MOSINEE, WI (WSAU) — The interior of their building may not be quite ready, they haven’t brewed a drop of beer yet, and there’s no place to sit at the bar but that didn’t stop the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce from cutting the ribbon on the brand new Mosinee Brewing Company on Friday.
The facility located at Fourth and Main in the middle of downtown Mosinee occupies the old Discount Liquor building. Jacquelyn Forbes Kearns has been spearheading that project for three and a half years now with her partner Greg Sperry, who will serve as brewmaster.
Forbes Kearns says the process to get the business up and running has lasted this long because of the condition of the building and her desire to use local products and services wherever possible. “We actually harvested every stick of wood out of this building that we could, out of the floor and ceiling. Had it all wire-brushed, scrubbed down, and refinished. All of this wood that you see came out of this building,” she said, pointing to the ceiling. “It took us longer to do that than it would have to go to Menards and buy new wood, but that’s part of the fun and part of the story of this building. Every one of these pieces of wood has a story.”
Much of the brewing equipment was designed and built by AB Processing of Stratford. She says that means not only are they supporting a local company but if something goes wrong with one of the kettles help is only 20 minutes away. “We could have gone and bought a brew system from one of the many companies that make them, [but we didn’t] and I’m very proud of that.” She adds that they did have to go through some other companies for some features of the brew setup, but AB Processing handled many of the major components.
Additionally, elements of the bar area and bathroom sinks were created with rock brought in from the Wisconsin River and designed and engineered by Wausau Tile. “I think that’s very cool, I love the fact that this is our Wisconsin River rock in this bar, it’s going to be very beautiful and very unusual,” said Forbes Kearns.
In addition to the specialty beer offerings, Forbes Kearns said that Sperry and his brew team are experimenting with different flavors of kombucha for customers that don’t want to drink alcoholic beverages such as designated drivers. Espresso and coffee drinks will also be offered, meaning the one thing that won’t be local is the espresso machine which has to be imported from Italy.
Forbes Kearns says the building will initially open with ten different Wisconsin brews on tap but none of their own. Those won’t start brewing until she can secure their federal license, which she expects will be granted soon. Once they have that, she expects they’ll be able to serve their own brews in 3-4 weeks. Their offerings will run the gamet from fruity to dark and light, with a special bourbon barrel aged recipe planned for the first-anniversary celebration.
In order to encourage patrons to visit other establishments in Mosinee, she says they will not be adding a full menu of food offerings. Some limited gourmet food offerings will be available in the weeks following the grand opening. Customers will be encouraged to get food from other restaurants such as Two’s Company, The Pit Stop, Margaritas, or the new Mexican Restaurant set to open in Mosinee and bring it into the tap room.
Forbes Kearns says she has been getting calls from interested customers from across the state, and some from as far away as Texas. She hopes that the “brewery tourism” business along with her desire to source locally whenever possible will be positive for the Mosinee area. “We really feel like we are a catalyst in helping to develop this area and make it a really fun place.”
“At least people can now pronounce Mosinee and they know where it is thank you, Donald Trump,” she added with a chuckle, referencing the President’s visit on October 24th.
After Friday’s ribbon cutting a private event was held in the facility, and Governor Scott Walker will be there to visit on Sunday following his last debate with Tony Evers. A grand opening date has not been set, but Forbes Kearns expects that will be some time in mid-November.
