AJS Tap Handles sweeping the nation with small town tapper craft

RANDOM LAKE (WITI) -- If during the past 27 years you've been in a bar and bought a beer on tap, chances are you've tapped into the craft of a small company from southeastern Wisconsin.

At AJS Tap Handles, they're all about the beer. But if you ask what's on tap, you may get more than you bargained for! Inside AJS Tap Handles, they are the makers of tap handles!

General Manager, Mark Steinhardt, says AJS is among the largest operations of its kind in the country and most likely the world.

"We definitely feel like we're a part of the beer industry and the beer culture -- and Wisconsin has always been a big part of that, and it's a great to be located here," said Steinhardt.

AJS Tap Handles is located in Random Lake, and with a population of around 1,600 people, they could each tap into a different AJS handle style many times over.

"It's an advertising piece and they're trying to shout out to the person in the bar, 'hey, buy me! Try my beer!' and so the tap handles get bigger and more elaborate and try to be eye-catching. So it's definitely a competition between the breweries," said Steinhardt.

The competitors can choose from sizes which range from around 4 to 5 inches small -- all the way up to 14 or 15 inches tall. Either way, these folks figure, before you pour, you must adore.

"We sell the first one, they sell the next. That's the way, that's kinda the saying we have around the office here," said Steinhardt.

But it's when you venture out of the office and into a tavern that the AJS employees get to witness their work being fully appreciated.

"The first thing I do is look at the tap handles that are behind the bar, "is that one ours? Oh yea, those, most of those are the ones we made!' It's great to see that, and then you kinda watch reaction of the other customers in the bar," said Steinhardt.

After 27 years in business, AJS continues to expand its operations. In fact, the company is currently considering adding space, adding machinery and adding employees to keep up with the industry's flow.