WHY IS 1840 BREWING A THING?
Bay View brewery doesn’t brew beer and is only open once a month
It’s 12 o’clock somewhere. Close enough that glasses are filled and emptied in rapid succession at 1840 Brewing Co. The Bay View business, 342 E. Ward St., might be the most non-traditional brewery in Brew City. The brewery — a misnomer because beer is not brewed but barrel-fermented, blended and bottled here — opens to the public only the second weekend of the month for bottle releases.
On Thursday, Friday and Sunday of that weekend, those who have paid a membership fee can purchase bottles of new-release beers.
Saturday is for non-members. And on a recent gloomy Saturday morning, plenty of them showed up at the brewery. Kids clambered onto tall chairs at the high-top tables while their parents sipped India Pale Ales so hazy beer in the glass looked like orange juice.
About halfway through the room, 1840 owners Kyle and Stephanie Vetter distributed bottles of beer that had been pre-ordered and paid for online.
When the line slowed, which was not often, they worked the room leaning across tables or sit-
ting down for seconds at a time to talk Bay View — or, more often than not, beer.
“We make beers in a different way and sell it in a different way,” Kyle Vetter said.
The Vetters describe 1840 as an urban farmhouse brewery.
Kyle, who was lead brewer and oak manager in charge of beer fermenting in barrels for Aspen Brewing in Colorado, hands his recipe and ingredients over to any of a number of local partner breweries. The breweries make the wort — unfermented beer — and return it to 1840. Kyle then ferments much of the wort in barrels that line the center of the small brewery, as well as fermenting some in tall, stainless steel fermenters along the back wall.
Since Kyle’s not brewing, the equipment is kept to a minimum — barrels, steel tanks, boots and a collection of hand-held tools. Production is also kept to a minimum. By nature, barrel-aging produces smaller batches than are made in a traditional brewery.
Consider 1840 against, say, MillerCoors, where each beer tastes the same, is brewed in the same amount of time and in grand quantities. 1840 starts with a comparably small quantity of wort. The beer takes the time it needs to get to the flavor that Vetter expects.
In the end, each 1840 beer is a limited release.
Members pay $175 a year for access to members-only releases. Membership includes two 750-milliliter bottles of two special membersonly beers; two 1840 logo glasses; a choice of one members-only 1840 Tshirt or hat; guaranteed beer allotments during monthly sales; $1 off every beer by the glass in the tasting room; and invites/discounts to private brewery events.
The brewery aimed for 100 members but topped out at 155.
“We knew people would take to it,” Kyle said. But even he was surprised when they surpassed that number and had to add a third day for members.
Dana Hansen, site manager for Brew City MKE, has a Friday membership (her husband has a Sunday membership).
“I really like how welcoming the space is and the owners are,” Hansen said. Some people find the membership a little exclusive, but she thinks the concept “reinforces the idea of what they’re doing is special. They’re doing something that takes time to craft.”
The Vetters wanted to fill a niche for sour and for mixed-culture beers that don’t follow familiar guidelines like pale ales, ambers or stouts do. Not to say that they don’t make some crowd pleasers. 1840 has released bottles of IPAs including The Cashmere Sweater, which is made with Cashmere hops and tastes of sweet peaches; double IPAs; and a juicy, hazy IPA that was part of Eagle Park Brewing’s opening extravaganza on April 20.
On this weekend, the second weekend in May, the choices for purchase included Plumpy, a mango and passion fruit kettle-soured beer; and Euphonium, a barrel-fermented saison with brettanomyces. Smaller bottles of Opalescence, a double India Pale Ale, also were available. More than one man walked away with a child in the crook of his arm and two 750-milliliter bottles of beer in his hand.
It was the first time the Vetters allowed customers to order online and pre-purchase any of three different beer styles. It turned out to be a great solution to a problem that happened with a previous release; that time, the line of people who wanted 1840 beers wrapped around the block.
“It’s not the customer experience I want people to have,” he said, unhappy that some were forced to wait outside in the cold for more than an hour waiting to purchase bottles.
With the pre-order and pre-pay system, those who came to 1840 knew they would get what they ordered and could wait until as late as 7 p.m. for pickup.
Kyle also began saving beer to fill kegs and installed a portable draft line so patrons could order a glass of beer in the taproom, a last-minute addition to take advantage of thirsty people hanging out there.
The queue for bottle purchases wound its way to the concrete bar near the front of the small taproom. Some people sat against large windows; other customers took seats at the public table near the window or on a small couch. Some brought food in with them.
Others grabbed their bottles and headed for the door.
Some breweries on the east and west coasts follow unique business models with unusual brewing methods or limited hours. Like Minds was on track for that before the brewery disbanded early this year. 1840 is Milwaukee’s first.
But other state breweries are trying different strategies, too.
The closest Wisconsin brewery in concept might be Funk Factory Geuzeria in Madison, which also ferments wort from partner breweries and sells tickets for bottle sales.
Sheboygan’s 3 Sheeps introduced a brewery membership program called Barrel Society in December. Membership costs $200 a year and offers members rare beers, first rights to purchase select beers and more. Nationally, plenty of breweries have membership programs — most allow members to get limited-release beers and include brewery swag. But 3 Sheeps is a full-production brewery and its taproom is open daily.
For a startup, the 1840 system — not having huge brewing equipment, open limited hours and memberships — made sense, Kyle said. “I have the (financial) freedom to invest more in the beer in the beginning.”
And now, with success apparent through the membership and the public sales, the Vetters are on the hunt for a larger space to expand production.
1840 is always open the second weekend of the month but occasionally hosts beer dinners and yoga sessions. Upcoming ticketed events include open hours for Bay View Gallery Night on June 1.
The brewery’s next public bottle release is June 9.