Your favorite brewery is probably helping out your second-favorite brewery. That's how brewery owners say craft beer works.
When the taproom at the fledgling Wizard Works Brewing flooded, the result of a water main break in early August, nearby Broken Bat Brewing put the Wizard Works' beers on tap for the weekend.
This summer, Vennture Brewing, 5519 W. North Ave., helped Stock House, 7208 W. North Ave., in Wauwatosa, fill cans so it could sell beer with curbside delivery.
For craft breweries, few of which are making the profits they otherwise might, a pandemic translates to one for all and all for beer.
You're probably wondering why
"You feel, yes, they're competitors but they're feeling the exact same pain as you," said Henry Schwartz, founder and CEO of MobCraft Brewery, which included guest packs of beer from competing breweries in some virtual events.
"It started right at the beginning (March) when we were supposed to host Sour Fest. We were still trying to figure out what life/business is going to look like," said Elise Strupp, MobCraft's event and programming manager.
She reached out to breweries that had planned to participate in Sour Fest, a festival of beers that are made intentionally sour or tart. The festival included beers from breweries like Third Space, Sahale, Company Brewing and Indeed Brewing in guest packs of beer.
Later the brewery did a virtual IPA tasting with other breweries including The Explorium Brewpub.
"For me it was a whole different crowd," said Mike Doble, who owns The Explorium Brewpub in Greendale. A second location is scheduled to open in the Historic Third Ward soon.
"I'm proud to say that the pandemic hasn't changed our philosophy and we all support each other and help each other out," Doble said.
The concept worked well enough that MobCraft will do the same thing for Weird Fest — essentially MobCraft's anniversary event — on Aug. 29.
Always shared material goods
Breweries have always worked together to share material goods. Third Space Brewing shared yeast with Vennture Brew. But putting another brewery's beer on tap or sharing canning lines, as Vennture did for Stock House, has become a more common practice during the pandemic.
"We offered," said Rob Gustafson, one of Vennture's owners. The benefits were twofold for Stock House. Mark Mahoney was able to can beer but was also able to use Vennture's purchasing ability to secure more cans.
Broken Bat owners Tim Pauly and Dan McElwee knew firsthand the problems facing Wizard Works because the brewery first opened in the same space. In March, Broken Bat moved to a larger facility a few blocks away.
"We felt bad," said Pauly. Two years ago in the same location, a steam pipe used to heat the brewing system exploded into the unit, circulating scalding hot steam throughout the brewery. Equipment, furniture and baseball memorabilia were ruined in the flooding.
"Like everyone else, we had a lot of carpets pulled out from under us," Pauly said.
A few years ago Lakefront Brewery, Black Husky Brewing, Company Brewing and Gathering Place Brewing formed the Riverwest Syndicate to draw people to the neighborhood. And to support each other.
When the keg washer at Gathering Place broke down, founder Joe Yeado used the keg washer at Black Husky to meet a packaging deadline.
"Without a keg washer we can't package any new beer, so we are just dead in the water without some vessel to put some beer in," he said.
Company Brewing, which used mobile canning service WilCraft Can, let Gathering Place piggyback on that service on Aug. 17.
There was no pandemic to worry about four years ago when Third Space Brewing created the Wisconsin IPA Festival. At the event each August, the brewery encourages breweries across the state to share their India Pale Ale at Third Space, where experts and the public decide on winners.
This year's festival went virtual but included more emphasis on other breweries than in years past. Those who wanted to attend paid $55 for general admission tickets, which included two six-packs of beer from other breweries, a sticker and a Third Space glass.
"On the actual sales side, we're helping each other," said Andy Gehl, co-founder and director of sales and marketing for Third Space.
Third Space bought the beer from the other breweries to run the event. It hosted Instagram live videos and chats with representatives from those breweries about business in COVID times and to ask what's coming up.
"We have a large social media following and platform," Gehl said. "It was a chance for us to use our platform for others."
Driving profits early on
John Degroote, head brewer for New Baron's Brewing Cooperative, 2018 S. First St., organized a series of craft beer drive-through events early in the pandemic when taprooms, bars and restaurants were closed.
The Beer Drive-Thru events, which took place in March and April, were tagged as "an alternative to visiting our taprooms and events during the COVID-19 Pandemic."
"Plain and simple, we just wouldn't exist without our friends," Degroote said. The pandemic closed everything down just as breweries were ramping up their inventory for summer. This was a way for them to sell it.
Faklandia, 3807 S. Packard Ave., another brewery that opened during the pandemic, hosted two of the Beer Drive-Thru events. Another was held at The Explorium Brewpub in the Southridge parking lot.
"There were beers there that weren't released into distribution," Degroote said. "Stock House (which doesn't distribute) is a great example. There were barrel-aged beers from Third Space. MobCraft always gave us something interesting to sell.
"It's just easier if we work together," Degroote said. "A pallet of hops can be really expensive. If you've got a few breweries going in on it, it makes it a little better for all those parties to make flavorful beer."
More events are in the planning stages. MobCraft, Broken Bat and Merriment Social will host weekend drive-in events Sept. 4 through Oct. 31 at the lot across the street from Broken Bat, 135 E. Pittsburgh Ave.
RELATED: Can a new brewery get a break? And not the kind that floods the brewhouse and taproom.
Related: This weekend, you can buy beer from a handful of Milwaukee-area breweries without leaving the car
Contact Kathy at (414) 224-2974 or kathy.flanigan@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @katflanigan.
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'It's just easier if we work together.' Breweries find a way to help each other during pandemic - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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