Good Beer Bars and/or Micro Breweries in Milwaukee Wisconsin?

Alright HBT friends. You gave me great places when I was in AZ. Now my job is sending me to Milwaukee Wisconsin. I really only have 2 nights to find a place to drink that fine beers of that state. So where's a good place to go? Also I'd like to bring back some bottles since we can't get Bell's, Founders etc here in Reno. So bottle shops are also on my list. Any help would be awesome.

The only beer bar in Milwaukee that I know and I have been to is Sugar Maple (mysugarmaple.com). They had a pretty good selection and it rotates often. The time I was there was after a big snow storm and they were out of a lot of stuff because the shipments got pushed back.

As for bottles, check out Discount Liquor in Milwaukee or Three Cellars in Franklin. Discount will have the best selection but Three Cellars has a completely WI section. I was just at Three Cellars last weekend and the selection was low but I managed to find some good bottles in there.

For breweries, there is Sprecher and Lakefront. I prefer Lakefront. Honestly, the Miller tour is pretty interesting too. If you have time, its not a bad thing to see.

If you're there on a Friday night, Lakefront brewery has a really fun fish-fry (polka band, beer, fish fry, good stuff). Their tours and beer are good too.

As for bottles to bring home, you can only get New Glarus in Wisconsin, so look for those. They have some interesting Unplugged beers (their experimental line) which are a bit hit or miss (The apple ale was a bit dissapointing. They had a sour one that was pretty good. There is also a Golden Strong w/ brett that is interersting). I like most of their regular beers. They tend to be on the sessionable side of the spectrum, but I like that.

Sugar maple is a great pick. Its in Bay View. There are quite a few fun bars/restaurants down there.

Lakefront recently made it into a Top 10 list for brewery tours. The list was published in the Chicago Tribune and covered breweries all over the US.

I've heard that Roman's Pub is amazing, although I've never been there.

It's not technically a beer bar, but Von Trier is a great place. I used to frequent it when I was in Milwaukee for college. There was some talk about them being foreclosed on a few years back, so I don't know if it is still around.

+1 on Lakefront. I've been on the tour a couple of times. It's worth the $6. I heard somewhere that they had done some remodeling recently to make the tour better.

If you are around on a Friday night, I'd also recommend the Lakefront Fish Fry/Brewery tour. I used to do that at least once a month.

You have to come check out AJ bombers in downtown Milwaukee! They won food wars and have a pretty good beer selection. Trust me go in sit at the bar order a Milwaukee burger and a spotted cow. They have this awesome peanut delivery system that sends peanuts through a bomb type delivery track it's really awesome!! You won't regret it.

Make sure to have a New Glarus Spotted Cow while you are there. It's a 'Farmhouse Ale' (as they call it), i find it more like a kolsch, but it's pretty amazing. Only available in WI, so drink it up while you're there.

Wow....as a Milwaukee-an Spotted Cow is like the last thing we think of ordering. Sugar Maple, Romans, and Lakefront are all good choices. THe Bomb Shelter has the cities largest "total beer" selection and Stubby's has the cities largest "on tap" beer selection. The person that said New Glarus was all you can get is so wrong it's not even funny. Founders, Bell's and so many more are available. Have fun!!!

Three words:

Water Street Brewery

I just did a beer bar tour last week in Milwaukee, hit up a lot of bars, Romans is by far my favorite, with Sugar Maple in 2nd.

whatsleftofyou said:

I've heard that Roman's Pub is amazing, although I've never been there.

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LOVE that bar. There is another bar close by to Roman's, I think it's called Palm Tavern.

If I'm downtown and don't want to drive, I go to Milwaukee Ale House. The beer is pretty darn good and the food is really good. It's walking distance downtown. Water St. Brewery used to be pretty good, but lately the beer just isn't the same. I'd give it a "fair" rating at best.

Across the street from Water Street Brewery is a bar called Bar Louie. Sometimes they have great beer on tap, and the happy hour is like 4-9PM with $3 pints of great beer. Or at least it was, the last time I was there. Lakefront IPA is my all-time favorite Milwaukee beer, so make sure you get some!

The Lakefront tour is great.

Discount Liquor (I think it's on Oklahoma, but please google it and check!) has great prices and selection. There's another place in Menominee Falls that Sause works at, but it's far from downtown so it depends on where you're staying.

For bottles, grab New Glarus Belgian Red, New Glarus Unplugged, or just about anything from New Glarus actually! Lakefront has some wonderful beers, and I love their Cream City pale ale, and of course the IPA. Capital Brewery's Maibock is very good and their Blonde Dopplebock is fantastic! (the rest of their beers are "meh"), Tyranea has some great beers.

Forgot about Von Trier's. It is open (was there about a month ago) and while it might not have a huge selection, it does have a good selection. Great place to drink.

And as someone who lived in Milwaukee for many years, I'd totally drink some Spotted Cow. Good stuff.

Palm Tavern is a great place for scotch - don't think I've ever drank beer there, but I do love that place.

Saw you mentioned you want to hit some liquor stores as well. Might I recommend Discount Liquors located at 5031 West Oklahoma Avenue. It's a shady little building, but they have one of the best selections of beer I've ever seen. As a matter of fact it was the only place I bought beer when I lived in Milwaukee.

Echoing Lakefront and Sprecher. New Glarus has some really good beers but also some of the very worst I have ever had. I would recommend Fat Squirrel and if you find any Staghorn grab it!

Maybe not for beer but defiantly worth checking out in DT Milwaukee is a bar called "The Safe House". The main entrance is in a side ally off of a main ally. (Google it! It is not clearly marked.) You walk in and there is someone at a desk with a buzzer to let people in IF you know the password. If not, they make you do some silly stuff and let you in anyways. The inside is done up like a cold war era spy pub, spinning chairs, secret doors and closed circuit TV cameras. This is actually going to be one of the stops on my bachelor party in a few months. I believe they also serve food.

If you have the chance, in Old world Milwaukee, is a great restaurant called Maders...Yummy German food! Not far from there is an old world spice shop, I do not remember the name but it is a very unique place...The only place I have ever had a free candied ginger sample...

Have fun!

If I was going Sprecher and New Glarus would be on my must see list. I'd love to try those beers.

Alright NBT friends I just made it back from my trip to Milwaukee and I figured I should first off thank you all for your recommendations. The trip was much faster than I thought it would be and I wasn't driving, so I was very limited to what I was able to do and drink. But here's what I ended up doing.

We arrived Monday night so I got the people I traveled with to go to the Milwaukee Ale house for dinner. They are having a Bock Fest right now, so I first tried their house bock which was good, fairly low abv for a bock which made is fairly sessionable. I then had their Pull Chain Pale Ale which I was happy with also. Lastly I had their seasonal bottle selection which was Solomon Juneau Extra Pale Ale. Again it was good, similar to their Pull Chain Pale Ale but it was still tasty.

Then last night I was at the mercy of the group from work. We went to the restaurant called Boulder Junction Charcoal Grill. The steak I had was very good but I was happier that they had a few New Glarus beers and a Lakefront brewery beer available. So needless to say I tried all of them...I tried the New Glarus Spotted Cow, Cabin Fever and Totally Naked. I enjoyed the Spotted Cow a lot, ended up having 2 last night. Cabin Fever was a Honey Bock which was tasty but I wouldn't want more than one. Totally Naked I wasn't impressed with. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good Pilsner, but this one wasn't great to me. Lastly I had the Lakefront Riverwest Stein Beer. This was decent Amber Ale. I enjoyed it just fine.

Then I flew home this morning. So no bottle shops for me which was a bummer but my next business trip is in April to Portland Oregon so I'll be a happy camper that week. Thanks again for the recommendations!!!

Ugh. You blew it. Palm Tavern, Roman's pub, and Sugar Maple are MUSTS!!! And they are all on the same street, only a few blocks apart! And Bier Stub in G-town is awesome, too, but a bit of a hike from there.

Bernie Brewer said:

Ugh. You blew it. Palm Tavern, Roman's pub, and Sugar Maple are MUSTS!!! And they are all on the same street, only a few blocks apart! And Bier Stub in G-town is awesome, too, but a bit of a hike from there.

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Glad I saw this post. I am out to visit my son in MKE next week and was going to equine as to where to go for a beer (or 2,3,...). See that Sugar Maple & Palm Tavern are highly regarded and non-smoking (didn't know about Roman's) so I will make certain to visit them while I am there.

Any recommendations for a good German restaurant & fish fry place(s)? Thanks. Montanaandy

Christ, I just saw that autocorrect changed "enquire" to "equine" in my post LOL

The two "landmark" german restaurants in downtown Milwaukee are Mader's and Karl Ratzch's. Both are neat places, I've had great food at both, Mader's might have a slightly better beer selection.

Fish Fry's are Fish Fry's. Everyone claims they know of a certain "great" place, but they are all the same. It's whitefish, oil, and a racing heartbeat no matter where you go. Lakefront Brewery has one most Friday's, I believe.

Lakefront had the best tour in MKE but now that has to go to the Milwaukee Brewing Co. on south 2nd ST.

unlimited beer consumption and they encourage you to stick around and play their beanbag toss game in the front, good beer and they really strive to be green, they had alot more beer variety (at least a dozen styles) than I had realized before I took the tour

All bars in WI are supposed to be non smoking now fyi.

If you want to do a fish fry right, goto lakefront. You do the tir and then eat fish fry and enjoy great beers. If I was only here for one weekend, that's where I would go. Two birds, one stone.

xsists said:

All bars in WI are supposed to be non smoking now fyi.

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Yep. State law. One I happen to disagree with, but that is a discussion for the debate forum. But if a non-smoking bar is what you are looking for, no worries.

Horny Goat Brewery has some good beers too.

Certainly is hard to top Lakefront though like others have said. I spent a lot of Saturday afternoons there, and even now when I go it always seems like we're running into people we know.

Also for a bar, Stubby's Pub & Grub looks like it has a great beer selection. I haven't been there yet but I've heard good things. Milwaukee Ale House has tons of beers on tap but I haven't been there in a while either to know how it's holding up.

Thanks for all of the tips guys. Figure I will hit Lakefront on Fri. for beer/fish fry and try to hit some of the other places (Sugar Maple, Palms, Romans, Horny Goat, etc.) on another night(s). Also will try to visit either Mader's and Karl Ratzch's too. All set! Thanks, Montanaandy

Montanaandy said:

Thanks for all of the tips guys. Figure I will hit Lakefront on Fri. for beer/fish fry and try to hit some of the other places (Sugar Maple, Palms, Romans, Horny Goat, etc.) on another night(s). Also will try to visit either Mader's and Karl Ratzch's too. All set! Thanks, Montanaandy

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I've been wanting to go to Mader's for ages. Let me know how you like it!