City Lights Brewing Co., one of the most highly anticipated new craft breweries in Milwaukee, will be opening Feb. 1, president Robin Gohsman said.
The brewery will open in an iconic 115-year-old building in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley that was once used by Milwaukee Gas Light Co. to convert coal to gas and illuminate Milwaukee's city lights — hence the name.
City Lights aims to be among the city's largest craft brewers, with room to build its brewing capacity to 50,000 barrels a year, similar to the size of Lakefront Brewery, said brewmaster Jimmy Gohsman.
City Lights hired former MillerCoors and Stella Artois brewer and executive David Ryder to be its chief innovation officer.
The new investor-backed company that evolved out of family-owned 4 Brothers Blended Beer Co. will feature a taproom and Menomonee River-adjacent beer garden, with long-term goals to open each floor of the five-story tower and build an additional taproom on the top floor.
City Lights also is installing a canning line and plans to sell its beer in cans in the seven-county Milwaukee area, and at nearby Miller Park, where they are hoping to be distributed starting next season, said Jimmy Gohsman.
The brewery will offer four beers to start out — an amber ale, brown ale, IPA and session IPA.
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