Beer is brewing again in Port

After more than 16 years, beer is again being brewed in Port Washington.

Adam Draeger, owner and head brewer at Inventors Brewpub, received his brewing license from the State of Wisconsin last week and has been busy making beer ever since.

“Everything old is new again,” said Draeger, who was an award-winning brewer in Colorado before moving to Port. “It’s really cool to be brewing here.”

That’s especially true since the brew pub is located at the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Hall — a building that once housed Old Port Brewing Co., which produced Premo beer, aka “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Furious.”  

The site has historically been a place for brewing beer. In 1847 — a year before Wisconsin became a state — Lakeside Brewery opened there. In 1905, the business became the Port Washington Brewing Co.

After Old Port Brewing Co closed in 1947, many of the old buildings were torn down but the Legion hall remained standing.

The last breweries operating in Port were Harbor City Brewing and the Port Washington Brewing Co., which opened in 1996.

Since he received his license, Draeger has been busy working on 10 beers. They include a pale ale, porter, extra special bitter, blonde ale, hefeweizen, wee heavy, India pale ale and a Berlinerweiss-style wheat beer, as well as a no-style beer he calls tender loving zombie and a beer inspired by orange marmalade on toast.

The names of the beers are inspired by inventors, aka the Edison IPA and Sikorsky Imperial Stout, and local places, such as Seven Hills Pale Ale.

The beers will likely make their debut over the course of four days, and Draeger said he hopes to begin serving them in time for his first trivia night on Wednesday, March 21.

Draeger said he plans to eventually make craft sodas on site as well.