breweries in Wisconsin

I'm headed back stateside to Wisconsin in march. My buddy is wanting to take me brew touring while I'm home. Was wondering if anyone knows any good breweries in Wisconsin to tour? I am also looking for brew pubs to visit.

http://www.wisconsinbrewerytours.com
http://www.mybrewpub.com/brewpubs/usa/wisconsin/

New Glarus, Great Dane.

Sprecher in Glendale, WI.

Oso in Stevens Point, they have 40 Wisconsin beers on tap and a homebrew shop next door. Lake Front in Milwaukee is great; you will never experience a more funny brewery tour. +100 on New Glarus; do the hard hat tour on Fridays. Its $18 and you will need to make an appointment, but the tours are done by Dan or Deb themselves.

what section/area of the state are you going to be in?

In Madison, definitely check out Vintage Brewing - easily the best brewpub I've ever been to. They make the standards (oatmeal stout, amber, etc.) very well and, unlike other brewpubs, they do beer geek stuff too like RIS, Flemish Barleywine, etc. Also check out the Ale Asylum and Tyranena.

In Milwaukee, Lakefront does an awesome tour (there's a fish fry on Friday nights). Check out Milwaukee Brewing Co, too. By all means, go to the Sugar Maple and Palm taverns. They have amazing selections of American craft brews. The Lowlands restaurants (Cafe Centraal, Cafe Hollander, Cafe Benelux) have great selections of European beers.

Here's a nice note from Yooper about Green Bay's Titletown brewing, too. Cheers!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/favorite-brewpubs-261603/

http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=milwaukee
http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=madison

It really depends on where you're going- Wisconsin is a pretty big state. :cross:

There are new up-and-coming breweries even up in the Northwoods now. I have a friend who owns a nano in NE Wisconsin, and he normally doesn't do tours but I could help arrange something. Even in Eagle River, there is a new microbrewery with a tap room.

In the bigger cities, there are usually brewpubs and/or breweries.

In Milwaukee, the Miller tour is great. Also, I love the Lakefront Brewery tour. On Friday nights, they have a fish fry and polka band, and that's lots of fun.

If you're in Sheboygan, there's a casual place in the American Club called the Horse and Plow. I was pleasantly surprised by the great selection of taps and bottled craft beer there and especially surprised at the fact that they carefully age barleywines and RISes. Had a six-year-old Old Stock Ale on my last visit. It's definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

To add to what others have said:

The New Glarus "Hard Hat" tour was phonemenal make reservations early

Romans is a good spot if your in the Bay View area. They have a rad cellaring program so you can find stuff there most places don't have.
http://www.romanspub.com/beersel.htm

Oso in Stevens Point, they have 40 Wisconsin beers on tap and a homebrew shop next door.

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^^^ This... One of my fav places to be. Small brewery along with Central Waters in Amherst, WI but they make pretty good beer. New Glarus of course, and there are plenty of brewpubs along the way. It is Wisconsin afterall

Zamial said:

what section/area of the state are you going to be in?

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Beaver Dam. Its in Dodge county about 30 minutes north of Madison. Haven't been home in years. Military has kept me overseas since 2005 and Im off to Germany next. I love the travel but cant wait to visit

Thanks everyone for the responses. Im gonna hit as many as I can. 30 days back home I should be able to see a bunch

Ale Asylum in Madison is pretty good. If you are in Madison do not miss Fromagination...one of the best(and most expensive) cheese shops I have ever been to.

Another recommendation for Ale Asylum. They just opened their new facility only a couple of months ago. It is quite nice. Some of my favorite local beer.

Karben 4 brewing just opened a couple weeks ago in their old building. Worth checking out since its so close to Ale Asylum.

if you're up in the Chippewa Vally Leinenkugles in chippew falls and then there is a small micro in eau claire called the Lazy Monk http://www.lazymonkbrewing.com/

The La Crosse City Brewery, which used to be the G. Heileman Brewery, has a fun tour. I lived in La Crosse for two years, and had friends who worked hospitality. Being a minor, I was grateful for their lax enforcement of ID laws, and they always brought the overages home. Their house was always stocked with tallboys, and I rarely paid for a drink my sophomore year. Pearl St. Brewing, also in La Crosse, makes a fine brew, but I'm not sure they offer tours.

Now, my office is a mile north of Karben 4 (just off I-90), and I haven't been. Additionally, I haven't been to the new Ale Asylum location, which is a half-mile away from Karben 4. If I didn't carpool, I'd have frequented both by now. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a micro in Verona, which is a few miles out of Madison, but I have no proof.

I believe Mount Horeb has a brewery, and Monroe definitely has one, possibly two.

I wish there were a brewery-town high-speed rail network in Wisconsin.

New Glarus
Ale Asylum
And, if you are in LaCrosse - go to the "Bodega" - they have a sick selection of beer - basically 400-500 beers.

I second, third, fourth or whatever Ale Asylum in Madison but if you have the time, Lakefront in Milwaukee is the best tour I have ever been on. The Sprecher tour is so, so. But they do a reserve tasting for $15.00 where you get different beers than the regular tour and each is paired with a local cheese. That is fun! Also, if you are into spirits at all, Great Lakes distillery in Milwaukee is an awesome tour and they make absinthe.

andvari7 said:

Pearl St. Brewing, also in La Crosse, makes a fine brew, but I'm not sure they offer tours.

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Pearl st. does do tours.

I have had beer from and/or been to all the breweries mentioned so far in this forum.
Without hesitation, my #1 recommendation is Central Waters in Amherst.
Their beer in bottles is so-so (6 packs anyway). At the brewery- they blew my mind a little bit.
I suspect that they don't have a great shelf life and aren't turned over enough at the local stores because while at one time I really liked their Mudpuppy Porter in bottles, every time I've purchased it after that I've been disappointed. But ALL of their beers were fantastic on-site.
I think the fact that their stronger 4 packs are all really good in bottles proves the point as those likely aren't as diminished by too much time on the shelf.
The bonus of hitting up CW is that O'so and Stevens Point are nearby. O'so also makes lovely beers, and the SP tour was much more enjoyable than I'd expected.

IMHO this is a must:

- Lakefront in MKE and ask to go down the slide.
- Oso's get a 6er of Nighttrain and ask for the ingredients to make it (they will sell it to you like a kit extract to AG) then brew it and then do a side by side to see how you did.

Zamial said:

IMHO this is a must:

- Lakefront in MKE and ask to go down the slide.
- Oso's get a 6er of Nighttrain and ask for the ingredients to make it (they will sell it to you like a kit extract to AG) then brew it and then do a side by side to see how you did.

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Haha! The slide is the old slide from Bernie Brewer's Chalet into the giant mug. You remember that from County Stadium, right? Its all at Lakefront now.

Even if you can't do the slide, you can definitely go into the Chalet and you can get a picture with the giant mug. There are taps underneath the Chalet for a mid-tour top-up.

Yooper said:

It really depends on where you're going- Wisconsin is a pretty big state. :cross:

There are new up-and-coming breweries even up in the Northwoods now. I have a friend who owns a nano in NE Wisconsin, and he normally doesn't do tours but I could help arrange something. Even in Eagle River, there is a new microbrewery with a tap room.

In the bigger cities, there are usually brewpubs and/or breweries.

In Milwaukee, the Miller tour is great. Also, I love the Lakefront Brewery tour. On Friday nights, they have a fish fry and polka band, and that's lots of fun.

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Where in NE Wisconsin Yoop? My brother lives in Norway, might give me a place to stop on the way up to see him!

Brady's Brewpub in New Richmond, the Tornado IPA is my favorite and they have great food...cool place for in this neck of the woods. Hit that on a circle to tour to Angry Minnow in Hayward (actually haven't been impressed with their beer and check their hours) and then South Shore in Ashland and have some of the best beer cheese soup in the state. Make a side trip to Superior/Duluth, couple of great brewpubs there.

9Frogs said:

Where in NE Wisconsin Yoop? My brother lives in Norway, might give me a place to stop on the way up to see him!

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He's over in Pembine. He doesn't do tours, but if he's around he'll sell you some beer I'm sure! If you're coming when I can go over, he'd give a tour I'm sure. He had the first nanobrewery in Wisconsin, and it's in a log cabin. It's pretty cool.

Otherwise, his beer is available in Iron Mountain.

Great Dane and Bull Falls in Wausau. Stood up in a wedding at the Great Dane, can't say I found a beer that stuck out, but I was drinking it by the gallons with lots of drunk friends. I can say there wasn't a beer that I disliked though. Haven't made it to Bull Falls yet.

I was just at Bull Falls last night. They have about 9 beers on tap at all times and it changes pretty regularly. Their nut brown and 5 star ale is most popular, however, I prefer their Bourbon Barrel Oatmeal Stout. Overall a pretty nice place.

if you're in Beaver Dam, head down 151 to Columbus and check out Hydro Street, then go to Madison, and hit Karben 4 and Ale Asylum- both on the northeast side. If you venture further in town, there is One Barrel, as well as House of Brews (on the east side).

nbrack said:

if you're in Beaver Dam, head down 151 to Columbus and check out Hydro Street, then go to Madison, and hit Karben 4 and Ale Asylum- both on the northeast side. If you venture further in town, there is One Barrel, as well as House of Brews (on the east side).

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I just got to Germany after 30 days in Beaver Dam. I hit up Hydro Street which had awesome beer and live entertainment(Food needed work), Karben 4 and Ales asylum we hit up the same day. We also went to a bunch more while home, Thanks for the suggestions. We went into one barrel but couldn't make it to the bar it was so packed.