Like Minds Brewing disbands after break
Brewery started in Chicago because of tricky Wisconsin laws
Like Minds Brewing, whose efforts to open in Milwaukee opened a window on the state’s sometimes impenetrable alcohol statutes, has called it quits.
“After selling the facility early this year and taking a step away, we as a partnership couldn’t agree on how to best move forward with Like Minds — the irony isn’t lost on me here — with the proceeds of the sale, we decided as a group that rather than invest in essentially starting anew, this was an opportunity to go our separate ways and pursue our own goals,” John Lavelle, one of the brewery’s original owners, said in an email.
He declined to name the partners.
The brewery, founded by Lavelle and Justin Aprahamian, owner and James Beard Award-winning chef of Sanford restaurant, was encouraged to set up in Chicago by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in 2015 because Aprahamian had a liquor license for his restaurant — a fact that, according to the department, barred him from owning a brewery in the state.
The state took a second look at the law and allowed the founders to open a brewery and restaurant at 823 E. Hamilton St. in 2016.
Change was a constant for Like Minds. Aprahamian left the business in late 2016. The company sold its Chicago brewery. Food service was discontinued at the Hamilton St. brewery in 2017.
In March, Eagle Park Brewing announced it was moving into the Like Minds space.
“When we began, we were a culinary-focused brewery. When I took over brewing operations in 2015, the focus quickly changed toward my passions and my tastes more specifically, which were experimental beers and mostly barrel-aged sours,” Lavelle said.
Asked if that was an issue for Milwaukee patrons, who had been used to Like Minds IPAs and Rhubarb Saison, Lavelle said he didn’t think so.
“I think a larger issue for us is that it was a monumental shift that happened from when we started to where we ended,” he said. “When we first launched in the Milwaukee market, we launched with beers that didn’t really reflect what we were becoming and the profile that we were going for. I think the beer we were making at the end is some of the best we ever did. I also think there is room for more of that kind of beer here.”
Lavelle said Like Minds moved out of the Hamilton St. location to find larger space and operate more as a production brewery than a taproom.
“As a brewpub, that space makes a ton of sense. As a production brewery, it was tough,” he said. “But the process to get out of the space took a lot longer than originally planned and allowed everyone to take a step back.”
Like Minds employed 10 people.