New Kid on the Block Milieu Fermentation Is Wise Beyond Its Years

What: Milieu Fermentation

Where: 2101 Ursula Street, Aurora

When: Open 3 to 7 p.m. Monday, 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and noon to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

For more info: Visit milieufc.com

What we saw: Two passionate owners with industry experience breathing new life into a former brewery space.

The fact that owners Andrew Bergeron and Rob Bessett previously ran sales and brewing operations, respectively, for Ursula Brewing before taking over its space has made this opening a bit different. Bessett’s familiarity with the brewing system allowed him to release an initial lineup of beers and a hard tea without any hidden surprises.
The team has built a place that is welcoming, with bright white walls and green plant life everywhere. Doing most of the remodeling in-house and focusing on changes that didn’t require permits (like replacing the bar top and adding new tiles) allowed Milieu to open in just sixteen weeks. The French word "milieu" (pronounced "mil-you") refers to a social setting or environment.

The draft list is building, supplemented by some artfully curated taps from WestFax Brewing, TightKnit Brewing, Danico Brewing and Call to Arms Brewing.

We started our sampling of Bessett's creations with the Milieu Hard Tea. If you’re turned off by the sweetness of products like Twisted Tea, you’re not alone. Thankfully, this one is drier, with a pleasant earthiness and light tannic note, making it far superior to the gas station hard tea that most people are used to. There’s a delicious citrus note that adds a hint of sweetness in the finish. Bessett says it’s lemon and orange peel, but it can come across as mango on the palate, and it was a deft touch. This is an excellent choice to begin a tasting session with, as it is only 3.4 percent ABV.

Up next was an oatmeal stout dubbed Milieu Magic, which was fermented in an extremely short amount of time — about a week. Coming in at a very drinkable 5.1 percent ABV, this beer still packed plenty of dark, roasted malt flavor.

There is a coffee variant available too, made with locally roasted coffee that Bessett spontaneously purchased from Logan House Coffee inside Stanley Marketplace. The coffee was well suited to the beer, enhancing that roasted flavor and adding an overarching pleasant medium coffee roast note to the beer. That sort of last-minute decision by Bessett is an example of the advantages of having an experienced and successful brewer at the helm who is able to pull off a keg of beer and add a complementary flavor.

There are a pair of collab beers on draft as well. We sampled From the Depths of Dreams, a 14.5 percent ABV barleywine made with Baere Brewing. The barleywine is a great example of what Milieu hopes will help it become a destination brewery. Big and bold with layered malts and a balancing alcohol component, this is a serious barleywine that will satisfy fans of the genre.

Bessett and Bergeron also plan to build out a mug club at Milieu that will be more hands-on than most, offering perks like samples of big beers straight from the barrel as well as beer and food pairings.
What surprised us: The purpose behind just about everything in the space.

The layout hasn't changed much, but now the tables are small and modular, allowing customers to easily toss a few together for a large party. There are a handful of barrels housing stout, barleywine and spontaneous projects, which do a great job of framing an additional seating area.

The purpose extends to the beer, as well. Hazy Beta 1 is the model that the duo plans to use for its house IPA. At 7.2 percent ABV, it's light and boozy, with an alcohol level that complements the bursting hop flavors from the Citra and Nelson hops.

Bergeron says that he plans to turn the beer into a regular charity series called Be Dope, named in honor of a good friend who tragically died in a motorcycle accident. The friend was a commercial realtor and helped the duo get Milieu off the ground, and his motto was to "do dope things," Bergeron shares.

The plan is to offer the beer in four-packs of cans, with a different color variant for each month's featured charity and a description of the charity on the can. The hop combination will change as well, adding a bit of freshness to each new batch. Bergeron says he wanted the charity beer to be a popular style, as the goal is to see it fly off the shelves and raise money for important causes.

There’s also at least one big reason why this brewery is called Milieu Fermentation and not Milieu Beer Company: It's making a lot of non-beer. In addition to the hard tea, it's producing hop water and will be making a kombucha next. Bessett and Bergeron are passionate about serving all different types of customers, from the post-shift hospital employees to local students and families.

Still, there is a strong focus on the beer. And with styles like Keller Pils, West Coast IPA, West Coast Pilsner and Kolsch on deck, there will be plenty to keep beer connoisseurs busy.

With a neighborhood brewery business model, aspirations of being a destination, and a tap list as diverse as they come, Milieu is a brewery to keep a close eye on, both for customers who enjoy fermented beverages and for breweries looking for a successful model in an ever-changing market.