What are the best destination breweries in the state of Wisconsin? I'm looking for a great taproom experience, opportunity to get a brewery tour, sample beers and talk beer with others at the brewery. Recommendations? If I only travel to WI 1x per year, what are the places not to miss?
You might want to also post this in the Great Lakes Forum as that's where Wisconsin is grouped on BA.
New Glarus. The brewery is absolutely beautiful (although they're expanding again, so there's a little bit of construction right now). I've found their regular tour to be a little on the lean side, but I've heard good things about the hard-hat tour. Lakefront is consistently said to have the best tour.
Completely agree with Lakefront having the best tour. The New Glarus brewery is really cool, however the "tour" is self guided, and there's really not a whole lot to see. However, the town of New Glaurs itself is worth a visit (2-min from the brewery). There's a 100+ year old bar called Puempel's Olde Tavern which is cool and definitely worth a stop, a great authentic Swiss bakery which is awesome, and a great pizza place.
If you make it to Central WI you have to stop O'so in Plover. It's right off of the interstate. They have 40 beers on tap in their taproom all WI craft beers. You can also stop at Central Waters in Amherst but their taproom is only open on Fridays and Saturdays.
Surly is at the top of the list! I'm happy to travel across the river to check out a few top shelf MN Breweries. Steel Toe and Indeed also sound intriguing - do you know if they offer tours/taproom open midweek?
Thanks! The problem with during-the-week hours is that I'm a one-man operation and someone's gotta brew the beer! Among all the other misc. that needs attention. Check either my blog or DBF FB page for hours, updates and other nonsense. I've got eight rotating drafts and 5-7 beers for take-away. Oh, and we're cash-only. Introduce yourself when you stop by. Cheers! FarmerD
I didn't think it was that bad. It's a pretty extensive tour... /shrug Another vote for New Glarus, though I'll agree that their self-guided tour isn't that exciting. The brewery is worth visiting, though, and I've heard good things about the hardhat tour.
our guide seemed to be utterly depressed/didn't care about giving a good tour, knew nothing about beer, and we weren't allowed to take pictures.
That sucks. Our guide was nice. I don't think we could take pictures inside, but I have a bunch of the outside. I wouldn't say it was amazing or anything, but I was entertained for an hour or so.
