The Founders of Third Space Brewing, a thriving small business in their hometown, are Milwaukee natives with a passion for creating great beer. They first met at their third space–Camp Minikani, a summer camp located along the shores of Lake Amy Belle in Hubertus, Wisconsin. 

Andy Gehl, Co-founder and Director of Sales and Marketing, is a recovering attorney with a passion for craft beer. Andy does a great job heading up sales, marketing and community outreach for the brewery.

Kevin Wright, Co-founder and Brewmaster, holds a certificate in brewing from the world-renowned University of California-Davis Master Brewing Program.  Kevin Wright is certainly qualified as he graduated at the top of his class in 2009 before going on to win the JS Ford Award.  An award bestowed each year to the person who scores the highest on the Diploma in Brewing exam, given by London’s Institute of Brewing and Distilling.

After graduation, Kevin spent seven years brewing award-winning beer at Hangar 24, a popular Redlands, CA brewery.

Eventually moving home to partner with his Camp Minikani buddy to open Third Space Brewing. Located in an old industrial area of Milwaukee the brewery is close to the American Family Stadium, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, and also a location where their beer is sold. During the summer you will often see social media posts of their beer cans in the hands of fans attending games.

Beer school came about when Kara Olds, Event Coordinator for Third Space, was talking with a coworker about the lack of accessible education on alcohol/beer in the Milwaukee area. That, combined with Kevin’s wealth of beer knowledge and his love of teaching, made sense to start the Beer School for anyone wanting to learn more about beer.  Kara told us that “For us, it's a great opportunity to engage with our customers and showcase interesting beer from around the state.”

In 2020 the USA Today rated Milwaukee as the 2^nd best beer scene in the US second to St Louis, MO. One of the breweries that helped Milwaukee make this list is The Explorium Brewpub. Mike Doble, like the beers he brews, is deep and complex on the inside and wrapped in a playful and unpretentious exterior.  If you live in the Milwaukee area you are familiar with Mike as his name and his brewery are in the news quite often. As a self-proclaimed Type A personality, he has trouble sitting still. He is very active both personally and professionally on social media and makes no apologies for anything that he says or posts. During the Covid shutdown most people made the transition from office to work from home. The service industry took a huge hit with regulations and reductions to their usable space. As most brewery owners were trying to figure it all out, Mike was planning a second location.

Listen in as Mike Talks about opening his second location.