St. Francis Brewery to reopen under new leadership after closing 5 years ago

 

ST. FRANCIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A popular brewery in St. Francis that shut down before the pandemic is reopening under new ownership.

"Well, it's always been my husband's dream to open a restaurant," said Shallece Peters, co-owner of St. Francis Brewery.

Thirteen years into marriage, the couple is saying, "I do" - this time to joint ownership of a bar and restaurant.

"Oh, we love working together. Yeah, we get along really well, and I know the hierarchy and my place," said Shallece Peters and Dheren Stewart, co-owners.

His "place" now is in overseeing new hires, like their head brewer.

"There'll be a heavy, probably German influence, because I trained as a brewer in Germany, lots of lagers, hefeweizens and then you'll also see some American styles like Hazy IPAs," said Tyler Killips, head brewer of St. Francis Brewery.

They're currently writing recipes for the opening lineup.

"We also have three seven-barrel fermenters with six, seven barrel serving tanks. So, we'll serve beer to the bar right from these tanks here," said Killips.

With 7,200 square feet, it can seat around 300, plus another 60 on the patio and the owners expect to expand their parking lot.

For five years, St. Francis Brewery has sat vacant, but now these new owners are ready to bring it back.

The couple decided to keep the name, St. Francis Brewery, but make some tweaks.

"We're gonna be a restaurant and brewery with live music. We don't want to be thought of as just a brewery and we don't want to be thought of as just a restaurant," said Stewart.

Music is close to Shallece's heart. She has a master's degree in it, teaches voice lessons and runs a music studio.

"We'll be putting in a small stage and also putting in a baby grand piano and making it really one of the focal points of the restaurant. I'm also excited to hire the artists that I know and give them a platform to perform on," said Peters.

Get ready for brews, food and tunes at St. Francis Brewery. The grand opening is planned for this spring.