Ale Asylum has closed its doors

Favorite brew from them was Bedlam.

 

Dang! I got a 6pk of their Hopalicious Pale Ale a few yrs back and it was very good. Too bad they decided to shut 'er down.

 

This was the brewery with such a great beer reputation that caused me to make a WI pub crawl 10 years ago just so I could visit the place (and New Glarus). IIRC it was worth the trip.

 

Ugh. Not again!

Always enjoyed Hopalicious when I could find it.

Bad timing with the Great Taste, too.

 

That’s sad they are closing. Can’t say that they ever differentiated themselves enough from other places for me to follow, but I did try some six packs of their stuff 2013/14/15 ish. Anyone know the reason for closure?

 

I read an article in a Madison paper about the most recent sale falling through, but there were no details.

 

They were in and out of the MN market and it has been a few years since I have seen their stuff. I really enjoyed their beer. I was at their original location one time and enjoyed my visit. Never got to the new brewery.

 

Bummer, I enjoyed their beers and the occasional visit to the tap room. I wonder what will go in that space??

 

I am sad to see them go. I always liked Bedlam and Ambergeddon, and back in the day, Hopalicious was a go-to in some restaurants that didn't have much else.

No idea if this was a factor in their closing, but I always thought their expansion was a big jump. The went from a 10,000 sq ft building (where Karben4 is now) to a brand new huge building near the airport. An old article I dug up said the new place would be "$6.75 million, 46,000-square-foot", although that was pre-construction so who knows what the ultimate $ and square footage was. [Edit: saw another article that said the cost of the airport location was $8 million.]

https://madison.com/business/ale-as...cle_9fc127b0-eeb9-11e0-b8b7-001cc4c002e0.html

I also feel at some point they changed the recipe for Bedlam, because I have seen it listed at both 7.4% and 6.2% over the years

 

Stopped in there once in a return from somewhere through Madison. Enjoyed my few pours for the most part. Dug the venue and the artwork. Liked Dr. Vennum.

 

I had them targeted as part of a bigger road trip next month. Scratch that one out. That's too bad on the other hand I have way too many breweries on my list. I wish I could find more "other things" on the other hand I'll probably still be healing from the MN State Fair.

 

What are you looking for Patrick?
There’s plenty of things other than the MN State Fair, (not a fan).

House on the Rock in WI, Schell’s Brewery in MN & Bily clock museum in IA are all interesting sites.

I’m sure others will chime in to help you find things to do. Safe travels & enjoy the Midwest!

 

Its going to be a long trip, I put 3 days for Minneapolis but I was seeking advice from the gopher hockey board because I have college hockey in common, Wisconsin is mostly a means to get to illinois. Chicago I've done on a couple of occasions already. In hindsight 2 days for Minneapolis may have been too much but the state fair is going on and I plan on hitting the MLB parks that I can.

The thought right now is Stephens point and central waters. Then drive down to a cheese place and I've got one penciled in. then karben4. Degree of difficulty: Mondays. I already feel like my trip has its fill to be honest, I wish I could find interesting activities but I'm very particular. I've been through Milwaukee and wandering over to other places would be interesting but I don't have the time unless I reconfigure what I'm doing.

for the record, I'm a not-IPA not-sour guy so that shapes what I'm up to.

I am going to start a new thread to sort through the places with middling options. Right now I think I'm going to ask about Louisville (I've got AtG and one other lined up) and Indianapolis (greater indiana).

Don't plan multi-city road trips, they're hard.

 

Sad news, was a great brewery with even better people. Enjoyed several trips there when I’ve visited family in Madison

 

Ahh, a hockey guy, excellent!!
Maybe a bit out of your way, but the USA Hockey HOF in Eveleth MN is a very nice site to visit. Then you could hang out in the great blue collar beer town of Duluth MN or as da locals say: “Dalute…ya, you betcha…Go Bulldogs”!

 

Yeah, that ain't happening, just too far out of the way.

I was looking at the "best breweries in X" articles again and a place recently had Ale Asylum listed first. Tough break for them and probably not the last brewery failure we'll see.

Otherwise, I'm thinking of re-allocating 3 Minneapolis days down to 2 and then striking "north" from MPLS towards Green Bay via Central Waters. Then the following day sag down towards 3 sheeps then cut back towards Madison. Adding possibly other touristy stuff along the way.

 

Best to pretty much point the car east.

 

Feh! shortest path is through the mantle. I'm just going to angle the car and hit the gas, we're chording through that circle, boys!

 

Nobody mentioned Lift Bridge's new brewery coming/being built in Hudson WI opening in late spring 2023