Visiting Wisconsin - What beers to try?

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Another vote for Vintage in Madison. It's like a brewpub for serious beer geeks. They do complicated brews that hb'ers can appreciate like a Flemish Barleywine and some others I can't remember right now. And their standard beers like the oatmeal stout and red IPA are excellent.
 
Stay away from Capitol Brewery - the guy HATES home Brewers. Furthermoor is average - Central Waters has excellent beer - Potosi is "good" but they have the Brewing Museum which is fantastic.

I work in a craft brew store and know most of the beer - Hinterlan makes good beer - Tyrenenna in Lake Mills has very good beer and Ale Asylum has extreme but good beer.

ANYTHING made by Minhaus is pure garbage. Sprecher is macro-ish

O'so and Lake Lewie are how and of Course New Glairus and their soon to be gone Black Top IPA are Golf medal winners.

BTW - Spotted Cow is wedding beer. It's what you give people who drink Miller but want to be classier. Good but . . .over hyped.

Funny story about Vintage. When the old brewery went belly up they purchased the brewery and found the reason the old places beer started to taste like ass. There was a leak in the cooling and brown water was being leaked into the beer as it was being cooled.
 
Funny story about Vintage. When the old brewery went belly up they purchased the brewery and found the reason the old places beer started to taste like ass. There was a leak in the cooling and brown water was being leaked into the beer as it was being cooled.

The old owner owns a Pub in Janesville (the best one in town actually), I'll have to bring that up next time I see him.
 
I like New Glarus' Nut Brown Ale. And I think I enjoyed a few others. But what stands out most in my mind with New Glarus is that I so frequently dislike their beers that I'm afraid to try them. It's about 50/50 that I crack it open, take a few sips, walk off into the tall grass and pretend I'm taking a pee but dump it out. It just takes the fun out of drinking their beers. If I have to drive I can only have two or three beers, and 50/50 odds that I'll enjoy them is pretty bad.

NG seems too infatuated with being unique that they can't brew something normal.

I strongly suspect that there is profit to be made simply because drinkers are willing to try something new. People will call it good - only because they've never had anything like it before.

To me a good beer is one that I would be willing to have again, and again, and again.
 
I like New Glarus' Nut Brown Ale. And I think I enjoyed a few others. But what stands out most in my mind with New Glarus is that I so frequently dislike their beers that I'm afraid to try them. It's about 50/50 that I crack it open, take a few sips, walk off into the tall grass and pretend I'm taking a pee but dump it out. It just takes the fun out of drinking their beers. If I have to drive I can only have two or three beers, and 50/50 odds that I'll enjoy them is pretty bad.

NG seems too infatuated with being unique that they can't brew something normal.

I strongly suspect that there is profit to be made simply because drinkers are willing to try something new. People will call it good - only because they've never had anything like it before.

To me a good beer is one that I would be willing to have again, and again, and again.

It's funny how people's tastes are so different! I like very one of New Glarus' beers, except for the Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart as I hate fruit in my beer. But I really like all of the ales especially, and most of their lagers are top notch even though I am not a lager drinker as a rule. I'd take a New Glarus over just about any other offering of the same style! I don't think of any of their styles as out there or "new" as they are pretty traditional beers for the most part.
 
I've never had an issue of consistency with NG's beers.

Their "Unplugged" series is pretty hit or miss....more misses than hits, for me anyway....
 
Big fan of Lakefront's Riverwest Stein, and they have the best tour imho. It is a ton of fun and you get to drink a lot.
 
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