One of the Midwest’s best craft breweries is opening a new location at ground zero of Milwaukee’s brewing history.

Central Waters Brewing, based in the small Central Wisconsin town of Amherst, is looking to open by late summer or early fall in the 149-year-old former First German Methodist Church at 1037 W. Juneau Ave. in the former Pabst complex just north of Downtown. The space had been the Milwaukee reboot of the historic Pabst brand in Milwaukee from 2017 until it closed last December.

Central Waters brings impeccable brewing chops to the project, particularly with a hugely successful line of high-end barrel-aged beers. It made about 9,600 barrels of beer last year, making it the eighth-biggest independent craft brewery in Wisconsin by production....