Milwaukee dons the nickname "Brew City," yet surprisingly doesn't offer brew-your-own facilities, or "BOP" (Brew-On-Premise), popular in towns like Burlington, Vt., Berkeley, Calif. and Cleveland.

Most brew-your-own facilities opened in the mid-'90s when microbeers were at their peak in popularity. The concept is simple: For a fee, you brew and bottle beer in a warehouse-type environment using state-of-the-art brewing equipment with an on-site staff to assist.

The brewer, whether amateur or experienced, picks the recipe -- from pale ale to holiday spice -- or experiments with their own concoctions. After mixing ingredients and waiting out the fermentation process (usually two or three weeks depending on the type of beer), brewers return to the facility to bottle, and in some places, to create personalized labels.

Some facilities also offer wine, cider, root beer and champagne making.

Brew-your-owns are ideal for people who want to try brewing before investing in the equipment, to brew for a specific event like a wedding or party, or for folks who just want to try something different. They are very popular with couples and families who want to spend time together doing something productive and unique.

Not to mention, unlike homebrewing, you don't have to clean up the mess.

So why don't we have these facilities in Milwaukee? Steve Shapson, owner of The Frugal Homebrewer of Cedarburg, has a philosophy.

"It's economics," he says. "A lot of people compare it to the price to buy beer and it seems expensive."

Prices for on-site brewing range, but usually cost somewhere between $60 and $100 to brew 10 gallons (four cases), which is about the same price it costs to invest in low-tech brewing equipment and a beer recipe.

The product is the same, too. Most BOPs use the partial mashing/extract brewing system like a homebrewer would, as opposed to the all-grain brewing process used by large breweries.

"Extract brewing takes less time," says Shapson, who has been homebrewing since 1995 and despite reservations is supportive of BOPs in Brew City.

"Having one of these facilities in Milwaukee would help the homebrewing hobby a lot," he says. "The East Side in particular is ripe for such a thing."