Milwaukee's Beer Scene, Brühaven, and more

The Tulip and Schooner for January 17, 2025

The Tulip and Schooner is edited and primarily written by Louis Livingston-Garcia.

The Milwaukee beer scene is changing quite drastically. 

City Lights is closing after a seven-year run. 

I noticed they hadn’t had much beer in the market recently – including their award-winning hazy IPA, which I’d buy on tap just down the road from my home at Water Street Social restaurant. Apparently, they stopped distributing. I had never been inside the taproom, only there for a food and crowler pickup during COVID. But it was in an industrial part of Milwaukee near Third Space in what was once the Milwaukee Gas Light Co. building. The taproom was gorgeous. I just always had other things going on while in Milwaukee. 

It’s a sad loss, especially since they never capitalized on that hazy IPA win. That could have really made them popular as the style holds strong in sales. I imagine different hop varieties on that base beer could have been something. 

Enlightened Brewing is closed. I had only been to their spot once before they moved in 2019. But it was enjoyable. Another loss. 

And, frankly, in a weird move, Explorium is buying Good City. I think it’s weird because Good City was once quite popular. I had questioned the move to have four locations in the city, and whether or not that undid them, Explorium will now be a brewpub with six locations. Two brewpubs and four taprooms, with at least one spot containing brewing equipment. 

That’s… a lot of locations. It’s a gamble. 

And news to me – shoutout to Chris Drosner for reporting on this – Gathering Place, another solid Milwaukee brewery, bought Sahale. Apparently, Sahale was doing well but owner Matthew Hofmann was ready to sell. I visited Sahale in its first few weeks of opening and found it to be a fun little taproom with some good beers. I never could make it back over there, however. 

Mobcraft already closed in November, which wasn’t much of a surprise. I liked the brand’s initial idea of voting on homebrew recipes and having winners help brew them. They had a great, award-winning coffee stout. But I lost interest when they moved from Madison to Milwaukee and seemingly became more of a typical brewery and taproom, and one that had quality control issues with nearly every beer they made. We’re talking sour barrel-aged stouts, boil issues – the whole lot. 

My beloved Eagle Park, 1840, and Lakefront are still open and healthy, thankfully, but it’s really indicative of how hard it is to run a booze business these days. A weeding out of some subpar beer, bad business management, lower sales – it’s all afflicting the industry. 

As someone who is more health conscious myself, I’m trying to buy more hop water, THC, and swag from places instead of alcohol so I can get into my healthiest state again, and then keep beer and booze at a lighter level. I’m really feeling it as I get closer to 40. Intensely. But I wonder if such products can really help that many breweries. And I can only buy so many T-shirts. 

I wonder what the Twin Cities market will look like, or Chicago and Iowa’s, this coming year. While Milwaukee has been reshaped the most as of now, I expect more areas to lose some breweries. Location, quality, dollars spent elsewhere… it will be fascinating to watch. 

BLEND, BALANCE, AND TRANSITION
Brühaven ferments inside of former Lakes and Legends space
By Loren Green

It’s always tricky to write about a brewery that takes over an existing space. (I wrote about it earlier, if you follow The Tulip and Schooner closely.) Brühaven opened in Loring Park in June, in the building that formerly housed Lakes & Legends. And if you ever went to Lakes & Legends, you’ll immediately make comparisons when you step into the taproom, which has been touched-up but still feels familiar. But it’s another story behind the bar and inside the brewhouse.

Loren Green / Heavy Table

Enter The Brühaven

The room is open and big with an industrial chic design that contrasts a stainless steel open brewhouse with warm, rustic barnwood in the seating area. Reflective subway tile and marble decorate the bar. While these themes have become cliche, in this particular space it’s cozy and effective, with the right blend, balance, and transition from the brewhouse to the bar. A large projector screen hangs, suspended in front of the brewhouse, to give visitors a glimpse of where the magic happens while blocking the “fishbowl effect” for the brewers. A newly added axe throwing cage creates a little more separation between work and play spaces too. You’ll also find pull tabs, darts, board games, and a couch – something for everyone. They’ve added open-air garage doors for warmer months.

Lakes & Legends’ legacy is its connection to the Loring Park community and it feels that Brühaven has matched that aesthetic and honed in. One new twist is the coffeeshop (they open early), which amplifies the community vibe. The crowd on a quiet Monday afternoon were puppy parents, a group of young families, and a mix of after-work think tanks and solo laptoppers.