Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce Newsletter June 2020 Sparta Ambassador | Page 10

10 - The Sparta Ambassador - June 2020
Meet our New Member
The Beer Shop
200 W. Wisconsin St.
Sparta, WI
Call [phone]
https://www.facebook.com/beershopsparta/
Beau Burlingame and his wife Jeanette have lived in the Midwest all their lives. Beau
was born and raised in Milwaukee County and had two grandfathers who worked in
breweries while Jeanette grew up on a 40 acre hobby farm outside of Westby. When
they first met, Jeanette thought beer was gross and Beau thought he’d never live further
than 20 minutes from the Brewers stadium. Ten years later, Beau and Jeanette had
happily moved their family to a 38 acre hobby farm in rural Monroe County and were
dreaming of opening a craft beer bar together.
The building that now houses Beer Shop started its life in 1939 as a gas station and
auto repair shop. The gas pumps had been removed, but not much else had changed.
Beau, the dreamer, would go on and on about the potential of “a building like that”,
describing in detail how he’d set up a tasting room and what kinds of beers he’d stock.
Jeanette, without much patience for make-believe, lovingly told her husband to “Make
it happen or shut up about it, already - I’m getting thirsty!” And so, much like their
three children (with lots of love and a fair amount of yelling), Beer Shop was born.
http://www.beershopsparta.com/