Muskego, Wisconsin-based Eagle Park Brewing has struck a deal to acquire the intellectual property and recipes of Milwaukee Brewing Company (MKE).
The news comes on the heels of Chicago-based Pilot Project’s announcement last week that it will acquire MKE’s brewing facility and restaurant. MKE listed its facility for sale as a turnkey operation in March. The 70,000 sq. ft. location – which includes indoor and outdoor space – boasts an annual capacity of 75,000 barrels, according to the listing.
“When a brand carries the name of its home city, it carries a certain responsibility to the city and its fans, and that’s even more true in a storied beer city like Milwaukee,” Eagle Park co-owner Jake Schinker said in a press release. “We’re proud to take the Milwaukee Brewing legacy forward and ensure the future of the brewery as a point of pride for our city.”
Eagle Park will produce the MKE portfolio at its 50,000 sq. ft. Muskego facility, about 20 miles southwest of Milwaukee. The brewery, which was founded in 2017, expects MKE offerings to add 6,500 barrels of beer to its annual volume, bringing its 2023 output to an estimated 14,000 barrels.
Speaking to Brewbound, co-owner and co-founder Max Borgardt said Eagle Park plans to make “no major tweaks” to MKE’s core lineup, which includes MKE IPA, Louie’s Demise amber ale, Outboard cream ale and O-Gii imperial wit.
“People love those beers – they know them,” he said. “We’re not trying to grab the brand and flip everything and change it. We have some new beers that we’re going to release in the next few years, some new seasonals that we’re really excited about, just to create some new hype and new opportunities for the brand.”
Under new ownership, existing MKE products will only undergo some small cosmetic changes – a little “facelift,” Borgardt said.
“Nothing major, but just to get them to have a little bit more of our feel, and then [we’ll] just keep pushing the brand forward and keep the quality as high as we can,” he added.
MKE was founded in 1997, a full two decades before Eagle Park opened its doors. It began its life as Milwaukee Ale House, a brewpub serving the products of a 15-barrel brewhouse, according to its website. MKE entered its second decade by christening a 50-barrel facility with packaging capabilities.
With the MKE recipes, Eagle Park will add more traditional, classic styles to its portfolio, which leans toward “the more innovative side of craft beer,” Borgardt said. These distinct points of view will allow each brand to thrive independently.
“We’ve been doing some things that no one else in the city has done, style-wise,” he said. “Eagle Park is going to continue to focus on innovation and pushing boundaries and MKE, there’s a few overlaps but not much, and I think that’s why our two brands will work so well together. They can both exist in their own world.”
Eagle Park produced 6,954 barrels of beer in 2021, a +54% increase over 2020, according to the May/June issue of the Brewers Association’s New Brewer magazine. This year, the brewery is on pace to produce 7,500 barrels, Borgardt said. As the MKE addition will nearly double the company’s output, Eagle Park has already begun hiring staff to support the increased volume, particularly for its lab and quality control teams.
“We’re gonna be over 90 employees,” Borgardt said. “That means that we can support people’s families and their livelihoods. That means a lot to us.”
Eagle Park distributes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, Massachusetts and Vermont.
Pilot Project will be extending job offers to existing MKE staff wishing to stay at the Milwaukee facility, according to Pilot Project co-founder Dan Abel.
As beer industry professionals who grew up in the Milwaukee area, Borgardt said the Eagle Park team is “extremely excited” and yet finds it “a bit weird and surreal” that they’re taking the reins to a cherished hometown brand.
“It’s got a place in our heart and on top of it to have the opportunity to have a piece of it – the city’s history is pretty insane, especially for how young our company is,” he said. “We’re five and a half years into this and to be allowed to have an opportunity like that, it’s pretty special.”