It took owner Rick McNabb three years to get Tailwinds Brewing Co. (1035 Main St., Union Grove) off the ground.
The only brewery in Union Grove celebrated its grand opening last week with taps pouring five beers (hazy IPA, West Coast IPA, weiss, ESB, and a fruit beer) from shiny stacked serving tanks. The 12 large tanks (each the equivalent of 4.25 kegs) pull beer directly from fermenters and take the place of kegs, saving time and money.
“We saw (serving tanks) for the first time in Scotland,” said McNabb. “They’re very unique. There’s one bar in Milwaukee (The Copper Turtle) that has six of them, but aside from that I don’t know anyone else in Wisconsin that has them. They’re a big investment up front, but I don’t have to pay for kegs, cleaning chemicals, CO2, or for someone to fill and clean kegs.”
McNabb, who worked for United Airlines for 36 years (his father also worked for 30 years there) took inspiration from his travels around the world and a more refined era of air travel when creating Tailwinds. The space is adorned with airline memorabilia, ads, a few large propellers and even an American flag that adorned the tail of the last domestically flown Boeing 747.
“[My wife and I] love travel and we love beer,” McNabb added. “Travel isn’t what it used to be. We’re focused on the golden days of travel and all the stuff in the brewery highlights that. We wanted to create a taproom that had a theme.”
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The head brewer at Tailwinds is Greg Browne, a staple in the Chicago-area brewing scene for three decades who recently spent time at Geneva Lager Works and Art History Brewing, also in Geneva, Illinois.
“Personally, I love the Belgians,” said McNabb. “Greg loves the German beers and loves lagers. We’re going to do mostly classic beers.”
An experienced brewer is good for business, as is being the only brewery in the area. Kenosha and Burlington are home to a smattering, but are both several miles away.
“The residents are pumped about it, and village leadership been more than supportive. We’re hoping to become a catalyst for other small business in this small town, and breathe a little bit of life into the village.”
Brewed Omen Takes the Brewing Plunge
The approach at Brewed Omen Brewpub (120 N. Main St., Hartford) is a little different. The space, previously named the Brewed Omen Tasting Room, has been a standout in Hartford for three years, serving fine beer with an emphasis on local and Wisconsin breweries. This fall, Brewed Omen began crafting its own beer. Longtime employee Kyle Sikora, a homebrewer who also completed an internship with New Barons Brewing Co-op in 2024, oversees the brewing operations on a seven-barrel system. The establishment was crowded on Sunday for the new brewery’s first release, and the varied menu features an amber, porter, Scottish ale, pale ale, Belgian dark strong, imperial stout, wheatwine and barleywine.
“Over that last three years we liked to stay local with who we choose to have on tap,” said Sikora. “I’ve been trying to keep the menu as diverse as I can and pick out as many unique beers as I can to keep excitement up. My customers are kind of trained to know that there’s always diversity on the menu and even diversity with each style. Once we dial in the (brewing) system, then we will have some fun. We will try to make anything our customers want.”
Having a built-in customer base provides a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. But it also puts the pressure on Sikora to keep up the level of quality Brewed Omen patrons have come to expect.
“We’ve been open for three years and I can look back at sales and know what moves,” Sikora explained. “I can start making the beer that sells the most right away. It’ll be a challenge though because I’ve been bringing in what I think are the best beers (from other breweries) and now I have to compete with that. We’ve got some really nice customers and I know they’ll give us honest feedback. I’m challenging myself to be competitive with the best.”
