USA, WI: Broken Bat Brewing moving to a larger facility in Milwaukee

After nearly three years at 231 E. Buffalo St., the baseball-themed Broken Bat Brewing will pack up its pint glasses and memorabilia to move a couple blocks away to a larger facility at 135 E. Pittsburgh Ave., Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on March 13.

The last night is March 21.

Wizard Works Brewing, which is owned by Chris Ragaisis and Jennifer Higgins, is expected to move into the cozy lower-level space. Wizard Works will host a weekly magic show and serve classic-style beers — beer-flavored beers, Ragaisis said.

The switch is less sleight of hand and more a well-planned changing of the guard.

Broken Bat expects to open to the public in its new space on April 3. Wizard Works hopes to open in Broken Bat's old space around the same time.

The new Broken Bat defines the word expansion. Next to the 20-barrel brewhouse is a Wiffle ball field that the owners hope will attract leagues three to four nights a week. The 4,500-square-foot taproom features a live-edge wooden bar top with seating for 140 and capacity for 215. The Buffalo Street spot has occupancy for 49 people.

Tim Pauly and Dan McElwee opened the first Broken Bat on April 7, 2017. The first four beers on tap paid homage to baseball: Double Play IPA, a double IPA; Climb the Wall Farmhouse Ale; Straight Ahead Chedd, an apricot pale ale; and Mint Condition, a porter with a hint of infused mint.

The brewery closed for three months in 2018 after a steam pipe used to heat the brewing system exploded, circulating scalding hot steam throughout the brewery for about three hours before it was turned off.

The baseball theme will live on the blue walls in the new spot. Last year, the brewery put its beer where its theme is and sold Chinooks 19 IPA at Kapco Park where the Lakeshore Chinooks play. This year, Broken Bat is brewing a custom beer for the entire Northwoods League, and will be in every league stadium in the Midwest — 21 stadiums in seven states. Pauly said the brewery had distributor relationships in those seven states.

The brewery is not sending its beer to Wrigley Field in Chicago this year, as it did in 2019.

"This fits our vibe a little more," Pauly said. "We're moving away from big leagues and going back to minor leagues."

Pauly and McElwee have partnered with the nearby Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which plans to exhibit rare bobbles in a half-dozen cases in the taproom. The new Broken Bat will serve food from a food truck inside the brewery space.

The brewery will continue to serve nitro cold coffee on tap, along with craft root beer also served on nitro, Pauly said. The taproom has an event space, but Pauly and McElwee have space to expand for a larger event room upstairs. That will be in the brewery's second phase.

Pauly said he and McElwee sold everything from the seven-barrel Buffalo Street location to Wizard Works to help subsidize the new brewery.

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