Brewing up a Milwaukee beer museum

Growing up in the seventies and eighties, one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Milwaukee is the opening of “Laverne & Shirley“.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Schlemiel! Schlemazl! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!”

While the Shotz Brewery where Ms. De Fazio and Ms. Feeney worked was fictional, multiple beer pioneers actually made their mark in The City of Festivals.

But there’s no museum to commemorate this brewing heritage. That may change soon, however, as two different groups are working toward opening museums.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It’s the beer that made Milwaukee famous. But that’s not just a slogan; it’s a fact. It was Milwaukee’s beer that gave our town its reputation.

That’s a part of our history worth remembering, which is why a brewing museum in Milwaukee makes so much sense.

Two groups in the city are working to create a museum. The Museum of Beer & Brewing, headed by Jim Haertel, hopes to open a museum in one of the buildings he owns at the old Pabst Brewing works. The other group, the Milwaukee Beer Museum, has a storefront on S. 5th St. Both groups have memorabilia and a dream. But it will take a major backer to create such a museum.

Surprising, to me anyway, is that the 800-pound gorilla in Milwaukee, Miller, isn’t behind at least one of these endeavors or have their own plans.

Museum of Beer and Brewing

Milwaukee Beer Museum