Milwaukee's Dead Bird Brewing Co. says it's nearing the accomplishment of a New Year's resolution.
But for owner and brewmaster Nick Kocis, this resolution is more than three years in the making.
Dead Bird, at 1726 Dr. William Finlayson St., posted on its Facebook page Thursday night that it'll soon be distributing its beer in southeastern Wisconsin, as well as developing new beverages under a winery license. That's been Kocis' long-term goal since he opened the taproom in 2019.
The Facebook post also said Dead Bird will shift its focus more to beer than food, though it'll still be serving a vegan menu and a new way for customers to take pizza home.
The story goes back to 2015, Kocis said in an interview Friday, when he had gotten a permit to operate out of the now-closed House of Brews in Madison. Dead Bird was distributing solely out of that location until the opening of the Milwaukee taproom Sept. 20, 2019.
"We had the idea of adding brewing equipment in shortly thereafter," Kocis said.
That "shortly thereafter," though, was the start of the pandemic. Kocis said the challenges of COVID-19 put Dead Bird in a tough spot to continue being a brewery.
"We ordered a larger five-barrel system but, due to COVID infrastructure and production issues, it took us years to get that system installed," he said.
It's a process that was supposed to take eight to 10 months, Kocis said. Couple that with the challenge of obtaining an oddly specific socket to power the electrical operation of the machines and it began to affect the quality of the product.
"We had a bunch of bright, shiny stainless but, during that time, we were still brewing on this tiny pilot system that was barely able to keep beer on the tap lines," Kocis said.
Fast-forward to last October and Kocis said the company finally was able to produce packageable, liquor-store-quality beer.
The taproom will stay open, but Kocis said the shift in focus in 2024 will allow Dead Bird to get beer to retail locations. He said he expects to be on the shelves of stores in Milwaukee and Madison by the end of January.
"We spent four years being a well-loved but under-equipped vegan restaurant," Kocis said, "and now we kind of get to be the brewery that we were supposed to be and the brewery that my investors invested in."
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Milwaukee's Dead Bird Brewing Co. returning its focus to beer - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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