The Tap Yard Returns For Second Season
Trivia nights, food trucks and more on tap for outdoor beer garden at Schlitz Park.
The Tap Yard at Schlitz Park, 1555 N. Rivercenter Dr. Photo taken June, 2022 by Sophie Bolich.
The Tap Yard will return to Milwaukee for a second season, transforming the office complex parking lot at Schlitz Park into a riverside beer garden.
The setup will be similar to last year’s Tap Yard, featuring a shipping container bar with 36 tap lines, 40 picnic tables and an oak barrel fence to separate the 9,500-square-foot beer garden area from the rest of the surface lot.
“We’re super excited to be back for year two,” said Nick Marking, who operates five locations for the Tap Yard throughout the Milwaukee area. “The nice thing is that we’re established and people are seeing that and knowing more about us; we were able to book some fun stuff.”
Set to open May 3, the Tap Yard will operate Wednesday through Sunday through the end of October. This year, Marking has plans to extend the season with an indoor bar and event space at the Rivercenter Building, 1505 N. Rivercenter Dr.
The indoor season would run from mid-November through mid-January, and is likely to include holiday programming, happy hours and other special events. The extended season was created primarily for Rivercenter building tenants, said Marking, though all events are open to the public. Marking expects to open the indoor space Tuesday through Thursday.
As for the outdoor beer garden, there’s already a full lineup of entertainment planned for the coming summer. On Wednesdays, the beer garden will alternate between instructor-led paint nights, beer events and plant-and-sip sessions — featuring a “succulent bar” with succulent plants, containers, moss, rocks, etc. that customers can use to make plant arrangements while sipping their beer. All green thumbs welcome.
Thursdays and Saturdays are trivia nights at the Tap Yard, while Fridays will feature musical bingo. Each Sunday, the beer garden will play host to a lineup of food trucks. Also on Sundays, Marking plans to partner with local organizations to aid in fundraising efforts. From noon to 3 p.m. on ‘giveback Sunday,’ the Tap Yard will donate 20% of its sales to partner organizations.
The beer garden will also take full advantage of its placement beside the Milwaukee River, with plans to collaborate with pedal taverns and boat tours that want to dock for a drink. Specific partnerships will be announced at a later date.
In addition to its Milwaukee location, The Tap Yard runs beer gardens in Brookfield, Waukesha and West Bend. A new addition this year will open at Menominee Park in Menomonee Falls, featuring local concessions from Milwaukee Pretzels, Carrie’s Crispies and more.
Come May, the Schlitz Park Tap Yard will be open Wednesday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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