Christy Klein
Forward combines a beer bar and a coffee bar ...in a single bar.
Forward Craft & Coffee, a new beer and coffee bar at 2166 Atwood Ave., celebrated its soft opening on June 13, and has been serving customers. Its official opening is Monday, June 20.
Co-owner Dan Podell considers beer and coffee to be closely related; both beer making and coffee roasting are complex skills that can result in a range of flavors. At Forward, he aspires to marry the two in one bar.
Though his previous career was in web development, he felt ready to branch out. “I wanted to move forward, no pun intended,” Podell says, “Beer and coffee was something I was really passionate about.”
In January 2020, Podell approached Chad Walhood about his idea of a coffee/beer bar and asked him to be a co-owner. Walhood, an account executive at Audacy, a broadcast company, was looking for an opportunity to work for himself. A third co-owner is Melissa Moss, another friend of Podell’s from college, who looks after finances.
Trevor Wilkinson, Podell’s childhood friend, is taproom manager. Wilkinson has 16 years of experience working in restaurants and behind the bar.
Forward occupies the former Barriques on Atwood, which closed in 2021. The interior has been updated with new paint and light fixtures, although Forward is keeping the old coffee bar, and Barriques donated its tables and chairs from the original coffeeshop.
Forward Craft & Coffee is sourcing its coffee from Brewhaha, a roaster out of Spring Green led by a team of school teachers, band directors, and coaches. Walhood comes from a family with a long history of teachers, so this prompted them to choose Brewhaha.
The bar features 24 tap lines, four of which will be reserved for nitro cold brew coffee provided by Pilcrow Coffee out of Milwaukee. Pilcrow offers a line of craft cold brews with flavoring and cream included, in a single tap pour. Many of Pilcrow’s coffee drinks use oat milk, making them vegan and gluten-free. Forward will have in its rotation (on tap and to-go) Pilcrow’s regular nitro cold brew, Sweet ‘n’ Creamy, Vanilla Creamy and Almond Cookie Creamy. All use oat milk.
Forward will also sell some bakery items, specialty cheese plates, charcuterie boards, and antipasto skewers — light, less expensive snacks. Beer and coffee are meant to be the focus.
Eventually Podell may offer some mocktails and beer-specific cocktails; incorporating coffee in the cocktails is a possibility as well.
Forward’s staff wants to make sure that both craft beer and craft coffee are approachable for all the bar’s customers. Walhood hopes that Forward Craft & Coffee will find its niche in the Atwood neighborhood through its product as well as dedication to community. Podell says he and Walhood hope that Forward Craft & Coffee will “become a staple to the Atwood neighborhood and to Madison as a whole.”
Note, even though June 20 is the grand opening, Forward is open only until noon on Mondays.
