*This is the one-hundreth post in an on-going chronicle dubbed the Great Wisconsin Brewery Tour. Follow the journey here.*
MobCraft Beer
505 S 5th St
Milwaukee, WI 53204
(414) 488-2019
Visit date: 03/11/17
Quick Hits:
1) How many different beers?
18 on tap. Guest beers always available as well.
2) How long operational?
Brewing since May 2013, in Milwaukee since June 2016.
3) Why? (here, this, etc)
Avid homebrewers in business school came up with a novel concept.
4) Distribution?
Can and bottling in-house. Distribution around the immediate Midwest.
5) What sets you apart?
“Designing beer from the crowd.” They also have a big interest in souring and wild beers.
6) How did you get your name?
“The Mob is you guys, the crowd coming up with the beer. Craft is the brewers here.”
MobCraft Beer in Walker’s Point, Milwaukee. All photos by Joe Powell for The Squeaky Curd.
Many brewers we’ve talked with have told us they started their own brewery in large part for the added freedom of choosing exactly what they want to brew, rather than the agenda of a boss or corporate panel. From the ingredients, to the process times, to even the names of the beers, it’s all dictated directly by the brewmaster, with the customers providing input mostly through their wallets.
But a few years back, a group of Wisconsin college students took their homebrewing expertise and mashed it together with an increasingly-popular form of expression and direct customer engagement: crowdsourcing. Thus was born MobCraft, “the world’s first completely crowdsourced brewery.”
The concept is pretty simple: the general public submits ideas for new beers on their website, the public then votes for their favorite of that month by pre-ordering a 4-pack of their choice, and the idea with the most pre-orders gets brewed and shipped.
Recipes submissions can range from nebulous “make it a hoppy wheat” comments, to fully-fleshed out recipes. MobCraft’s brewers fills in the blanks from there. It was such a novel brewing path that they were featured on Shark Tank.
A view of the taproom and brewing space during renovation.
Bringing the community together is part of MobCraft’s aim regarding more than just their beer recipes: when they moved from a shared space in Madison to a new production facility of their own in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, input was taken from locals on how to renovate the decades-old warehouse they’d be occupying.
Upon opening, a huge open house-style party was thrown. They have potlucks for sporting events, yoga on the weekend, and even let us throw a party to celebrate our 100th Great Wisconsin Brewery Tour visit.
Grand opening party.
But while you may stay for the community, you come for the beer.
Pale Ale
Your all-day drinker. Light, with just a hint of hops to mix things up.
Oddball Kölsch
Though one of their few “traditional” styles, this packs more flavor than expected.
El Punto de Walker Lager
A lager brewed for their new Milwaukee neighborhood. Drinkability off the charts.
Batshit Crazy Coffee Brown Ale
A brown about town: so crowd-pleasing it was picked recently to be featured at Miller Park.
Don’t Fear the Foil Euro Pale Lager
Musty, belly-filling, and satisfying. For those long nights deep in conversation at the bar.
Hop Gose The Grapefruit
Wheaty, salty, fruity; this flagship beer’s got it all.
Night & Day Black &Tan
I’d never seen a canned Black & Tan, but this dark vanilla and chocolate ale drinks and pours so smooth and light.
MobCraft continues to grow both their local presence and brewing expertise with on-site tours as well as an impressive barrel-aging and souring program.
We are so grateful to MobCraft for letting us swing by with a group of friends (on an already packed Saturday afternoon), as well as preparing a fresh Citra Pale Ale firkin for the occasion (that I got to tap!).
But this sort of special” treatment of their “mob” of neighbors and community members is not so special when it comes to MobCraft: it’s such an integral idea in their business, it’s part of their name.
Special thanks to all our friends, family, and readers who came out to celebrate with us! 100 breweries down, 50+ (and growing…) to go!
