New brewpub in Port.
Is there anything more Wisconsin than opening a brewpub in an American Legion Hall that hosts an annual smelt fry?
Maybe this: opening a brewpub in an American Legion housed in a former brewery.
This fall, Adam Draeger will open Inventors Brewpub at 435 N. Lake St. in Port Washington. The building, directly across from the water treatment plant, is the former home of the 1847 Lakeside Brewery. After Prohibition, the brewery eventually became Old Port Brewing Co., makers of Premo, whose tagline was “the beer that made Milwaukee furious.”
American Legion Post 82 will be his landlord.
Draeger, a former brewer for The Yak & Yeti in Arvada, Colo., and his wife, Erin, wanted to return to their home state. Both are engineering physicists who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Inventors Brewpub plans a grand opening in September for poutine and burgers. Visitors can get a sneak preview on Fish Day on July 17. Until he begins to brew his own beers — when licensing paperwork is filed and he gets the OK first from the federal government and then the state — Draeger will serve various craft beers including upcoming collaboration brews he has planned with The Fermentorium and Riverside Brewery in West Bend.
After that, Draeger said to expect a variety of beer styles that are representative of the four world brewing epicenters: Germany, England, Belgium and America.
Quick note: This week, Sweet Mullets, N58W39800 Industrial Road, Oconomowoc, announced it will convert from a brewpub to a brewery beginning July 1. That means the taproom will no longer be able to sell hard liquor or wine. Friday and Saturday:
Urban Harvest Brewing, 1024 S. 5th St., looks ahead to its second year in business with “Cele’Brew’tion 2,” with the release of a new seasonal “Alice, Who the Helles Alice” and tappings of 2016 Whiskey Porter, Big Ring Bourbon Red and Imperial Chocolate Whiskey Stout. Several of the metro area’s anticipated breweries will be represented in a program about progress and planning at 6 p.m. Friday in the Urban Harvest theater. See the event page at Facebook.
Friday: Lake Country Beer Garden opens for its first season. The beer garden at 339 W. Maple Ave., Hartland, will serve beers from Sweet Mullets in Oconomowoc from 4 to 9 p.m.
Friday: The Traveling Beer Garden makes a stop at Kletzsch Park, 6560 N. Milwaukee River Parkway in Glendale. The keg is tapped at 4 p.m.
Friday: Lakefront Brewery celebrates at Nessun Dorma, 2778 N. Weil St., with a 30th anniversary tap takeover. Look for classics like Riverwest Stein and specialty brews like Black Friday. Saturday: Forest Home Cemetery, The Pabst Mansion and the Milwaukee County Historical Society will join forces for Brunch with the Barons, an interactive event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Forest Home Cemetery. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 6 to 18. Children 5 and under are admitted free. Advance tickets are available from Forest Home Cemetery at (414) 6452632 or at foresthome preservation.org.
Saturday: Surly Brewing’s Surly Gives a Dam joins the Hunger Task Force from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. to work the Hunger Task Force Farm, 9000 S. 68th St., Franklin. Volunteers are welcome and congratulated for a job well done with free Surly beer after the work is done.
June 14: Sing with your favorite brew in hand and your favorite brewer next to you. Drink Brew City (also known as the Milwaukee Craft Brewers League) hosts Drink Brew City Karaoke Night from 6 to 9 p.m. at Third Space Brewery, 1505 W. St. Paul Ave. See the event page at Facebook.
June 14: Wisconsin Foodie and Company Brewing host “The State of Craft Beer” book signing, beer dinner and brewery tour from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Company Brewing, 735 E. Center St., according to the Facebook event page. Tickets are $99, which includes the book, and are available at BrownPaperTickets.com.
June 14: Toppling Goliath, the highly respected Iowa brewery, takes its first steps toward Wisconsin distribution with a party at Champps Brookfield, 1240 S. Moorland Road, Brookfield. The official state launch features the
first time Scorpius Morchella, an imperial India pale ale, is tapped in Wisconsin.
June 17: Good City Brewing celebrates its first year with a block party from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the brewery/taproom, 2108 N. Farwell Ave. The party includes two new special release beers and the return of others; live music starting at 2 p.m. with The Quilz and ending the concert sequence with Fever Marlene at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. VIP tickets, which include the special release beers, are $45 and are available through the Pabst Theater Group.
June 17: The Explorium Brewpub leads the brewing in the Old World Wisconsin Historic Brewing Program from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Brewers use equipment and techniques from the late 1800s and heirloom hops and barley grown at Old World Wisconsin. Old World Wisconsin is at W372S9727 Highway 67, Eagle. Admission is $19 to $10.
June 17: Phil Eck, author of “Remembering Fred Miller,” will sign the book about his grandfather from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the MillerCoors Girl in the Moon gift shop, 4000 W. State St., on the MillerCoors campus.
June 17: The Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival takes over Bayshore Town Center in Glendale (well, parts of it) so beer lovers can sample breweries from all over the state. General-admission tickets are $45 in advance online.