Best Overall Nano/Micro Brewery in Midwest

Toppling Goliath wouldn't be a bad choice.

 

For my money, it is Fat Head's.

 

This and Black Husky.

 

Outliers/Brugge in Indy deserves a mention.

I'll put Black Acre and Bier in there too.

 

I totally agree, but that brewery is a little cabin in the deep north WI woods, and there isn't much to visit.

 

If you are looking for brewers that produce very little beer, I misunderstood your question. My apologies...

 

Also Perrin in Grand Rapids. Not exactly nano, but hard to come by and have only bottled once. I've been impressed with everything I've tried.

 

You can't actually go to Black Husky, but the trip from Chicago to Iowa would net you all the Wisconsin Breweries (provided you trek North through Milwaukee/Madison and then West through Viroqua/La Crosse, and then down into Iowa). You could hit Lakefront, MKE Brewing (both meh), Tyranena, Karben4, Ale Asylum, Lake Louie, Potosi (worth it for the history alone), and then on to TG. If you're feeling ambitious you could even cross the Mississippi into MN for some Surly, Indeed, etc. About a dozen truly great bottle shops along the way.

 

A couple of nano's in MKE as well- Big Head Brewing and Biloba Brewing, both in the burbs.

 

Don't forget New Glarus! The self-guided tour and tasting room aren't anything too special, but the scenery is pretty awesome.

 

Oh yeah! How could I forget???

 

I often tell people, if you've never been to NG, you should go. You gotta see it once. I do wish they'd put R&D out more often to lure folks in, but it's still a special place.

 

Big Head Brewering is going to be very short lived, in my opinion. The beers are subpar and I believe he has issues with water treatment since they all have weird aftertastes. The owner got a little bit of money from a donor, but I can't imagine he'll have enough profits to stay alive since he doesn't have a quality product.

Biloba makes pretty good brews, but they're pretty much a glorified homebrew setup. It's a few steps below nano, haha.

I'm looking forward to Brenner Brewing opening up in MKE. That guy has some serious talent!

 

Yeah, had my first Brenner last week. It was listed as an IPA, but was really a hoppy red ale. Delicious, though.

District 14 should be interesting- once he actually starts brewing it'll take about a year to get the hang of things. That's the issue with so many young breweries- they upscale from homebrewing but it takes a good 3-4 batches of each style to really dial it in.

 

I hope he bottles Bacon Bomb at some point. I've heard so many good things about it and missed it when it was on-tap at Sugar Maple briefly.

 

Then Black Husky, Lazy Monk (EC), Karben4 (about 1.5 years old, growlers and on tap only), One Barrel (also new in Madison, pretty good quality), Toppling Goliath, and Lake Louie are about the best low production breweries around. TG is getting up there in production #'s, though.

 

Definitely Karben4's for Fantasy Factory and Tokyo Sauna.

 

Would Recommend heading to Michigan and trying any of the following:
Short's (Bellaire)-bottles/growlers
Kuhnhenn (Warren)-not sure
Dragonmead (Warren)-taps only
Jolly Pumpkin (Ann Arbor or Traverse City)-bottles
Perrin (Grand Rapids)-taps/growlers
Brewery Vivant (Grand Rapids) cans/bottles

Also Dark Horse, Bells, Founders are options, although they are bigger breweries. They might be nice stops to stretch your legs depending on where you are heading.

Or if you are up for a real road trip.... Head to Marquette and hit up Blackrocks and Ore Dock