IPA / 7.0% ABV, per the Utepils beer page / 16 oz cans, per the can art / Simcoe, Simcoe Cryo, Cascade, Chinook and Motueka on 100% Rahr To Thee! base malt
Inside the Graffiti Mill West Coast IPA can
Utepils describes the beer this way on its beer page:
“Clean, crisp, and unapologetically hoppy. 100% Rahr To Thee! base malt provides a dry, bready backbone for a bright blend of Simcoe, Simcoe Cryo, Cascade, Chinook, and Motueka: resinous pine, grapefruit, passion fruit, and a hint of lime.”
Utepils Brewing
It’s a first on two counts, by the brewery’s own account. The VIPER party listing calls it “our very first collaboration with Graffiti Mill AND our first-ever West Coast IPA,” adding: “Utepils is going West Coast.” On its release-day page, the brewery says Graffiti Mill “brought a long history with the West Coast IPA style—and a few opinions that somehow survived the years intact.”
That’s a turn for a brewery that describes its range as “from traditional lagers to Bavarian-style favorites,” though its lineup already includes a few IPAs.
Walls talk: where the name comes from
The beer is named for the shuttered, graffiti-covered Fruen Mill next door, and Graffiti Mill is the group redeveloping it. The release copy reads like a report from inside: “Names over names. Bold declarations. Questionable advice.” It continues: “The old Fruen Mill has collected a lot since it last made anything. It turns up in conversation at our brewery. Someone remembers a ladder to the top. Some recognize a name on a wall. Accounts differ.” The tagline is “Walls Talk,” and the sign-off reads: “Best discussed within proximity of the evidence.”
On its website, Graffiti Mill says the site was “functionally abandoned for the previous 50+ years” and that it bought the property, sealed it off and spent “over a half million” on cleanup. It plans a “cultural precinct” there. In May 2026, Minneapolis planners approved remodeling the mill and a third-floor bar, MinnPost reported.
A Stone Brewing connection?
Utepils doesn’t name anyone behind Graffiti Mill. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reported that the mill’s owner is Greg Koch, co-founder of California’s Stone Brewing, who bought it in 2023 and also owns the building Utepils rents. Graffiti Mill’s “long history with the West Coast IPA style” may point that way, but neither party has said so.
Where to find it
Head to the Utepils taproom at 225 Thomas Ave. N. in Minneapolis, open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. CT Friday (9 a.m.-8 p.m. PT). Members of the brewery’s VIPER club already got an early release party Thursday, Oct. 8, 6-8 p.m. CT. Utepils hasn’t announced draft accounts or distribution beyond the taproom, so the can is the confirmed format for now.
The taproom sits on Bassett Creek between the Harrison and Bryn Mawr neighborhoods, brewing with artesian spring water from historic wells, per its About page. The Bureau last logged Utepils signals in 2019, when it brewed a beer with KFAN.
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