Beer here! Where? Good question. I ask myself that every day.
Everyone knows Wisconsin is a beer-swilling state, and its imbibing capital is unquestionably Milwaukee. Over the past few years, however, the brewing scene has exploded across Badgerland and out of the Brew City.
Milwaukee is home to the big-guns: Miller, Lakefront, Milwaukee, Sprecher. But did you know you could whet your whistle at St. Francis, Horny Goat, Water Street, and Stonefly without leaving the city? Or how about Big Head, Biloba, 4 Brothers, and Fixture in the near suburbs?
The fact is Wisconsin is foaming over with established, up-and-coming, and brand-spanking-new breweries. In my quest to become the most seasoned of all Wisconsin beer drinkers (I concede, Bernie Brewer), I’ve scoured the Interwebz to find out just which breweries are operating in our great state. The results were…poor. Most databases were severely outdated and none were complete. So I set about remedying this situation.
You can find the map of Wisconsin breweries that I personally put together here, and I’ll keep it permanently linked on the home bar of this site.
I’ve broken it into three categories:
Breweries brew their own beer and often have tap rooms to visit (and sometimes tours). Brew Pubs brew their own beer and prepare their own food in-house. Their beer can sometimes be found elsewhere. Contract Breweries are companies with beer recipes. Most contract their brewing out to other more established breweries, and none have their own space to visit.
I’ve also opened that page for comments, using this as sort of a crowd-sourcing project. If you see an error or omission, let me know and we’ll fix it faster than you can say IPA.
My goal: visit every brewery in this state. I will be embarking on what I’m calling the Great Wisconsin Brewery Tour. Be on the lookout for posts chronicling my travels. Won’t you join me for a pint?