The Fermentorium Brewery plans to open a location in Wauwatosa by early June, in the former Bartz’s party store building on North Avenue.
The craft brewery, since it opened in early 2016, has been brewing and serving a selection of over 20 beers from its Cedarburg facility and tasting room, located at Five Corners on Highway 60. It also distributes its products to restaurants and bars throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
The new 3,000-square-foot space, located at 6933 W. North Ave., will house a taproom, similar to Cedarburg’s, and a barrel house to age and store the brewery’s line of fermented sour beer– beer that is brewed using bacteria rather than yeast before it ages in wooden barrels or fermentation vessels for one to three years.
“It can vary drastically in taste,” Fermentorium owner Kristopher Volkman said. “It can have a subtle sourness with a lot of oak character or it can be almost puckeringly sour, depending on the process.”
The beer will be brewed at The Fermentorium’s Cedarburg location and will be transported to the Wauwatosa facility for aging. Volkman said it won’t be available at the brewery’s two locations until next year.
Volkman said expanding the brewery and producing sour beer has been part of his plan from the start. And the Wauwatosa location is the perfect fit for those plans.
“The environment will be similar to Cedarburg, but it will have its own personality and feel to it,” he said. ” We’re looking forward to moving into the Wauwatosa area. I’m excited by the business environment there and the opportunities for collaboration.”
The space, which is one of four units in the building, has been gutted, Volkman said, and will be completely renovated before the brewery moves in.
