Exploring Madison's Craft Beer Scene

The last couple of years, Stacy and I have stumbled upon a winery during girls' weekend. Since we were in Madison, I figured a winery or a brewery would be a good stop. When Stacy looked at the initial itinery she was like we can do Capital Brewery but there are so many other craft breweries. I was like the only reason I picked that one was because my plan was to end the weekend at a brewery and since we were in Middleton Capital Brewery made the most sense. 

Since the weekend didn't go as planned, which wasn't a bad thing, we decided to check out a couple smaller breweries yesterday. Then the volunteer gave us a couple suggestions for today -- one which was only open Thu-Sat. We ended up hitting a total of three different breweries which is just the tip of the iceberg of craft beers in Madison and sampled a wide range of beers. I kind of let Stacy dictate where we were going to go.

One Barrel Brewing Company 

These are handmade beers made in small batches... one barrel at a time. They had 12 different beers on tap from pilsners to stouts and everything in between. This was probably had a beer for everyone. Stacy and I split a flight since we were going to hit another brewery after this one. Stacy doesn't care much for IPAs and I am not one for really dark beers.

Fresh Froth -- Lemondrop APA.. I knew what an IPA was but I never knew there was an APA as well. This one was nice and summery. It was probably my favorite of the four.

Forward FC -- Cherry Kolsch .. This one wasn't bad. I would probably drink it again.

Breakfast Beer -- Imprerial Coffee Milk Stout. I am not a coffee fan or a stout fan but I was willing to try this one. It was exactly like I thought... coffee flavored beer. Stacy drank this one. 

Birthday Barley -- English Barleywine.. This one wasn't bad but it wasn't a favorite. If I had to I would drink it again. 

For four beers and a snack of cheese, sausage, and crackers was less than $20. This place you could hang out with friends any time of the day.

Funk Factory Geuzeria

Stacy asked me if I liked sour beers. I was like I never had one but I'd be willing to try one. 

Funk Factory specializes in sour beers. A sour beer is just made with sour yeast like sourdough bread. It has a different, unique taste. Again they brew small batches of their beers. They do not offer flights but instead you could get 6 oz samples of anything on tap plus they had a whole menu of 375 ml bottles of beer. There were 5 Funk Factory beers on tap and 3 guest taps.

We initially split a bottle of De Bij which is a blend of multiple vintages of MT beer with honey added later. These beers are sipped more like wine or cider. I honestly can say I was not a fan of this one. I might be because of it being a sour beer or it lacked another flavor. I drank my glass. 

Stacy tried another bottle off the menu which I don't recall. I went with the Blackberry Meerts. It was definitely a tart, sour beer. Every though it was nothing that I would expect in a beer, it was good in a weird way. It does take some getting used to though. 

I am one to try beers and wines based off of name only. For this reason alone, I had to try astronaut juice. It is beer with tang mixed in. It is their festival beer. Astronaut juice rocks my world. I would drink this any time. It tastes just like tang. 

Word to the budget conscious people, the bottles are $18 and you get about 2-3 glasses out of them. The 6 oz were $4 or $5. Stacy said the bottles were not worth it. 

Funk Factory is in the middle of a residential neighborhood. They roll up garage doors and the bar is in there. The atmosphere is laid-back awesomeness. Back in the day, they had neighbor bars.. now Madison is introducing neighborhood breweries. Great concept. 

Working Draft

This brewery was recommended by the volunteer at the Botanical Gardens. The best part is they were open at 11 am in the morning. Again Stacy and I split a flight of 4 beers. They had 9 beers to choose from.. half of which were IPAs. There were a couple guest beers on tap as well.

 

Hey Dey -- Vienna Lager. This one wasn't bad. I may drink it again but it was still along the lines of Miller and Bud. 

Ain't Bad -- Festbier. I was not a fan of this one at all. It was too malty and tasted too much like Miller Lite. We decided I am one for malty beers or festbiers. 

Pulp Culture -- Hazy IPA. This one was my favorite of the day. Stacy figures I prefer hoppy beer to malty beer since I liked this one. It also has a hint of grapefruit and pineapple. I just think I like fruit beers since I really like Summer Shady.

Mom's Jeans -- Maple Whiskey Barrel Aged Stout. For a dark beer this was amazing. Stacy was amazed by the low ABV (5.5%). It is an oatmeal stout that aged in maple syrup whiskey barrels. I would definitely drink this one again.

Each of the breweries we hit were unique in their own way. Beer tasting is so much better on the wallet than wine tasting since you really aren't obligated to buy any more beer once you finish your flight unlike wine tasting where I always feel obligated to buy a bottle. 

We just barely scratched the surface of the Madison craft beer scene.  I like the hole-in-wall craft breweries... small batches and once they run out too bad so sad. Then you know it's good. 

I told my cousins we need to do a girl's weekend in Madison and do beer tasting all weekend. I could keep up if I do flights of two beers or split a flight with someone. I know the hubby doesn't have the same taste for craft beer (or wine for that matter) as I do. I'm sure it won't be difficult to find someone to explore the craft beer scene with if I decide I need a beer fix in the future.