Milwaukee trip

Milwaukee Brewfest is nice, as an event. I've been to it 3-4 times now. You can get some 'limited release' beers if you go with the VIP ticket option. That option also gets you into the fest an hour before general admission and provides you tastes of beers like KBS, pseudo Sue, Perennial '17' Mint Chocolate, and the such. I don't think you will necessarily find any 'whalez' though. The reason I say it's a nice event is because it's next to the water, the weather is usually nice at end of July and there is a very large number of breweries that show up. Also, there is a street fest nearby (on Brady St) that happens the same day so it's nice if you want to make a day out of it.

 

The Wis Beer Lovers Fest is (of course) a collection of just Wis breweries and brewpubs. Nonetheless there is still plenty of great beer. One of the nice aspects of it is that all breweries are paired with a restaurant so there is a lot of food to sample too. The food ranges from cheese samples to small hamburgers to desserts including bar food to more gourmet food.

 

Hit The Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison. Best beer festival I have been to, it's amazing.

 

I agree with the Great Taste, if you can make it work.

 

Not to mention, even get a ticket to it.

 

Recommend volunteering for Great Taste. I did it last year and you get to walk around for an hour before gates, get first dibs on the beer.

 

Well for April in Milwaukee, Crafts & Drafts is on April 17th. It's on a Sunday, but it's by far the best beer event in the MKE area.

 

Agree with this as well! Any words on when tickets go on sale? I've been stalking their website...lol.

 

Discount Liquor's Craft & Drafts or Beer Baron's Schwabenhof Festival (I think they call it World of Beer Festival, which is confusing because it has nothing to do with the chain which must not be named).

Glendale (Wisconsin Beer Lovers) is fun, but spring for the VIP ticket. We did get to drink our fill of the current NG R&D (the Geueze from 2014) and chat with a number of good beer people. The food there is decent as well. Overall, it's a minor festival but well organized and comfortable.

 

The sierra Nevada beer camp tour will have a beer fest in Milwaukee this June. Cant remember the date but the one in Chicago a few years ago was pretty good.

 

Check out Sugar Maple in Bay View. Great beer selection on tap.

 

I'm gonna be in Milwaukee for work next week, coming from up north in Spooner. I'll be staying at the Radisson West and working in Brookfield. I already plan on hitting up Ray's, but I'm wondering if there are any other bars or bottle shops that I should hit in the vicinity? I will have a car so reasonable travel distance is alright, I just would prefer to not drive all over the City. I also am looking for a place to eat with a good bowl of ramen (one of my favorite foods, not really easy to find in NW WI).

Any of you Milwaukee folks have recommendations?

 

Since you'll be in Brookfield, the Discount Liquor and Woodmans in Waukesha are a short drive and have the best selection in the area. For a good bar, check out Champps in Brookfield right down the road from the mall. They always have an excellent selection of taps and good food. If you want to check out some small breweries in that area, there is Biloba, Raised Grain, and Tornado in the Brookfield/Menomonee Falls area.

If you're dedicated, Bay View has all the really good beer bars, but it's a bit of a trek through the traffic and road construction. Alternatives could be Rumpus Room downtown and Stubby's slightly north of downtown.

 

As stated above, Raised Grain Brewing makes some legit beer. 15 minutes away from your hotel.

The Malt Shoppe is down the road about 5 minutes from your hotel and has a nice selection, although they are overpriced by about 15-20% for the area. They also have a pretty decent selection of drafts.

Burnhearts, Sugar Maple, Palm Tavern, and Roman's Pub are all great beer bars that are about 20 minutes away depending on traffic (which as AstraXtreme stated can be a pain in the ass due to construction).

 

From my perspective Discount beats Ray's hands down.

 

Truth, though Discount's prices these days aren't quite as "discounted" as they used to be.

cl3 If you have the opportunity to make it to the Discount in Milwaukee (5031 West Oklahoma Avenue) you should definitely check it out. About 15-20 minutes from your hotel.

 

I'll give it a shot. Would you say the Milwaukee Discount is any better than the Waukesha Discount? I've never been to either.