Dream of owning business leads brewer to Grafton

Brewmaster at St. Francis Brewery plans June opening of Sahale Ale Works in 1505 Apartments building
By 
JOE POIRIER
Ozaukee Press staff

Brewer Matthew Hofmann said he always wanted to have his own establishment. Next week, renovations are scheduled to begin on his new microbrewery and taproom in Grafton.  

“I think everybody who’s in the craft beer industry wants to start their own brewery at some point,” Hofmann said. “I have always had this dream and have been slowly working toward it over the past seven years.”

Sahale Ale Works is expected to open in early June on the first floor of the 1505 Apartments at the former Grafton Lumberyard site along Wisconsin Avenue.

Hofmann has been a brewer for 10 years, beginning as an intern for Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, which eventually led him to become the head brewer for 3 Sheeps Brewing Co. in Sheboygan for several years. He is currently the brewmaster for St. Francis Brewery.

Hofmann started brewing while he was studying kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was pondering going to graduate school to become a dietician.

“Like a lot of people, I started home brewing when I was in college. I also like cooking, so it was a natural merger of the two,” he said.

At first, the 37-year-old Mequon resident considered opening a brewery in Milwaukee, but felt the city’s microbrewery market was saturated. He eventually decided on Grafton because he frequents the area.

“I love Grafton. I come up here to eat at Atlas BBQ and hang out along the river with my family,” he said.

Hofmann added he noticed a need in Grafton for a local microbrewery because there aren’t many in the area.   

All the beer at Sahale Ale Works will be made in-house and served from eight taps. Half the beers served will be a mix of seasonal and experimental beers, and the remainder will be year-round beers. Depending on sales, Hofmann said, he may expand to 14 taps.

“The name of the game is to sell beer,” he said. “Whether I’m making an IPA, German lager or a barrel-aged beer, from my end there’s a lot of similarity and there’s not a lot of variation in the process.”

Based on the style, ingredients and other factors, a batch of beer can be brewed within a week. His favorite types of beer are German lagers, wood-aged beers and experimental beers.

Hoffmann also plans to serve sandwiches and tasting flights paired with artisan chocolates, cheeses and sausages.

“We won’t have a full kitchen, so we’ll have to be creative with what we do,” he said.

While he doesn’t want the taproom to become a sports bar, Hofmann said he wants to open at 8 a.m. on Saturdays for Premier League soccer games and cater to Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers’ fans.

Hoffman hopes to make a name for himself in Grafton by hosting community events. He also said he coordinated the taproom’s opening Sahale Ale Works to occur right before the Giro d’ Grafton bike races to draw more attention to his business.

“Those types of things are pretty important in Grafton, and I want to be part of that,” he said.

With more than 200 people living in the apartments at the 1505 complex, he expects residents will patronize his business.

“My wife said if we lived above a taproom and microbrewery, we would be there every night,” Hofmann said.

Sahale Ale Works will fill the last commercial space in the apartment complex. The taproom will have 2,745 square feet inside space and a 1,400-square-foot outdoor patio.

Sahale Ale Works is named after a mountain Hofmann climbed in North Cascades National Park in Washington.

“The trick I tell people is that the name rhymes with koala,” he said. 

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Ozaukee Press

Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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