Supermoon Beer Company

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Crusin’ Rating: C

Booze Rating: B+

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This week, we are in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood- near Humboldt Park - checking out what is perhaps (square footage-wise) the smallest brewery we’ve been to.  Supermoon Brewing Company makes its home in an old grocery store building (like early 1900’s old) and opened in 2020.  Started by a homebrewer, Rob Brennan, a Marquette graduate who got his start while in college and found inspiration from touring Lakefront Brewing Company.

Located in a neighborhood that mixes housing and businesses - a mechanic shop on the

corner, then a few houses, then the Bubble Bar, then a few houses.  A Minnesota Leeches bait shop (are they better than the leeches here?!) - some houses, and then Supermoon Brewing Company.  With big shop windows facing the sidewalk and small streatery area and what we thought was a funky little ghost neon out front - or maybe slime, or some kind of squid?  We pieced together that the logo is a spot on the moon that had been extracted and made into an amorphous logo.  

Inside, the space was plenty bright, with a functional bar to the right and friendly beertender behind it.  To the left there were some mishmashed tables - some with chairs, another is a picnic table - then in back there’s some antique type chairs, a booth with a bench, and even a dining room table and chairs that make for an eclectic, hipster feel throughout the space.  There’s space for just nine folks at the bar, and maybe 16 seats throughout the rest of the space inside - with less than 30 seats, this is definitely the smallest we’ve been to!  

It was a cozy space, made all the more cozy by the blustery late winter day outside.  With white walls, a blue bar facade, and granite counter top I was reminded of something out of the seventies - complete with a game of Candyland on the shelf.  That same shelf houses a small-in brewery free library that is the first that I have seen.  I could see how it was a space that could benefit from a small couch to enjoy a beer and book in the late afternoon.  Emo music played on the speakers in the background as I went up to the bar and Hannah snagged a spot right next to the storefront windows.  While flights weren’t available, nor was any food or snacks - you could get bottles from the fridge to go or enjoy there, glasses of beer, or half pours.

Half pours run $4.50 and full pours anywhere from $7-$8.  We opted for 4 half pours since there were so many we wanted to try.  On paper, Supermoon promising wild ferments and blends had us thinking of Black Rose Blending, which is now closed and Hannah misses it fondly. 

I will preface this that these beers are can be a little niche and some of them don’t fit neatly into a beer style category, but we can still tell you what we tasted below!

WEETBIER (4.6% ABV) - This “Hopfenweiss” - a wheat beer with big hop presence combines a traditional weissbier, and some even uses traditional Bavarian yeast strains,  with a lot of hops added - it might even fall under American Wheat Beer.  

This beer was straw yellow in color with medium clarity with a low ring of carbonation after the initial bout of fluffy head dissipated quickly.  With aromas of growing hay, field grass, light barn funk and raw-unprocessed corn - this beer very much smelled like walking onto crop land in early summer. There’s not going to be traditional banana esters in this mishmash style, typically, and there were none here.  Grassy and floral notes prevailed when tasting,  with a bitter grassy finish from hops that vanished quickly, leaving a resiny aftertaste while remaining fairly drinkable.   

No Sudden Moves (6.0% ABV) - Next up is an Oud Bruin Style Blended Sour Brown (quite a mouthful) that was aged 17 months in French Oak and poured amber with medium clarity and high carbonation.

An Oud Bruin is also known as a Flanders Brown Ale that first came about in Belgium.  This is a beer that really took us by surprise.  With a sour aroma that had notes of dark cherries, cherry candy, tootsie roll, chocolate, cherry cordial, and sherry - this was a very complex smelling beer and something we haven’t come across before.  

When sipping there were notes of danish cherry filling and red tootsie pop that was unmistakable when tasting, with a little bit of spice and a low-mid sour that trails off. This beer was a little sweet, some pronounced but not overpowering sour, and just a little bit of understated hops in the finish.  I think that this is going to be a textbook example of the style you should definitely try.

Chalet Chalet (6.5% ABV) - This Belgian Golden Sour Ale  was warm gold with brilliant clarity.  With aromas of golden cherries, flower nectar and citrus peel.  Underripe pears greet your tongue with a little lychee and enough carbonation to almost trick you into thinking you’ve sipped champagne.  This one, to me, blurs lines between a Belgian Golden Strong Ale (minus the  strong) but nice and fruity, but then almost like a lambic with the sourness.  While it didn’t fit neatly into a category, this beer was highly quenching.  

Saison Bay View (5.6% ABV) - Considered their flagship beer and the one always present on the menu, this was, ironically - our least favorite beer of the day.  An aroma of already smoked cannabis, we detected no barn funk, no hay, no fruit, no spice, no fruit - and I think this goes beyond the usual herbal or dankness of hops - heck this was even more cannabis forward than some TCH infused seltzers we’ve tried (in smell alone).

A Mlíko Pour, a pour with just a little beer at the bottom and a huge foamy head - meant to be drank like a shot in order to take in the hoppy aroma before it settles in.  While this wasn’t explained to us outside of the name of the pour, I recognized it immediately and took a swig right away before that wet foam settled down, excited to be greeted with a bouquet of just about anything other than pot.  It has that nice creamy mouth feel, but even the flavor here was of skunky weed.  It was one of the first things we drank too, so I don’t believe it to be lighstruck - but for us, it was definitely a strike out.  I hope you have better luck.

We also did a sample of the TabelBear (4.6% ABV) that was aged in french oak and refermented with tamarind, which was a little tart and had a complex base of a beer, but Hannah really wanted something additional - more hops, fruit, something added in.  

While not made by Supermoon, we did get a chance to sample a bottle by an up-and-coming brewery named Radix Fermentation that was spontaneously fermented and that has Hannah quite hyped to try when they open in August.  Kudos to Supermoon for helping them get their product out there.

In all, Supermoon is in Bay View which is close to a lot of neat spots that we haven’t reviewed yet but are excited to.  I think, of some of the stuff we’ve tried while in Milwaukee, it’s definitely going to be a place that you should stop if you’re looking for a brewery with some non-run-of-the-mill styles and that is churning out some good examples of those styles.  These beers aren’t going to be for everyone, and are even going to be more niche than some of the out-there one’s we’ve reviewed ourselves - but if you’re into those Belgian Beers and that style of sour, then this is your spot.  It’s not a far drive from Madison, Racine, or Kenosha either to try them out along with some other great spots we’ve reviewed in Milwaukee and should easily make it on to your itinerary if you’re coming from Green Bay or even farther.

Until next time, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin’!

To learn more about Supermoon Beer Company: please visit their website at: www.supermoonbeer.com or on Instagram: @SupermoonBeerCo