I'm going to be going on a trip to Wisconsin this week for work and I'm looking for advice on what to bring home with me in my checked bag. Apart from New Glarus, I'm not really familiar with notable breweries in Wisconsin and surrounding areas. I'm from Colorado, and I'd like to get beers that don't get distributed my way. Any suggestions? Also, as far as breweries to visit, what are the favorites in Madison? Thank you all for your help.
Toppling Goliath (Iowa, but great). I'm not 100% sure what's floating around right now, but I believe you should be able to find Pompeii, Sol Hunter and Thresher (in order of personal preference, plus the usual 4-packs). Black Husky is another one you might want to try. You should be able to find some 3 Floyds as well (bombers and 6-packs). If you stray from bombers, it doesn't look like Bells or Founders distribute to Colorado (blame seekabrew if I'm wrong). Anything barrel-aged from Central Waters would also be good. I liked Ale Asylum when I visited. Vintage had good food but meh beer IMO. Haven't visited Karben4, but they brew some decent stuff.
First, tell me what you like. Do you want some barrel aged stuff, sours, big stouts, IPA's, bocks and lagers (German heritage here), etc.? There's a lot of good stuff out there but, like anything else, you have to wade through it all to find what would suit you the best.
Pick up as many bombers of toppling Goliath and try fresh hhg pale ale from central waters. Headless heron is an awesome pumpkin barrel aged beer for very cheap!! I would say either city view liquors or trixies.
My preferences as far as beer styles are all across the board, I'd have a hard time deciding what style I wanted. Usually it's just a spur of the moment thing.
Definitely get Oso's Convenient Distraction. If you're adventurous, see what you can find from Mobcraft (the brewery that was on Shark Tank). They do a lot of interesting stuff in bombers. Central Waters Space Ghost may still be around. I'd also recommend anything you can find from Tyranena's Brewers Gone Wild series. All excellent barrel aged stuff.
Considering the issues that Convenient Distraction has had the past couple years, I wouldn't recommend traveling with it.
If you like Brett beers, Oso's Winds of Change is an amazing Brett Pale Ale. If you can find an older bottling of it, collecting dust on a shelf somewhere, even better. You might be able to find some Surly Darkness on the shelf as well, if you find yourself in out of the way places. 3 Sheeps' Paid Time off is really good too, if you can find it.
Three floyds distributes in Madision, so I would snag as many bombers of their stuff as you can as well.
Have they had issues with the regular one? I thought it was just the barrel aged version. Every time I've had regular Convenient Distraction it's been excellent. I'd be more worried about traveling with Black Husky; while they're great beers, I was under the impression that they can get volatile if you let them warm up.
Regular (distributed) Convenient Distraction has always been stellar. The barrel-aged ones (brewery only), not so much.
No need to worry about the BH bottles. While they are all unfiltered and unpasteurized, they won't gain any additional carbonation during travels/shipping/etc. I've shipped several bottles across the country and keep them in a cellar with an average temp around 50 degrees. No issues.
