MILWAUKEE— From an address on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, to the city of Milwaukee, one Illinois-based brewery is making the trek north to begin operations in the Brew City. 

Pilot Project Brewing is taking over the former Milwaukee Brewing Company brewery near downtown. It comes after Milwaukee Brewing Company closed up shop earlier this year. 

Pilot Project has a unique business model not often seen in the Wisconsin brewing world. Pilot Project considers themselves to be a brewery incubator and accelerator. They help other breweries to produce their beer by providing them a space to brew. 

Pilot Project CEO and co-founder Dan Abel said it represents a new niche in the brewing market. 

“We are calling fallacy to the idea that you would ever need to own a brewery," said Abel. "If you want to be a creative brewer, you shouldn’t have to be stressed out about the operating cost of running a facility like this."

As a UW-Madison graduate, Abel said he knows Wisconsin well. Still, being a Chicago-based brewery, he knows Pilot Project will need to make some adaptations to be successful in the Milwaukee market. 

“Chicago is the craft beer capitol of America and Milwaukee is the birthplace of American beer, so there is going to be some natural pushing and pulling, but our business isn’t married to anyone’s geography. We launched a brand out of California, out of Cincinnati, so a Milwaukee brand could have very well launched in our Chicago space,” said Abel.

Pilot Project expects to brew in Milwaukee by sometime in late November. While Pilot Project is taking over Milwaukee Brewing Company’s space, they will not play a role in brewing their beer. Instead, Milwaukee-based Eagle Park Brewing will continue to produce Milwaukee Brewing Company products.