Milwaukee has a long brewing history, and in many ways is very similar to Cincinnati, where I’ve lived for the past eight years. There’s a big German influence in the city as a whole and especially the brewing scene, and both cities boomed prior to Prohibition. The biggest difference is that many of Milwaukee’s brands like Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz survived Prohibition while almost none of Cincinnati’s did.
My wife and I decided to take our normal fall vacation to Wisconsin, partly due to its proximity and the fact that we could drive there in a little over seven hours. Breweries were the main attraction as well, and we ended up learning some brewing history as well as getting to sample the modern offerings of Brew City.
I do want to mention that I had some great Milwaukee recommendations thanks to my friend Joel Geier aka Brewery Travels. He is a Milwaukee resident when he and his wife aren’t traveling around, and he gave me a great list with some insider tips that made our trip even more memorable.
Day 1 – New Glarus, Madison, and Ope!
Prior to heading to Milwaukee though, we decided to make a detour and visit New Glarus Brewing Company, which is about 45 miles south of Madison. New Glarus is a bucket list brewery for many, and it was for me as well. They’ve built a huge following on the fact that their beer is only available in Wisconsin, but they’ve been able to grow into the 12th-largest craft brewery in the US while only distributing to one state. Their campus is absolutely gorgeous and we ended up with perfect fall weather for the entire trip, making the views from their expansive patio even better. New Glarus offers tours and has a beverage depot below their taproom where you can regularly see folks leaving with cars full of their popular Spotted Cow.
After New Glarus we went through Madison to hit a couple of spots that were high on my wish list as well – Young Blood Beer Co. and Funk Factory Geuzeria. Both places are unique and were memorable stops. Young Blood opened during the pandemic and they’ve survived by being a unique offering and bringing something different to their taproom which is a former coffee shop. The owner also has a lot of experience in the cocktail space, and there’s a cocktail bar on their second floor. The taproom features lots of greenery and you can see into the floor below where the brewhouse sits. I love their unique beer offerings – I got a green apple, pineapple, orange, and guava sour while my wife Angie had a delicious Belgian blonde with coffee and lavender called Godammit Tammy!.
Funk Factory Geuzeria sits in a residential neighborhood on the south side of Madison, and while their taproom is small, they have a large outdoor beer garden. The brewery purchases wort from other places and then barrel-ages and blends on-site. They’re known for Lambics and geuzes, but have recently expanded into some other offerings like saisons.
After our stops in Madison, we headed east about 90 miles to Milwaukee. Our first stop on the way was at Ope! Brewing Co. in West Allis. A newer brewery, I wanted to stop here just because I love the name and their branding. Ope is a is a tiny exclamation of surprise that’s popular in the Midwest, and it just makes me laugh when places can turn a small little idiom into an entire brand. They have a huge warehouse-style taproom and they’re currently expanding outdoors to an area that will include sand volleyball courts and cornhole lanes. Not sure what could be more Midwestern than cornhole at a brewery. I enjoyed this stop and especially the beer names like Laaager, Fer Sure (IPA), and Didn’t See Ya There (hazy IPA). But their best offering was their peanut butter and marshmallow pastry stout called Ermahgerd!
After checking into our Airbnb we were starving, and luckily there was a brewery within walking distance that had food, so we ventured out to Good City Brewing‘s East Side location. They have expanded to four locations, but this one is where they brew all of their beer. They also have a rooftop patio and it was surprisingly nice enough to sit up there during a late October evening. Beer here was solid and we tried a flight with an IPA, a Honey Malted Oat Pale Ale, American lager, and their wheat beer called Fan Favorite.
After that we needed some rest after an entire day of traveling, so we called it a night. The next morning we took a long walk and ended up in the middle of the apple cider half marathon and grabbed some coffee at Collectivo which is right on Lake Michigan.
Day 2 – The push toward 500
With just six breweries to go until I hit 500, I made the decision to go for it on Saturday culminating with a last stop at Eagle Park Brewing Co.
But we started in the Bay View neighborhood south of downtown at Supermoon Beer Co. Supermoon is a very new brewery – so new that they didn’t have their official grand opening until the week after we visited. They have a tiny little taproom that is a circa-1902 small grocery store building. They make funky and rustic style beers, as well as European-inspired classics. I like the brightness of their taproom, and how they make you feel just a little fancy in serving their beer from wine glasses. We had a couple of half pours of two different saisons – their flagship Saison Bay View and Neighbs, a Biere de Garde. I also tried Inside of Outside, a new world hoppy saison that was one of the best beers I tried on the entire trip.
Just up the street is 1840 Brewing Company, which we visited next. They’ve collaborated a few times with Supermoon, which makes sense because they’re very similar in terms of style. 1840 is a little more established and have a wider variety of styles, and we tried their Oktoberfest, the Taylor Swift-inspired Midnights (sour with blueberry), Lotta Ins, Lotta Outs (tequila barrel kolsch), and their lager Hello, Milwaukee, a collaboration with Indeed Brewing Company from Minneapolis. Overall 1840 was a highlight of the trip and it’s easy to see why they were one of the top breweries recommended prior to our trip.
After a quick break back at our Airbnb, we decided to take an Uber to a couple of downtown breweries, Broken Bat and MobCraft. Broken Bat Brewery is a baseball themed brewery and they have a big warehouse style taproom. There’s tons of baseball memorabilia and of course baseball was on TV. Their beers are all baseball themed as well, and of course we had to start out with Big Red Machine, a raspberry pecan amber ale named after the great Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1970s. The most unique beer we had here was Benny, a tequila barrel aged Mexican lager named after Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez.
After Broken Bat, we were able to walk to MobCraft just a few blocks over. MobCraft Beer has a unique model where they crowdsource ideas for beers, and then let customers “vote” on which style of beer they should brew by placing a preorder for the beer. They also brew flagships and have won some awards for their sours. Their taproom is large and open, and we ended up getting a flight and sitting on the patio. They had some varied styles as you’d expect, and we tried both a limoncello ale and a coffee brown ale. But my favorite beer here was their Low pHunk, their base sour which just won gold at GABF.
After MobCraft, we took an Uber to Lakefront Brewery. Founded in 1987, Lakefront has become a landmark and pioneer in Milwaukee. Their brewpub is large and spacious, and there was plenty of room on a busy Saturday night even though they are undergoing some renovations to their taproom. They also have a large outdoor patio that has great views of the Milwaukee River. Lakefront has continued to reinvent themselves from a beer style standpoint, including traditional styles while also incorporating new trends like organic and gluten-free. We got a flight that consisted of their Eastside Dark lager, Pumpkin Lager, Hazy Rabbit New England IPA, and Bierzeit kolsch.
After Lakefront we were able to walk across a pedestrian bridge over the Milwaukee River to Eagle Park Brewing Co, which would be my 500th brewery. Eagle Park ended up being a great choice for No. 500. While they are known for some of their more experimental styles like milkshake IPAs and sours, their traditional German styles are also fantastic. I got to try their Schwarzbier (my favorite style), as well as Czech dark lager. We ended up just sitting at the bar and enjoying our full beers. Usually Angie and I get flights, but I wanted to soak this one in.
Day 3 – Pabst Mansion and more beer
Our third day in Milwaukee we started with a tour of the Pabst Mansion. I highly recommend the tour, and we ended up doing the Sunday “mimosa tour” which made it even better.
After the tour, we headed to Vennture Brew Co., because it was still before noon and Vennture is a coffee shop in addition to a brewery. Angie had coffee while I enjoyed a couple of half pours – a unique Oktoberfest with cofee, and a rye IPA called Fall Y’all. We also tried their wet hopped saison called Rural Transportation Methods which was a highlight. Vennture feels more like a coffee shop since it’s bright and airy, but they also have a bar/counter that makes it feel a little like a brewery.
Central Waters’ Milwaukee location was high on my wishlist because it was originally a German Methodist church and sits on the grounds of the former Pabst Brewery. It also served as the Captain Pabst Pilot House for a few years before closing in 2020. Central Waters has been around since the late 90s, and they’ve become well-known for their barrel-aging program. They also have a wide range of styles from an Italian Amaro-inspired lager to a black IPA to a Kvass. The taproom feels like you’re in a bright sanctuary and it’s a unique space.
After Central Waters we checked out both Third Space and Company Brewing. Third Space Brewing is a big production brewery in an industrial part of town. Their Unite the Clans Scottish Ale is a GABF gold medal winner and was the highlight here. We went to Company Brewing because they served food, and we ended up lucking out that they were still serving brunch. We tried their wet-hopped IPA as well as Poor Farm Pils and enjoyed their taproom which also has a stage and reminds me of an old bar.
Our final two stops were close to our Airbnb in River West at Amorphic and Gathering Place. Amorphic Beer is a newer player and multiple locals had recommended them, so we checked out their space. Amorphic was started by a group of engineers and it’s obvious in their hundred-plus year old building that also houses a woodworking shop (the shop also made their bar top). The building has an industrial vibe, but one that’s genuine and not manufactured to just look industrial. Their unique taphandles are all tools, like wrenches and a hammer. You can also walk right through their brewhouse to get to their small outdoor patio. They offer a good variety of lagers as well as IPAs and other styles.
Our last stop was Gathering Place Brewing Company just a block down. Also in an old industrial building, their bar is all wood and they feature traditional styles with a modern American flare. We had both their Italian pilsner and kolsch, as well as a very good Norwegian witbier called Little Bjorn.
Check out more Brewery Adventures here, and see the six best beers I had in Milwaukee below.