Beer Run: Milwaukee

So you’ve mastered the year-round brews at Goose Island, sampled Half Acre, tried Metropolitan, and sought out Revolution Brewing. Now what? If you’re like The A.V. Club, then you get the itch to expand your craft-beer knowledge, and go anywhere and do anything in the process. In Beer Run, we’ll do just that: Give you the lowdown on where to visit and how to make the most of your sudsy excursion, most of which can be easily done in a day or less.

While you can find bottles from suburban and out-of-state brewers at many Chicago stores, most craft brewers don’t bottle everything they make. To get the freshest beer—not to mention seasonal and experimental batches—you’ve got to head straight to the source.

This week, we travel up I-94 to Milwaukee, where brewing beer is practically an official pastime. We couldn’t hit all the craft brewers, so don’t take an omission as a knock on quality. With such an ingrained craft-beer culture, you’ll find breweries up there making just about every style, from English bitters and ales to Belgian wheat beers, fruit-filled variations, and gluten-free batches.

Lakefront Brewery (1872 N. Commerce St., Milwaukee, 414-372-8800)

Exclusive to the brewery: Lakefront has a set tour schedule (mostly Friday and Saturday afternoons), and apart from its weekly fish-fry, that’s about the only time you can try Lakefront’s beer straight from the source. The tour is $7, and includes tastes of four beers, plus a coupon for a free pint, redeemable at several Milwaukee bars. At the Friday night fish-fries (reservations recommended), expect to spend about $13 for your entrée; beers are $4 each.

Pitfall: Lakefront’s small retail shop is open semi-irregular hours. It’s best to call ahead, otherwise you’ll end up like The A.V. Club, rolling up to the loading dock on a Saturday morning when the two employees are still cleaning up from the night before. The Brewery is in a slightly odd location on the Milwaukee River, so consult a map and don’t be surprised if you get lost. We did.

Worth the visit: The retail shop stocks everything Lakefront bottles, including eight-bottle variety packs, great for sampling its range of brews. Grab a bomber (22-ounce bottle) of the Local Acre Lager, which uses ingredients sourced from Wisconsin and is one of the most nuanced, flavorful lagers we’ve tried.

Water Street Brewery (1101 N. Water St., Milwaukee., 414-272-1195)

Exclusive to the brewery: Water Street doesn’t bottle its stuff, so hitting the brewpub is the only way to try it. Good thing Water Street has taster trays that provide a small pour of the 10 beers on tap at any given time—no need to narrow your choices to just five or six.

Pitfall: Its menu covers the generic bases: Quesadillas, pizza, chicken wraps, ribs, shrimp scampi, and jambalaya? Well, okay. The Sunday brunch is questionable—pairing French toast with a raspberry-spiked Belgian wheat beer doesn’t quite sound right—but there are Bloody Marys as well.

Worth the visit: Water Street will put any of its beers in a growler, including the high-alcohol ones like its layered and complex imperial stout. The more complex beers are $12 a growler instead of $10.

Sprecher Brewing Company (701 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale, WI. (414-964-2739)

Exclusive to the brewery: Sprecher has two different tours. The standard-issue tour, which happens one to five times a day, is $4 and gives you tastes of four different beers. The Reserve Tastings (reservations required) only happen a few times each week, but for $15 you can sample 10 beers, each paired with local artisan cheeses.

Pitfall: Other than the aforementioned cheese, Sprecher doesn’t serve food or sample beers outside of the scheduled tours and tastings. With 16 different beers (some seasonal), Sprecher sometimes falls flat in its effort to make such a wide assortment of beer styles available. Try a tour or tasting before you commit to buying several bottles or a case of beer to take home.

Worth the visit: Sprecher’s brewery is the best place to load up on its beers: There are more than a dozen varieties, plus almost as many sodas and non-alcoholic things. It’s the best place to find some of its limited-run concoctions, like chocolate/raspberry-loaded porter and barleywine.

Milwaukee Ale House (233 N. Water St., Milwaukee, 414-226-2337)

Exclusive to the brewery: Sample your beer on Ale House’s deck overlooking the slightly industrial-looking Milwaukee River. Something about drinking on a river is relaxing, even when the view is a busy warehouse on the opposite bank.

Pitfall: Second Street’s website doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s on tap, so don’t get your heart set on trying something, especially seasonals, which rotate frequently. If you’re a hophead eternally seeking bitter, edgy beers, you may be slightly underwhelmed, depending on the selection when you visit.

Worth the visit: Definitely try the Pull Chain Pail Ale, a refreshing, balanced, and hoppy brew that’s good for several pints. Additionally, the Third Ward is a happening, revitalized neighborhood with lots of shops, galleries, and other restaurants worth checking out.

Getting There

Plan the better part of a day for this trip, since you’ll be spending three hours on the road there and back. Alternatively, Amtrak’s Hiawatha Service runs six to seven daily roundtrips and drops you just across the river from downtown Milwaukee. If you drive, a designated driver is a must, obviously.