Milwaukee brewer buys Grafton’s Sahale Ale Works

Milwaukee brewer Gathering Place Brewing Co. bought Sahale Ale Works in Grafton last week as part of its plan to expand its presence in central Ozaukee County.

Gathering Place owner Joe Yeado said he doesn’t plan to change Sahale’s signature beers or alter its name or branding.

Instead, he said, Sahale’s hazy IPAs, sour and fruit beers will add to Gathering Place’s existing line up of lagers.

“They were strong where we were weak,” he said.

He will shift production of Sahale’s most successful beers to his brewery in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, which has 23 fermentation barrels for wide-scale production.

Sahale’s three fermentation barrels will be used for brewing experimental, small-run releases, Yeado said.

Yeado hopes Sahale’s reputation and popular taproom will help boost sales for Gathering Place beers at local retailers, as well as serve as a spring board to its distribution to area bars and restaurants.

The direct engagement with customers that happens at taprooms is unmatched, Yeado said.

“In a tap room, you can talk to your customers right across from you,” he said.

Yeado had been looking to open a taproom in the suburbs of Milwaukee to increase brand awareness in areas with less brewing competition when he heard Sahale owner and founder Matt Hoffman was trying to sell his 2,700-square-foot Grafton brewery and taproom this summer.

Hoffman will serve as a consultant with Gathering Place to advise it on brewing Sahale’s style of beers, and all of the brewery’s employees are joining Gathering Place, Yeado said.

Gathering Place operates a taproom in Wauwatosa that Yeado purchased in 2022. He hopes the Grafton location will boost retail sales in the area and help the company break into the white whale of craft brewing — bar and restaurant taps.

“There are tons of breweries trying to fight for those taps,” he said.

With the backing of the production capacity of the Riverwest location, Gathering Place will bring Sahale products to a wider audience.

“They were going through so much beer in the tap room, they didn’t have enough to distribute,” Yeado said. “We can get some efficiencies on the production side. But we will still be brewing at Grafton.”

The acquisition will help hedge Gathering Place’s position in an unsteady industry, he said.

“We are still a small company and industry forecasts are rocky,” Yeado said. “Adding the Grafton location will add diversity to our market share and offerings.”

Craft breweries in the area only truly rebounded from the pandemic in 2023, Yeado said. Gathering Place was able to weather the pandemic by shifting to retail sales of canned beer.

“The pandemic was not in my business plan. We managed to navigate our way through,” he said. “Looking at our sales and talking to other bar and restaurant owners, Covid really took a toll.

“People got used to drinking at home. They are going out less.”

Yeado said craft breweries have been able to draw customers back to bar stools by keeping a diverse and rotating offering of beers.

“There are things on tap that will never make it to distribution,” he said. “That’s one of the ways that we create value and give people a reason to visit.”

But the industry still faces challenges.  Domestic beer sales have shrunk due to competition from imported beers and malt seltzers, while overall alcohol consumption among young people has declined.

Last year was the first since 2005 that more craft breweries closed than opened, according to the Brewers Association. Four Milwaukee breweries have closed in the last eight months, according to press reports.

At the same time, the industry is consolidating, Yeado said.

He said the current state of the craft beer industry reminds him of the consolidation of the beer industry during the last century.

Craft brewing has its roots in the legalization of home brewing in the 1970s. Home brewers then began breweries and over the years the industry has matured.

“The craft breweries wouldn’t have come about if we didn’t start as home brewers,” he said. “Things kind of repeat themselves. The big guys bought each other up and now craft breweries are buying each other.”

However, Yeado said, the focus is on staying local. He said he has spent time over the last few weeks talking with regulars at Sahale and learning the reasons the brewery is well loved.

Yeado said he plans to keep Sahale involved in the community and host events like Hoffman did. Each month, Gathering Place partners with a charity to receive a portion of its revenue.

Yeado said he has already started talking to charities in the area.

From home brewing to opening his own brewery to now owning three, Yeado said, his role at Gathering Place has changed. But, at its core, it’s just the same.

“The thing I always enjoyed about home brewing was sharing it with people, and that’s still the main part of my job,” he said.