Cedarburg’s The Fermentorium brewery opened its much-anticipated East Tosa barrel house, 6933 W. North Ave., Thursday night after a week of soft opening previews.
Though there’s still some decorating to be done in the 3,000-square foot space, the taproom looks quite nice, with a 50-foot bar along the left side, table seating up front and coolers with cans to go (the taproom also sells growlers) on the right.
In the back is a space for barrel racks because, as the Barrel House name suggests, The Fermentorium will use the space for aging its mixed-fermentation sour brews. At the moment there are only two barrels, but more are due to arrive soon.
No beer production is planned for the space, though a hefty chunk of space currently sits empty, awaiting a brite tank and large foeder barrels for the sour program.
"I've had my eyes open for for locations where I could start a sour beer program," owner Kristopher Volkman told OnMilwaukee. Because of potential contamination from wild yeasts and bacteria, sour programs are typically separated from other brewing facilities. "I'm really excited to be part of the neighborhood."
The Fermentorium opened in 2016 at 7481 Hwy. 60 in Cedarburg, and has made its name with hazy IPAs and other popular craft styles, and 24 taps at the barrel house – though only 19 were active so far – will offer a wide range of those brews.
On the official opening night, the brewery launched a new batch of its This Too Shall Pass New England-style IPA, this one brewed with Denali and Mandarina Bavaria hops.
The Barrel House is open 3-11 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Monday.
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 can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
