Sway Brewing + Blending: Chemistry, creativity, love of beer

January 26, 2026

BAILEYS HARBOR – A chemist by trade, Matt Sampson said he’s been able to build a business around his passions for specialty beers and baking into a thriving three-pronged business: Sway Brewing + Blending.

Located at 2434 County Road F in Baileys Harbor, Sampson said the business opened its doors in July 2022 and has continued to grow and evolve with each passing year.

“We [originally] didn’t have the tap room, bakery and kitchen that we have now,” he said. “We just had a little production space in the same building on a lower level where we brewed our beer and served customers in an outdoor beer garden that summer.”

Brewing up a dream

Sampson said owning a business was not on his radar – especially since his education and early career focused on chemistry.

After earning a PhD in chemistry from the University of California-San Diego, Sampson said he and his wife, Brooke, returned home to the Midwest to start the next chapter of their lives.

“My wife and I grew up just outside of Chicago and decided to move back to the Chicagoland area to be closer to friends and family,” he said.   

However, just a year later, Sampson said they decided to move to Door County.

“I had worked in the field of chemistry in Chicago for that year,” he said. “I was kind of burned out on lab science and wanted to change. We also wanted to change from the busy city life.”

Sampson said the move also provided Brooke with an opportunity to expand her decades-old online venture into Sister Golden, a Fish Creek brick-and-mortar shop highlighting her mother’s prints and home décor.

Until he met his wife, Sampson said he never visited Door County.

“Brooke’s parents had a vacation home up here, and she spent her summers in Door County,” he said. “She worked at Fred & Company, a premier clothing store, which was right next to where Sister Golden is located in Fish Creek.”

Years of vacationing in Door County preceded their move north, and though he was initially along for the ride, Sampson said the region gave him a fresh perspective on one of his hobbies.

“When I was out in San Diego, I started home brewing, and really got into craft beer,” he said. “I continued to home brew once we moved back to the Midwest. Once we moved up [to Door County], I fairly quickly got connected with the owners of Door County Brewing Co., and they hired me.”

At first, Sampson said he helped with branding, lab work and quality control at the brewery.

However, over time, he said he became involved in nearly every part of the operation.

“I ran all of the production for four years,” he said. “They gave me a shot without any kind of professional brewing experience. I learned a lot there.”

Sampson said he has always had a love of beer – drawn to the intersection of science and creativity, enjoying both the process of crafting the beers and the imaginative side of branding and marketing them.

“I think it fulfills a lot of my creative niches, not to mention the scientific process – that’s what I really gravitate toward,” he said.

Launching Sway in July 2022, Sampson said he initially managed both the start-up and his full-time position at Door County Brewing, learning quickly how to balance the two.

“Once it was Friday afternoon, I would run over and open up Sway and serve customers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

As Sway grew, Sampson said he was able to transition into running the business full-time and purchased a two-story building in Baileys Harbor in March 2023.

Before owning the building, Sampson said he was only able to rent the basement because, at the time, a restaurant occupied the upstairs.

“We didn’t have an indoor space [for customers during that time],” he said. “[But] luckily, the restaurant decided to close during the winter and sold us the building in March 2023, which is now home to Sway.”

Sampson said the name “Sway” came after some creative thought, chosen as a simple, one-word name that appropriately represented the business and its focus on easy-drinking, balanced beer.

“We wanted to focus on very simple, easy-drinking, balanced beer, and a name that represented a type of motion: Sway,” he said. “To me, it serves as a reminder to enjoy the little things in life and not take life too seriously – to kind of live in the moment. It relates to our beer and to life in general.”

As the business continued to grow, Sampson said the bakery and kitchen prongs of Sway were added – with the full production space allowing all three operations to run seamlessly under one roof.

From its thoughtfully crafted beers in the taproom, to its scratch-baked pastries in the morning bakery, to its new-age street-style fare from the afternoon kitchen, Sampson said Sway highlights storied ingredients from the Midwest in everything it does.

In the three-plus years of operation, Sampson said they’ve learned that customers value not just Sway’s wide range of food and beverage offerings, but also the welcoming and vibrant atmosphere of the space. 

“I think that because there are three different aspects to our business, there is something for everyone in our community,” he said. “Of course, the brewery is the main thing that we started, but people [also] really gravitate toward our morning bakery, [which] opens at 7:30 a.m. We also have this very creative afternoon kitchen menu. Even if they don’t drink beer, customers come in and really enjoy themselves.”

Seasonal flow

As the sole owner and investor of Sway, Sampson said he manages a team of four full-time employees and several part-time front-of-house staff – all while navigating the seasonal rhythm that separates the busy summer months from the slower off-season.

“It’s an interesting kind of shift,” he said. “From May through October, we work five days a week. It’s kind of go, go, go in the busy season.”

Sampson said they focus on getting as much done as possible during those five days, making the most of the traffic that comes in.

“We aren’t open seven days a week like some businesses,” he said. “We may eventually [do that], but just for myself, two days off is really important for me.”

In the off-season, Sampson said Sway operates on a four-day schedule, Thursday through Sunday, allowing the team a chance to slow down and recharge.

“I don’t brew as much, and I let some of the beers ferment longer,” he said. “Everything is on a slower schedule, which actually benefits the [taste of the] beer.”

Furthermore, Sampson said Sway closes each year in mid-February for about six to eight weeks, serving as a breather to get ready for the upcoming busy season.

“This serves as a reset before the next busy season arrives,” he said.

Sampson said Memorial Day weekend is a major kickoff for the season, but demand really ramps up in early June once schools are out. 

Sampson said transitioning mentally from the busy season to the off-season can be challenging, as it requires adjusting to a slower pace and letting the natural rhythm of the business take over.

“My brain takes a while to slow down and realize there’s nothing I can do about the fact that people aren’t coming up here, and [to know] even when we’re not busy it’s fine,” he said. “It’s not like we did something wrong – it’s just a natural progression.”

Sway’s location – just a couple of blocks off the highway – Sampson said, offers both advantages and challenges.

“We have some drive-by traffic, but not as much as if we were on one of the two main highways that go up and down the peninsula,” he said. “Our customers really need to have heard about us, or they looked us up.”

Though it’s slightly removed from the main streets, Sampson said Sway is still considered part of the main business district of Baileys Harbor.

“People love that we’re a little tucked away and are a more relaxed spot compared to some of the places that get mobbed in the summer,” he said.

Sampson said Sway also hosts a variety of large events that attract crowds. 

“Our events are mostly focused on new beer releases or seasonal beer changes,” he said. “We host a big Oktoberfest event in late September. We always have a big party for our anniversary, which is in the middle of July. We also occasionally have live music that we sprinkle in a few times every month. We also celebrate the season with our holiday market event.” 

Sway’s full- and half-pour options, Sampson said, let customers mix and match flavors, with samples available of any beer they want to try.

In addition to being served on tap at Sway’s Baileys Harbor location, the brewery produces some of its beer for wholesale, though Sampson said this makes up only a small portion of the business.

“We do distribute some of that locally, mostly just to the bars in both kegs and in cans, to sell distributed to a couple of retail stores,” he said.

Grain focus

Sampson said Sway Brewing + Blending recently gained national attention with a feature on CNN’s docuseries “Breaking Bread,” which explores global cultures and the human connection centered around the universal staple of bread.

“I think they were looking for newer businesses [that represented] a kind of classic Door County spot that also had a very heavy utilization of local grains,” he said. “I [also] think they were trying to avoid going to strictly bakeries, because I think they had done that in the show many times.” 

In the lead-up to the feature, Sampson said he connected with the producers via multiple Zoom calls, explaining the concept behind Sway and the synergy between its brewery, bakery and kitchen – all of which rely heavily on local grains.

“Some of the greens in the beer can be found in our baked goods and are utilized on our kitchen menu as well,” he said. “They thought that was really unique.” 

Sampson said the film crew visited Sway in June, and the episode – hosted by Green Bay-native actor Tony Shalhoub – aired in early November of last year.

“[Shalhoub] is very genuine,” he said. “He’s a very nice guy.”

Being featured on the CNN show, Sampson said, highlighted an important aspect of Sway’s business: its commitment to a larger mission of using locally sourced grains.

“Sway Brewing + Blending is a part of an organization called the Artisan Grain Collaborative, which is a Midwest-focused organization that connects every end of the food chain from a grain standpoint,” he said. “The organization seeks to connect farmers with bakers, brewers, restaurants and distributors, along with other people in the middle of the food supply chain.”

For more on Sway Brewing + Blending, head to Facebook or swaybeer.com.