Lakefront Brewery, the Milwaukee area’s largest craft brewer and one of its oldest, is making its first acquisition.
Lakefront announced on Friday that it has signed a letter of intent to purchase Kenosha’s Public Craft Brewing Co., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.
The opportunity to acquire Public Craft Brewing, located in the heart of downtown Kenosha, makes sense from a brewing and hospitality perspective, Lakefront President Russ Klisch said. “Kenosha is an up-and-coming area with many businesses moving in,” he said. “The population is growing with housing being developed, and it is a good time to become established.”
Lakefront, which began in 1987 and now distributes its products to more than 30 states, as well as Ukraine, Sweden and Canada, has had past opportunities to expand and purchase new assets but this deal is the first to come to fruition.
The Public Craft Brewing Co. name will be retained as part of the deal, but Lakefront has already begun with a redesign of the brewpub’s imagery. Public Brewing’s current staff will be interviewed for employment and job cuts aren’t being considered, according to Lakefront.
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“The Public brand is established, positive and will work hand-in-hand with the Lakefront brand,” Klisch said. “Public Brewing has a solid reputation for its beer and food.”
Lakefront has already created a new logo for Public Craft. “We’re tweaking the Public brand identity to be more compatible with Lakefront’s brand,” said Lakefront Brand Manager Michael Stodola. “Colors, style and level of expression will be equal to our own.”
In a social media post earlier this month, Public Craft founder and lead brewer Matt Geary noted that the business had “endured a tumultuous last few years” that has included having the COVID-19 pandemic strike at a time when it had just begun a major expansion that required significant investment.
Public Craft Brewing noted that the extended recovery time from the pandemic, combined with inflation and restaurant partner problems, left it in an “untenable financial situation,” forcing the business to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April in order to restructure and “get back on solid ground.”
“While this is definitely the most challenging chapter yet in Public’s 12-year history, I assure you that it’s not the final one,” Geary posted.
Public Craft Brewing’s future will now come as part of Lakefront Brewery, and Geary will remain with the business in a production role.
In a Facebook post on Friday afternoon, Geary announced the acquisition by Lakefront and wrote that the deal will not only keep Public Craft Brewing in business but will also allow it to “stabilize, grow and refocus on the things that make a craft brewery such an important place in its community.”
“We were trying to find someone who was familiar with the industry to talk to,” Geary said in an interview with Milwaukee Magazine. “We put out the word to several places. My majority partner, Mike Wimmer, was talking with Russ over the last several weeks, and it all kind of just synced up with what they want to be doing and how they want to expand. Our brands are aligned in a good way. It’s probably one of the best-case scenarios for Public and the brand and for where it can go. With Lakefront’s experience and resources, I think it’s going to be really exciting moving forward.”
Geary started Public Craft Brewing in 2012. “I came into this as a home brewer,” he said. “I was so into craft beer and loved the sense of community around the industry and the social aspect of beer. I wanted to do all that in Kenosha, which hadn’t had a new brewery in a while. It had been a pretty dry run for the city.”
After spending a summer lining up funding, Geary and his father built out the original space, a block away from the current location.
“We opened in the fall of 2012 with a small tap room, no restaurant and a little three-and-a-half barrel brewhouse. I focused on being that community spot that focused on beer, which is what I’m really excited about moving forward, doing that again.”
Geary recalled many brewery tours at Lakefront and speaking with Klisch before opening Public Craft Brewing. “I had a conversation with Russ back when I was an aspiring brewer, so I’ve known him casually for a while,” Geary said.
After several years in operation, Public Craft then decided to make a move into the former Barden’s department store, one of Kenosha’s most iconic buildings, in order to take advantage of a planned increase in business and residential development in the city’s downtown area. That expansion opened in 2019.
“We took a risk,” Geary said of the multimillion-dollar project. “In the midst of that, COVID kicked off and then we had a lot of civil discontent down here that summer and fall. A lot of development ended up not happening or being delayed. It wasn’t unique to us, but we ended up in a financial situation where we needed to restructure and make a change.”
The new location included a 15-barrel brewhouse – which brought the brewery’s annual capacity to around 2,500 barrels – and several other amenities, including a full kitchen and seating for up to 300 people. “There is a huge amount of space,” he said. “We’ve got a music venue area, a huge taproom, and the downstairs has more of the small vibe like the original Public.”
On the beer front, Public Craft’s offerings include Never a Dill Moment, a dill pickle sour; pina colada and key lime sours; an apricot saison; and Brain Baster, an English bitter.
“Russ was very complimentary about all of our beers,” said Geary. “That’s been my focus, making sure we are starting with a quality product. That’s a big part of why this worked out. I’m excited about this, to rebuild a team and see where we can go. I’ll be back out talking to people and being a Kenosha beer guy.”
The Kenosha market is underserved when it comes to breweries, Klisch said. In Wisconsin, there’s an average of six breweries for every 100,000 residents – and generally more in more heavily populated areas. Kenosha, which has a population of just less than 100,000, has only Public Craft Brewing and three small brewpubs, Rustic Road Brewing, Kenosha Brewing Co. and R’Noggin Brewing.
Lakefront and Public Craft also share the same beer distributor, CJW Inc. in Mount Pleasant, which distributes in Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties. That will greatly assist in streamlining retail and other off-site sales.
“Public Brewing makes a nice selection of sour beers which Lakefront doesn’t have in its portfolio,” Lakefront Sales Director John Huber said. “And CJW will be able to distribute Public’s sours and other beers through our distribution network.”
Public Craft will be developing a brewery tour along with a tour ticket that encourages visits to local bars. Lakefront said it plans to honor all Public Brewing gift cards and deposits that were put down for previously booked events.
Geary wrote in his Facebook post that Lakefront Brewery has for years and in many ways proven its “dedication to the craft beer industry, their local community and to the craft beer community at large.”
“That said, I know everyone gets uncomfortable with change. Please rest assured that the coming course corrections will only get us closer to the direction Kenosha’s largest and oldest craft brewery should be headed,” Geary wrote. “Again, I’m so grateful for everyone’s support through this, and all the years leading up to now.”
