Madison Wisconsin

Fellow home brewers,

I will be in Madison Wisconsin next week and will be staying at the Madison Concourse Hotel; I am pretty excited. So, what do I need to hit up beer related? What are the best breweries? My wife has class all day I am am going on a beer adventure in good ol' Madison; my first time there actually. So, your weigh-in means a lot.

Thanks to all,

New Glarus is about 30 miles south of Madison. The brewery there is very good. $6 for a pint of beer and you get to keep the glass. The hilltop brewery is meant to be walked around. You can see their boil kettles, fermenters and bottling line. I highly recommend taking a trip down there. You basically buy a beer and walk around the brewery. Obviously your access is limited but you can see almost everything. There is even a window looking into their lab.

Capitol brewery is on the west side of town. I have never been there but they make good lagers.

There are at least 2 really nice brew pubs in Madison. The Vintage has a good variety of really good beer. I love their build your own burger.

There is also the Great Dane. I would recommend the one on the east side and eat upstairs. It has a nice view of the Capitol over the lake.

There is also a Great Dane location downtown Madison. On the Capitol square I would visit The Old Fashioned. They have a very extensive collection of Wisconsin brewed beer. Something like 150 Wisconsin beers total with 50 on tap. About a block and a half away there is a place called Coopers Tavern. They serve beer from around the country and world. Close to 100 different kinds with 30 or more on tap.

If I had to narrow it down I would say The Vintage and New Glarus Brewery. Then the Old Fashioned because it will give you a good selection of local beer.

This is all I can think of off the top of my head.

Yes, please please go to New Glarus, it's among my favorites. Drink a Spotted Cow for me.

I beleive there is a great beer bar in Madison called the Weary Traveller. I've never been but I hear it's worth going to. Definitely go to New Glarus. They are one of the best breweries in the country in my opinion. Capital Brewery as stated above makes qutie a few "classic examples" in the BJCP guidlines and is worth checking out as well.

I recommend the Golden Ale at New Glarus, it's a lot like Orval.

Ale Asylum... way better beer than New Glarus.

+1 to Old Fashioned, New Glarus and Great Dane. Another great bar is the Malthouse. It has a ton of beers, they seem to specialize in Belgians. On the Capitol square, Cooper's Tavern has a pretty good tap menu.

By the way, I personally find Capital's beers to be pretty unimpressive except for some of their seasonal and limited release beers. They make some good bocks. Oh and their "Hop Cream" is awesome. YMMV.

I love Ale Asylum, but would not call their beers way better than New Glarus. To each their own, but I love them both. It is a shame you are not here in May, when Black Top (2011 Black IPA Gold winner at GABF) and Dancing Man (Heffe) are released. Golden Ale is a good call, as it is a brewery only beer.

The Malt House on the East Side is the gathering spot of the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild but does not open until 4:00 (LINK).

New Glarus, Vintage, Ale Asylum, and Capital are all great choices for the Brewery/Brew Pub experience. Capital is literally 5 minutes from my house and has a great outdoor beer garden. High quality lagers and bocks.

The Old Fashioned on the square boasts at least one representative sample from nearly every Wisconsin brewery or brew pub in the state on tap or by bottle.

Finally, a personal favorite is Brasserie V, a Belgian style gastropub that is small, but on par or superior to many bigger city variants in food quality and beer selection. A great place for lunch and better for dinner, but they do not take reservations and fill up quickly. The pork belly and pheasant breast are both fantastic. Matt Van Ness did a great service to locals when he hired Rob Grisham as head chef and gets many hard to find beers from all over.

Shoot me a message if you have any questions (it is my home town, after all!).

Thanks to all for the great info! I will begin my research and keep you all posted.

bhchrist said:

I love Ale Asylum, but would not call their beers way better than New Glarus. To each their own, but I love them both. It is a shame you are not here in May, when Black Top (2011 Black IPA Gold winner at GABF) and Dancing Man (Heffe) are released. Golden Ale is a good call, as it is a brewery only beer.

The Malt House on the East Side is the gathering spot of the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild but does not open until 4:00 (LINK).

New Glarus, Vintage, Ale Asylum, and Capital are all great choices for the Brewery/Brew Pub experience. Capital is literally 5 minutes from my house and has a great outdoor beer garden. High quality lagers and bocks.

The Old Fashioned on the square boasts at least one representative sample from nearly every Wisconsin brewery or brew pub in the state on tap or by bottle.

Finally, a personal favorite is Brasserie V, a Belgian style gastropub that is small, but on par or superior to many bigger city variants in food quality and beer selection. A great place for lunch and better for dinner, but they do not take reservations and fill up quickly. The pork belly and pheasant breast are both fantastic. Matt Van Ness did a great service to locals when he hired Rob Grisham as head chef and gets many hard to find beers from all over.

Shoot me a message if you have any questions (it is my home town, after all!).

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Thanks a lot! I will definitely hit you up if I have any questions.

Cheers!!

I'm not a huge fan of Capital's beers, either, but they have a few tasty ones. Especially seasonals. If you can find it, and I'd go out of my way to find this one, try their Platinum Blonde Doppelbock. Very, VERY tasty! (Don't drink it ice-cold!!!) Extremely smooth, malty and honey-like, creamy mouthfeel, low bitterness.

Shoot... I LIVE in Madison, and haven't visited all of those places, yet. Time to take a local road trip!

I can definitely vouch for Vintage Brewing Company, too. They have excellent microbrews that they make themselves. Usually about a dozen different types or so. I've only been to the one on the southwest side of town, but the burgers are excellent (Look out for the Grilled Cheese Cheese Burger! It's a monster!), and the beer is great. Ask for sample sizes so you can try them all! Definitely my go-to place for great burgers and beer.

The Great Dane may have some good beers, but I rarely go there. The food at the one in Fitchburg is so-so. I haven't been downtown, yet.

Other eateries for beer-drinkers would include: Cooper's Tavern, Old Fashioned, Jac's (on Monroe St.), Brasserie V, and Quivey's Grove.

If you're looking for good liquor stores to stock up on goodies, look for Steve's Liquor stores. They usually have nice selections of local microbrews, seasonals, and other stuff. Great service and knowledgeable staff.

It is a shame you are not here in May, when Black Top (2011 Black IPA Gold winner at GABF) and Dancing Man (Heffe) are released. Golden Ale is a good call, as it is a brewery only beer.

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Have to agree with that. Black Top and Dancing Man are 2 of their best beers. Right now they have about 4 seasonals including Road Slush, which is my wife's favorite. You should still be able to find some of the Barleywine around. You will probably see people push New Glarus quite a bit for 2 reasons. One, they make a wide variety of good beer. Two, they are Wisconsin only.

Woodmans has a very good selection of beer but not a really knowledgeable staff. They also only accept cash or debit.

I just checked and it appears that the Madison Concourse Hotel is within walking distance of the downtown Great Dane, Cooper's Tavern and the Old Fashioned. You are also within a short cab ride of the Malthouse, Brassiere V and the Vintage. I have not been to the Malthouse or Brassiere V but have heard good things about both.

My parents live in Madison and every time I go up there I spend about a half hour walking around woodmans looking at their beer selection. I tend to pull bottles out and read them, which pisses my wife off.

If you feel like driving down to Milwaukee you could give the Sprecher tour a go. You get to have a lot of samples afterwards. There are also a few brew pubs downtown Milwaukee.

I second the motion for Capital Brewing over in Middleton.

You should check out the Madison Beer Week website too. You won't be here for that but they have a list of places that are participating. It's a who's who of good beer bars in Madison.

The Madison Concourse is a nice hotel... Walking distance to either the Great Dane or to the Old Fashioned. I would always go to the Dane when in town, but after one visit to the Old Fashioned I prefer it. I think the food is better, and while it's not a brewpub, it's a great place to visit to get all the local WI breweries. Huge tap list.

If you walk out the front door of the hotel, turn left, walk to the end of the block, turn slightly to your left and cross the street, you should be standing at the door of a place called Zander's. I don't know what they have for beer, other than Guinness, but the food was really good and reasonably priced.

Edit: Apparently Zander's closed. It appears Moe's Tavern and Grill now occupies that location.

Thanks to all of you for being so helpful with information. I will now begin to formulate a plan based on what you have all said. Ill post an update when I get back. Wish me safe travels

Cheers!!

Goodyear said:

If you walk out the front door of the hotel, turn left, walk to the end of the block, turn slightly to your left and cross the street, you should be standing at the door of a place called Zander's. I don't know what they have for beer, other than Guinness, but the food was really good and reasonably priced.

Edit: Apparently Zander's closed. It appears Moe's Tavern and Grill now occupies that location.

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Yeah, it did. Run by the same guy, who also ran Frida's across the street. Same deal. Decent food, cheap beer, maybe a tap or two of something decent. Cheap shots a couple nights a week I think.

Oh, and one more thing. I don't know if it's your thing or not but I really like Maduro's, a cigar bar right off the Capitol. They always have some cask beer on firkin (usually something malty to complement cigars but I've gotten Two-Hearted on cask too), some good taps and a few good bottles. Bartenders are cool and knowledgeable too.

I was going to say, if you go to New Glarus stop back through Mt. Horeb at the Grumpy Troll.

My favorite beer in Madison is at Vintage. http://vintagebrewingcompany.com/

Personally I would say avoid Capital. Ale Asylum and New Glarus well worth the trips, as well as the other bars mentioned on here. New Glarus is sort of like the Willy Wonka chocolate factory of beer. Sorry I didn't read all of these posts, but if the Malt House wasn't mentioned I'd consider that, too.

Update:

My wife and I arrived here in Madison last night around 7. We checked in and get the room situation under control and went right to the OldFashioned. It was pretty amazing! Wait staff, locals, and atmosphere was quite pleasant. First thing I ordered, along with fried cheese curds, was a New Glarus Spotted Cow. It was a little more bland than what I was expecting from a farm house ale. It was worth the $4.00.

I followed the Spotted Cow up with. Flight of:

Ale Asylum - Hopalicious = Great Beer!!
Ale Asylum - Bedlam = Great beer. Belgian IPA. Smelled very piny and resin-y. Taste was soft with a nice Belgian smash of the tongue. The yeast is more than likely Trappist.
New Glarus - Cabin Fever Honey Bock = again, a nice beer but nothing that blew me away.

The winner of the night......... Bedlam!! Highly recommended.

Stay tuned more to come.

Bedlam was one of my favorite local beers last year along with Black Top and Lake Louie's Mosquito Beach (California Common style and, alas, another May release). I am not typically a fan of Belgian IPAs but the Citra hops are a perfect pairing with the Belgian yeast in Bedlam.

Check out Tommy Porter's Lake Louie's Warped Speed Scotch Ale, a well regarded and high quality scotch ale. Also, his Dino's Dark just came out, and it is a higher hopped, "Spring" Porter. Like Ale Asylum, Lake Louie is another area only offering.

Finally, Page Buchanan, a Madison Homebrewer, has his community brewery, House of Brews, up and running. I have had tried two or three of his brews on tap and all have been solid. Vintage usually has at lease on House of Brews offering available.

Sorry for the cool down in weather, it had been in the upper 60s to mid 70s recently.

+1 to House of Brews. Page seems like a great guy and gave me his recipe with no reservations, down to exact % grist and hop schedule. The Prairie Rye Kolsch is really good and the Scotch Ale is pretty good too.

new glarus brewing is a pretty sweet place. they make great beer there and have a great beer store. there isnt much of a tour because you just show yourself around and there is one person who walks around answering any random questions you have. the tour is worth it but I wish they had guides to talk you through everything.

If you are still looking for suggestions, Madison Beer Review has a great summary of basically all the best places to get craft beer in and around Madison.

First thing I ordered, along with fried cheese curds, was a New Glarus Spotted Cow. It was a little more bland than what I was expecting from a farm house ale. It was worth the $4.00.

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I really would call it more of a cream ale than what I would think of as a farmhouse ale. Honestly Spotted Cow is my least favorite New Glarus beer by far.

new glarus brewing is a pretty sweet place. they make great beer there and have a great beer store. there isnt much of a tour because you just show yourself around and there is one person who walks around answering any random questions you have. the tour is worth it but I wish they had guides to talk you through everything.

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They do have a paid tour but it is only on Fridays and you have to reserve a spot well in advance.

I love Spotted Cow for the simple fact that it has allowed them to brew Enigma, Black Top, Dancing Man, ..........

I will still drink it in a heart beat over a macro offering. It is definitely more of a Kolsch/Cream Ale.

I agree with it being bland... seems like most of the people who crave it live out of state, creating the demand. Bring on the lions! Lol

Skip New Glarus. They suck and so does Capitol. Both are now semi Macro brewery's. Unless you like what USE to be craft beers. Go to Ayl Asylum and The Great Dane for real beer.

Check out The Malt House on East Washington.

OH. If you have a road trip, yea, New Glarus is cool.

Update:

Tuesday my wife went to work so I spent my morning walking around and just exploring; Dora would be jealous. I found a. Ice little shop called Fromagonation, a nice little local artisan cheese store. While there, I met a woman who is from SE Ohio (where I am also from) small world.

I had lunch at the Capital Ale House. I had a great pulled pork sandwich with a Manoomater Wild Rice Doppelbock. It was a great beer. Malty, complex, but slightly warming. This beer was much better than anticipated. After my sandwich was scarfed down I ordered the Capital (Munich) Dark. This beer is a diamond in the rough. I thought this beer was malty, complex, and had a great balance. A BIG Kudos on this beer.

For dinner, my wife and I went to Johnny Delmonaco's. Nice food, we both had steak, and I had the New Glarus Two Women. It was darker than expected. Not a bad brew at all, quite the quaffer.

After dinner, our night cap was spent at The Great Dane. This brewery is great with an amazing atmosphere!

I had a flight of 6:

Speedway IPA - not bad but nothing special.
Marzen - I have had better but good.
Old Glory American Pale - this was a nice balanced beer but not as hoppy as I prefer in a pale.
Crop Circle Wheat - very nice beer, simple yet impressive.
Hopsconsin Red Ale - very hoppy beer. All locally grown hops here in Wisconsin. This was the best beer I had at the Great Dane.
Lastly, I had the Black Watch Scotch Ale on firkin cask. Very nice beer. I fell like the cask takes a good beer and makes it great!

My two recommendations. The Scotch on cask and definitely Hopsconsin.

The winner of yesterday was a tie between the Capital Dark and the Hopsconsin.

Cheers!!

It is fun reading an out of towner's experience. I know I can sometimes get spoiled or overlook some of the really good options available in the Madison market. I just enjoyed a Capital Dark last night after not having one in way too long. Capital has had their issues in recent years, but they are really good in their wheelhouse of German style bocks and lagers.

Thanks for sharing.

Grinder12000 said:

Skip New Glarus. They suck and so does Capitol. Both are now semi Macro brewery's. Unless you like what USE to be craft beers. Go to Ayl Asylum and The Great Dane for real beer.

Check out The Malt House on East Washington.

OH. If you have a road trip, yea, New Glarus is cool.

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I am sorry but this is plain dumb. New Glarus is hands down the best brewery in the state and one of the best in the country. Fact. It isn't taste bias, or anything else. Based on quality, creativity, commitment to community and all else, they are just the best we have. Deb seems like a total biotch by all accounts, but the beer stands on its own. Good beer becomes popular because it is delicious and at an awesome price point.

Capitol makes some of the best lagers made in the US. There price point is dumb.

Ale asylum is great.

The great dane is a nice place but the beer is meh for me. I know a lot of people like it.

I would check out the Weary Traveller for an awesome cheap meal sometime.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

I am sorry but this is plain dumb. New Glarus is hands down the best brewery in the state and one of the best in the country. Fact. It isn't taste bias, or anything else. Based on quality, creativity, commitment to community and all else, they are just the best we have. Deb seems like a total biotch by all accounts, but the beer stands on its own. Good beer becomes popular because it is delicious and at an awesome price point.

Capitol makes some of the best lagers made in the US. There price point is dumb.

Ale asylum is great.

The great dane is a nice place but the beer is meh for me. I know a lot of people like it.

I would check out the Weary Traveller for an awesome cheap meal sometime.

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Thanks for writing what I was thinking.

I love Spotted Cow for the simple fact that it has allowed them to brew Enigma, Black Top, Dancing Man, ..........

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100% agree with that.


I also love to hear an out of towner's experience of our beer. The Great Dane is pretty good for what the do but I find them to be kind of conservative with their styles.

Capital has had their issues in recent years, but they are really good in their wheelhouse of German style bocks and lagers.

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I am not a fan of Capitol mostly because I am not a fan of lagers and bocks.(I know bock is a lager)

New Glarus is hands down the best brewery in the state and one of the best in the country. Fact. It isn't taste bias, or anything else. Based on quality, creativity, commitment to community and all else, they are just the best we have.

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I was thinking the same thing. They are always willing to try new things and have a very good seasonal selection every year. Unfortunately you are a month early for their Black Top.

Update:

My wife had the day off so she wanted to shop and take me to see her work campus, which was amazing btw. Anyway

First place we went for lunch was State Street Brats. The place was really cool but nothing special. My wife got a chicken sandwich with curds and I got a hamburger with onion rings. The beer I ordered was a Fat Squirrel by New Glarus. The Fat Squirrel was a wonderful beer and my favorite NG beer so far. (that's not saying anything yet though). The beer is very malty and has a nice clean finish. Good stuff.

We continued to shop and even went out the the West Mall. After the shopping my treat was the Vintage Brewing Company. This place had great beer!

I ordered a flight of 5:

Better Off Red - Great beer. Nice copper color with a malty nose. Taste was very balanced as the malt fades to a hoppy bite finish. I was very satisfied with this beer.
Derby Girl ESB on Firkin Cask - WOW!! Is all I have to say initially. This beer was light Carmel in color with a soft Carmel nose. Taste was very complex with earthy, malty, balanced hops, and finished clean. This beer on cask is a must have if you go out to the Vintage.
Jinja Ninja - Very nice beer. This is a spelt-based, ginger laced, amber double wit beer. Say that 5X fast. This was an impressive beer that had it not been dinner time may have been my pick. Nice on a summer day.
Tippy Toboggan - Again, a very nice beer. The style is Roggen Bier. This beer was very pleasant much like the Jinja. The color was dark and the taste was malty with touches of fruit. Also malty spiciness and nuttiness dance around the palate.
Lastly and less impressive was the.....
Woodshed IPA - This beer was balanced but not what I am looking for in an IPA. Made with Goldings and Fuggles the English style IPA is not my favorite. The taste was malty and not as dry as I prefer. I picked up a lot of earth-y taste from the beer Nd subtle oak presence. Understand, I am splitting hairs with this one but IPA is a style that I am very picky about.

At night for a nightcap and my wife wanted cake we went to the concourse hotel bar. There I had the Full House Pale Ale by the House of Brews. This was a great beer but again not that sharp hop presence I look for in my pale ales. The bartender spent a lot of time with me talking about this amazing community brewery new to the area and keeping it local! Very impressive. Best of luck to the House of Brews.

The Winner of the night was..... Derby Girl ESB! A close second was the Better Off Red.

Beer at the Vintage was great.... Food, not do great. Our waitress was great and very knowledgeable. Nice ambiance and good Wisconsin friendly folks.



Cheers!

One place I can't go to Madison without hitting up for food is the Parthenon. It's gyro restaurant. Good for a quick lunch while your down on state street. Can't say that they have much for beer but the gyros are great.

Update:

So, yesterday was quite a crazy day for me here in Madtown. I got up early and went to the Tipsy Cow and had some fried cheese curds and ordered a Down ‘N Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout by Tyranena Brewing Co. This was a very nice drinkable beer that was not too hard to get down at 11:30 in the a.m. Not heavy but had a very nice roasty character balanced by the chocolate malt. While there I met a woman who was about half lit on white wine. She told me I had to go to the Malt House out by the airport. So, I say “hmm, yes I do!” She told me she walk it all the time so it is not a bad walk. So, walk I did but I would soon regret it!

By 45 minutes of walking my dogs were barking! I decided to flag down a taxi to no avail! I did not see a taxi anywhere!! To make matters worse I started to wonder if I was in the neighborhood to be walking….. I get to the Malt House and they do not open to 4:00 Grrrr… just my luck. So, I walk on to the Ale Asylum…. The folks there cannot believe I walked from the Tipsy Cow and buy my first two beers because they say that is “total dedication man!”

So, one to the tasting notes: (All beers were served in small sample glasses)

1. Happy Ending – A Belgian Abbey Ale. Pleasant spicy aromas and flavor with a slightly sweet finish. This beer was served in a gobblet and did not have much head. The color was dark and appealing.
2. Bamboozleator – A malty Doppelbock that was full-bodied and very smooth.. I picked out the notes of caramel and dark fruit. It had a nice malt presence and a rich, bready finish. Very good beer!
3. Big Slick Stout - Oatmeal Stout. Nice coffee aroma which complimented the rich full body and finish. This beer was quite drinkable and I prefered it over the porter.
4. Ambergeddon – A absolutely AMAZING beer that had a nice west coast hop flavor and a hint of malt to balance; this baby is all American! I highly recommend this one to any of you who like the style but prefer a little hop bite.
5. Madtown Nutbrown – A true quaffer in my opinion. This nutbrown ale is velvety smooth with a rich caramel aroma. I read that it is “blended with seven different malts for just the right touch of sweetness and a creamy finish I’ll really dig.” If I were not told this I would have not been able to tell. Did I dig it? Yes, it was a nice beer but wouldn’t be my regular beer if “ya dig.”
6. Ballistic IPA - This IPA is an American-style and te only oner I have tried so far in this town that I like!! The use of American Amarillo hops give it explosive citrus aromas and aggressive bitterness with a smooth finish. I was able to pick out the Amarillo hops so I felt very happy by that…
7. Sticky McDoogle – A scotch ale that I really liked… I would have liked to see this one on cask but they tell me there is no room… boo! Not a bad beer and I definitly recommend this one..
8. Lastly, I had the Bedlam - A beautiful blend of Citra hops and Belgian-style yeast give this Belgian IPA aromas of summer fruit with a bright hop presence and a plush finish. This is by far the best beer I have had while visiting Madison!!! AMAZING BEER!! I will be loking to clone this baby soon =) anyone ever try to clone it?

My wife picked me up after she was done with work and I went back to my hotel, showered, tried to get rid of some of my buzz lol and we headed back to the Old Fashoned to eat. While here I had the New Glarus Moon Man and the House of Brews Amber. The HoB Amber was great!!

So far, here it is folks….

Best brewery in all of Wisconsin is New Glarus

Best brewery in all of Madison is The Vintage

Best beer I tried while here is Bedlam!!

I am bringing home a sixer of Lake Louie!

Cheers to all you local Madtowners out there! I have truly enjoyed this amazing capitol with a small town feel!