Pabst Brewing returning home to Milwaukee with new brewery on site of the original

Pabst Brewing Co. is returning home to Milwaukee.

The Los Angeles-based beer company said Wednesday it will open a new brewery on the site of its original Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee.

Pabst closed its Milwaukee brewery nearly 20 years ago. Pabst plans to sign a multi-year lease on a building within the former Pabst brewery complex near downtown Milwaukee and expects to open the brewery to the public in summer 2016.

The microbrewery would brew many of Pabst's pre-Prohibition brands as well as new craft beers inspired by recipes from the company's archives. The brewery will include a tasting room, beer garden and a restaurant and bar.

Pabst was founded in 1844 in Milwaukee. Current owner and CEO Eugene Kashper calls the new brewery "a long-awaited return to our roots."