St. Francis Brewery, which announced earlier this month that it will reopen, has hired Tyler Killips as its head brewer.
Killips, who trained at the World Brewing Academy, worked at 1840 Brewing Company and District 14 Brewery before becoming head brewer at Enlightened Brewing, which closed on Jan. 5 – all three located in Bay View.
According to a social media post, "Tyler’s brewing journey started with a love for beer that quickly turned into an obsession during his time managing at Potawatomi. Since then, he’s built a career focused on creating beers that are approachable, technically sound, and full of creativity. For Tyler, the best part of brewing is watching people connect and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
"Tyler is especially excited about the creativity and opportunities at St. Francis Brewery, where he’ll help build a beer program that pairs perfectly with the full kitchen. With his humor, empathy, and dedication to his craft, he’s ready to bring amazing beer to our guests and create something special here at St. Francis."
Shallece Saleen and Dheren Stewart plan to reopen the 7,200-square-foot St. Francis Brewery, 3825 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., which closed in 2019, after 10 years in business, in early spring.
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.
