BY ANN CHRISTENSON AND CHRIS DROSNER

---

READ MORE BEST OF MILWAUKEE 2023

---

Fermenting Culture   

BY CHRIS DROSNER

Beer is more than malt, hops, yeast and water. It is culture. It has a sense of place, it is argued about, it brings people together. And yet, if you’ve been to a brewery taproom in Milwaukee or just about anywhere, you know whose culture is represented. White folks – white guys, mostly.   

It’s one of the reasons why it’s been so exciting to see Pilot Project Brewing transform the sparkling 5-year-old brewery on Ninth Street that was the biggest mistake Milwaukee Brewing Co. ever made.   

Pilot Project calls itself a beverage incubator, giving anyone with a good idea for just about any drink access to everything they need to bring that idea to market without their own know-how or (extremely expensive) facility. Co-founder Dan Abel describes Pilot Project as purpose-driven, and diversifying the beer industry is one of its cornerstones. “When you lower the barrier to entry, it’s basically a creativity renaissance,” Abel says. “When you give power to the creatives, diversity of people, diversity of thought and approach and innovation start to organically happen.”  

The effects on our (overwhelmingly white) local beer scene are starting to show. Two of Pilot Project’s Chicago-based partners – Black-owned Funkytown Brewery and India-influenced Azadi Brewing – are on taps and shelves in Milwaukee. Pilot Project was also set to host the second Brown, Black & Brews festival featuring beverage makers of color. And lo and behold, the crowd in the gorgeous taproom on the northwest edge of Downtown has been relatively diverse on my visits. More ideas, more people, more beer, more culture.

---

---

Editors’ Picks 

HoneyBee Sage Wellness & Apothecary

1819 N. MARTIN LUTHER KING DR.

Both a shop and cafe, HoneyBee makes the path to wellness so zen. This space sells teas and its various accessories, aromatherapeutics and bath essentials, plus it has a welcoming drink counter for enjoying one of owner Angela Mallett’s delicious non-alcoholic cocktails. The store also stays buzzing with monthly poetry and karaoke nights. 

Sugar Maple’s Pop-ups  

441 E. LINCOLN AVE.

Adrienne Pierluissi’s wonderful Bay View bar always stays fresh, but its immersive pop-up series mining pop culture has taken that to the next level. For four days, the bar transforms for the theme, including special cocktails, beer selections, food trucks, art displays and even decor. Wes Anderson weekend featured a table-tennis tournament; “Avatar: The Last Airbender” brought “The Last Bartender,” a bartending-themed obstacle course; and the Studio Ghibli takeover featured anime and Japanese beers. An “I Think You Should Leave” theme is set for Aug. 31-Sept. 3. 

Discourse Coffee Workshop

The ever-evolving business showcases coffee – and tea – in transcendent ways. While many of the drinks are artsy and thought-provoking, they also taste amazing. From the company’s roots in a tiny space in Sister Bay, Discourse has grown to two MKE locations (and counting), plus earlier this year, founder Ryan Castelaz released his first book, The New Art of Coffee, a mashup of techniques, recipes and ravishing photography by local maestro Kevin Miyazaki. 

A Toast to Mike Romans  

This summer, Milwaukee’s beer community lost one of its most influential members since the beer barons. Mike Romans opened his eponymous (and now closed) pub on the south end of Bay View in 1978 and soon became the city’s foremost beer tastemaker – first with imports, then by supporting the best of the up-and-coming “microbrewers,” as they were called then. He opened minds and palates while running his bar his way, whether you liked that way or not.    

---

What are you having, Chris?… 

1. Fish Fry Rye  

MOBCRAFT BEER

An intriguing concept – a märzen (think Oktoberfest) to emulate the caraway rye bread accessory to a fish fry – is executed wonderfully by the Walker’s Point weird-beer experts.   

2. Bake Juice  

VENNTURE BREW

Released two days after 4/20, this hazy IPA raised the dank stakes with terpenes – the aromatic oils found in hops and their botanical cousin, cannabis. Bake Juice deployed terpenes from the legendary Pineapple Express bud strain to delicious effect.   

3. Hop Water  

THIRD SPACE BREWING

Sprinkling a few cans of this calorie- and alcohol-free refresher kept me bright, fresh and un-drunk during this summer’s drinking sessions. It’s tasty, too – think La Croix flavored with citrus and hops (Mosaic Lime for me, please).    

4. Louie’s Demise  

MILWAUKEE BREWING

The reboot of one of Cream City’s craft OGs by Eagle Park Beer is a silver lining of MKE’s closure. And the new recipe for this onetime flagship amber ale skews less sweet and a bit more robust – welcome changes to a beer that was showing its age before its initial demise.  

---

Readers’ Choice  

---