Folks. The Wifey and I are looking at possibly taking a long weekend trip to Milwaukee, likely staying somewhere downtown near the river. First off, any "must-hit-up" breweries/bars/bottles shops in that general area? Also, is there a better part of downtown to stay in with regards to walking to things? Don't know much about the city so any advice would be appreciated. Cheers!
You will find lots of info here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/milwaukee-help.167361/ If you want to go on the Lakefront tour (it's great) I suggest you try and make reservations now because it always sells out.
Most of the best micro-brew bars are south in Bayview (Sugar Maple, Palm Tavern, Burnhearts). For casual bars, Water Street and 3rd Street are packed with them. On the weekend nights, it gets insane there with all the college kids flocking in, so unless you want to check out the crazy atmosphere, I wouldn't hang out there. I highly recommend looking at beermenus.com and a lot of the major bars keep their pages up to date. For instance, Landmark 1850 has 2010 bourbon county on tap right now, so you can definitely find where the gems are at using that website. All the good restaurants are downtown, so it would be worth staying in that area. The A-Loft is generally cheap and it's right on the river. If you want to go to an expensive restaurant with a surprisingly good beer cellar list, check out Sanford. If you like seafood, the hidden gem of Milwaukee is St. Paul Fish Company in the Milwaukee Market. $14 Maine Lobster dinner. Purely insane. Also hit up some brewery tours while in the area. Lakefront is one of the best tours in the country. Milwaukee Brewing is the best tour in the country for getting hammered. The Miller tour is free and pretty cool to see how insanely massive it is. The Pabst tour is very cool to see what's left of the brewery. Sprecher is a little north of the city and has a nice beer garden (inside). I think those are all the big ones in the downtown area. For bottle shops, your best bet is Rays (west of the city) or Discount Liquor (south west of the city). Between those two, you'll have an awesome selection.
Good info here! Heading to Milwaukee May 16th to 18th. Staying at The Brewhouse Inn & Suites (http://www.brewhousesuites.com/). Looks decent. Eating at Sanford Restaurant as I just saw their chef won the James Beard award for Best Chef Midwest. Advice taken on Lakefront Brewery - will hit that for sure.
If you have the time, go check out the Harley Museum. Besides the beer, might as well soak in the other Milwaukee icon. You can also take boat tour cruises on the Milwaukee river that go out onto Lake Michigan a little bit. It's a nice way to get a good view of the skyline.
I concur with Astra concerning Landmark1850 right acrossfrom the airport,they currently have 3 kinds of BCS,Avery Samaels,Bells Expedition,Black Husky Sproose II,Palate Wrecker,and St Bernardus Abt 12 all on tap. Some of the finest wings in the city also
Throw out some things not listed yet... Rumpus Room has a pretty good tap list for downtown... And you can get a big basket of bacon for an appetizer, haha. Not as good as some of the Bayview places listed above, but closer to the area you were questioning. Also, worth stopping by Old German Beer Hall... They have a bunch of Hofbrauhaus stuff on tap, and decent German food. The HB outdoor beer garden north of town is much cooler during the summer, since you can drink outside in a park... So if the weather is nice, check that out... Even though it would be a short drive instead of a walk. My wife runs and my father bikes from Mequon to the Estabrook beer garden all the time during the summer, when we are in MKE... I head down there with my 3.5 year old daughter and watch her play on the playground, while I throw back a liter or two and wait for them with the car for the ride back.
Cafe Hollander has a nice selection both Downtown and in Wauwatosa. They focus on Belgian/Euro beers. http://www.cafehollander.com/
I second the MKE Brewing tour for going and getting a little tipsy on. When I went last year, I was pretty set for the rest of the day in terms of drinks. Plus you can get a pretty sweet looking pint glass out of the tour.
I'll throw my hat in for MKE Brewing tour. The beers are good and abundant and the people there love to talk shop. Plus there are some good restaurants in Walker's Point and close to Bay View as well.
You may be overwhelmed, but I'll throw in my two cents. Downtown: Rumpus Room- Great food, great beer, and great atmosphere. Also close to most hotels. Lakefront Brewery- Great tour, pretty good beer. Best tour in town if you want a taste of Milwaukee. Pabst Brewery- Cool area, and Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub is a cool place to stop. Bayview(Milwaukee Neighborhood): SugarMaple- Great tap list (real hipster inside). Roman's Pub- More great taps (owner is kind of rough to some people). Café Lulu- Great food, decent beer, cool atmosphere Honeypie- Great food, good beer, cool atmosphere (small inside). Guanajuato (GTO)- Great Mexican food if you like that. Club Garibaldi- AWESOME Chicken wings, decent beer. North of Downtown: The Filling Station (Riverwest)- Good place for Growler fills Estabrook Park Beer Garden- Referenced above (Hofbrau Beer) Centro Café (Riverwest)- Fantastic Fresh Italian Food (small inside) Wauwatosa (west of downtown-15 min) Café Bavaria and Café Hollander right next to each other on the river (decent food, beer, cool location) Pizzeria Piccola- GOOD pizza, New Glarus Taps (4-5), and great outdoor seating. Hoyt Park Beer Garden- Cool Beer Garden in Hoyt Park by pool (Decent beer, cool atmosphere). (This is all within 1-1.5 miles-great for walking) If I could pack all of this into one, 3 day weekend, it would be fantastic! ENJOY!
Stubby's is a pretty solid place for food and beer too which is fairly close to lakefront brewery. 53 tappers. Lakefront or Milwaukee brewing are the two best tours.
Just booked the trip. Heading up June 11th - 15th. Have tickets to the Lakefront Tour Friday afternoon.
I made my first trip to Milwaukee this past March and I couldn't have been happier with my craft beer experience. The two places that stood out to me were Discount Liquors (retail) and Burnhearts (local bar). Discount Liquors has an amazing selection of beers from all over, and they always have a handful of hard to find local gems. Burnhearts is a small craft beer bar in Bay View and they have an outstanding list/knowledgeable staff. Suggest you hit up Burnhearts for happy hour as they have incredible deals on flights. Enjoy and Cheers!
Stop over at the Culver's in West Milwaukee for some Butterburgers and Frozen Custard. I know there are some locations in KY but not sure if you've been.
^Or Leon's right off Oklahoma or Kopps in Glendale or wherever their other locations are. Don't be afraid to hit up the locals here. We don't say much(online) but we are a hell of a lot of fun drink with.
