Last week at a town hall meeting of its more than 700 members, New Barons Brewing Co-op, located in the Lincoln Warehouse at 2018 S. 1st St., the co-op’s member owners got the lowdown on a pivot to a brewery incubator focus, according to CEO and Head Brewer John Degroote.

According to Degroote, New Barons will create a formal incubation program for its members whose ambition is to launch their own beers.

"We set out to re-capture the pride of being a brew town and to invite others – anyone – to own a piece of it," says Degroote. "Now we look to help create the producers who will write the next chapter of Brew City, the NEW BARONS of brewing in Milwaukee.”

Using an alternating proprietorship model, the members brew and package the beers themselves, under their own labels. This is the same model that New Barons used in the same space when it was occupied by Enlightened Brewing.

New Barons will help the members along the way and, in the end, can purchase the beer from the makers at wholesale, allowing the new brewers to sell their products at the taproom. It’s beneficial for both parties.

“We aim to start providing a community of brewers existing under one roof sort of experience for our customers,” says Degroote. “This will hopefully help us to produce a new range of products and experiences in our taproom and to reach new audiences interested in these new brands”

New Barons will continue to produce and sell beer in the taproom, too.

The addition of a new tank in the brewhouse will help create more capacity.

This idea isn’t new to Milwaukee – Pilot Project does it on a larger scale in the Brewery District and MobCraft did alt prop deals a number of years ago, too, with Radix and Rookery – but Degroote expects there will be some growing pains as the plan is implemented.

“With it being a new endeavor that is easier said than done, we’re going to take this as we go and get a sense of how much these new players will be producing and what issues it causes in our production,” he says. “We’re going to start with one brand and focus on helping them grow. As they grow, we grow, and we’ll aim for ways to be mutually beneficial either by going in on tank space together or arrangements with contracting parties.

“I’ve always said our system is just big enough to feel industrialized and professional, but small enough to feel analog for beginners who need to cut their teeth on learning the craft the right way.”

Degroote says the time is right for a few reasons, among them the fact that the craft beer landscape has become more challenging in the past couple years as sales are flat and, at the same time, things have actually been pretty good at New Barons.

“We had been mulling over possible expansion projects over the last few years, but nothing made sense for our brand, which has always been hyper focused and local to our community,” he says. “We also haven’t been insular from the hardships local breweries have been facing, pouring capital into an expansion just wasn’t making sense. 

“Heading into 2025, the Board of Directors and I agreed, let’s plot a course that ensures we survive this challenging market. For us that meant just keeping it simple, basic frugal programming, making excellent quality beer and leaning into the neighborhood vibe we have in our membership.”

This year, New Barons has – for the first time – had three consecutive quarters of positive cash flow – albeit modest – and, Degroote says, the year will likely end the same way.

“As the industry has grappled with hard truths about the future of craft beer, being small has enabled us to survive, we have low overhead and our community of owners who invested in us, have been flexible,” he says. “Our mission statement has luckily been strong enough to push us through as the business has searched for ways to become sustainable. 

“What we realized was that being purposefully small and knowing our bounds, without thinking about more and more, has been the answer for success all along. The further we got into this year, the more it was apparent that we need to be proud of what we are, a small community owned brand that isn’t out kicking its coverage or trying to say or do too much. The more we can be that neighborhood brewer for our community the better.”

Degroote says that the first partner brewer will be announced soon.

“Growing our community always starts with growing others,” he says. “Whether it’s elevating a staff member, a member who owns a business, an artist etc…making our place a platform for them is how we meet the people behind them and welcome them in.

“By making our equipment and knowledge available to others, we can more pointedly support the local Milwaukee craft beer industry at large.”