Road trip - good breweries?

So I'm taking a road trip in a couple weeks through Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Chicago area. As of now, I have plans to stop at both New Glarus and 3 Floyds. This is actually taking place during two separate trips a week apart.

Outside of those two, I'm not sure what to look for in those areas. I'll be looking for a good bottle shop in Des Moines, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago. What are some good breweries/individual beers that distribute to these areas that I wouldn't have access to in Missouri?

 

I believe Toppling Goliath is up that way.

 

For Milwaukee, hit Discount Liquor on Oklahoma Ave. and if you have time, take a tour of the Lakefront Brewery (unfortunately, those two places are on the opposite sides of town, but worth the trip.)

There's another great bottle shop on Hwy. 100 called the Malt Shoppe and it's about 1.5 miles from Northern Brewer's retail store. Both are right off the highway.

 

Chicago: Lagunitas, Daisy Cutter, Revolution, Haymarket
Chicago Burbs
Urban Legend(Westmont),
Two Brothers(Aurora)
Solemn Oath (Naperville),
Pollyanna, Noon Whistle(Lombard)
Werk Force/Chicago Breworks (Plainfield)
Tailwinds Distillery (Plainfield, next to Werk Force)


http://www.timeout.com/chicago/bars/tours-of-chicago-breweries

 

I'll be coming into the state the first time from Minneapolis. I have a stop to make in Durand (near Eau Claire), then I'll be heading to Green Bay and then on to Milwaukee and Chicago.

The second time, I'm heading straight to Durand from the southwestern edge of the state via Minnestoa for a couple days, then south to New Glarus from there.

I suppose what I'm mostly fishing for here are good beers/breweries available in these states that I can't get in Missouri. Stuff with a small(er) distribution range, such as New Glarus or Toppling Goliath.

If I can find good bottleshops, I should be able to find most suggestions.

 

Thanks, I'll look into it. This trip is pretty wide open, so I should be able to check out virtually everything that has been mentioned.

One more question. Is Toppling Goliath available in bottles in Wisconsin? As it is now, the brewery is a bit out of the way, but I can make it work if I have to.

 

Yes, it is.

 

NE Minneaoplis: Dangerous Man

Milwaukee: Discount Liquor, Malt Shoppe, and Ray's Growler Gallery for bottles.

Lakefront, MKE, Brenner, and Sprecher for breweries.

Madison, WI: Ale Asylum, Great Dane, Tyreanna , Karben4, and Wisconsin Brewing

O'So and Central Waters are two other breweries in Wisconsin that make great beer. One of them is in Plover, just don't remember which.

 

O'so's Lupulin Maximus sometimes has a whole hop cone in it.

 

Chicago: Half Acre, Revolution, Goose Island CLYBORN brewpub (not Wrigleyville) to be honest Lagunitas is here but they don't really have any new beers at the brewery.

Best bottle shop in the city is a half mile from Half Acre,
West Lakeview Liquors
2156 W Addison

Beer Temple is pretty damn good too!

While your here you have to pick up some Off Color, they are one of the best Breweries in Chicago but don't have a taproom yet. Apex Predator, Eille, Troublesome and Fierce are all great beers by them.
Also Pipeworks Brewing is another powerhouse without a taproom, Ninja vs Unicorn just was released in cans and it's awesome!

 

Just hit Revolution and Lagunitas here in Chicago this past Saturday. I haven't visited a lot of craft breweries, but the ones I have visited have all pretty much been the same thing. Some a little bigger, some a little smaller, some with nicer taprooms, etc. I knew Lagunitas was bigger than most, but was really blown away with the size of that place.

The beer was good at Lagunitas as well, but as someone else said above, right now they don't have a whole lot of stuff you can't get other places. Revolution had a better selection of stuff on tap and being that it's more of a local brewery, if I was choosing between the two, i'd go to Revolution first, but Lagunitas is quite the site to see.

 

If you're a coffee guy and you decide to visit the Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, it's a short drive to Colectivo Coffee's combination cafe/roasting facility on Humboldt Ave. just south of Center St. It's pretty darn cool, and you can grab a couple pounds of great coffee.

 

If you like hop loaded beers, Make sure to visit ale asylum in Madison, I recently moved and damn do I miss those beers. Also, Karben4 is top notch and just started bottling, not sure how wide distribution is yet.

Mob craft is also from Madison and I think they distribute. I've only had a couple beers from them but I was very impressed.

Also, vintage brewery is awesome as well!

I miss Wisconsin. ...

 

Also, right when you leave MN and enter WI on I94, there's an exceptional little brew pub in Hudson called pitchfork. Right next door is an Irish restaurant which is also quite good!

 

It's on Humboldt & Chambers north of Center St. (Between Locust and Burleigh).

The coffee is great.

 

Gary, Indiana: 18th Street
Griffith, Indiana: New Oberpfalz

 

Casa Nova

 

So, I'm aware of all the jokes about Wisconsin and cheese, but seriously ...

When you go to New Glarus, you will be 20 minutes from Monroe, which is home to some of the finest cheesemakers in the world. One of the Monroe cheesemakers' Swiss cheese beat the best Swiss cheese makers in Switzerland to be named the best Swiss in the world. It's called Edelweiss Creamery. Also home to the U.S.'s only genuine Limburger maker. (But don't let that discourage you; there's about 15 more Certified Master Cheesemakers there too.) Probably worth a side trip.

 

Edelweiss Creamery just opened a store on the main drag in New Glarus. We have stopped in once so far, good selection of cheese but seems a little pricey (I know, we are spoiled with the crazy good cheese around here). If you are staying in town for lunch or dinner, I recommend Glarner Stube. That's our favorite restaurant in town. The New Glarus Hotel will most likely have oompa bands Friday/Saturday night and the food is pretty good. Puempels is a cool old bar but does have not a huge beer selection. Sugar River Pizzeria has the best beer selection in town (80+ bottles) and good pizza.

Cheapest place to buy beer is at Sportsman's Bar (cheaper than Woodmans as well). Sometimes they have older thumbprint releases in the cooler that aren't in stores anymore. Decent bar food, totally a townie bar though. I spent a LOT of time on those bar stools before kids.

If you do venture to Monroe, you need to check out Baumgartner's Cheese Store and Tavern. Very cool atmosphere, be sure to look carefully at the giant wine glasses vs beer stein mural they have over the bar. Also they have a smoking deal on 4 year old aged cheddar that is awesome (comes from Hook's in Mineral Point). $8 a pound I think.

A new tap room that I have heard good things about but haven't been to yet is The Hop Garden in Paoli (you'll probably drive right through it to NG).

Lastly if you are looking for fine dining, then head down a couple miles to Monticello to The Dining Room. Excellent, excellent food.

PS - if you enjoy small stream trout fishing, the NG area and to the west/northwest is heaven. I can hook you up with some spots to check out.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys and gals, I appreciate it! I'll check out what I can and hopefully remember to report back!

I haven't been fishing since I was a kid, and definitely never trout fishing. We always fished for crappie and catfish, being MO boys. I would definitely like to do it one day.

 

Make sure to take plenty of pictures lol

 

http://www.brewerymap.com/

 

I got some Toppling Goliath at Discount yesterday (Golden Nugget. Sooooooo good!) they had a full supply of Pseudo Sue, too.

 

If you are flying in (I didn't look) you can take the train downtown and hit several local breweries, Surly is one of them.

 

Anyone know of a decent bottle shop between Joliet and Three Floyds? Anything within a half hour drive.

 

There is a chain store called Binny's Beverage Depot. Best selection in the Chicagoland area.

 

Open bottle is is across from 350 brewing in Tinley Park along I 80 and Harlem.
http://theopenbottle.com/

 

Alright, so heres where I've been thus far:

After a six hour drive, we made it to Decorah, IA, and Toppling Goliath. I was stoked to get a beer and bite to eat, but upon entering, we realized food would need to be found elsewhere, so we left. After eating, we made it back in and got a flight with Psuedo Sue, Golden Nugget, Naughty 90 and Rover Truck. While they all were good, nothing was particularly spectacular. Sue is WAY overrated. I'm typically pretty harsh on my own brews, but my APA with all Citra is just as good if not better than Sue. Golden Nugget was my favorite of the bunch. Before leaving, I was able to get a taste of King Sue, which was much, much better. I just wished they sold it in bottles! I gotta say I was pretty turned off by the whole experience, as the general atmosphere of that place is kinda lousy, and the bartender was not at all friendly. At all.

After a bit more driving and a stop at the Mall of America (total waste of time), we made it to Surly - holy hell that place is impressive. I had a Furious and Todd the Axe Man, both of which were very, very good, and my wife had the Coffee Bender and Schadenfreude, which were also pretty impressive. Then there was the food. I had smoked brisket with roasted cauliflower and was completely floored - best brisket I've ever had. My wife had the Surly burger, and was also quite impressed with how good it was, for just being a burger. Overall, I can't say enough good about the place, their food and especially their beer. It's a must see/experience beer mecca.

First thing the next morning, we made it to the bottle shop in Hudson, WI, Casa Nova. I promptly spent $100 and barely escaped with the rest of my money - I could have gone broke in there for sure. 4 packs of Furious and Todd the Axe Man, a 4 pack of 90 Minute (never had it, not available in MO), and 3 - 4 packs of Dogfish Head Midas Touch, which is an all time fave of mine that I absolutely have to load up on when I have access.

An hour later, I dropped my wife off with her family in Durand, WI, and headed to Green Bay - total disappointment. I went to Titletown for some food and a beer, but I guess there was a wedding reception or something going on, as everyone there looked at me like I was dumb lol, so I left. Went across town to set eyes on Lambeau Field, and had to wonder: how does a town the size of Green Bay support a pro football team? Anyway, I tried locating a decent place for some food and a brew to no avail, so I hightailed it to Milwaukee and did that at Sprechers. They have a pretty tasty Oktoberfest. Traffic coming into Milwaukee from 50 miles out is horrific.

The next morning, I checked out the Northern Brewer retail shop where I picked up a copy of Michael Tonsmeire's American Sours. From there, I went back across town to Discount Liquor, as The Malt Shoppe was closed, unfortunately. I picked up a bottle of Alesmiths Speedway stout for a friend while I was there, but wasn't really moved to buy anything for myself. After that, I went to Lakefront Brewing, had a couple sausages and did the tour, which ended up being pretty entertaining. While there, I had small cups of Fixed Gear, Oktoberfest and 2 Riverwest Stein, all of which were pretty good, solid brews. I left with a t-shirt and glass, and a 12 pack sampler for a friend who just happened to be there a couple days before me and wanted more!

From there, I left for Chicagoland. When did they put in all those tolls?! I think before it was over, I must've paid 10 of them. My first stop was at the new Kuma's Corner location in Scaumburg. This was my third time eating at a Kumas' corner, and it's always awesome. If you're not familiar, they do gourmet burgers on pretzel buns all named after metal bands. The entire place is metal themed, and they focus on craft beer. My kinda place! I had the High On Fire, which was quite tasty and cleared my sinuses! For beer, I had a Scylla's Grasp, an APA from Urban Legend, and Ballast Point's session IPA, Evan Keel. Both were not bad.

After that, I was pressed for time, so I made my way to Joliet to catch a concert at The Tree (formerly Mojoes). Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum were there, both of which I've been wanting to catch live for ages now. The cool thing is I'll be seeing them again in a couple weeks in Kansas City! I had a Watermelon Wheat while I was there from Horny Goat brewing - it was atrocious.

The next day, I made it over to 3 Floyds. I had a pint of Zombie Dust, a half pint of Yum Yum, and a flight consisting of: Dreadnaught, Gumballhead, Robert the Bruce and Alpha King. Once again, I feel like Zombie Dust is overrated, but still quite good. I felt that Alpha King was far superior to Zombie Dust, as was Dreadnaught and Gumballhead. Robert the Bruce was also excellent. Every beer I had while there was fantastic. All the hype those guys get is well warranted. I also loved the atmosphere of it, with all beer and metal band stickers covering the glass beer cooler and what not. Then there was the shelf of vinyl and turntable, with the current record propped up for all to see - once again, my kind of place. I headed home after leaving here.

Now, you might be wondering why I left my wife behind lmao. Her sister is getting married and she wanted to spend extra time with her family - I couldn't get enough time off work to stay there the entire time, so I split my vacation up and decided to check some stuff out on my own, which was only slightly awkward from time to time lmao. I'm headed back up that way tomorrow for the wedding. Were supposed to visit a hops farm on Monday, and supposedly there are free hops! We will head back on Tuesday, with stops at New Glarus, Capital Brewing, and Edelweiss Creamery. I'll report back how that all went when I come back. Hope you enjoyed reading if you stuck around to the end.

 

I'll recommend ale asylum over capital any day, especially since you're in the Madison area