The Hofbrauhaus microbrewery and restaurant, which Cincinnati Restaurant Group Inc. plans to open in the former Pabst brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee, should open by summer of 2008 said Jim Haertel, president of Brew City Redevelopment Group LLC.
"We will be brewing beer here again at this site in 2008," he said.
Haertel owns the former gift shop, visitor’s center and corporate offices at 901-17 W. Juneau Ave. in the former Pabst brewery complex. The Hofbrauhaus would occupy the first floor of the two joined buildings that Haertel owns.
The Hofbrauhaus could be the first major tenant to open in the redeveloped Pabst brewery. Zilber Ltd. founder Joseph Zilber purchased the rest of the 20-acre property and has begun demolition and remediation work to transform the site into a new neighborhood of residences, office space, stores and restaurants. Zilber plans to gut and repair many of the historic buildings in the complex and sell them to other developers. He also plans to redevelop some of the buildings himself.
The second floor of Haertel’s buildings would be occupied by the Museum of Beer and Brewing, which should also open next year, Haertel said. The museum could open later this year in a temporary location in Milwaukee Brewing Co.’s Second Street Brewery at 613 S. Second St., which is owned by Jim McCabe, owner of the Milwaukee Ale House.
Preliminary plans for the upper floors of Haertel’s buildings call for a 32-room boutique hotel, which Haertel describes as a beer-themed bed and breakfast inn. The hotel will take longer to develop and would open later, he said.
A courtyard inside of Haertel’s buildings will be used as a beer garden for the Hofbrauhaus. To take advantage of the beer garden, Cincinnati Restaurant Group wants to get the Hofbrauhaus open before the weather gets cold next year, Haertel said.
