Local business combines passions: The Garage

The Garage Bikes and Brews on 109 W. Cedar St. in River Falls, Wisconsin is a family business that combines a bicycle shop and a brewery. The company sells, fixes, and rents bikes, and brews their own beer. The Garage also hosts various local events.

Stephanie Johnson is the co-owner of The Garage Bikes and Brews. The company started when she wanted to combine two passions of hers: “I really like biking and I really like beer…. It seems to make sense, and it turns out a lot of people like it. So that's how we started.” She owns the company with her husband Matt. Her son, Ellis, brews the beer.

Ellis is titled as a “Brewmaster” on The Garage’s website, garagebikesbrews.com. Ellis made use of his knowledge of chemistry to learn how to brew the beer. Stephanie said, “He has a full-time job in Prescot. He’s a research chemist, and when we started the business, we talked to him about brewing… He'd never really brewed anything before. So he just started brewing and it turns out he's really good at it. His beer is wildly popular. We distribute it now to some local wineries and Tattersall and 45th Parallel in New Richmond.”

 The Garage has collaborated with other local businesses as well. Some of the hops that they use in their beer are from Kinnickinic Natives, a plant nursery in River Falls that is also owned by a wife and husband. The Garage has also worked alongside other local breweries as well, all while maintaining a friendly competition. 

Stephanie Johnson said, “We've on occasion shared equipment or washed our kegs at Swinging Bridge… [and] Tattersall has had our beer on tap. So yeah, I think it's a healthy competition, obviously, but we all play together pretty well.”

Along with selling bikes, The Garage repairs and rents them. Stephanie said, “We order in, carry stock, and then we special order bikes for people. We will do full repairs, tune-ups, any kind of service that people need, and then we rent out e-bikes and mountain bikes.” 

With various local parks and county roads, and a growing bike-riding community, The Garage has been providing pedalers with opportunities to bike and information on where to go.

The Garage has been a host to multiple different events in River Falls. Stephanie said, “We're doing our first-ever all-day music festival. It's called Kinni Stock…. We brought in some national acts in the bluegrass kind of genre. That is on June 22nd…. We have food trucks, vendors, that kind of thing.” The Garage hosts multiple biking events as well, including racing, scavenger hunts, group rides, and bike packing.

The Garage Bikes and Brews will soon celebrate its next anniversary. Stephanie said, “Another big event that we do in the summer is our birthday bash. That's the first weekend in June…. We’ll be four years old this year.”