Beau Burlingame, above, and his wife Jeanette opened their new Beer Shop beer bar/beer store on July 24 in a former Standard gas station that was built in 1939, at 200 W. Wisconsin St. in Sparta. They bought the building in February from Loren Anderson, who took over the gas station in 1970 and later operated it as an auto repair shop without gasoline sales, until his recent retirement.
Tasting glasses, pint glasses and growlers, as well as other merchandise with the Beer Shop logo, can be purchased at the new beer bar/beer store at 200 W. Wisconsin St. in Sparta.
SPARTA, Wis. — Eight years after he came up with the idea, Beau Burlingame and his wife, Jeanette, have opened their Beer Shop beer bar/beer store in a former Standard gas station built in 1939, at 200 W. Wisconsin St. in Sparta.
The rural Cashton couple sell beer — mostly craft beer from the upper Midwest — as well as soda pop, ciders and hard seltzers at their new business, which opened July 24 and also has an outdoor beer garden.
The Burlingames, who moved to the area three years ago from West Allis, Wis., bought the building in February from Loren Anderson, who took over the gas station in 1970 and later operated it as an auto repair shop without gasoline sales, until his recent retirement.
Before opening Beer Garden, they remodeled the interior to create a beer bar area and a retail store area, replaced the two large garage doors with all-glass ones that are raised during good weather, and painted the building’s exterior light gray and blue.
Burlingame said he and his wife plan to have 12 tap lines installed in the bar in the next month or so, for beer, cider and soda pop. “We’ll probably have only four to six beers on tap” at first, he said.
“Our concern being that if the state were going to shut down bars again (because of COVID-19), trying to get rid of draft beer is really difficult,” Burlingame said. “And I don’t want to get stuck with a bunch of draft beer that I paid for and then couldn’t do anything with. As things kind of ease (with COVID-19) over the next six months or whatever, then we’ll expand to the full 12 tap lines that we’ll have.” Beer Shop might eventually have more than 12 tap lines.
The Burlingames have enjoyed home brewing beer for years, and also make their own soda pop. “Hopefully within a year, we’ll start making our own soda in a commercial kitchen setting” and have it on tap at Beer Shop, Burlingame said. But the Burlingames don’t plan to brew their own beer for sale at Beer Shop.
Beer Shop’s focus will be craft beers, mostly from the upper Midwest. “Most of it’s coming from breweries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois,” Burlingame said. He especially looks for beverages that are hard to find in the area.
Beer Shop’s retail store area sells canned and bottled beer, as well as merchandise such as T-shirts, hats and glassware with the Beer Shop logo. It also sells locally-made products such as maple syrup and soap.
While Beer Shop now is open Thursday through Sunday, Burlingame said he wants it to be open Tuesday through Sunday in the near future. “I would say that will be at least another month, maybe two months” from now, he added.
“I have a passion for beer,” said Burlingame, who worked at the Pearl Street Brewery for about 2 ½ years, first as tasting room manager and more recently as a part-time tour guide.
Burlingame was born and raised in Milwaukee County, where both of his grandfathers worked at breweries. His wife grew up on a 40-acre hobby farm near Westby. Burlingame came up with the idea of Beer Shop while the family was living in West Allis.
The Burlingames, who have three children, moved from West Allis to a 38-acre hobby farm near Cashton three years ago, partly because of Jeanette’s ties to the Westby area. They also thought it would be a good place to raise their children.
Also, Jeanette’s longtime close friend, Bree Breckel, co-owner of the B&E’s Trees bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup business near Cashton, had told them “If you guys are ever looking for a change, we’ll have a job for you,” Beau recalled. He and his wife decided that if their family was ever going to make a big move, “this would probably be the best time to it,” he said. Jeanette now works at B&E’s Trees.
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August 02, 2020 at 05:30PM
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Beer Shop opens in former Standard gas station building in Sparta, focusing on area brews - La Crosse Tribune
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