Wiseacre Brewing Co. opened its new production facility and taproom at 398 South B.B. King Boulevard in Downtown Memphis. The 40,000-square-foot facility, dubbed Wiseacre2, will be able to produce 100,000 barrels of beer per year, nearly quintupling the brewery’s previous capacity and paving the way for both the development of new beers and new packaging options as well as expansion into new markets.
“Of course, we would have never chosen to open our new brewery during a global pandemic – the initial hit to our draft sales and taproom sales was brutal and obviously couldn’t have been anticipated when we started planning this two years ago. But our new facility did give us increased canning capacity and that was a major reason that we were able to keep all members of our brewery production staff employed. In that way, we got incredibly lucky,” Kellan Bartosch, Wiseacre co-founder, said. “Through our retail partners, we’re seeing that customers want larger quantities –16-ounce cans and 12-packs – of reliable favorites like our Ananda IPA and our Tiny Bomb Pilsner, as well as variety packs. We’ve been able to meet that demand thanks to our new brewery.”
WISEACRE2 also features a 120-seat taproom that will soon be home to Little Bettie, a snack bar and pizza stand from Chefs Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman, co-owners of Enjoy AM restaurant group, six-time James Beard Award nominees, and born-and-raised Memphians.
In addition to the taproom and Little Bettie snack bar, Wiseacre2’s facility features world-class brewing technology that preserves the freshness of the beer longer, ensuring that customers will get fresh-from-the-tap flavor whether they are 5 or 500 miles from Downtown Memphis.
New equipment includes a 4-roller malt mill, which keeps the malt husk intact while finely grinding the malt’s endosperm and results in a cleaner, more precise flavor. The new brewhouse is from the German manufacturer BrauKon and includes four vessels incorporating a mash tun, lauter tun, kettle, and whirlpool. The canning of beer will be done on a 24 valve Krones machine that will fill cans at speeds up to 250 cans per minute.
“We made the decision to invest in brewing and canning technology that is far beyond what most breweries our size have. We really wanted to make sure we can continue to deliver incredible quality in our beer,” said Davin Bartosch, Wiseacre co-founder and brewmaster. “It’s already paid off: our fans all the way in Atlanta, Chicago and Philly are getting to enjoy the same taste that our folks here in Memphis are.”
Since its founding seven years ago, WISEACRE has steadily grown both its production and its distribution; today WISEACRE beer is available in nine states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and, of course, Tennessee).
“We know that locals are always going to be our biggest fans, but we’re hoping the new taproom becomes a destination for beer lovers from all over. Beer tourism is a real thing – according to the Brewers Association, more than 10 million people toured craft breweries and more than half of those visitors were from outside the destination,” said Kellan. “We want those folks who’ve tried our beer in Tampa and New Orleans and Philadelphia to come to our taproom, and while they’re here, visit the Civil Rights Museum, eat some amazing food, see a Grizzlies game, and spend their vacation dollars in Memphis. A rising tide lifts all boats – more people coming to check out our new brewery means more people will discover how many other rad spots Downtown Memphis and South Main have to offer.”
WISEACRE continues to operate its original brewery and taproom at 2783 N. Broad Street; opened in 2013, the location will now go by WISEACRE-OG.