In 1906, Schmidt replaced the original wooden brewhouse and built a new six-story structure of red brick from Chehalis, with elegant arches, copper roof and Tenino sandstone trim, designed by The Vilter Manufacturing Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This grand building, known as the Old Brewhouse Tower, [BP2] has captured the imagination of the public and the City of Tumwater for its modern-day potential. The Old Brewhouse Tower and adjacent historic buildings north of Custer Way comprise 32 acres and approximately 150,000 square feet. A more modern building used for keg storage fronts Custer Way (156,000 square feet). 

The importance of the Old Brewhouse Tower was recognized in 1978, when the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the mid-1990s, the city adopted special zoning and shoreline designation for the tower to encourage its preservation and redevelopment. 

Over the years, the Old Brewhouse fell into disrepair. In 1995, it was named to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation's Ten Most Endangered Properties List, and in 2003, moved to the Trust's Endangered Properties List.

In 2017, the city began work to rehabilitate the tower.

More recently, the city is working with regional partners to address issues such as infrastructure and environmental mitigation on the historic property site.  A brownfield study of the Old Brewhouse Tower has been completed, funded by a grant from the state Department of Ecology to facilitate environmental mitigation for the brewery site. This work is part of a broad re-imagining of its potential for center of cultural and historical activity, envisioned to include private and public development to include educational, historical and recreational resources, retail stores, and dining establishments.