Photos: Old World Wisconsin's Brewing Experience
The new facility that brews beer over an open fire opens Wednesday.
Old World Brewing
Rob Novak, coordinator of the new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse at Old World Wisconsin, will make beer Wednesday through Sunday. Each batch takes about six hours to make but typically ferments in wooden half-barrels for three weeks.
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An antique wheelbarrow is displayed inside Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Dan Freas, director of Old World Wisconsin, displays and interior photograph of the former Wittnebel’s Tavern which will be incorporated into the historical site’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Old World Brewing
Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse, right, and the former Wittnebel’s Tavern, left, share a hill at the state historic site south of Eagle.
Old World Brewing
After being moved in three pieces from Old Ashippun, the former Wittnebel’s Tavern is back together again and is about to undergo a major restoration.
Old World Brewing
Visitors to Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse explore the former Wittnebel’s Tavern, which was moved in 2021 to the state historic site. Work to restore the tavern will begin next week. The facility is scheduled to open in 2023.
Old World Brewing
Rob Novak, coordinator at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse, uses a wooden paddle to stir a batch of beer being made in a kettle over an open fire.
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Dan Freas, director of Old World Wisconsin, exits the fron door of the former Wittnebel’s Tavern which will be incorporated into the historical site’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Rob Novak, brewmaster at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse, works inside the new attraction at the cultural history site in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Rob Novak, brewmaster at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse, works inside the new attraction at the cultural history site in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Old World Brewing
Hops used in the brewing process at Old World Wisconsin are grown on site.
Old World Brewing
Rob Novak checks a half-barrel that is used to ferment beer at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse.
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Rob Novak, brewmaster at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse, pictured inside the new attraction at the cultural history site in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Old World Brewing
Rob Novak, coordinator at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse, transfers boiling hops into a strainer that drains into a copper trough called a coolship. Brewing at the new facility that opens Wednesday near Eagle is done over a fire with beer fermented in wooden half-barrels.
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An antique ladie’s room sink from the former Wittnebel’s Tavern is pictured at Old World Wisconsin’s new Brewing Experience and Brewhouse in Eagle, Wis. Tuesday, June 7, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Workers with Findorff Construction and Heritage Movers work to prepare the former Wittnebel Tavern in Old Ashippun, Wis. for a move to Old World Wisconsin Tuesday, May 4, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wittnebel's Tavern on the Move
Workers with Findorff Construction and Heritage Movers work to prepare Wittnebel's Tavern in Old Ashippun last week for its move Tuesday to Old World Wisconsin. The tavern, constructed in 1906, will become part of a new Brewing Experience exhibit at the state historic site near Eagle.
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Workers with Findorff Construction and Heritage Movers work to prepare the former Wittnebel Tavern in Old Ashippun, Wis. for a move to Old World Wisconsin Tuesday, May 4, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Workers with Findorff Construction and Heritage Movers work to prepare the former Wittnebel Tavern in Old Ashippun, Wis. for a move to Old World Wisconsin Tuesday, May 4, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
In May, two sections of Wittnebel's Tavern in Old Ashippun headed south on Highway 67 near Oconomowoc. The 27-mile move to Old World Wisconsin took about 95 minutes.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
Bystanders watch just before two of the three sections of Wittnebel's Tavern along Highway 67 in Old Ashippun begin a trek Tuesday to Old World Wisconsin.
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The former Wittnebel Tavern in Old Ashippun, Wis. is readied for transport to Old World Wisconsin by workers with Heritage Movers Tuesday, May 11, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
The roof of Wittnebel's Tavern leaves Old Ashippun Tuesday, on its way to Old World Wisconsin. The 27-mile trip took about 95 minutes.
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Workers with Findorff Construction and Heritage Movers work to prepare the former Wittnebel Tavern in Old Ashippun, Wis. for a move to Old World Wisconsin Tuesday, May 4, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
The roof of Wittnebel's Tavern had a tight squeeze as it entered Old World Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
The Brewing Experience building is under construction at Old World Wisconsin and could begin brewing later this year. Wittnebel's Tavern will be placed to the right of the building.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
Dan Freas, site director at Old World Wisconsin , walks through the Brewing Experience building under construction at will be home to brewing at the historic site.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
Dan Freas, site director at Old World Wisconsin, points out two massive fireplaces that will be used to heat kettles of beer in the new Brewing Experience building under construction.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
The new Brewing Experience building at Old World Wisconsin will have large windows offering panoramic views to the west.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
Dan Freas, site director at Old World Wisconsin, shows off the Brewing Experience building under construction at the state historic site. Wittnebel's Tavern will be placed next door to this building later this year.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
Wittnebel's Tavern will be placed between Brewing Experience building, left, under construction, and the round historic Clausing Barn at Old World Wisconsin.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
The first floor of Wittnebel's Tavern rolls through the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest on Tuesday.
Wittnebel's Tavern on the move
The roof of Wittnebel's Tavern makes its way south on Highway 67 between Dousman and Eagle.
Wittnebel's Tavern
Jim Draeger, far right, an architectural historian with the Wisconsin Historical Society, sits at the bar of Wittnebel's Tavern in 2017 and speaks with family members about the business that was founded in 1906.
Wittnebel's Tavern
Frank and Fanny Wittnebel founded their tavern in 1906 along what is now Highway 67 in Old Ashippun. They are seen here in this photo from the 1940s holding their grandson, Jim Wittnebel, next to a stack of wooden beer crates from the Lithia Beer Co. in West Bend.
Wittnebel's Tavern
This aerial photo from the 1940s shows the quaint tavern and home of the Wittnebel family in rural Dodge County.
Brewing beer over a wood fire and fermentation in oak barrels will help tell the brewing heritage of Wisconsin.
Acclaimed Lake Mills author Margot Peters had a life filled with biographies and novels, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 and died Saturday. She was 89.