External image | |
---|---|
Exterior photo of Hacienda's Milwaukee taproom, via Mike Simon |
Hacienda Beer Company is a microbrewery in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is strongly associated with the Door County Brewing Company (DCBC), from which Hacienda was created in 2018. [upper-alpha 1] As of 2024 [update] , Hacienda contract-brews their beer at 3 Sheeps Brewing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and operates a taproom on Milwaukee's Upper East Side. Their beer is served at the taproom and at DCBC in Bailey's Harbor.
Hacienda originated in the family-run Door County Brewing Company, which was founded by John and Angie McMahon beginning in 2012 as a way of luring their sons Danny and Ben back to their Door County, Wisconsin, roots. [3] In 2017, Danny, Ben, and three other DCBC employees founded Hacienda, giving an intentional branding for experimental and non-conventional beers—what a local Door County magazine called "bolder flavors". [4] [5] According to a later Hacienda general manager:
Hacienda was their attempt at doing more experimental stuff [like US] East Coast hazy IPAs, milkshake stuff, juicy IPAs ... things that are really popular out there. Door County was doing ... more straightforward stuff. [6]
Hacienda launched in February 2018, having waited for the equipment needed to finalize a new 15-barrel brewery and taproom in Baileys Harbor. [4]
In November 2018, Hacienda announced that had signed a lease with Milwaukee developer Josh Jeffers to open a taproom of their own on the city's Upper East Side. The space was formerly used for G-Daddy's BBC Bar and Grill, but was gutted inside in preparation for the new operators. [7] [upper-alpha 2] Beer for the new location would be brewed in DCBC's 15-barrel brewery. [9]
The Milwaukee taproom opened in June 2019, and becoming part of a wave of new openings that reinvigorated the surrounding district and cemented a shift in the area's patronage from college students to young well-heeled professionals. [8] In November of the same year, the brewery added two lines of roasted coffee for sale, [10] and overhauled their food menu. [11] In 2021, the McMahons departed DCBC and Hacienda. [12]
In late 2022, Angie and Joe Sorge of Sidework Hospitality, the new operational managers of Hacienda, announced a brand "re-introduction" with the goal of making it less intimidating to casual visitors. Changes included a new exterior sign to highlight the taproom's kitchen offerings, another menu shake-up under new executive chef Ashley Turner, and the addition of hard seltzers. [13] [14] [15] [16] In 2023, Hacienda won the Wisconsin IPA Fest with a beer called Back to the Flow, a hazy IPA. [17]
At the beginning of 2024, Sheyboygan's 3 Sheeps Brewing began contract brewing and packaging all of Hacienda's products. [18] By the middle of the year, Hacienda's taproom brought in 3 Sheeps to supplement Hacienda's meager customer base. The space, renamed "Triple Taproom & Kitchen", featured Hacienda and DCBC on one side of the bar and 3 Sheeps on the other side, separated by a wall. [19] Chef Ashley Turner departed during these changes. [20]
External image | |
---|---|
Publicity stills of Hacienda's Milwaukee taproom |
Hacienda's 4,500-square-foot (420 m2), 125 seat Milwaukee taproom is located in a 1913 building at 2018 E. North Ave. [8] [21] [15] The interior, gutted prior to Hacienda moving in, was designed by Milwaukee-based 360 Degrees. They aimed to create "a blend of casual, whimsical, yet hardworking, sophisticated and timeless qualities." [21]
Primary colors in the new taproom included blue, green, and orange. [22] The builders left cream city brick walls deliberately exposed while large hanging orbs to light the space. [6] Seats on the Prospect Ave. side of the building were upholstered with Madras fabric. [2] The way to the bathrooms is marked by a highly visible neon sign reading "flush vibes". [22]
Hacienda focuses on juicy IPAs, pale ales, and sour beers. [22] At its opening, it served around twelve beers, including: [8]
Sprecher Brewery is a brewery in Glendale, Wisconsin, U.S. It was founded in 1985 in Milwaukee by Randal Sprecher, and is Milwaukee's first craft brewery since Prohibition. Sprecher produces an assortment of beers, flavored malt beverages, and craft sodas, and it is famous for its root beer.
The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, doing business as Leinenkugel's, is an American beer maker based in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Leinenkugel's was historically distributed only in the Upper Midwest, but is now available throughout all 50 states. The company is the seventh oldest brewery in the United States, and the oldest business in Chippewa Falls. It is a subsidiary of Molson Coors. It produces both traditional beers, including lagers and ales, as well as a popular line of shandies, which are a mixture of beer with fruit juices, such as lemonade.
The Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It outsources the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor. These include its own flagship Pabst Blue Ribbon, as well as brands from many defunct breweries.
City Brewing Company is a large brewery located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. It is the former flagship facility of the Heileman Brewery, and can brew up to 7 million barrels of beer a year. Its twin-stream brewhouse can manage 16 brews of 1,100 barrels per day at the same time.
Lakefront Brewery, Inc. is a brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The brewery is based in the Beerline B neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1987 by brothers Russ and Jim Klisch, several of its brands are named after Milwaukee neighborhoods, such as Riverwest Stein Beer and East Side Dark. The brewery was the first in the U.S. to bottle fruit beer since prohibition was repealed, starting in 1992 with the seasonal Lakefront Cherry Lager. The brewery often uses Wisconsin-grown ingredients, including Door County cherries.
Rhinelander Brewery is a regional American brewery located in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Indeed Brewing Company is a microbrewery located in the Logan Park neighborhood of Northeast Minneapolis. It was founded in 2011 by friends Thomas Whisenand, Rachel Anderson, and Nathan Berndt. The three brought in Josh Bischoff, formerly a brewer at Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis, as their head brewer.
Creature Comforts Brewing Co. is an American craft brewery founded in April 2014 by David Stein, Adam Beauchamp, Derek Imes, and Chris Herron in Athens, Georgia. They have become popular for their core beer brands—most notably their Tropicália IPA—as well as a variety of seasonal and specialty releases.
Bosque Brewing Company is a microbrewery based in New Mexico with taprooms in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. The company produces beers inspired by American and European-style traditions that are distributed throughout the state of New Mexico.
Big Wood Brewery is a brewery and taproom located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The company began in some empty warehouse space in Vadnais Heights in 2009, before moving into their newly built brewery in 2012.
Rhinegeist Brewery is a craft brewery and craft cidery based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company also sells their ciders under the name Cidergeist, using an alternative apple-shaped skull logo. The brewery's 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) taproom and production facility is located in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, and occupies the former, pre-Prohibition bottling plant of Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. Rhinegeist operates an additional shipping, storage and innovation brewing facility in Cincinnati's Camp Washington neighborhood.
The A. Gettelman Brewing Company was an American brewery that was based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1856 until 1961, when it was sold to Miller Brewing Company. It was the smallest of the "Big Five" breweries from Milwaukee's brewing legacy. Its most recognizable brand, Milwaukee's Best, is still marketed by Molson Coors.
The city of Milwaukee in the U.S. state of Wisconsin has been associated with beer throughout its history. This heritage can be found in its Major League Baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, and on beer brands such as Old Milwaukee and Milwaukee's Best. The city's major brewers have included Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz. MillerCoors, the city's largest brewery, produces 10 million barrels of beer a year.
Blackrocks Brewery is a craft brewery in Marquette, Michigan, United States. Former pharmaceutical salesmen David Manson and Andy Langlois opened Blackrocks in 2010, taking the name from a local landmark. They originally brewed their products in the basement of a Victorian-style house and used the building's other two floors as a taproom.
Bailey's Taproom was a beer bar in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The bar, which was established by owner Geoff Phillips in 2007, was a popular destination for craft beer tourism and garnered a positive reception. The bar had a second-floor sibling establishment called The Upper Lip, which was also known as Bailey's Upper Lip. Both establishments closed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vennture Brew Company is a microbrewery and coffee shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, that opened in 2018. Vennture was created by three photographers who turned their hobby projects in coffee and beer into a successful business; in 2022, Yelp listed them as the best brewery in the state of Wisconsin. Headquartered in a former hardware store, they are known for their "The Heights" saison. It is one of a small minority of US breweries that is partly or wholly Black-owned.