Robin Shepard
Brewmaster Jessica Jones designed the brewery system for high gravity beers.
Finishing touches are all that’s left to prepare the taproom at the Giant Jones Brewing Company for its anticipated mid-June opening. The new Madison brewery at 931 E. Main St. will specialize in big, full-bodied high alcohol beers like double IPAs, imperial stouts, Belgian strong ales and barleywines. It joins a growing beer scene on Madison’s isthmus and near east side.
Jessica and Erika Jones are co-owners of the brewery. Erika is the brewery’s chief executive officer and Jessica, formerly known as Eric Jones, will do the brewing. Their building dates back to the 1920s and for most of its previous life was a bus terminal for Greyhound. It currently houses Main Street Industries of Common Wealth Development. It’s perhaps best known as the site of Old Sugar Distillery.
Inside, a high ceiling with exposed rafters creates an open industrial feel with 2,800 square feet of space. There’s also a large garage door that opens to South Brearly Street that can be opened in nice weather. The loading bay is now home to shiny new beer fermenters and a brewing platform.
Brewmaster Jessica Jones designed the brewery system for high gravity beers, especially barleywines. “Since we’re doing all big beers, the size of my mash tun is what is normally found in a 10-barrel system, and then I use 8.4-barrel fermenters,” she says. That extra room in the mash tun allows for the additional malts and hops that go into strong beers, while not quite as much space is needed once the wort is transferred into the slightly smaller fermenters.
Beers from Giant Jones have been appearing since Madison Craft Beer Week. Longtable Beer Cafe and Brasserie V were among the first with special tappings of the brewery’s Batch #1 American-style barleywine, and Prelude to Cyclops double IPA. Longtable also tapped a small amount of Giant Jones’ imperial stout, which will also be on tap June 7 at Working Draft Beer Company. All three beers top 8 percent ABV, the biggest being the barleywine at nearly 11 percent.
When the taproom opens, those three will be on tap along with Queen Hera pale weizenbock, and Cyclops Rising IIPA. “We’re really opening a barleywine brewery, but given the market and the interest in hops, anything related to IPA will likely become our flagship beer,” says Jones.
The brewery will offer draught beer in its own taproom and kegs to local bars and restaurants. It will also sell 500 mL bottles of select styles. The brewery’s initial annual production is expected to be around 400 barrels, with room to grow up to 1,000 barrels
Giant Jones beers will focus on all organic ingredients. Finding the right hops in particular may present a challenge. However, Jones will contract in advance for some of what is needed, especially imported hops grown in Australia and New Zealand where growers do not face the same pest and disease problems found in U.S. production. Pacific Gem hops from New Zealand are essential to providing the aroma and flavor in most of Jones’ beers.
Robin Shepard
Once the logistical demands of opening the brewery slow down, the Joneses intends to go through the documentation and inspections needed for official organic certification from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The brewery atmosphere is a combination of warm rustic with industrial steampunk. The bar top is made from ash trees that were cut down as part of the city’s emerald ash borer control program. The bases of several taproom tables were once used as meat racks before Jones salvaged them from the Oscar Mayer plant.
Jessica Jones grew up in Appleton, attended college at UW-Madison, and then went to graduate school in theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California . While there, Jones discovered craft beer with an Alpha King from Three Floyds Brewing. With encouragement from her father, an avid homebrewer, she developed a passion for brewing. That eventually led to brewery apprenticeships, including one at Faction Brewing in Alameda. After returning to Wisconsin in 2009, she worked as a Lutheran pastor for seven years.
The taproom is expected to open June 15, pending final permits from the city. For updates, check the Giant Jones Facebook page. Regular hours will be Thursdays through Saturdays from 4-10 p.m.
This story has been corrected to indicate Jones attended the Graduate Theological Union, not UC-Berkeley.
