In Milwaukee Record’s “Meet A Brewer” series, we aim to introduce you to some of the professionals behind the scenes who are responsible for making your favorite local beers. The recurring series continues with Lion’s Tail Brewing Co. owner and brewer Alex Wenzel.
Milwaukee Record: What’s your brewing background? What’s your path to where you are in your career today?
Alex Wenzel: Around 15 years ago while working as a chemical engineer, I found myself surrounded by co-workers and clients that were getting into homebrewing. After a while of finding myself eavesdropping on their conversations around the water cooler, I finally looked into it and was lucky enough to receive a basic homebrewing kit from my parents-in-law for Christmas. A quickly-growing obsession gradually took over my basement and too much of my free time—all the while friends and coworkers were suggesting that “you could sell this beer.”
The combination of an increasingly frustrating corporate career and an increasing love for trying our new taprooms as we traveled around the Midwest helped make the decision, as my wife Kristin and I began to dream up our own concept of a small brewery and taproom. My training in brewing was with several local brewers—on-the-job—whenever they’d let me help, but mostly just reading as many books and research papers that I could get my hands on. And of course, there was lot of homebrewing and experimenting. I did complete the brewing course at Siebel Institute in Chicago, which helped with some of the production and process knowledge, as well as considerations for large-scale brewing.
MR: What’s your favorite style of beer to brew? And what’s your favorite to drink if you had to narrow it down to one or two?
AW: My favorite style of beer to brew is usually the latest and newest styles of beer because of the excitement of discovery. For example, in 2016 after trying some fantastic New England IPA’s from a handful of East Coast breweries that had been making and developing this new style for a year or two, I set out to brew Wisconsin’s first NEIPA. After 10 or 15 pilot batches, we ended up with Juice Cloud, which remains our best-seller today 8-plus years later. We followed up with Wisconsin’s first versions of many other of the trendy styles. My favorite beers to drink are definitely the Old World lagers. Some of the top candidates are Bavarian and Bohemian pilsners, Oktoberfest lagers, and dunkel. If you ever see me in your local beer section, you’ll see me browsing the European imports. It’s amazing what decades and sometimes centuries can do to a recipe and process for these amazing beers.
MR: What are some of your favorite local breweries, and why?
AW: I’d have to include the few in Milwaukee that we’ve partnered with on collaboration beers multiple times like Eagle Park—I think nine or 10 collabs now—and Third Space, and also Youngblood in Madison. It’s great to trade ideas and always learn something new, but there’s so many good people making good, interesting beer in this area that it would be impossible to list all of my favorites.
MR: Any go-to macros?
AW: I grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs and my dad worked for Schlitz in Milwaukee until they moved to Detroit with Stroh’s. Having Schlitz merch all over the house probably made it a nostalgic favorite when I got older. And I do enjoy having a tallboy every now and then, especially since they changed back to the “original” recipe.
MR: If you were on a deserted island, what beers would you want to bring with you?
AW: Bell’s Two Hearted and Ayinger’s Oktoberfest. Two Hearted is just so perfectly balanced and full of flavor. There’s lots of reasons it is always voted America’s favorite craft beer. Ayinger’s lagers are some of my favorite imports, and I’m so fond of their Oktoberfest that I took inspiration for Lion’s Tail Oktoberfest from it in a way.
MR: Do you have any brewing- or beer-related pet peeves or misconceptions about the industry that you’d like to use this platform to clear up?
AW: A huge pet peeve of mine is a dirty beer glass or an unrinsed glass that makes your beer taste like chlorine or sanitizer. Or a boring, thick shaker pint glass. These pet peeves have driven us at Lion’s Tail to do as much as we can to serve customers a beer in the most flattering way possible. We have eight or nine different Lion’s Tail beer glass styles that best fit each of the different beers. We also use glass rinsers, adjustable tap faucets and Lukr side-pull faucets, glassware-only dishwashers, and of course, a professionally-cleaned draft system every two weeks per industry best practices. I try not to be a beer snob about anything, but about this topic, I don’t mind if you judge me that way as you’re reading this.
MR: Outside of brewing, what are some of your hobbies?
AW: I love football, following and supporting the activities of my two teenagers, and reading and learning about business and technology. Someday my favorite hobby will be traveling with my wife Kristin.
MR: Do you have any favorite TV shows, either stuff you’re enjoying right now or comfort shows you can watch over and over?
AW: Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Breaking Bad—the greatest story ever told.
MR: Who are some of your favorite bands or musical artists?
AW: I’ve been to more Dave Matthews Band concerts than I’d like to admit. Avett Brothers are also a favorite, and I recently discovered a Canadian rock band called The Sheepdogs.
MR: What’s your favorite thing about Milwaukee?
AW: I grew up in the suburbs on the north side and always loved being so close to great sports, entertainment, and food and drink. But the “coast” of Lake Michigan is a really cool place to be and the Milwaukee area seems to really take advantage of that.
MR: If you weren’t a brewer, what do you think you’d be doing for a living?
AW: Good question. That’s tough to say, but probably working with a small business of some kind in manufacturing or maybe a bartender at a craft beer bar.
MR: Do you have a favorite color?
AW: Navy Blue
MR: What’s your favorite holiday, and why do you like it so much?
AW: For July Fourth, I love putting together an amateur backyard fireworks show for friends and neighbors while trying to not blow any fingers off. I enjoy pairing some BBQ from the smoker with our Boundary Waters Canadian Lager, or maybe our German-style Helles or Pilsner.
MR: Do you have any short-term goals, long-term aspirations, or dreams in the realm of brewing?
AW: Twenty-twenty-three and 2024 have been extremely tough on the craft beer industry in Wisconsin, and it’s looking like that may continue for a bit into 2025. Somehow, we’ve been able to continue brewing more beer than the year before for our ninth straight year. So my goal is to continue finding ways to reach more customers with our beer and continue being a place where our 40 part- and full-time employees can share their passion for beer.
