*This is the one-hundred and eighteenth post in an on-going chronicle dubbed the Great Wisconsin Brewery Tour. Follow the journey here.*
Broken Bat Brewing Company
231 E Buffalo St
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 316-9197
Visit date: 08/06/17
Quick Hits:
1) How many different beers?
7 on tap.
2) How long operational?
4 months.
3) Why? (here, this, etc)
Best friends combined love of brewing with love of baseball. Location was available through a family friend.
4) Distribution?
Recently began kegging to bars in the city. Canning/bottling someday.
5) What sets you apart?
“Our baseball theme is very different for breweries and this area.”
6) How did you get your name?
“I was thinking of something in the baseball realm, and a lightbulb went off on Broken Bat.”
Broken Bat Brewing Company in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. All photos by Joe Powell for The Squeaky Curd.
Does anything go better with baseball than beer? In a city like Milwaukee, the concepts are so inseparable that we field a team called the Brewers. That marriage between two American past times, baseball and drinking, is everything at the newly-opened Broken Bat Brewing Company.
Somehow owners Tim and Dan shoe-horned a fully-functional brewery and taproom into the basement of a historic Third Ward building. As Tim told us,
“We’re gonna start really small; crawling before we run.”
But small guys can hit dingers along with the big boys in baseball, and BBBC is hitting hard with small batches.
Straight Chedd Apricot Pale Ale
Tart and juicy, with a lasting tang that makes you come back over and over.
Frozen Rope Raspberry Wheat
Very berry, but drier than expected for a Wheat.
High and Tight IPA
Earthy tones, with hints of dank wood and Cracker Jacks (the theme is starting to wear off on my thoughts).
Bavarian Bierhause Lager
Hearkening back to what I expect they used to serve at County Stadium; light, with evident hops and a lip-smacking dryness.
Though there are plenty of TVs for tuning into games, baseball bats built into the decor, and free peanuts at every table, I didn’t see a single piece of licensed gear.
“I’m a die hard Brewers fan, but we’re not a Brewers bar: we’re a baseball brewery.” – Tim
If you like beer, or you like baseball, it doesn’t matter beyond that.
What does matter to Tim and Dan, though, is giving back while having fun. The 8 beautiful guitars hanging over the bar definitely give this space “kind of a basement man cave” vibe, but they’re really part of the Guitars for Vets program. BBBC even hosted a band of vets who’ve benefited from the local charity.
Baseball, just like brewing, comes down to relaxing together. Broken Bat Brewing Company is like the “bleacher seats” of breweries in town: come for the baseball and beer, stay for the experience.
there is only one game to re juice and its baseball 😉