As Milwaukee’s craft beer scene continues to blossom, the variety of sud-serving sanctuaries grows more and more diverse. Company Brewing in Riverwest reflects three of Milwaukee’s signature attractions: good music, hardy food and a crazy variety of premium craft beers.
Company Brewing’s backstory starts with owner George Bregar. Before opening the doors at Company, Bregar worked at the Milwaukee staple, Alterra Coffee (now Colectivo). His humble beginnings at Alterra included sweeping up green coffee beans and other small tasks. After a few years cutting his teeth, George climbed the ladder and ultimately was promoted to one of the coolest jobs in the coffee roasting world: Director of Coffee.
Despite making great leaps with his coffee career, George was brewing up a new passion: learning how to homebrew craft beer on the side. This doesn’t come as a surprise—a coffee guy falling in love with brewing beer. The two naturally go together. Beer nerds are able to appreciate and understand the complex flavors and aromas of coffee, and coffee geeks can grasp what it takes to brew a truly delicious beer. For George, he personifies the bridge between both worlds.
As his coffee career continued to grow, his love of homebrewing and repertoire of craft beer recipes grew as well. Ultimately, his homebrew hobby inspired the development of Colectivo’s beer program and, soon after, the ideation of Company Brewing. When Bregar was planning Company Brewing, he was sure of a few things: he wanted it to be a badass music venue and he wanted it to be a brewpub, including a full bar and robust kitchen.
Ever since opening their doors in 2015, Company has been defined by diversity. The bands that play and the crowds that attend are almost as wide-ranging as the food and beer options on the menu. During any given week, you can find everything from hip-hop to rock to electronic. As a former musician, Bregar established Company as a great place to see live music early on, and has since created a space that is equal parts brewery and music venue.
Beyond the tunes, they are also creating stellar food in their kitchen, recently bringing in a new chef to build out a brand new variety of dishes. With meals ranging from burgers and fried chicken to farro fried rice and scallop carbonara, Company Brewing can be a quick and easy brunch stop, or a more involved dinner destination for groups of all sizes.
At the core of Company Brewing, of course, is their beer. Just like their musical acts and food menu, there is something to be found for everyone. With a wide variety of IPA’s, Company has delicious hoppy beers including the Sir Demands-a-lot IPA, as well as an oaked red ale, a rye porter, and a barrel-aged belgian quad.
Out of all the beers Company cranks out, it’s no surprise that their Space Whistle Mosaic IPA tallies up the most pints per night. Coming in at 6.8% ABV, this crisp, classically brewed hazy IPA is not too bitter, and has great citrus and berry flavors in addition to wonderful floral and tropical aromas. If you haven’t stopped by and sipped the Space Whistle, go treat yourself! While you’re at it, grab a bite and stay for a set at one of the older establishments from Brew City’s craft beer boom.
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