Dead Bird Brewing Company is teaming with the Milwaukee Public Library and the Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library on Bücherwurm, a limited-edition German festbier.
The beer will be tapped at a launch even from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at Dead Bird Brewing Company, 1726 Dr. William Finlayson St.
A portion of the sales of Bücherwurm beer will be donated to the Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library.
“Milwaukee Public Library is part of the fabric of this city, and collaborations like this create new ways for people to connect with the Library and with one another,” said Library Deputy Director, Jennifer Meyer-Sterns.
“This collaboration is a wonderful example of what can happen when the Library, a local business and our fundraising partner work together to create something that connects people, celebrates Milwaukee and supports the institution at the heart of it.”
Bücherwurm – German for “bookworm" – is a traditional festbier brewed with Salzgitter Pilsen malt, Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops and a classic German lager yeast.
"As a small local craft brewery, being an integral part of the community is paramount for us," said owner and brewmaster of Dead Bird Brewing Company, Nick Kocis. "We have had an educator happy hour at our Milwaukee taproom since we opened in 2019. Our book club has grown to hundreds of members and our monthly book swaps are well attended, so a collaboration with MPL and the Friends group was a no brainer.
"With Milwaukee's history of German brewing we wanted to make sure we were showcasing a classic brew. We're very excited to bring this chapter to life with MPL."
The all-ages launch celebration will also include food from Beer + Bites with Chef Sharrie Agee from 1 to 3 p.m., button and bookmark-making activities, photographs and Billy the Bookworm materials from MPL’s Special Collections.
There will also be limited-edition commemorative giveaways featuring the Bücherwurm label artwork.
The beer will be tapped at 12:30 p.m.
“The Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library are thrilled to partner with Milwaukee Public Library and Dead Bird Brewing Company on this fun and unique fundraising event,” said Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Board of Directors President, Kristen Nelson.
“By raising money to help support the Milwaukee Public Library, the Friends have been able to help bring libraries to life for people of all ages.”
For more on the beer and the event, go to mpl.org/DeadBird.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
