New brewing company gets nationwide support to reach fundraising goal

Tim Pauly and Dan McElwee can't believe the support for their new business.

"We hit California, New York, Pennsylvania. Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois," Pauly said. "So our final tally was $12,700."

A total of 161 people, many strangers, gave money to help the duo buy a gylcol chiller.

"It keeps all the beer cold at a very specific temperature," he said.

The equipment will come in handy when the Milwaukee natives start making craft beer inside Broken Bat Brewing Company.

"We're just excited to share this with everybody here in Milwaukee," said Pauly.

Co-owners said their game is accessibility and drink-ability, so people feel comfortable trying their lineup of ales and lagers.

"These are actually copper pipes that we're gonna be running cold water through and we're gonna be covering this with a sheet of copper so if you want, you can put your beer down on it," he said.

There's a lot of work to do, but the space is taking shape.

Baseball is the theme in both bathrooms and this cooler is just about ready to hold the kegs.

But at the top of the list? Fulfilling those promises from their successful fundraising effort.

"It was anything from $3 will get you a bumper sticker to $1,000 and you can actually come in and be a brewmaster for the day," Pauly said.

Broken Bat Brewing Company is located in the Third Ward and plans to be open in April, just in time for the Brewers series with the Cubs. You can watch our previous story here.