Milwaukee brewery drinks in the season with Christmas tree-infused IPA
Destiny Devooght
MILWAUKEE (CN) — Milwaukee's “Cheer District” is a wintry scene fit for Hallmark. Pristine white snow blankets the courtyard, illuminated by soft string lights and scattered with a maze of 30 decorated trees, all nestled in the shadow of a towering spruce. And since it's Brew City, there is a signature beer to distill the experience.
When Black Husky Brewing owners Tim and Toni Eichinger approached the Milwaukee Department of Forestry about harvesting boughs from the city Christmas tree to create a double IPA infused with spruce needles, it was an obvious choice — where else could you get a beer made from a larger-than-life Christmas tree?
Brewing has been the city’s single largest industry since the 19th century and is home to Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, Miller and Gettelman, among other greats.
Five years later, Sproose is one of Black Husky’s most popular selections at the taproom in Riverwest. The double IPA boasts 8.6% alcohol by volume, which beertenders will tell you goes straight to the head. It’s piney, of course, but it also has a dry, sweet quality reminiscent of tree sap in the summertime.
Janet Saenz, a local who loves the brew, said: “I don’t know that I’ve ever had anything else here; it’s just delicious.”
In the Christmas off season, Tim Eichinger harvests boughs for the beer from spruce trees near his cabin about three hours north of the city, where Black Husky got its start.
“I had this job that I hated, and Toni said it made me act so angry, so when she told me to quit, I did. I built a couple of cabins, and we moved up north — and I mean I really built them. I cut down the trees, I stripped the bark, I made them,” he said.
They moved there in 1999 with their son and 23 sled dogs, turning a second cabin into a brewhouse. At just 16-by-20 feet, it offered less than a fourth of their current space and saw home brewing methods mixed with equipment from a dairy junkyard.
“It was sketchy, for sure. You need good equipment to make good beer, but what you really need is a good brewer, and I’m a great brewer. I’ve just got a knack for it," Tim Eichinger said.
They returned to Milwaukee in 2016 to open a brick-and-mortar location that looks and feels like a cozy cabin, complete with plaid, fires on the patio and dogs roaming the room.
During a tour of the brewery, he said he loves the job as much as the day he started. Working together is the cherry on top.
“Toni likes to say we are business partners who happen to be married. She’s feisty … in a good way," he said, pausing to laugh.
The two spend most of their time brewing, packaging and delivering kegs, Toni Eichinger said.
Community
But it's not just business for them. The couple works to give back to their city, organizing the annual Locust Street Festival and beautifying and managing an abandoned lot-turned-public park across the street from the taproom.
“This is not our place — it belongs to the community,” Tim Eichinger said. “If there’s a spill, a regular reaches behind the counter to grab a rag. When I forget to turn on the open sign, someone flicks it on when they come in. That’s the real reward that you don’t anticipate when you start a business.”
The Eichingers also donate proceeds from Sproose sales to the Milwaukee Urban Forestry Fund to expand the green spaces in their city.
Erin Stoekl, who helped breathe life into the fund under the umbrella of the Department of Forestry, said a combined giving program that lets city workers earmark part of their paycheck for a nonprofit, along with community partners, keep the project alive.
“I wouldn’t be shy to say it’s critical. The whole program is driven by the community, and it’s a lot easier when you have community hubs like Black Husky coming to support the urban forest," Stoekl said.
The department manages 190,000 “street trees” year round. The fund pays to move trees onto private property at no cost to the owners. Stoekl said they prioritize neighborhoods with a low percentage of tree canopy, high social vulnerability, high heat vulnerability, high levels of pollution and problems with flooding.
“We’re talking about equity here,” Stoekl said. “There are areas that need more healthy trees the most, where there maybe isn’t a lot of public space for us to plant on, so we turn to private property as the new frontier to bridge the gap.”
The most famous tree in the department's charge, though, stands sentinel over the Cheer District, about 2 miles from the taproom.
In December, the district is flooded with kids carrying letters for Santa. The area hosts a holiday makers market, a New Year's Eve fireworks display and other festive events. For the rest of the year, the 30 acres surrounding the Fiserv Forum — home of the Bucks — is known as the Deer District. Full of bars, breweries and big screen TVs, it’s a sports-lovers' playground.
City officials are proud of their 111-year-old official Christmas tree celebration, the nation's second oldest continuous display after New York City's.
This year, Milwaukee's 64-foot Colorado blue spruce got a police escort from its original home on the city’s west side. Mayor Cavalier Johnson lit the tree, which was decorated by local designer David Caruso with over 5,000 lights and 900 vintage-inspired ornaments.
Back at the taproom, regular Sam Engel said the inspiration behind the Eichingers' malty holiday brew helps make it a favorite.
“The story behind the tree is what makes it special,” Engel said, sipping a 7-ounce pour at the counter. “I remember one year the Christmas tree was donated by newlyweds, another year by someone nearing the end of their life. It's important. I get one almost every time I come in.”
Tim Eichinger wants people to keep coming for all the beers. With other breweries facing closures and layoffs, he hopes to avoid the same fate.
“We are good right now, and I’m confident in the business’ longevity for the first time — but I have nights when I have one guy at the bar for hours. So, if you like it, you better come get it,” he said.