Based out of Madison, last November, Dead Bird Brewing opened its first taproom in Milwaukee.
"Things were going well, we were looking forward to a rocking spring and summer. And that kind of changed halfway through March," says Nick Kocis, co-founder of Dead Bird Brewing.
When COVID-19 reached the Badger state, Nick has an idea of what was to come.
"We as a company took it really seriously. My background is in biochemistry and molecular biology so, I believe in a lot of the science that's out there and the statistics and numbers," says Nick.
As the safer at home order took effect, Dead Bird Brewing shut down all operations for two months. Now, they are back with online ordering offering vegan food and beer options for customers.
- The List: These Restaurants Are Offering Carryout, Delivery
- Are You Open? Submit Your Business!
- The Rebound Milwaukee: Resources For Getting Back To Normal
"We've revamped our entire menu. We do still have some of the favorites on there but it was more of a shift toward things that were more to go friendly. We've also rethought the beer aspect of things. We've never had to go beer that wasn't in a can before. Cans became incredibly hard to find so we switch to glass growlers," says Nick.
With meals and drinks heading out the door, the taproom remains empty.
"We'll see how it goes, we have 22 arcade games that are right next to each other. We were talking this morning about maybe we space them out, maybe we get rid of some of them. So our interior is still very much up in the air," says Nick.
But for now, Nick is just happy to see that Milwaukee missed Dead Bird Brewing.
"One of the nice things with the online ordering is there is a note box for people to leave little messages. So we've got a lot of 'we missed you guys' and 'we're glad your back' kind of thing. We have a lot of regulars to the point when they call us to tell us they are here to pick up their order I recognize their voice. So it's been really nice to reconnect with those people who are our bread and butter," says Nick.