USA, WI: Foxtown Brewing to launch on November 6

From custom dog food to custom beer, the Nieman family knows special crafting – and they are about to prove it with the new brewery, the Greater Milwaukee Today reported on October 1.

Foxtown Brewing, 6411 W. Mequon Road, Mequon, will open Nov. 6 with 12 to 14 craft beers on tap, a 7.5-barrel brewhaus and a full kitchen with food made 85 percent from scratch.

The building, constructed in 1857 and once the eminent Opitz and Zimmerman Brewery, is now in the hands of Thomas Nieman, president of Mequon-based Fromm Family Foods LLC, with General Manager Kyle Smith by his side. The new brewery will feature only Foxtown craft beers and sodas. The beer is currently being brewed in Germantown by Foxtown’s brewmaster Nate Bahr. In the second quarter of next year, the beers will be brewed on location.

There will be a large variety of IPAs and lagers, and even classic German beer styles. Nieman also wants people to have fun and see all the ways you can drink beer. Blueberry or raspberry beers, Foxtown can do that.

“You can’t put fruit in a beer,” joked Nieman. “What are you drinking that for? We want to make it so people have an enjoyable experience and can try new things. They can have different flights.” “You can’t be ashamed when you have a pink beer in front of you,” kidded Smith.

Not only beers, Foxtown will have special craft sodas including a root beer and orange soda.

Relationships with local farmers and other breweries are important to Nieman. One connection he has is with 'Wisconsin Foodie’s' Kyle Cherek, who helped Nieman recruit his executive chef Joe Suarez. Suarez assembled a full kitchen of food comprised almost entirely of fromscratch ingredients – even down to their own nuts. His menu includes burgers, salads, sandwiches and a Friday fish fry.

“We’re going to be doing an upscale gastro pub, a lot of scratch cooking, everything is a bit more elevated. It isn’t going to be just loaded French fries and a burger,” said Suarez. “We’re shooting for above and beyond to meet our clientele, to meet the building, to meet the beer.”

At first glance, the building seems rather modern, but take a step inside and the building’s long history resonates. Besides the exposed brick, wood with the original bark aligns the walls, and a second story where a chute once sent grains to a kiln.

But nothing may be more exciting than what rests below the wood floors – the caves where Opitz-Zimmerman had beers lager in 1857. Two levels of caves will eventually be open for tours, but for now will house barrels.

Next door, “Foxtown Hall” is still under construction, but will house even more fun with a banquet hall, another restaurant, a retail area, a bar, a tasting room, rooftop terraces and a courtyard garden area with fire pits. The additions are expected to be done next year. Nieman also discussed a butcher, deli and bakery for the future.

Foxtown Brewing is currently hiring for a wide array of positions.

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