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Author Topic: Madison (GTOM)  (Read 2519 times)

Offline beckel

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Madison (GTOM)
« on: August 04, 2010, 12:35:18 pm »
Heading out to Madison, WI for The Great Taste of the Midwest and was wondering if anyone had brewpub/bar suggestions for the area, particularly downtown. Ale Asylum is definitely on the list and thanks to the wonderful Beer Mapping Project I know there are plenty of solid bars around but I was hoping to get some personal preferences from people who are familiar with the area. Thanks in advance, cheers!

Offline abraxas

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Re: Madison (GTOM)
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2010, 06:21:10 pm »
Maduros!  A few years back they replaced all of their taps with Bells the night before the Great Taste.  Lets of rare beers and lots of oaked versions.  Was in town visiting my girlfriend and stumbled across it.  Though with the popularity of craft beers nowdays I doubt they could ever do something like that again.

Great Dane was always good, there's at least 3 locations.

Offline dr.g

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Re: Madison (GTOM)
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2010, 03:53:22 am »
Not sure how far you are traveling outside of Madison but there are a few great breweries within like 45 miles or so. New Glarus, in New Glarus is prob the closest. Great beer, awesome people there. Also Capital Brewery is another big one in a cool building. I think its located in Middleton. And Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee is a fun trip. If your not looking to travel outside of Madison just go down State street and there are a ton of pubs with great beer.

Offline abraxas

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Re: Madison (GTOM)
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2010, 04:50:20 am »
Not sure how far you are traveling outside of Madison but there are a few great breweries within like 45 miles or so. New Glarus, in New Glarus is prob the closest. Great beer, awesome people there. Also Capital Brewery is another big one in a cool building. I think its located in Middleton. And Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee is a fun trip. If your not looking to travel outside of Madison just go down State street and there are a ton of pubs with great beer.


New Glarus has a Hard Hat tour on Fridays which might be cool.  When I toured it, it was self guided with audio wands.  It was a beautiful brewery but disappointing tour.

Tyranena Brewery is only 15 minutes or so outside of Madison, they have a great little pub attached though it can get crowded on the weekends.  If you do end up heading over to Milwaukee for some reason I can also recommend Milwaukee Brewing Company tour and Sprecher.  The Milwaukee Ale House has some good beer and Sugar Maple is one of the best beer bars in the state (I can almost see it from my front window) http://www.mysugarmaple.com/beer.htm  There's also a Northern Brewer store in Milwaukee if you are passing through.

Back to Madison, Weary Traveler isn't known for beer but it's a great place to grab something to eat.  Highlights some of the Madison neighborhood culture outside of the campus.  Dotty Dumpling's Dowry has some good burgers and such...




Offline beckel

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Re: Madison (GTOM)
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2010, 11:21:04 am »
Solid. Thanks for the suggestions. New Glarus does have a fantastic new brewery, probably the most impressive I've ever seen. A few friends and myself checked it out on the way to Dark Lord Day, definitely worth the time it takes to get over there, but I'm not sure I will be able to convince my travel mates this time around to venture that far. I was tempted to check out Tyranena so perhaps we'll get to do that. Thanks for mentioning Sprecher, not sure how that slipped my mind. I've always wanted to try their XXX Root Beer, hopefully I can make it. I'll definitely have to check out some of the pubs/restaurants mentioned. Thanks again. Cheers!

Offline MDixon

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Re: Madison (GTOM)
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2010, 03:37:48 pm »
Ale Asylum for brewpub - thank me later and don't go there for the food. Old Fashioned has a great draft lineup. Great Dane is a must, but the last time there no stand outs. Tyranena blew my socks off at one time, on our last visit it barely moved a lace. Be sure to go to Come Back In.

As was mentioned, Doty's is good for burgers, New Glarus if you are into the self guided tour kinda thing, if you head there you might as well swing through Mt. Horeb and go to Grumpy Troll. Capital has a great beer garden, but there beers all pretty much taste the same except for a select few (sorry, they do).
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