You Gotta Find the Sweet Smoke Barbeque Pop-up

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It’s a Saturday at noon and Enlightened Brewing Company and the place is poppin’ as soon as it opens. Families with kids, couples with dogs, people bringing in their own food to pair with the great beers, and then a small back corner of the brewery with a cute food stand. Just look for the line and follow the sweet smell of Texas barbeque and you’ll be right where you need to be (hopefully with a great beer in hand) at Sweet Smoke Barbeque.

I definitely feel like I’m the last one to know about the greatness of Enlightened, but I want to be sure everyone knows about the excellent BBQ that is Sweet Smoke. Owned by husband-and-wife Adam Belike and Cindi Beilken, along with Cindi’s sister Diana Ehlers, there is a lot of goodness going on for such a tight operation. While you’d think there’s enough space in the large brewery, all the food is prepped and made in a shared kitchen with Smoke Creek BBQ in Oak Creek. They were previously in the shared kitchen with other food vendors like Ruby’s Bagels that was lost to a fire early last year. But they’re certainly bounced back and are gaining speed.

On the cutting board paper wall menu are various specials, sandwiches, meats, “meat treats” and sides. The menu varies but you can count on different cuts of meat all cooked in a 500-gallon smoker, homemade BBQ sauce, traditional BBQ side dishes, all of which come with a slice of white bread, pickled red onions, and sliced dill pickles. 

If you’re going for their signature brisket, you can order by weight or make it into a sandwich. For my tasty adventure, I opted for half a pound of brisket (both lean and fatty pieces), two spareribs, one Texas hot link sausage, and a side of coleslaw. It was a perfect amount for two people and a dog who were hungry for some late Saturday afternoon meat treats.

The brisket is truly unbelievably good. It’s perfectly seasoned and smoked to an exact right texture to eat with a fork or bite into on a sandwich. I’ve eaten a lot of brisket in my day, growing up a lot of people who make them at home plus always living somewhere that’s very meat-forward. Dare I say this might be the best brisket I have ever had?! You’ll have to go and see for yourself, but I would be willing to bet that you’d think twice about your top five briskets in your life. 

Just above the prep station was a menu for an event they were hosting the next day—enticing to say the least. Good to know you can hire Sweet Smoke BBQ for your next gathering if schedules allow. Otherwise, you can follow @sweetsmokebarbequemke on Instagram or go to their website at sweetsmokebbqmke.com to see where they will be popping up next. Texas style barbeque can really warm up those cold Wisconsin winter days and Sweet Smoke is the way to go.