Madison, Wisconsin

If you only had 1 day in Madison, what bars, breweries and brewpubs should not be missed?

Thanks!

The Old Fashioned. Loads of taps...great location on the capital square. Great burgers.

I could spend all night at The Old Fashioned. Great local tap list which is super cheap. Dirty bar food. Kinda dark and lively. Right on the center square. If you get bored, usually some cool music going on @ maduro, good taps if I remember, good liquor and cocktails. Dark. Cigars allowed (?) Brickhouse BBQ is also walkable, had a suprising tap and bourbon list last I went. You can find like 10 other chill bars in the downtown area. But again, nothing as good as old fashioned. Woodmans and steves on the way out for beer, I think a few cheese shops are located around that area too.

Originally posted by wchesser
The Old Fashioned. Loads of taps...great location on the capital square. Great burgers.

I hope to find out during GTMW. Starting with a night at the Old Fashioned.

+1 to The Old Fashioned

I’d suggest Ale Asylum as well.

I would drive to New Glarus.

60 WI taps at Old Fashioned. A lot of bottles too. Every tap is 5 dollars. 2:1 Happy Hour Mon-Thurs 3-5. late night happy hour two dollars off taps Mon-Thurs 10:30-12:00 as well. Sidedoor is a solid underappreciated spot, with 30 rapidly changing taps, all US, all 4.00. 2:1 Happy hour 3-5 Mon-Fri.

As far as brewpubs..Ale Asylum is sort the the OG and a solid stop. Karben4 is in the same building Ale Asylum used to inhabit and is a solid newish player. Next Door Brewing is hit or miss, worth a stop. One Barrel Brewing is premium priced poorly made homebrew, I’d avoid it. Vintage Brewing is a solid stop on the other side of town, they probably make the most style of any brewery in Madison, but have kind of settled into seasonal grooves now, with a little less experimentation. Capital is petty weak and not worth it. Wisconsin Brewing has an awesome facility, and pumps out boring, cheap ingredient, crap beer. Their state of he art brewing equipment is pretty awesome though, and I’d assume their investors aren’t pleased. Parched Eagle is the newest kid on the block, on the other side of the lake. House of Brews and Mobcraft make really terrible stuff. Mobcraft has really connected with newbs though, who can appreciate infected homebrew carrot stouts and stuff like that.

Brasserie V is the fancy pants Belgian beer bar..probably the best tap list in Madison, solid food, but really overpriced..think 10 dollar 10oz pours. The tap and bottle list are solid though, and might be worth checking out. They keep the list updated on their site or beermenus.

There are some other ubiquitous multi tap bars that might be more impressive in a less beer-centric city: Mr Brews, Coopers Tavern, Brickhouse BBQ. Brickhouse used to have TG but that seems to not be as common anymore.

Thanks @nuplastikk for the extensive post. I’m not as familiar with the Madison beer scene as you but from the experience I do have, you nailed it. I saved a copy of your info for reference on future trips to that area.

Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated!