I’ve had the pleasure of traveling to Madison, Wisconsin for numerous work-related training trips. Being the capitol of the state, there are numerous restaurants/pubs circling the capitol building (which had the same architect as the U.S. Capitol building). Apparently the restaurants are highly competitive so bad ones go down quickly, leaving the ones with great food and incredible beers.
There are honestly too many good local breweries there to even begin to name accurately. One stood out though, and unfortunately they do NOT ship outside their home state. Being from eastern Pennsylvania we have some decent breweries, not a huge number of them but some. Wisconsin makes me feel like southern California and my area (including Victory, Dogfish Head, Stoudt’s, etc.) can’t brew in comparison. That’s quite a comment, I know. But you need to try the beers in Wisconsin if you ever get the chance. One pub which had about 30 brews on tap in front of my bacon & egg topped massive burger had all locals. By locals, they also had Milwaukee in 2-3 taps but the rest were delicious micros. Mostly Wisconsin and maybe a couple from Michigan. If you like flavor, you need to try New Glarus, they do not hesitate brewing it! Their Belgian Red (cherry), Raspberry Tart, and Strawberry Rhubarb are all amazing fruit beers with many times the fruit I’ve ever tried in a beer. I’m up’ing the raspberry in my own brews because of it LOL.
Between the meats/sausages, the cheeses, and the beers, I would seriously consider the area if I were independently wealthy and/or could work anywhere. The winters are a bitch but the food/beer… jesus!
I’m working on getting a consultant or two to bring me bottles from New Glarus when they can LOL.
Cheers,
G.