The pops and I are going to be brewery hoping in Wisconsin this october. Im from Iowa but i was hoping you cheeseheads can steer me into some cool brewery pubs in wisconsin. I believe were generally going to be around milwaukee and Green Bay. Only requirement is brewery needs to brew a killer IPA! Thanks all
This site puts Wisconsin in the Great Lakes region. You might get more "cheeseheads" to respond there.
Milwaukee: The Lakefront tour and MKE brewing company open house are both very good. Good City is an up-and-comer; Black Husky brews some rock solid IPAs, as well. If you can make it there, the Fermentorium in Cedarburg is also very good. Favorite beer bar in MKE is probably Sugar Maple in Bay View, but Burnharts is also very good. I don't know a ton about GB's scene, but I would make time to visit Hinterland brewing company. Also, if you wanted to extend your trip just a bit between Milwaukee and GB, you could hit up Central Waters in Amherst. It would be worth the extra hour of driving, IMO.
In Green Bay hit up Titletown (Green 19 is a great IPA) and Badger State Brewing. Hinterland's new location next to Lambeau will be open by October and I'm sure that will be worth a visit as well.
If you are making your way from Milwaukee to Green Bay, there are lots of options. In no particular order, I would check these out along your way: Milwaukee - Milwaukee Brewing Company, Lakefront Brewing Heading a bit North, Sprecher is a nice location to checkout too, I believe Black Husky is around there also but not sure, haven't been to their new location yet. Sheboygan - 3 Sheeps is a must stop, 8th St. Ale House is a nice atmosphere and good brews (not all made there). Jog a bit West and hit Plymouth Brewing Company in Plymouth. Green Bay - (Lots of options). Stillmank Brewing company, Badger State Brewing, Noble Roots Brewing, Titletown Brewing, Hinterland Brewing, Leatherhead Brewing. You could then head East from Green Bay and get to a new Brewery that just opened 2 days ago (haven't been there yet) in Luxemburg called Thumb Knuckle. Then keep going East and end up in Algoma and hit Ahnapee Brewery. After Ahnapee, you can head North to Door County Brewery or back South to get back to Milwaukee eventually. If you have time and don't mind deviating a bit, check out the Madison area. Lots of beer there too (general area speaking): New Glarus, Karbon4, Wisconsin Brewing Company, Central Waters, Vintage Brewing, Great Dane, and probably some more i'm forgetting... Hope this helps, enjoy your trip and time here. We have a lot of beers to share with travelers and some nice scenery too if you are into that.
I've lived in Milwaukee for a few years now, and here is my proposal: Do the Lakefront Brewery tour, then stay for their fish fry. The LF tour is probably the best I've ever been on, and their fried fish is solid. After the tour they give you a "free beer voucher" good at nearby local establishments; walk across the street to Stubbys and get your free beer. They have over 50 tap lines and always something solid on draft. After Stubby's I would Uber it to Black Husky in Riverwest (about a 5-10 minute drive). Black Husky just opened and they brew an excellent IPA. From Black Husky take an Uber to Good City, it's about 15 minutes south of of Black Husky. Good City brews a nice low ABV APA (Motto). From Good City walk five minutes to North Ave and have a slice of mac & cheese pizza from Ian's Pizza. Wisconsin is a cool state with friendly people. Enjoy your stay!
I think everything at least has been mentioned once, but in terms of Milwaukee you have some good options. I'd suggest spending some time in Bay View. There are 4 beer bars there that have been named as one of the best in the country by some publication or another: Burnhearts, Palm Tavern, Sugar Maple and Roman's Pub. I'm partial to Burnhearts and the Palm personally. Burnhearts has a sister restaurant, GoodKind, that probably has one of the best tap lists within a restaurant in the city. Also within walking distance is Vanguard which has a solid tap list and a bunch of delicious house made sausages. For Breweries the Lakefront tour is the best. MKE Brewing Co basically lets you drink unlimited amounts of beer on their tour and for a period of time after. Black Husky, Good City, and Third Space are all relatively new to the scene but all brew great beer. Good City Reward recently won Brewing News National DIPA competition (for what that's worth), Third Space just released a DIPA that I think is better, and quite frankly, one of the best IPAs I've had from a Wisconsin brewery. The two best breweries in Wisconsin are New Glarus and Central Waters. If you're driving from Milwaukee to GB it's worth your time to detour and go out there. And if you're coming through the Quad Cities then a detour to New Glarus wouldn't add much to your trip.
Great info above, only addition and I apologize if this has been mentioned before. Tyranena in Lake Mills has some nice beers. Really nice Barrel aged stuff. Its between Madison and Milwaukee
For the OP @GotRektGG - note that CW does not have any facilities in the greater Madison area. They are located in Amherst, WI, which is about 1.5hrs west of Green Bay. Regardless, if you have time to wander, they are (IMO) a must-visit brewery for WI.
Last time I was up there and stopped at Burnheart a bit South of the city. This was 2 years ago but they had some solid stuff on the taplist. They had a "cellar" menu that was not listed on beermenu and they had bottles of Cantillon,3f, and a few more decent bottles at not outrageous prices.
My mistake, sorry about that. Yes, CW is a great checkout and farther north indeed. I was thinking of Capital Brewing when I typed that. Sorry for the confusion.
