So, I was at Sugar Maple not too long ago pretty much by myself and the bartender poured me a glass of their beer. Told me they were brewing right down the street. At this point, I hadn't heard of them at all, but I was really impressed with the beer. It was a Kolsch, I believe. Anywho, walked out a few different beers later and completely forgot what their name was. Then they were on the news! http://fox6now.com/2015/12/22/milwa...osts-four-businesses-with-a-flair-for-flavor/ Apparently, they'll be expanding and building a taproom soon. Anyone else in MKE had their beer? Have anymore info about them? Between Black Husky moving to Riverwest and this, I'm glad to see Milwaukee getting some new blood.
First I have heard of them and I am excited also!!! Don't forget about MobCraft moving to Walker's Point and West Allis is getting a new brewery also.
I had their gose on tap a couple of months ago at the Public Market. Hadn't heard of them until I saw it there. The gose was pretty mediocre but it was one they have on their website as an experimental beer. I'd be interested in trying some of their other stuff.
I've talked to a couple of the guys involved as they have worked at some of the bars around town. The guy with the beard worked at rumpus room. Awesome guys. I'm glad to see that they're expanding. I don't think I ever had the gose, but I'm not a fan of that style to begin with. Everything else I've had from them has been pretty good.
Their gose is a very mild version. Acidulated malt to give it just a touch of sour. Works well for converting people to the style. One of the owners did work at Rumpus- he actually had to quit when they started the brewery. It is illegal in Wisconsin (and some other states, probably) to hold a servers license while also holding a brewing license. They reason it by saying that it violates the 3-tier system- for instance, a beer buyer at a local bar who also owns a brewery would have incentive to buy his own product at cost (or at no cost) and sell it to the public at a much higher profit margin than any other bar could compete with. You can see how prohibitive that is for young brewers (many of whom are bartenders or who work in craft beer) who would risk their current jobs by starting a brewery. The same laws forced a promising new brewery called Like Minds to open in Illinois when they were told that one of their founders (who also owns a successful restaurant in MKE) would have to give up the liquor license for his restaurant to open the brewery. Back to the point- Enlightened is working their butts off to put good beer out there. The expansion is going to be a great step forward for them!
Yeah, a James Beard award winning chef no less. I'm still bitter about that situation, Like Minds is making some amazing, unique beers.
