Robin Shepard
Erica Beckman (left) and Martin McNally have brought a brewpub to an 1897 building in downtown Sun Prairie.
Most new business owners have to cope with unexpected setbacks. But Martin McNally had “a pretty rough start.” He had closed on a building at 239 East Main St. in Sun Prairie just five hours before the July gas explosion that killed one person and destroyed part of the historic downtown.
The building’s large glass windows along Main Street were blown out, but fortunately the building escaped serious damage.
Right Bauer Brewing opened Oct. 20 in the two-story building originally constructed in 1897. For much of the 1900s it was home to Hayden Hardware Company. More recently it was Atlantis Taverna, which closed in April.
The ground floor contains about 2,100 square feet of brewpub seating for roughly 80 persons. There’s also an outdoor deck off the back of the building for another 30 patrons. Brewing is done with a three-barrel system in the brewpub’s kitchen. The wort is pumped to the basement, where the fermenters, bright tank and cold storage are located.
Robin Shephard
Right Bauer Brewing in downtown Sun Prairie. The first on tap: One Eyed Jack IPA. Martin McNally makes Right Bauer Brewing's beer on a three barrel brewing system.
McNally has been homebrewing for more than a dozen years. He just brewed his first beer using the new pub’s equipment — a New England IPA with Amarillo, Citra and Sorachi Ace hops. It went on tap Nov. 8. The beer, dubbed One Eyed Jack, proved to be a draw as news of its release spread on social media, turning that Thursday into the pub’s busiest night so far. One Eyed Jack features a tropical aroma and sharp citrus flavor.
McNally also hopes to appeal to hoppy beer fans with a rotating series of single-hopped wheat beers in the near future.
His goal is to keep six to 10 of his beers on tap, with a rotating selection from guest breweries. By late November his own house brews will include an oatmeal stout and a Belgian tripel. Beer names are yet to be determined.
The building’s original wood floor, cream colored brick walls, and high 10-foot interior ceiling with tin ceiling tiles lend a warm sense of history to the room. In the basement there is a “boom room,” with thick concrete walls where the early hardware store kept dynamite that was mostly sold to farmers to help remove stumps from their fields. Above the main floor are two apartments, one of which McNally and his wife, Erica Beckman, call home. While the building still has a turn of the century mercantile feel, there are plenty of modern touches: high serving tables made from recycled bowling alley lanes, large wooden booths, communal tables, a chalkboard wall for kids to draw on, and an assortment of board games.
Euchre also figures prominently in the brewpub. Playing cards are used to keep track of patron orders; many of the house brews will have euchre-related names and even the brewpub’s name is a reference to the card game — “right bauer” is the highest-ranking card, or the jack of the trump suit. McNally expects Wednesday nights to become Euchre Night at the brewpub.
The food centers on Southern smokehouse barbeque. Martin’s brother, Terrance, has taken on the role of pit master. (It’s a family affair — Terrance, his wife, Jamie McNally, and Erica’s Beckman’s sister, Wendy, are all partners in the brewpub.)
Currently Right Bauer Brewing is open 4-9 p.m. Thursdays, 4-11 p.m. Fridays, noon-11 p.m. Saturdays and noon- 9 p.m. Sundays. They expect to add Tuesday and Wednesday hours soon.
Right Bauer Brewing joins a growing number of new breweries in Dane County, including in Sun Prairie. Owners of the Full Mile Beer Company Kitchen hope to open later this year at 132 Market St., less than a block away from Right Bauer.
