Milwaukee, WI
Crusin’ Rating: C
Booze Rating: C-
We are continuing our Booze Cruise of the Lincoln Warehouse in Milwaukee’s Bayview neighborhood with a brewery that has moved from its previous location in Suite 207 - now occupied by Torzala Brewing Company - into larger digs on the first floor of the warehouse, easily doubling their size and capacity along with adding a nice little outdoor space. That’s right, Component Brewing Company is our first indication that suite 207 of the Lincoln Warehouse might be a lucky spot to start a brewery. Component Brewing occupies the back corner of the first floor of the Lincoln Warehouse, with its entrance on Becher St., a mere thirty steps away from New Barons Brewing Cooperative that sits at the corner of Becher and 1st Street. The entrance is slightly above street level up a short flight of concrete steps and across a front patio of what I guess was possibly a loading dock at some point in the distant past.
Twinkle lights and several tables make up the bulk of the patio decorations and it was just shy of being warm enough to sit outside. Component occupies the largest space we have seen of the six or so shops and imbiberies that we visited in the warehouse, even taking into account production space of the distillery we visited. Concrete floors, chandeliers, local art, and the production space catch your eye when you first walk in. The production space features prominently and is separated by a low wall which acts as a barrier between it and the seating area. The space is rectangular in shape with the entryway and patio on one of the short sides of said rectangle. The back-right corner of the tasting room is dominated by a large wooden bar that seats at least sixteen. Simple and functional with concrete floors and wooden tables, Hannah spotted pull tabs in a machine, a favorite pastime of reviewer The Thirsty Badger.
We snagged a table and grabbed a flight of four beers. There were cans of soda, a water jug, and pre-packaged snacks, but no cocktails or food. After this trip, Hannah and I discussed that a cheap take-out spot that stays open ‘til 11:30 would probably make a killing on the weekends since all of the spots in the warehouse allow carry-in food.
Pull Tabs and Chandeliers (7.5% ABV) - Definitely picked this beer based on the name alone since the pull tabs and chandeliers were both standout decor for Hannah. This American IPA poured straw yellow but cloudy. This beer had plenty of delicate lemon and grassy notes when smelling. A lemony sweetness, along with some other citrus fruit led Hannah to speculate on Amarillo hop use. There was a little bit of heavy almost funky grassiness in the hops at the finish that reminded me of pollen heavy fresh-cut grass on a hot summer day.
All Inclusive (6.5% ABV) - You know Hannah is going to try a sour if she sees one. This beer poured the color of straw in the sunlight and featured high clarity. You can smell that lactose sweetness as soon as you put this beer to your nose along with some coconut and a touch of pineapple. Hannah, unfortunately, ordered this beer without realizing it had coconut, her least favorite fruit. To my rudimentary palate when it comes to sours, I thought this tasted like acidic coconut milk, which may be more accurate than you realize seeing as they used milk sugar, coconut, and lactose. This one was one we both agreed is skippable, but for different reasons.
Native Land (4.6% ABV) - A Mexican Style Lager to curb my nostalgia for summer days, this beer poured brilliantly clear and slightly warm gold. A collaboration with Bow & Arrow Brewery in New Mexico, this beer had plenty of skunk and smelled similar to a warm Corona. I will continue my studies of why so often Mexican Lagers get that reputation - for trivia, usually skunkiness is associated with a “lightstruck” beer wherein beer is exposed to sunlight causing a chemical reaction. No surprise when Carona is kept in a totally clear bottle with not UV protection. If you’ve ever wondered why beer bottles are so often brown, there’s your answer! Back to this skunky fellow; this beer unfortunately tasted about as skunky as it smelled with just a hint of malt and little to no hops to be found. Definitely skip this one.
Swirled Smores (13% ABV) - That's right, this whopper comes in at 13% which I know the Thirsty Bagder approve of. Usually we only get to this ABV with strong Belgian beers, Barleywine, and some barrel-aged offerings but here and there we will come across something like this, an Imperial Double Pastry Stout, pouring oily brown and with notes of sugar and chocolate on the nose, we were hoping for a lot more of the other “Components” of a s'more in a double pastry stout. There was definitely some chocolate when tasting and maybe a little vanilla - not marshmallow, just vanilla - but the aspects of graham cracker and really that pillowy sweetness of a marshmallow were missing. Hannah and I agreed that this beer was actually both overly sweet and too boozy. The alcohol content was fairly noticeable and in stark contrast to the flavors we were hoping.
You know, seeing Component move from a humble space like Suite 207 and then into a space at least double in size may have given us some high expectations. I wasn’t really wowed by the beer here both in our flights or the relaxing pints we tried after our work was done. While I am glad that Component is seeing success, I was not quite sure of how that success came about when analyzing the beer itself. In any case, I’m sure we will be back in the area again and I’m always willing to give a place a second shot. It’s of course one of the stops in the Lincoln Warehouse booze cruise but for now that’s going to be more for convenience in this case, with the beers we tried being “just okay.” Milwaukee is an incredibly competitive beer scene and Component has some competition in the same building. Here’s hoping that competition breeds improvement in the future!
Until next time, keep on Cruisin’, don’t stop boozin’.
To learn more about Component Brewing Company please visit their website at: www.componentbrewing.com or on Facebook: @ComponentBrewing or on Instagram: @ComponentBeer
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