USA, WI: New Glarus Brewing on track to complete new facility by fall 2026

In October 2024, New Glarus Brewing broke ground on its 65,000 square-foot expansion of its Hilltop building, 2400 State Highway 69, New Glarus, including its brew hall, parking lot, new Sugar River Distillery and hospitality facilities, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on November 3.

One year later, the $55 million construction project, led by Wisconsin-based Keller Construction, is on budget and on track to be completed by the fall of 2026. Allotting time to move in and hire new employees, the new facilities are scheduled to open to the public in early summer of 2027.

“We started construction with our retail space, built into the hillside at the lowest level, and simultaneously started our Brew Hall addition at the top,” Katherine May, the project’s lead architect and construction manager, said in an email. “We change elevation about 60 feet as the design marches up the hill in a line, connecting the flat area at the bottom of the hill to our existing facility at the top of the hill. And we recently celebrated the milestone of these two building ends finally connecting.”

The Brew Hall is where New Glarus keeps its eight massive copper kettles, which came from Germany. During the construction of the Brew Hall, the kettles were craned into the site first, and the building was built around them. These new kettles will double New Glarus’ brewing capacity once the new facility opens.

While the company is celebrating the one-year milestone of the project, May said there is still a long road ahead.

“In fact, the building is still being designed as it’s constructed,” May said. “Recently, we were designing the custom Tasting Room Bar, which will be a beautiful space with sail vault ceilings, 100-year-old stained glass and wood paneling.”

While the construction site is closed to the public, the brewery’s Riverside facility is open for visitors for self-guided tours, tastings and shopping at the gift shop.

The Riverside facility, 218 Hoesly Drive, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.