Ope! Brewing Co. opens Appleton taproom, could spur College Ave. growth

Ope! Brewing Co. opened its taproom Friday in Appleton, which includes an indoor and outdoor taproom and sand volleyball courts, with much more to come. Aug. 21, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Fox Valley has a new spot to grab a beer and perhaps play a game of sand volleyball or cornhole while drinking.

Ope! Brewing Co. gave its first pours on Friday, located on College Avenue between the mall and downtown.

“It’s really a nice community center whether you’re trying to get a group gather, we don’t just serve beer,” said co-owner and Head of Brewing Operations Kyle Ciske.

Only the indoor and outdoor taprooms, sand volleyball courts and cornhole are open, but eventually the project will include much more. Eventually, visitors will be able to play pickleball and golf on simulators, get their dogs washed at a separate building and listen to live music. And their company or best friend just may host a business event or wedding here. The entire site will include five buildings across 2.35 acres.

Ope! broke ground in January, its second location. The other is in West Allis, just west of Milwaukee.

“Whether it’s music or league night or trivia or whatnot, just we have a lot of programming that draws many different types of people into the tap room,” said Ciske.

The new Ope! location is in a part of the city that you wouldn’t exactly call vibrant. Local officials see it as a catalyst to attract more business, especially with the county planning to redo the road in a few years, which it hopes would in turn draw more business.

“I think the secret for any redevelopment is to have mixed use space,” said Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson. “So you have people coming to the area for any number of reasons.”

Ope! could help drive housing and other commercial development.

“I am very, very grateful, very delighted that a company is going to build ahead of [the road] project,” said Nelson.

Ope! is very delighted to be serving up beers to the people of Appleton.

Hours are currently limited, but it is open all day both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Eventually, it’ll be open seven days a week.

Ope! Brewing Co. opens Appleton taproom, could spur College Ave. growth

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