OCONOMOWOC - — Season number two for the Lake Country DockHounds kicks off May 12 when they take on the Milwaukee Milkmen in a three-game series.
"It's entertainment and it's Lake Country and it's family fun — and oh, by the way, a baseball game happens," said Bryan Giese, explaining what fans can expect when they visit the home of the Lake Country DockHounds in Oconomowoc.
"We learned a bunch of things from our fans last year," the marketing and communications manager added.
"One was shade. So we're going to start construction on putting in cabanas here," said Giese.
And this season, fans can also beat the heat with a cold one from Lake Louie Brewing.
"We've been at it for a couple of months just working out the kinks but we really wanna unveil it to the public," said Paul Verdu, President of Wisconsin Brewing Company. Lake Louie became part of the Wisconsin Brewing Co. family in 2019.
Now, Lake Louie beer is being brewed on-site at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park. The ballpark now features a 5-barrel brewery and taproom — The DockHaus. It will be open for tasting and tours on game days and will also function as an event space that is open to the public.
"Beer and baseball just naturally fit together," said Verdu.
Here's another pairing that Lake Louie Brewing hopes is a homerun — beer and bats!
"We added the bats to the kettle which has a very sweet, sugary liquid in it, and let them boil, hoping some of these sugars would get into the wood," explained Brewmaster Kirby Nelson. "Then we went down to the kitchen and put the bats in an oven at 340 degrees to kind of caramelize them".
Yes — wooden bats are being used in the brewing process for a special batch of Lake Louie's "Walk-Off" beer.
"I'm actually very much an old-school Wisconsin brewer at heart," added Nelson.
He's been at it since 1978 — and says the goal in this new space is to carry on Wisconsin's brewing traditions, aligned with the great American pastime of baseball. "You know, one foot in the past, but the other moving forward and we want to see what interesting techniques and styles we can come up with based on our love of the traditions."
The bats in the Walk-Off beer come from Dingbat, a small business in Verona, which is where Lake Louie's flagship brewery is located.
And Nelson says he's planning several collaboration brews including one with Milwaukee's Central Standard Craft Distillery and there are also plans to produce a lime gose for a "Margaritaville Night" at the ballpark this summer.
The brewery's grand opening at Wisconsin Brewing Co. Park is set for April 14 and will feature tours, appetizers, live music, and of course — beer samples.
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