Things to do in Madison?

Taking a trip up to madison, wi. next week, tuesday and wednesday. Any suggestions? So far the only plan I've made is going to this restuarant called Old Fashioned, which serves all wisconsin beer and food. How's the capitol buildin? Better yet, how's capitol brewery?

Old Fashioned is nice, but it's a bit too "yuppy" for me. They do offer a cool "mix bucket" for I think $15. It has 5 wisconsin beers, all randomly picked.

Madison is a great place for beer enthusiasts... I make a point to go there every few months.

A few places off the top of my head...

Great Dane (for their food. The beer is good, but there's better)
Ale Asylum is a MUST.
The Malt House
If you're into the traditional german enviornment, check out Essenhaus. They don't have the greatest beer selection, but the atmosphere is great.

I would say check out the farmer's market, but you won't be there on the weekend.

I love the "ALE Asylum", and the capital brewery is worth the trip. Better like lagers at capital. you have New Glairis about 1 hour south. It's an asoum sight 28 mill worth of stainless. No one will say a word to you during the whole trip, it only takes an hour to go throught the brewery, it's all self guided. Then there is mincahs in monroe about 2 hours south, good tour, the bottling line is very nice.

yodalegomaster said:

I love the "ALE Asylum", and the capital brewery is worth the trip. Better like lagers at capital. you have New Glairis about 1 hour south. It's an asoum sight 28 mill worth of stainless. No one will say a word to you during the whole trip, it only takes an hour to go throught the brewery, it's all self guided. Then there is mincahs in monroe about 2 hours south, good tour, the bottling line is very nice.

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Yes, New Glarus is an incredible brewery. Just don't go there for only the beer. Go there if you want to take the tour and check out the town. New Glarus has a few good beers, but most of them are just average in my opinion. Plus, they're easily obtainable in Beloit which isn't too far from you in Freeport.

Madison is awesome - I went there for a Badgers game and a buddy's bachelor party last year. Tons of great bars. Echoing SoCo above, make sure you get to Essen Haus for a legit old-school German style beer hall.

Echoing others...

Old Fashioned www.theoldfashioned.com - Yeah, it's real Wisconsin designed for tourists. You're a tourist so you'll love it. A better choice though is...

The Great Dane www.greatdanepub.com - Its Madison's oldest brew pub. There are three locations but the one by the Capital is the original.

Brocach www.brocach.com - Also on the Capital Square. Irish pub, not a brew pub, but the food is awesome and filling.

Ale Asylum www.aleasylum.com - Awesome beer. Head brewer has a long history in the Madison area. Not much food, but that's not why you go there.

The Malthouse malthousetavern.com - This is my buddy's bar. Incredible selection and nice patio if its still warm out. It's on the corner of E. Washington and Milwaukee. The sign still says "Union Tavern" because in the last 2 years he hasn't got around to changing it. He has 18 taps and hundreds of bottles. Beer geeks are always present and the bar staff is the most knowledgeable you will find anywhere. Emphasis is on Belgian beers. This bar and Ale asylem are both on the east side of Madison.

Vintage www.vintagemadison.com - On the west side, this is our newest brew pub. It used to be JT Whitney's but this is much better.

Capital Brewery www.capital-brewery.com - Also on the west side, the tour and beer garden are worth the trip just to see. Its technically in Middleton, but who cares. And while you are on the west side...

The National Mustard Museum www.mustardmuseum.com - You just have too. They used to be in Mt Horeb across the street from the Grumpy Troll brewpub, but they moved about 6 months ago. Huge collection of musturd and you can attend Poupon U. I haven't seen the new digs, but its probably worth the stop.

The Capital is worth a look. Around the square there is the Veteran's museum and Wisconsin Historical museum. Both nice.

From the Capital, you can walk down State street, which is a primarily pedestrian mall that connects the Capital to the U.W.-Madison campus. So on one end you drink with politicians and on the other with students. As you can imagine, the prices drop as you move from the capital to the campus.

The primary section of the U.W. campus www.vip.wisc.edu has plenty of things to do as well. Not far from the end of State street is the Memorial Union. A great thing to do on a sunny day is to grab a beer and sit out on the terrace overlooking the lake. The building itself is incredible, too. You can also get Babcock hall ice cream. Its made elsewhere on campus, but is about a 1.5 mile walk from the union.

Two pieces of advice, when you are downtown, park your car in a ramp and just leave it. There isn't a lot of parking, so trying to move your car will frustrate you. Too many 1 way streets and road construction.

The other is the "beltline". Everyone will give you directions that start with, "Head to the beltline..." but then you will discover that there are no signs anywhere saying "beltline". The beltline is basically highway 12 and its 4 to 6 lane road that runs along the south side of town. On the east it is hwy 12/18 on the west it is hwy 12/14.

Enjoy. I do every day.

I'll be in Madison this weekend, I have family down there so I'm down there pretty often. The post above me pretty much captured all of my thoughts but I'll just add to a few things.

Regarding the Great Dane, they have a burger there that was named the Best Burger in Wisconsin by Food Network. It's the Great Dane Brat & Bacon Pretzel Burger. It consists of a burger patty topped with a brat patty, bacon, and cheese all served on a homemade pretzel bun. The last time I was there I got it with a buffalo patty rather than a burger patty, I'd recommend the burger patty. The buffalo patty is smaller than their regular burger so the brat overpowered every thing else on mine. My brother got the regular one and I thought his was a lot better.

The Capitol Building is one of the prettiest in the country. It kind of looks similar to the US Capitol Building on a smaller scale. I'd say it's well worth visiting while you are in town. Especially considering State Street runs right up to it.

If you can find tickets from a friend or Criagslist, the Quivey's Grove Beer Fest is this Saturday in Verona (just SW of Madison).
http://www.quiveysgrove.com/beerfest/beerfest2010.htm

BraveSirRobin said:

I'll be in Madison this weekend, I have family down there so I'm down there pretty often. The post above me pretty much captured all of my thoughts but I'll just add to a few things.

Regarding the Great Dane, they have a burger there that was named the Best Burger in Wisconsin by Food Network. It's the Great Dane Brat & Bacon Pretzel Burger. It consists of a burger patty topped with a brat patty, bacon, and cheese all served on a homemade pretzel bun. The last time I was there I got it with a buffalo patty rather than a burger patty, I'd recommend the burger patty. The buffalo patty is smaller than their regular burger so the brat overpowered every thing else on mine. My brother got the regular one and I thought his was a lot better.

The Capitol Building is one of the prettiest in the country. It kind of looks similar to the US Capitol Building on a smaller scale. I'd say it's well worth visiting while you are in town. Especially considering State Street runs right up to it.

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I'm glad someone else knows the "awesomeness" of that sandwich. I went to the Great Taste this past year, and I always stop into Great Dane before I go since they offer the shuttle and have great food. I had that sandwich this time around and was blown away. I also had a heart attack the next day...but it was worth it. Just kidding about the heart attack of course.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

I'm glad someone else knows the "awesomeness" of that sandwich. I went to the Great Taste this past year, and I always stop into Great Dane before I go since they offer the shuttle and have great food. I had that sandwich this time around and was blown away. I also had a heart attack the next day...but it was worth it. Just kidding about the heart attack of course.

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I agree, The Great Dane is a good place to eat at. They don't have beer that will blow you away, but it's still pretty darn good stuff and they have quite a few styles on tap. The food and atmosphere are both fantastic as well.