Wisconsin/Chicago breweries

Figured I’d post this here to see what you all think. I know some of you have been to a lot/most of the Wisconsin places.

We are leaving Thursday morning and driving to Madison. Nothing planned for Thursday so we have plenty of time. What breweries are a "must" in that direction?

We plan to hit New Glarus for sure since I’ve never been. Anywhere else that is awesome?

Looks like Ale Asylum, Vintage Brewing Company (never heard of this), Great Dane, and about a dozen others are possibilties.

Note: We are flying back so recommendations of good bottle shops is not necessary

Vintage is a cool stop. Some beers are meh, but they always have good stuff on, plus one or two casks that are nice and weird. Go to Karben 4; they’re a couple of miles from Ale Asylum, and make really good beers, especially the smoked Porter.

If you have time, get up to Central Waters and/or O’so. They’re more out of the way, but definitely worth your time.

I was underwhelmed with Ale Asylum. I didn’t think the beer was very good. My pizza was OK; my wife’s veggie pizza was not good.

Consider Brasserie V. I think Jeff would agree with that recommendation.

I’ve always enjoyed hitting up Great Dane but have only been there during GTMW, when they have all kinds of special taps on. Still, the atmosphere is pretty nice, lots of different bar settings and a cool outdoor patio.

I love Ale Asylum and Karben 4. Those are my top 2 in the area.

My favorite Madison stops are Karben4, Vintage, and (if you enjoy hoppy beers) Hop Haus in Verona.

Thanks all.

Looking forward to trying a few of these

Pig Minds is a worthy stop in between Madison and Chicago.
Old Fashioned in Madison has 60 WI taps, some decent stuff on now too.
Lazy Monk in Eau Claire is an awesome stop if you appreciate European style lagers.

BrasserieV is a must! Vintage is good, they have some really awesome burgers. I haven’t had many of their beers, but a few that I have had were quite nice.

One of the most unique places to drink in Wisconsin might be The Old Fashioned on the Capital Square. They only serve beer made in Wisconsin, they have a ton of really nice food and incredible cheese curds. You can get a pint of PBR with a pickled egg served with a shot of whiskey. Bam. ’sconnie.

Other than Dave’s BrewFarm and New Glarus (the latter of which is a good 30 miles off of I-94), I’m not sure any breweries on the way are a "must." Real Deal Brewing (at The Raw Deal restaurant) in Menomonie is a nice, obscure little brewpub that specializes in English styles. Lucette is doing decent work in the same town. Das Bierhaus, also in Menomonie, used to be a local favorite, but my last visit earlier this year saw some highly flawed brews. I’m personally not a big fan of the Czech and German-style beers that Lazy Monk in Eau Claire is putting out, but some people love them. I’m more intrigued by The Brewing Projekt in Eau Claire but haven’t tried them out yet. I’ve been told that the Dells-area breweries deserve to be skipped.

As for the Madison metro area itself... Capital in Middleton is a classic Wisconsin microbrewery, akin to Summit locally, but, unfortunately, it has strayed from its German-American roots in recent years and isn’t going to generate much excitement in 2015. The Great Dane’s downtown Madison location has a great vibe but also-ran beer, in my opinion. Karben4 probably has the best reputation of any brewery in the city, and I found it moderately impressive on a visit last year. Ale Asylum gets some buzz too, although I personally have been underwhelmed (but have never visited the brewery itself). Wisconsin Brewing Company in Verona has a state of the art facility, or so I’ve heard, but so far seems to have failed to capture the imagination of Wisconsin’s beer drinkers. I haven’t yet visited or tried beers from One Barrel, Next Door, Vintage, or Parched Eagle.

The best place to drink a beer in Madison is the Memorial Union Terrace.