Visiting Madison, WI next two weeks - recommended beer spots

[tubs38]

I found these posts:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/need-suggestions-for-green-bay-and-madison.539301/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/madison-wisconsin.318950/


The posts are a bit older, so just wondering if there is any updated recommendations. I won't have a car, so New Glarus is out and we have HopCat here, so that won't be towards the top of the list. From the posts and Yelp, Great Dane and Ale Asylum look good.

I'm technically in Verona, so if there is something somewhat worth visiting there, it may win due to convenience.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[grampamark]

I assume you mean Madison, WI?

I know a guy from there, who's a beer geek. I'll shoot him a message on another board and see if he has any suggestions.

 

[tubs38]

I assume you mean Madison, WI?

I know a guy from there, who's a beer geek. I'll shoot him a message on another board and see if he has any suggestions.

Yup, I corrected the title now. Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[grampamark]

My friend replied:

My favourite neighbourhood bar is the Malthouse. 6 Belgian, 6 Wisconsin and 6 other taps plus a good whiskey selection. For more Belgian beers Brasserie V is a good bet. Make sure he has an old fashioned or two while here.

Breweries to hit would be Ale Asylum, Karben 4, Vintage brewing and Wisconsin Brewing Company. Plenty of other good ones in town as well.

Hope this helps

 

[tubs38]

My friend replied:

My favourite neighbourhood bar is the Malthouse. 6 Belgian, 6 Wisconsin and 6 other taps plus a good whiskey selection. For more Belgian beers Brasserie V is a good bet. Make sure he has an old fashioned or two while here.

Breweries to hit would be Ale Asylum, Karben 4, Vintage brewing and Wisconsin Brewing Company. Plenty of other good ones in town as well.

Hope this helps

Thanks a ton for doing this - helps a ton!

 

[tubs38]

My friend replied:

My favourite neighbourhood bar is the Malthouse. 6 Belgian, 6 Wisconsin and 6 other taps plus a good whiskey selection. For more Belgian beers Brasserie V is a good bet. Make sure he has an old fashioned or two while here.

Breweries to hit would be Ale Asylum, Karben 4, Vintage brewing and Wisconsin Brewing Company. Plenty of other good ones in town as well.

Hope this helps

Also Wisconsin Brewing is 1/2 mile from my hotel. Thanks!

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Also Wisconsin Brewing is 1/2 mile from my hotel. Thanks!

Grampamark gave you a lot of great selections. Huge fan of Karben 4 and Ale Asylum as well. Brasserie V is a lot of fun. Nice Brasserie-inspired menu as well.

Wisconsin Brewing is led by Kirby Nelson as the brewmaster, in partnership with Carl Nolen, former President of Capital Brewing. Nelson was the long-time brewmaster of Capital. Only met him once; my wife and I had a culinary thing in Spring Green and we were putting together a beer dinner, with area brewmasters as guests.
The general line is that "the shackles are off" with Nelson's being partner in the new enterprise, and not employee as he was with Capital. I can't speak to that.

Thanks Grampamark - a very nice post.

 

[mongoose33]

Ale Asylum (http://aleasylum.com/) has a following.

You're not that terribly far from New Glarus Brewing (https://newglarusbrewing.com/), home of Spotted Cow and other interesting beers. Will you have a car? How long will you be there?

 

[grampamark]

Don't thank me-thank my friend, Pete. He's lived in Madison for years and is very much into the craft beer and cocktail scene. He's also done some brewing.

 

[tubs38]

Ale Asylum (http://aleasylum.com/) has a following.

You're not that terribly far from New Glarus Brewing (https://newglarusbrewing.com/), home of Spotted Cow and other interesting beers. Will you have a car? How long will you be there?

I won't have a car, but I'm staying close to Wisconsin Brewing which is south of Madison - closer to New Glarus. Not sure how much a taxi ride would be/if they go to/from there. I know my co-workers who traveled previously and had cars recommended it. Would I be able to get some of their beer at a previously mentioned establishment? Or is it worth venturing out there?

I'm there Feb 20-23 & Feb 27 - Mar 2.

 

[tubs38]

Grampamark gave you a lot of great selections. Huge fan of Karben 4 and Ale Asylum as well. Brasserie V is a lot of fun. Nice Brasserie-inspired menu as well.

Wisconsin Brewing is led by Kirby Nelson as the brewmaster, in partnership with Carl Nolen, former President of Capital Brewing. Nelson was the long-time brewmaster of Capital. Only met him once; my wife and I had a culinary thing in Spring Green and we were putting together a beer dinner, with area brewmasters as guests.
The general line is that "the shackles are off" with Nelson's being partner in the new enterprise, and not employee as he was with Capital. I can't speak to that.

Thanks Grampamark - a very nice post.

Thanks again, I'm overwhelmed by positive reception of my inquiry and the quality of conversation. I was feeling indifferent towards the trip, but now I'm starting to feel positive based on this discussion.

 

[tubs38]

Don't thank me-thank my friend, Pete. He's lived in Madison for years and is very much into the craft beer and cocktail scene. He's also done some brewing.

Thanks to Pete. If there is someway I can buy him a beer for the advice, let me know.

 

[beersk]

I always enjoy Great Dane, downtown near the capital. Ale Asylum is rad as well. There's a place called Essen Haus that's a little German spot that is pretty neat too. Not a brewery, but a cool place.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I always enjoy Great Dane, downtown near the capital. Ale Asylum is rad as well. There's a place called Essen Haus that's a little German spot that is pretty neat too. Not a brewery, but a cool place.

Essen Haus, of course, lotta fun. Nice memory from many years ago heading there (downstairs) after Taste of the Midwest. Weisse from a boot, drinking with Rob LoBriglio of Great Dane among a round booth of others. That's all I can remember.

Had to drive back to Chicago with another guy I worked with at Goose Island. He drove, but he and I were in the same shape. This part is left blank, as I'm not proud.

 

[Merak5]

All mentioned are good, I did the controls at Wisconsin Brewing, great bunch of people there, Kirby is a hoot. Also New Glarus is 20 miles south. Glarner Stube in NGlarus is a good restaurant for local meats, fondue and of course New Glarus beer on tap. A few miles further south is Monroe, WI. Home of German Brick cheese and they make it’s close cousin Limburger there too. You can buy a Limburger sandwich at Baumgartners. There is an interesting brewery called Minhas that gives a tour for 5 or 10 dollars and unlimited taps and an 8 pack when you leave. They ship most of their beer to Canada so lots of odd labels in their warehouse. Would make the New Glarus brewery a higher priority though. Of course if you can’t get down there, you won’t run out of beer in Madison.

 

[mongoose33]

I won't have a car, but I'm staying close to Wisconsin Brewing which is south of Madison - closer to New Glarus. Not sure how much a taxi ride would be/if they go to/from there. I know my co-workers who traveled previously and had cars recommended it. Would I be able to get some of their beer at a previously mentioned establishment? Or is it worth venturing out there?

I'm there Feb 20-23 & Feb 27 - Mar 2.

Oh, you can get New Glarus beer almost everywhere. The brewery has a tour, it's a bit different than many. It'd be worth it if you could get there, but you can find the beer easily. FWIW, everybody is Gaga over Spotted Cow, though I'm not a big fan. I *am* a big fan of Moon Man, a very hoppy beer that is not overly bitter. It's my go-to beer when we're out if they don't have anything interesting on tap.

The problem w/ those beers is you can't get them outside of Wisconsin. More on that below.

Someone above mentioned the Great Dane, which is also excellent. There are three locations.

**************

Funny story about New Glarus: I live in Platteville, WI, which is on a 4-lane that goes into Iowa--we're about 20 miles from the Mississippi and Iowa. The next town toward Madison from us, Belmont, has a truck stop. Very popular. They have a sign out front of the truck stop: "Three Cases of New Glarus Beer for $100." This is so those leaving the state can remember to stock up, since once they leave Wisconsin, they ain't finding it!

 

[wisconsinitebrewer]

Agree with what a lot have said here. Really enjoy Karben4 and Ale Asylum. Wisconsin brewing, Vintage, and Capital brewing are all good choices
I'm going to go against everybody else though and say New Glarus is not worth it this time of year. It's a self guided tour, the brewery itself is great to see, but that's really about it. I didn't find the atmosphere inside that great. Now summertime is a completely different story. Sitting up on top of the town at the brewery outside is awesome!

 

[cactusgarrett]

WI Brewing Co is a must if you're close. Beers are decent but the facility is to die for.
I'm not crazy about Ale Asylum. They've got some quality stuff, but they put a belgian twist on everything, and you can only have so many belgian IPAs or belgian pales before they all start tasting the same.
If you're in Verona, i would suggest Hop Haus. Newer place, but pretty solid.
Obviously New Glarus if you can manage the trek, and Karben4 if on the far east side.
Great Dane downtown is the only one to hit, in my opinion. The others aren't as diverse in their beer selections.
When i lived closer, the Malt House could NOT be beat. Highly recommend. It's a bit of a dive, but the beer selection is top notch.
In the Atwood area, I would highly recommend One Barrel Brewing, and to a lesser extent Next Door Brewing. That area can get a bit hipster-ish, though, depending on the night.
If on the west side, i highly suggest Cafe Hollander, too, for (what i would imagine) is a very traditional belgian beer (and bike) experience. GREAT beer menu and taplist.

God, i could go on and on... I love my city.

 

[Sprint10]

I found these posts:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/need-suggestions-for-green-bay-and-madison.539301/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/madison-wisconsin.318950/


The posts are a bit older, so just wondering if there is any updated recommendations. I won't have a car, so New Glarus is out and we have HopCat here, so that won't be towards the top of the list. From the posts and Yelp, Great Dane and Ale Asylum look good.

I'm technically in Verona, so if there is something somewhat worth visiting there, it may win due to convenience.

Thanks for any advice!

hey welcome to Wisconsin for the time being.... I live in Milwaukee sadly however I don't know any beer spots... But welcome!!!

 

[kristiismean]

++ Karben4
+ New Glarus, beautiful brewery, yes, beer and beer store on site but be sure to eat in new glarus, need little downtown area.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

WI Brewing Co is a must if you're close. Beers are decent but the facility is to die for.
I'm not crazy about Ale Asylum. They've got some quality stuff, but they put a belgian twist on everything, and you can only have so many belgian IPAs or belgian pales before they all start tasting the same.
If you're in Verona, i would suggest Hop Haus. Newer place, but pretty solid.
Obviously New Glarus if you can manage the trek, and Karben4 if on the far east side.
Great Dane downtown is the only one to hit, in my opinion. The others aren't as diverse in their beer selections.
When i lived closer, the Malt House could NOT be beat. Highly recommend. It's a bit of a dive, but the beer selection is top notch.
In the Atwood area, I would highly recommend One Barrel Brewing, and to a lesser extent Next Door Brewing. That area can get a bit hipster-ish, though, depending on the night.
If on the west side, i highly suggest Cafe Hollander, too, for (what i would imagine) is a very traditional belgian beer (and bike) experience. GREAT beer menu and taplist.

God, i could go on and on... I love my city.

Second on Hollander, spaced that. Awesome. Above, I just wanted to point out some locals - an opinion I'm sure you're not asking for is that I'm not big on either New Glarus, nor Wisconsin. The Careys are wonderful people and pioneers. I haven't had it in a long while but I do also love their Big Cherry Red, for what it is. It's not a lambic - and that's fine. But all in all, against the tide, I find their beers generally "safe" and to me, uninteresting.

It would be the same for Wisconsin Brewing. Going back to Capital, I've never found Kirby's beers to be very interesting. There's more there but I won't say it.

Just one perspective that may or may not be helpful. I hope the former.