Flights of craft beer and nitro cold brew are served at Forward Craft & Coffee in Madison along with baked goods and traditional coffee drinks.
Co-owner of Forward Craft & Coffee Dan Podell holds a craft beer flight at his new espresso and craft brew bar.
Forward Craft & Coffee is a new coffee shop and craft beer bar located in the former Barriques space on Atwood Avenue.
Flights of craft beer and nitro cold brew are served at Forward Craft & Coffee.
The nitro cold brew flight is made with an ever-changing list of tap cold brew coffee flavors at Forward Craft & Coffee.
Owner of Forward Craft & Coffee Dan Podell pours nitro cold brew at his new coffee shop.
Forward Craft & Coffee is a new coffee shop on Atwood Avenue.
Flights of craft beer and nitro cold brew are served at Forward Craft & Coffee in Madison along with baked goods and traditional coffee drinks.
Forward Craft & Coffee is a new coffee shop and craft beer bar located in the former Barriques space on Atwood Avenue.
The nitro cold brew flight is made with an ever-changing list of tap cold brew coffee flavors at Forward Craft & Coffee.
Dan Podell knows that people like him — people who are really into coffee and beer — can come off as pretentious. Snobby, even.
Podell’s new cafe, Forward Craft and Coffee on Atwood Avenue, wants to break that down a bit. If you’ve never had a milkshake IPA or a single origin nitro cold brew, this is the place to try it.
“We want to make sure that we’re allowing access to (everything), even if you’ve never tried anything,” Podell said.
Podell and Chad Walhood opened Forward Craft and Coffee on June 20 in Barriques’ former location at the corner of Atwood Avenue and Dunning Street. The hip, cozy joint serves up a rotating menu of espresso creations, drip coffee and nitro cold brew from Spring Green coffee roaster Brewhaha, as well as local craft beer.
With seats at the bar, tables in a quiet back room and an open-air lounge to the side of the main cafe, Walhood and Podell wanted to create a spot for those who need a quick pick-me-up or a space to focus.
“We’re just trying to meet that middle ground, making sure it’s that place you can spend four hours in — or it’s a place you can grab a drink and then you’re on your way,” Podell said.
Their other mission: make the craft coffee and beer scene more approachable.
Co-owner of Forward Craft & Coffee Dan Podell holds a craft beer flight at his new espresso and craft brew bar.
A coffee and beer ‘playlist’
Forward’s signature menu item is a $14, four-count cold brew coffee flight with flavors that incorporate syrups and milk as well as straight-up nitro. Most are dairy-free and all the coffee is sourced from Pilcrow Coffee in Milwaukee. The flight boards are custom-made by a colleague of Dan’s, with handles that match the shop’s dark metallic fixtures.
Flights of craft beer and nitro cold brew are served at Forward Craft & Coffee.
Walhood and Podell use the first two slots to serve imaginative cold brew-based beverages such as “Peanut Butter Puffs” and “Root Beer Float.” The last two samples in each flight are reserved for vanilla cream and unflavored nitro cold brews, both of which sideline sweetness to highlight the coffee’s bright notes.
“Our cold brew is a little acidic, but I feel like that — especially on hot days — makes it more enticing,” Walhood said. “It’s great over ice, it’s great by itself, it’s just kinda what you want.”
Forward’s Instagrammable flights immediately took off with customers. They’re so popular now that baristas occasionally run out of flight boards.
“We never expected that on a Saturday we’re out of flight boards and we have to wait for people to finish their flights before we can start serving more people,” Podell said.
Forward also serves a full menu of classic espresso drinks as well as cold brew in individual sizes ranging from five to 16 ounces. Forward doesn’t offer much food, save scones, muffins (both $4) and cookies ($3.50) from Beans and Cream in Sun Prairie. There’s also a vegan, gluten-free granola bowl ($4.50).
Customers looking for specialty drinks can try the Fox Paw ($7.60), a blood orange mocha made with Ghirardelli dark chocolate and oat milk, served over ice. Walhood and Podell say they’re working on adding more specialty drinks in the near future.
Forward’s craft beer taps open at 10 a.m. and feature a rotating array of 20 lagers, IPAs, stouts and sours. Like the cold brew, beer is also available in a four-count flight ($14) or individual sizes ranging from five to 16 ounces.
Walhood and Podell source a mix of brews from across the country, with a Wisconsin focus. Recent highlights were a dark, creamy German Chocolate Cake Stout from Untitled Art in Waunakee ($4-$9), a tart, bright pink fruited sour called Raspberry Grove from O’so Brewing in Plover ($4-$8), and a milkshake IPA called Mr. Shaky Strawberry from Maplewood Brewery & Distillery in Chicago ($3.50-$8).
Podell and Walhood described the process of choosing beers as “pretty tedious,” and they’re meticulous about rotating them to ensure the menu reflects diverse flavors and styles.
“It’s almost like a playlist, you know?” Podell said. “You don’t wanna just start and stop with something crazy, you wanna make sure there’s smooth transitions.”
Forward Craft & Coffee is a new coffee shop on Atwood Avenue.
Business at Forward has been steady so far. According to Podell, some of the baristas even know the regulars’ names and orders, which he says is exactly what he wants to see as Forward integrates itself into the Atwood neighborhood.
As the espresso and beer bar enters its second month, Podell is watching carefully to see if demand stays strong past the grand opening.
“Month one can be great, but it’s month two that is the telling month of what’s gonna happen,” Podell said. “We’re still riding a great wave of community support from the neighborhood.”
Owner of Forward Craft & Coffee Dan Podell pours nitro cold brew at his new coffee shop.
Podell, a former web developer, wants to turn his focus to digital marketing and engagement now that the cafe is running smoothly. His goal is to increase accessibility by displaying a live menu on their website and setting up a menu QR code within the next few weeks.
Most of all, he and Walhood want to reinforce their Wisconsin identity and broaden menu diversity – the hallmarks of their brand – by strengthening partnerships with local suppliers, and introducing new cold brew flavors, like lavender and “Fruity Pebbles.”
“We want to be synonymous with beer and coffee in Wisconsin,” Walhood added. “We’re just so excited to be here. We always want to be as local as possible. Local is our mindset.”
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