E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: Octopi Brewing Co. planning operations in Madison

Isaac Showaki, who helped co-found 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Chicago in 2011 but left the company in 2013, sees a niche in the Midwest brewing market, Wisconsin State Journal reported on June 5.

That’s why Showaki has announced plans for a $5 million brewery on Madison’s Southeast Side that will primarily make beer on contract for other beer companies.

Wisconsin is home to Stevens Point Brewery, City Brewing Co. in La Crosse and Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe, all significant players in the contract brewing scene. Showaki, however, believes his Octopi Brewing Co. can make a better product and provide management and marketing consulting services to strengthen the business models of the beer companies with which he works.

“I know what it takes to build a brand from scratch and make it very successful,” said Showaki, who last month moved to Madison, where his wife is a doctor at UW-Hospital. “There’s very little capacity (for contract brewing), and the capacity that is out there is not very good.”

Showaki, 30, who oversaw contract brewing and was chief operations officer at 5 Rabbit, has submitted plans to the city for a nearly 20,000-square-foot brewery at 3801 Kipp St. that is slightly smaller than Wisconsin Brewing Co.’s 23,000-square-foot facility. Octopi would have 10 employees, the ability to make 50 barrels of beer per batch (compared to WBC’s 80-barrel brewhouse) and in its first year make about 10,000 barrels of beer, 90 percent of it under contract, Showaki said.

If the project, which includes a tasting room and bottling line, receives city approval, Showaki would like to break ground this fall and open in the spring of 2015. He has a brewmaster but is not ready to identify who will occupy the key position for the brewery. Showaki is also financing the project on his own and not using investors.

“It’s a great town for beer,” said Showaki, who lives in Maple Bluff. “I’m buying all German equipment. It’s all top of the line.”

Potential customers for the brewery include existing breweries in need of additional capacity, start-up breweries and restaurants, hotels and supermarkets looking to create their own private brands of beer, he said.

Showaki, 30, grew up in Mexico City, went to college at Boston University and worked for a management consulting company that worked with Heineken on a project in Panama. That led to co-founding 5 Rabbit with Andres Araya and creating the first Latin-themed craft brewery in the country. The relationship deteriorated in 2013 and led to Showaki selling his stake in the brewery, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Wisconsin craft beer scene has seen significant growth over the last 10 years with the construction of large breweries, additions at existing facilities, the arrival of more brewpubs and an increase of craft beer-centric taverns.

In 2013, national craft beer production rose 7.8 percent to more than 15 million barrels while Wisconsin’s 90 craft breweries produced 444,311 barrels of beer, ranking it ninth in the country, according to the Brewers Association.

Octopi’s own brands of beer will include German styles and hybrids, Belgian IPAs, and fruit and wheat beers. Showaki chose the Octopi name for its symbolism.

“Because we’re a contract brewery, the octopus has eight tentacles and can do eight things at the same time,” Showaki said. “It’s an invertebrate so it can change forms quickly. It’s under water so it’s in constant motion, and it’s a grounded animal and we’re very grounded in our approach.”


06 June, 2014