Raised Grain Brewing Co. opened at 2244 W. Blue Mound Rd. in Waukesha in September 2015 and, back then, its seven-barrel pilot system was sufficient to supply the brewery's tap room.
But times changed quickly, especially last summer when Raised Grain was also running beer gardens in the Waukesha County Parks. Those events proved so successful – co-owner Nick Reistad still marvels at the lines as he shows me a photo of one on his phone – that the brewery has been tapped to do even more of them this summer.
Plus, Raised Grain is also putting beer into cans.
With that seven-barrel system, the brewery produced about 900 barrels of beer last year, but that simply wasn't going to cut it anymore.
So, the partners opened a new brewery at 1725 Dolphin Dr., also in Waukesha, and moved all production there late in December.
At the moment, the original brewery is idle, though Reistad says it will be used for test brews and, most likely, to make some sours, too.
The new brewery is built around a 30-barrel system and a series of fermenting tanks that has allowed Raised Grain to brew about 650 barrels of beer already, putting it on pace to do nearly 3,000 barrels in its first year.
And they'll need them all at the taproom, to satiate the new canning line, at the beer gardens, for its existing accounts and for the taproom planned for the new brewery once permitting and build-out are complete.
Here are some photos of the new brewery taken on a recent visit...
The brewhouse
Empties awaiting beer
The canning line
Barrels for aging
In the grain room
The beer garden trailer
The future taproom
Raised Grain offers tours, the details of which can be found here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
