Inventors may be brewing by March

Construction of the new Inventors Brewpub on Port Washington’s lakefront is proceeding on schedule, and owner Adam Draeger said Tuesday he’s hoping to begin brewing beer there in March.

That would allow him to have a soft opening of the restaurant and entertainment space in April, giving him and his staff time to prepare for the busy summer tourism season.

When he opened Inventors in the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion hall in July of 2017, he offered commercial beers, but that won’t be the case with the new brewpub, Draeger said.

“I’m going to open with my own beers,” he said.

Draeger said crews have been working hard to ensure the building is completed on schedule.

“Ever since we got our final approvals from the city, we haven’t lost a day,” he said.

The building was enclosed to allow for construction to continue in winter, and Draeger said crews have been doing a lot of interior work in recent weeks.

The plumbing and electrical system have been installed, the fire suppression system is completed and the walls framed, he said. Insulation is in the walls and they’ve been closed in with drywall.

“They’re almost done drywalling,” Draeger said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.

Draeger said that he expects the tanks to go into the brewery beginning in about two weeks, adding installation should take about six weeks.

Work on the exterior siding is beginning, he said, but he cautioned people that the color of the steel and cedar siding will take time to develop.

“They need to be patinaed,” Draeger said. The steel siding will only take about two months to develop its patina, but the cedar siding will take the better part of a year to develop its final color.

While construction has been stressful, Draeger said, “the excitement is just enough to counteract the stress. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”