Potter Lawson
Octopi Brewing Company is planning to build its facility at 1220 Uniek Dr. in Waunakee.
Plans for Octopi Brewing Company are moving forward, though not in the location originally envisioned by founder Isaac Showaki. On Monday evening, the Waunakee Plan Commission unanimously approved a site plan for the contract-focused brewery, which is to be built at 1220 Uniek Dr. on the east end of the village.
Previously planned for Kipp Street on Madison's southeast side, concerns about the potential for flooding at the location led Showaki to investigate other options, leading him to the suburban community north of Lake Mendota.
"Working with the village of Waunakee has been one of the best business experiences I've had," says Showaki. He credits the village administrator Todd Schmidt and Board of Trustees president John Laubmeier with helping facilitate his choice for the new location. Waunakee, with a population of over 12,000 residents, is one of several Dane County communities in which breweries are being developed during the current craft beer boom.
Three open items related to the brewery proposal are still under consideration before the village. These include conditional use to serve beer at an outdoor patio, for which Showaki hopes to receive the required permit in the next few months, as well as approval for landscaping and signage once the structure's design is finalized.
"I'm very happy to have chosen Waunakee, and I see Octopi growing with the village over the next years," he adds.
Octopi will combine a contract brewing model with a selection of in-house brews. The 16,000-square-foot facility is slated to have a 50-barrel brew house with an initial production capacity of 10,000 barrels per year, the same as originally planned. Expansion plans are ambitious, though, and Showaki hopes to expand to 22,000-square feet and increase the annual output considerably with sights on customers in both Wisconsin and the Chicago area.
The indoor taproom would have a seating capacity of around 60 patrons, with room for another 30 on the patio, with hours initially slated for afternoon and evening on Monday through Saturday. Showaki hopes to open in late spring or early summer of 2015 should the permitting process and construction proceed as planned.
