Meet the real brewer at American Family Field: Corrine Georges of the Barrel Yard

While working as a waitress serving beer, Corrine Georges couldn’t help but want to learn more about it.

Her first sips were fruity beers, things that were easy to like. The more beer she tried, the more she wanted to know about the different styles, ingredients, and the people who made it. Then she started to wonder if she too could become a brewer.

After earning a bachelor of science degree in brewery operations, followed by stints at Colorado’s Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. and Left Hand Brewing, she jumped at the opportunity to work as a full-time on-site pilot brewer in Milwaukee.

Now she’s a new mom to a 6-month-old and the first pilot brewer at the new J. Leinenkugel’s Barrel Yard at American Family Field. Her first two brews made on-site, Lead Off Lager and Double Play IPA, were released this month. Currently, she’s brewing about one new option per week, but that may change with demand.

From unwrapping and installing equipment to brewing every beer made on-site, she’s hands-on. As she works to introduce new recipes and play with ingredients, she’s also looking forward to feedback from Brew City beer lovers.

The Barrel Yard is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with adjusted hours on game days. Tickets are required when attending during a game. The area features a taproom, kitchen and restaurant, views of left field, and tables indoors and out. Additional information on hours is at barrelyardmke.com.

Georges recently spoke about her background and getting the pilot brewery off the ground.

What’s your background? How did you get started brewing?

I was actually born in Elmhurst, Ill., not too far from Milwaukee. We moved to Kansas City, Mo., where I was raised. I went to college in Denver to study brewery operations. ...

I didn't know what I wanted to study in college. I was waitressing at a beer bar. I didn't know a whole bunch about beer till I worked at this bar, where I learned about all these styles I enjoyed. That led me to buy textbooks about beer, this really technical stuff. I wondered if I could make this a career path. I started researching schools that offered something, at the time there were not many, maybe 10 or less. My degree is a bachelor of science, an actual four-year degree. That was trickier to find.

What made you fall for beer in the first place — the process of making it, or the beer itself?

I really liked the process, and I really liked the community of the brewers. When you go to craft breweries it has a certain feel. The community is tight-knit. That's what drew me to it — the people in the industry. They're curious and they want to make the best beer products and think about, how can we make it enjoyable for consumers?

What was the first beer you made?

When I was waitressing I went into home brewing, super simple with the plastic buckets they sell at home brew stores. I can't remember the first beer, maybe a saison. ... When I started college they had little brew systems. It was like a fancy home brew setup.

After college was the first time I brewed professionally in a real brew house. It was so exciting. The first job I had at Sleepy Giant, they had a mash filter press, which was pretty unique. ... So the first time I brewed professionally I got to use a mash filter press.

What defines your approach as a brewer? Do you have a favorite style to make or drink?

I don't have a favorite style. I am a very seasonal brewer and drinker. I love Oktoberfest in fall, anything with a little fruit and light, easy-drinking in the summer. I brew the same way. I like classic styles with a unique twist. That twist might be an experimental hop or different fruit addition. I would definitely say I like hitting the trends.

How did you find your way to this current role with Leinenkugel’s and Molson Coors in Milwaukee?

The craft breweries I was working for, they're not super small. Left Hand was a 60-barrel brewhouse, Boulevard (in Kansas City) was a 150-barrel. Think mid-sized craft breweries. It felt like a natural progression. I was like anybody who wants to grow — it just felt natural.

When I was hired, I ended up in the brewer trainee program with Leinenkugel’s. It's a super exciting opportunity I didn't see myself doing. I’m excited to be part of this new project. I’ve never been part of a start-up.

I learned everything for the current role in Milwaukee. I did do a summer kickoff festival in Chippewa Falls. I went up there and brewed a beer with our other brewer (at the new Leinie Lodge Pilot Brewery), a one-off, an orange vanilla creamsicle for a summer event up there. If you think summer, that beer is literally perfect. I may try to do something with those flavors in the future.

Tell us about the new Barrel Yard and what people can expect.

The Barrel Yard overlooks left field, so it is great to watch games here. Every batch of beer I make on-site. I am the only brewer on-site there. Every batch I make is a one-off, unique and available for a limited time. The cool part here is we can do a bit more experimental stuff.

How did you select the inaugural beers for the space’s public launch?

On (the Brewers’) opening day, those three beers were produced in Chippewa Falls, limited time and limited release for the Barrel Yard. They were from the pilot system in Chippewa Falls, the cherry gose and IPA red. Those were a good showcase of the offerings we would be making in general at the Barrel Yard. It will always be unique brews.

I am excited to be in this community, with its history. That's the most exciting thing. We're a city about beer, so it is cool to brew what the people of Milwaukee want.

Tell us about the first beers you made for Barrel Yard.

Lead Off Lager, it is a clean, easy-drinking lager. The base is fairly straightforward, but I did a light dry hop of Citra hops, which will add passionfruit and citrus aroma. You'll be able to tell there is dry hop in there but it will still be an easy-to-drink beer.

The other is an IPA, Double Play IPA. Some of the base malts included are oats and wheat, which gives it a bready sweetness, and I added tropical and citrus hops. ... I did a dry hop as well, but this is more dry hop, with Idaho Gem and El Dorado. Those hops give off tropical fruit, candy, pear, grapefruit-type aromas.

Will you be tapping into any trends or seasonal flavors going forward?

I actually am planning something for Fourth of July. I want to make a pie-inspired beer. Another one I have in fermentation currently is a watermelon gose, a summer seasonal.

What’s your go-to summer drink as the weather warms?

I love (Leinenkugel's) Sunset Wheat, which is not released until August. I wish it wasn't seasonal but any time it is available, that is my go-to.

What’s your special occasion sip?

I usually pull out something barrel-aged or maybe a sour beer. I’m a beer girl. For special occasions I still stick to beer.

What’s a beer you’d introduce to people who say they don’t like beer? Is there a specific style?

How I kind of got into beer was beer with fruit additions. I really liked lambics when I started. Those have some funky notes to them, but anything with fruit is a good introduction because it takes away that beer flavor. I’d even start with a (Leinenkugel's) Summer Shandy, a fruity beer mix. When people say they don't like beer, I think they’re typically directing it at a light lager.

What’s your most memorable failure or lesson learned?

While working at Boulevard they did a seasonal release. For my part, I did a carrot saison. You have to have a thick skin to do something like that. You'd hear “This is amazing, I’ve never had anything like this,” and “I can't believe you did this, it is horrible!” I put a bold ingredient in a beer and I got some crazy reactions on both ends of the spectrum. It was a fun project and it was executed well. I think it is important to be experimental and try things once in a while, but you still want to make beer the general majority of people would like most of the time.

How does this project differentiate Milwaukee’s ballpark? Are there other projects this was modeled on?

This is unique because it allows us to have beers you can only have in Milwaukee at the Barrel Yard. There are other concepts like this in other stadiums, Terrapin at Atlanta Braves (stadium, Truist Park) and Sandlot Brewery over at Colorado Rockies stadium, Coors Field.

Table Chat features interviews with Wisconsinites, or Wisconsin natives, who work in restaurants or support the restaurant industry; or visiting chefs. To suggest individuals to profile, email clewis@journalsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meet the real brewer at American Family Field: Corrine Georges of the Barrel Yard