Dead Bird Brewing Aims to Expand Distribution

Site of Dead Bird Brewing, 1726 Dr. William Finlayson Dr. Photo taken September 18th, 2019 by Jeramey Jannene.

As Dead Bird Brewing enters its ninth year in business, the company is looking to the future while staying true to its roots. In fact, its 2024 new year’s resolution involves revisiting some of its earliest goals.

Following the installation of its new, five-barrel brewhouse — a setup that’s been years in the making — Dead Bird plans to increase its production, brew a wider variety of beers and grow its retail presence throughout the area.

“We’re finally able to be the brewery that we set out to be back in 2019,” said Nick Kocis, owner and brewmaster at Dead Bird.

Dead Bird got its start in Madison back in 2015, contracting through another, larger brewery to produce a handful of beers for local distribution. By 2018, Dead Bird’s beers were available at approximately 80 retail locations throughout the Madison and Milwaukee areas.

When the larger brewery shuttered in 2018, Dead Bird relocated to a brick-and-mortar space at 1726 Dr. William Finlayson St., in Milwaukee, where it remains today.

Initially, Dead Bird utilized a one-barrel pilot system for its brewing operations. And though it was functional, the system’s small size limited both the variety and amount of beer that Dead Bird produced.

“We always obviously strive to make really good product,” Kocis said. “But in order to do that, we were really limited to the kinds of things we could make.”

That meant temperature-sensitive beers such as lagers and hazy IPAs were out of the question. The system’s smaller yield also required Dead Bird to brew multiple batches of the same beer, driving up labor costs and making wholesale unfeasible.

After surviving the worst of the pandemic, Kocis purchased a five-barrel brewhouse in March 2021. But the timeline for implementation was longer than he expected. The new system produced its first batch of beer in October 2023.

And though it took a while to get up and running, the impact will be immediate. The new system increases production five-fold, according to Kocis, and will allow Dead Bird to create a larger variety of high-quality beers.

In the coming year, Kocis plans to increase the brewery’s reach throughout Milwaukee and Dane counties. He said it’s too early to share specific outlets, but the beers will likely be available at local bottle shops, liquor stores and a handful of restaurants, as well as on draft at select locations.

While some features of the brewery are expanding, others will take a back seat. Namely, the brewery’s vegan food offerings. Dead Bird introduced a small menu in 2020 to bolster its sales amid the pandemic. But the plant-based small plates — all produced out of a 140-square-foot kitchen space — soon garnered a fanbase of their own.

Going forward, the brewery will continue to offer a pared-down menu of popular items including sexy chips (potato chips tossed in truffle oil, parmesan, parsley and red pepper flakes), soft pretzels, freshly baked cookies and warm marinated olives, as well as several varieties of pizza, which can be enjoyed hot on the premises or purchased frozen for carryout.

Aside from that, taproom guests will notice very few changes, Kocis said.

“The whole thing has mostly been being able to get our beer out of our location. And that’s something that will have a large impact on the company, but not really that big of an impact for the folks coming in. So the taproom experience will be really, really similar.”

Kocis also hinted at another project that will go hand in hand with the brewery’s expansion. But details are limited — at least for now.

“We’re hoping to have another location for people to go and drink,” he said. “Probably in the form of a beer garden outside of Milwaukee.”

More information will be announced after the project is finalized.

Dead Bird Brewing’s taproom is open Thursday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

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