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(Source: Broken Bat Brewery)
When most people think of Milwaukee, they think of beer. This is accurate. But don’t let your visions be clouded by thoughts of Miller, Schlitz, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Broken Bat Brewery is a newcomer to the scene, and their baseball-themed brewery is already a home run within Milwaukee’s exploding craft beer scene.
In this edition of “Flight School,” Broken Bat Co-Founder Tim Pauly joins the Pubcast to take us through a flight of 4 summertime brews, while giving us a rundown of the origins of their brewery and the state of the Milwaukee beer scene, with plenty of baseball chatter mixed in. Step up to the plate and give this episode a listen. Play ball!
Baseball card-clad restrooms
Drinking Destination:
Broken Bat Brewery – Milwaukee, WI
Located in Milwaukee’s Historic 3rd Ward, Broken Bat Brewery is a newcomer to the rapidly-expanding Milwaukee craft beer scene. If you couldn’t tell from the name of the brewery, it has an overt baseball theme, complete with old-school Milwaukee baseball paraphernalia, beers named after baseball plays, and – my personal favorite – bathroom walls covered from top to bottom in baseball cards.
Coaster Notes:
- Co-Founders Tim and Dan – friends since 1st grade – went through their fair share of struggles to find the current location of Broken Bat Brewery in the 3rd It was the 20th (or 21st?) location that they looked at, so no question that they signed the lease very quickly when it was available.
- Tim has had a lifelong affair with the game of baseball, and has always wanted to incorporate it into whatever he was doing professionally.
- If you’re a baseball fan, add Miller Park – home of the Milwaukee Brewers – to your stadium bucket list. Brewers fans don’t mess around with their tailgates…
- Milwaukee’s beer scene has been catching-up quickly. 5 years ago, Milwaukee was primarily known for 3 craft breweries: Sprecher, Lakefront, and Milwaukee Brewing Co. Over the past 18+ months, Milwaukee is almost on pace for 1 new brewery every month, and Tim has been pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the craft beer community has been.
- Visit Milwaukee! Milwaukee is a better version of Chicago (my words, not Tim’s), but in all seriousness, the accessibility, restaurant & beer scene, Lake Michigan beaches, and countless festivals make this one of America’s best-kept secrets.
- We take 20 seconds to make fun of the Chicago White Sox.
- Tim knew for a long time that he had an entrepreneurial itch that needed to be scratched, and Broken Bat what allowed him to do that. Tim gives us the brief rundown of his entrepreneurial journey.
- “WE’RE GOIN’ TO MURPH’S!” Shoutout to our campus bars at Marquette: Murphy’s and Caffrey’s.
- Upon entering college, Tim hated the taste of [crappy] beer that was served in a $5 Solo cup freshman parties, and aired out his dirty laundry on his reaction to the suds at his first college party…
- I do a terrible job describing one of my favorite scenes in the movie “Can’t Hardly Wait.”
- As a “hyper local” brewery, Broken Bat recently started distributing to other bars and restaurants in the city of Milwaukee, and did some makeshift “surface beer gardens” in the 3rd Ward with some other businesses this summer.
- Just about anything can be a beer garden when you’ve got good cold beer and some sunshine.
Behind the bar…
The Flight.
Drinks of the Show:
- Straight Chedd – Broken Bat’s flagship beer, this apricot pale ale was Tim’s beer-or-choice for the show, and has the perfect amount of apricot to go with the summer.
- Climb The Wall – Their farmhouse ale, brewed with orange peel, is a perfect spring or summer beer, which Tim describes as their “boom or bust” beer; you either love it or hate it. Fortunately, it’s been more “boom” than “bust.”
- High & Tight – A crash-fermented IPA, this beer is very clear with a smooth finish. I (not surprisingly) described it as “crushable.”
- Double Play – This appropriately-named double IPA is the pinnacle of Broken Bat’s operation. It uses a hop that is currently proprietary to the state of Wisconsin (“Skyrocket”) and goes down almost as easily as the High & Tight.
Visit Broken Bat Brewery:
Broken Bat Brewery is located at 231 E. Buffalo St., Milwaukee, WI 53202 (located in the lower unit). Bar hours are Thursdays from 4pm to 10pm, Fridays and Saturday 12pm to 11pm, and Sundays 12pm to 7pm. Closed Monday through Wednesday.
Chris Luecke and Tim Pauly…Pubcastin’!
Music Credits:
“Sex & Beer” by Wisconsin’s own Pat McCurdy. Visit PatMcCurdy.com for the latest show dates, his Greatest Hits CD, and other souvenirs.