Madison, Wi Recommendations

Working Draft is probably the best brewery in the state at this point. Nailing it on lots of levels.

 

I certainly agree, as do the "experts"



"Paste: The easiest way for me to understand where you’re coming from as a beer consumer is simply to ask: What are your favorite beer styles?

McCulla: It’s hard for me to play favorites, but I will say that I enjoy beer as a seasonal and regional product. But to give one example, in the summertime one of my very favorite places is the Memorial Union Terrace at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s famous for the colorful chairs, and you can sit out on the shores of Lake Mendota and enjoy some ice cream made by students, or beers from Ale Asylum or Karben4 in Madison. Those are some of my favorites, and a good example of great beer in a specific time and place."

https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...mithsonians-new-beer-historian-theresa-m.html

 

One of my best friends just moved to Madison last week. Aside from the Wisconsin/Madison area brews, are there any other big regional brews he could be on the lookout for for when he puts together a box to send me back in NC? I know Toppling Goliath shows up around there. And Half Acre. Any Hop Butcher? Lingering BCBS variants on the shelves? IPAs, barelywines, etc? What should I be aware of so that I can give him the heads up? Definitely looking forward to having some funk factory, New Glarus, etc! Always an adventure expanding the beer knowledge to a whole completely new region that I've barely even researched. Thanks so much!

 

Most Thumbprint Series (red cap) New Glarus brews are decent, especially if you can find Scream IIPA or Serendipity. No Hop Butcher, that’s only in IL. If you look hard enough, you may find some BCBS. Lots of Central Waters beers are better than good. If he makes it to Milwaukee, Eagle Park is fantastic.

 

Surly, Bent Paddle, Fulton, etc are all MN beers that are widely available in Madison, Surly Abrasive is a solid IPA if that is your game. Lots of Chicagoland area beers are available too, Revolution Brewing, Hop Butcher, Half Acre all come to mind.

 

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Hop Butcher? In Wisconsin? I think the closest place to Madison they distribute is Crystal Lake/McHenry Binnys.

 

Finding even regular BCBS in Madison the day after the release is nearly impossible, much less now. I wait in line hours before open and haven't been able to snag all the variants in years. Down in Chicago it might be possible to still find some regular and maybe wheatwine.

I've also never seen Hop Butcher in Madison.

Other stuff we get that people seem to go crazy for is Drekker (I don't understand it) and Equilibrium (haven't had much and you should be closer to them but distribution is weird). Madison recently started getting Eagle Park so may not need to go to Milwaukee for that one.

I have no idea if 3 Floyds distributes to NC but we get plenty of them.

 

The fact that Madison hasn't been allocated all non-region-locked variants in a few years is more to blame for that than anything else. If you know where to shop, you can easily rake in basic black and even most variants for days afterward.

The first answer on Hop Butcher was correct; there is no WI distribution.

I haven't dipped too much into it, but Humble Forager is the new Forager Brewing spinoff produced at Octopi in Waunakee (just outside Madison), and people seem to dig it.

 

I definitely don't know where to shop. I wait at Woodmans on Black Friday and it just gets worse ever year. I'm still pissed about the line jumper who got reported to the staff and said she wouldn't buy any variants if they let her keep her spot, but of course she bought a full allotment and caused the people in front of us to miss out on Rye. I would've missed out regardless but people suck.

My favorite store to normally shop at (Steve's Junction) didn't get any BCBS last year, not even regular (or was that 2018? I think it was last year). Other stores I've tried typically won't sell any to people they don't know as regulars or you need to be in line well before open.

I guess the relevant point is still that you're not finding it around Madison anymore. I've even found the "shelf turd" status reported in Chicago to be a bit overstated. Yes it can be found but it's usually not as easy as locals claim it is to find.

 

My advice for you is to try the places that don't feel like Craft Beer Headquarters, but DO typically service a lot of Chicago-native college students buying 312. Your Miller's Liquor, your Fresh Market. RIP Party Port.

 

Party Port is no loss to me on that front since they were ones who told me they wouldn't sell BCBS to anyone they didn't recognize. Don't get me wrong, I understand taking care of regulars, but when the place I'm a regular at doesn't get any, well it's not like I'm a truck chaser.

 

Great info! We have an abundance of regular bcbs around here in Raleigh nc, still probably even some 2018 in some places mixed in with the 2019. We only ever get one or two variants a year, such as mon cheri and cafe de olla this past year. They disappear within a week. We don't see equilibrium unfortunately, I would have to drive about 3 hours to get to where they stop their southern distro at bottle shops in Virginia, so that's good to know. I'm down for the local stuff, I'll tell him about eagle park for sure. We see Surly here in NC now, but not frequent drops and usually only Furious and Axe Man. I'm absolutely excited for 3 Floyd's. We get none of that and have never had any.

Again, thanks so much for all the info!!

 

Drekker is a big one that people really seem to lose their minds over. I managed to track down a Chonk and while I refuse to consider it a beer, it is very tasty. So if that kind of thing is your thing, have your friend immediately go to the store when Drekker drops.

TG is a regular staple here, which is nice, sometimes you just want some Pompeii or King Sue and it's usually around and relatively fresh. No complaints on that end.

You aren't going to find any BCBS variants around town. I don't take the time to chase BCBS locally anymore, but I know that all the stores get cleaned out pretty fast- with some grocery stores still having regular up to a week after Black Friday, but otherwise you just aren't going to find them right now. That being said, Chicago stores still had plenty of regular and vertical BCBS up to 2 weeks after Black Friday, plus a few of the less desirable variants. I've heard smaller suburb mom & pop liquor stores will still have the more desirable variants, e.g. Prop 19 for a few weeks after Black Friday, but it'll cost you a pretty penny.

 

Oh yeah! Definitely interested in whatever TG he can get his hands on and get to me. He's already been throwing down some Pompeii's and pizza. And I'll look into Drekker and give him the heads up.

thanks again!!

 

I don't believe any have mentioned it but I recommend the Brewing Projekt. It comes from Eau Claire but distributes all over WI. Their Resist series are their better beers IMO but they make lots of good stuff.

 

I would also recommend Brewing Projekt. But I gotta disagree with the Resist part. They are easily my least favorite BP IPA's. All of their straight-up (re: un-lactosed/un-vanilla'd/un-fruited) IPA's are great though.

 

Re; TPB- Dare Mighty Things and its variants are pretty solid. In my opinion, these cans are relatively pricey to what you get though- not far from what Tree House and Trillium charge, so by that standard, I think they're overpriced. That being said, their Puff Tarts and other fruited milkshake kettle sours do a pretty decent job of standing in for Drekker in a pinch if that is your thing.

 

IMO, the Drekker IPAs are the best ones we get in Madison. The Chonk series isn't really my thing but their IPAs just seem to be a bit more flavorful and refined than others we get

 

Throwing in my vote for Brewing Projekt. Their recent NZ hopped beers have been amazing, maybe my favorite IPAs that I know of at this point. I like Drekker, but haven't had anything quite bombing it with NZ hops on the same level. Both breweries pastry or even (shudder) smoothie sours are more readily available than the fresh IPAs, but I don't find them appealing whatsoever.