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 Torzala Brewing co-founder/brewmaster Jeff Torzala.
Milwaukee Record: What was your path to owning your own brewery and making a living in this industry?
Jeff Torzala: My dad was a carpenter and he worked at Miller for over 30 years. So I was always kind of around the industry of brewing, but for my own professional career, I ended up getting into the semi-conductor industry—phones, chips inside of your computer, and that sort of stuff. I did maintenance, installation, and repair. Long story short, I wound up living all over the U.S. with that career. I ended up living in Portland, Oregon for a while back in the mid-’90s, which is when I really caught the bug for craft brewing.
Around 2000 is when I started brewing myself. I learned and took classes when I could throughout my career. And I ended up living overseas in Belgium, so I wound up bugging some of those brewers as well. So that was neat to have that path where I learned, studied, and talked to brewers over 20-plus years. So I moved back to Milwaukee to take care of my dad when he got sick—and I ended up being his caregiver until he passed—and I was happy being back home in Milwaukee.
I ended up being part of the Barley To Barrel program. I was in the fourth iteration of that. You learn all there is to opening a brewery—the business side, lawyers, branding. And you get to meet a lot of other brewery owners locally in Milwaukee. Through that program, there was a lot of networking within the industry. So coming out of Covid, I took a step back in my career and was teaching our kids 4-K. Through our little alumni group on Facebook from the Barley To Barrel program, Component put out a message that they were moving downstairs. They asked if anybody would be interested in the space before they threw it out to the public. My wife-slash-business partner and I talked about it and thought maybe this would be an opportunity to start a smaller place versus a multi-million dollar investment. We could try out the beer here and make sure we resonated with the community and all that good stuff. I reached out to them and made it work out and here we are.
My wife Trish also has a passion for craft beer, so we were able to make this happen. Then our brother-in-law Jake—the husband of Trish’s sister Renee—also took a step back during Covid to help take care of the kids while his wife was working as a nurse. When we took over the space, I asked Jake to help with the build out one weekend and he’s been here ever since. So he’s one of the owners, Renee is one of the owners, and we all have different roles within the company. Then the last ownership person is my friend Brian, who I’ve known since I was like five years old. He does all of our creative. He’s an amazing graphic guy who helps to push the brand. So that’s us in a nutshell.
MR: What are some of you favorite beer styles? Between living on the west coast and your years in Belgium, you’ve encountered a wide range of beers through the years. What do you find yourself gravitating towards most often?
JT: There are a couple things that come into play for me. I’ve always liked traditional stuff—sticking with [prevalent styles] in different areas and regions of the world. I love learning how styles originated. Favorites also come down to where I am and the season. If I had to say all year long, I’d say that I’m a pale ale person.
MR: We’ll make it back to brewing, but what are some of your favorite local businesses or local hangouts?
JT: It’s a little tough for us right now because Tricia and I have eight-year-old twin daughters, so it’s not always easy to get out and explore things. But we’re big fans of La Finca. Their food is amazing and the coffee is great. We like going to Barnacle Bud’s when we can and Don’s TV Repair. Those places are a lot of fun. For pizza, we really like Transfer and we’re big fans of Classic Slice. Hungry Sumo, too.
MR: Do you have any favorite TV shows? I know free time is limited, but do you have any comfort shows or anything that’s appointment viewing?
JT: I love watching the current Star Wars series. I like Narcos and gangster movies. I love The Curse Of Oak Island because I’ve always had an interest in archeology. And I watch a lot of History Channel.
MR: How about music. What are some of your favorite bands or music types? Is there a favorite genre of music or bands you’ve seen a million times?
JT: For me it’s heavy metal. Metallica has always been high on my list. I just brought one of my daughters to their show in Chicago. It was an experience for sure. I’ve always been into that era of metal—heavy metal, thrash metal. Outside of that genre, I think the only style of music I don’t like is country. I’m just not a country music guy and never have been. I like rockabilly, old school surfer rock, some punk rock. My wife really got me into Amos Lee. We also like White Buffalo and Chuck Ragan.
MR: Back to brewing, what are a few of your go-to macros you typically have stocked in your fridge at home?
JT: I tend towards a lot of Leinie’s. Negra Modelo. Out of all the Miller products, I’d say High Life is my favorite. We usually have Corona around, too.
MR: What are some things you’ve learned as a brewer or even things you’ve just learned as a drinker and appreciator of beer?
JT: Be true to yourself as a business and a brewery. Stick to what you like because you’re going to be passionate about the beers that you want to make. If you’re chasing trends, I don’t think you’re always going to have a product that you can back and support. If you’re passionate about it, people will find it and enjoy it, even if it’s not the trend right now. Follow what you want to do.
MR: Do you have any short-term or long-term goals for the brewery?
JT: Short-term is survival and trying to stay awake every day. Right now, it’s still just the five of us. Keeping this thing afloat and making sure we’re going the right direction. We’ve had these amazing opportunities like making the beer with Gilbert [Brown] and Gary Ellerson. They’re huge opportunities, so you got to make sure you stay on task and you don’t lose sight of what’s in front of you. And the biggest thing we’ve really wanted to do since day one was staying in touch with our community.
We want a space where people can feel welcome and to have a representation of our cultures. When people come in and see a certain beer name is in Spanish, you can tell it means a lot to them. They feel like they’re being represented. The fact of the matter is the South Side of Milwaukee was heavily Polish and now it’s also heavily Hispanic. That’s an opportunity to be part of the greater community as a whole, which is both a short-term and long-term goal of ours. We want to make some really good and solid beers, while also having a connection with everyone around us. It’s more about us in the greater community than the beer. And long-term, we want to manage our growth without taking on a lot of extra overhead until we feel we’re at a point where we’re ready to take a big step.
MR: We often end with this fill in the blank question. Brewing in Milwaukee is…
JT: Collaborative.
