Milwaukee beer and brats: a smash at national festival

South by Southwest (SXSW), the largest film, music and interactive media festival in the country, was held in Austin, Texas earlier this month. Brian Artka, and a group of Milwaukee business owners, showcased all that’s great about Milwaukee when they host the second annual Milwaukee Beer and Brat Bash in Austin.
The Bash featured free Miller Genuine Draft and Pabst Blue Ribbon as well as free Usinger’s bratwurst and veggie bratwurst, Artka said.
More than 360 people attended the event, Artka said. “About every 30 minutes our team raffled off Milwaukee’s Stone Creek coffee in bags and the 18 t-shirts we had created for the Bash, so some of our guests could take a little remembrance along from the event,” he said.
This is Artka’s sixth year at SXSW and hosted the Milwaukee Beer and Brat Bash with Mike Rohde of Rohdesign, Tracy Apps, web and graphic designer, Andy Wright of Meet Meme and Cindi Thomas of Translator.
“It’s an exciting event we host to showcase Milwaukee and let other people know what we’re all about,” said Artka, a web developer and designer from Milwaukee. “When people think of the Midwest they automatically think Chicago, but when it comes to interactive and emerging technology Milwaukee really has a lot to offer and we want to give people a way to get to know what’s going on here and introduce at least part of our thriving creative class.”
Photos from the Milwaukee Beer & Brat Bash can be seen on the groups Facebook Page.