Category: Food (Page 6 of 9)

Ale Asylum: A Brewery Tour Review

April 22, 2015 / Matt / 0 Comments

One of my favorite breweries while visiting Madison is Ale Asylum. The brewery tour is one of the better tours around. When in Madison, or in a two to three hour proximity, a craft beer lover needs to come check this place out. The brewery is growing in popularity as they produce more barrels each year and as they expand throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. To those who love good quality beer, this is a place you have to visit.

Let’s take a deeper look at Ale Asylum going by our brewery rubric.

Logistics: 4 Tours are only offered on Sundays between 12 and 5 and generally last between 30-45 minutes depending on your guide and group. The tour size is capped at 15 people and currently tickets must be bought in person, starting at 11 AM on Sunday. It would be nice if there was a reservation system, because the last thing you want is to travel to the brewery only to find out that all the spots are taken. We showed up at 11 on Sunday morning since we were not sure how popular the tour would be. The later the day gets, the harder it is to get on a tour as it becomes more popular throughout the day. Upon entering the establishment, you are greeted by a person at the host stand and you can either tell them you’re there for the tour or to eat. You sign a waiver, show your ID, and you are good to go. About five to ten minutes prior to the start of the tour, they will make an announcement telling you to get in line near the back of the restaurant. Overall, a simple process. The brewery itself was immaculate and you are able to see everything, including looking in the tanks and the manufacturing line for the canning (probably won’t be running). One last benefit that is a plus over other breweries is that there is plenty of parking.

Atmosphere: 4 Ale Asylum does celebrate the asylum aspect but overall it is above average. Depending on the time you go, you will probably have to deal with a group of annoying college students acting a fool, but the tour guide does a good job of keeping things in check. The tour guide does a good job of keeping the group entertained while providing a great educational time. The brewery is awesome and the fact that you get to see their whole operation is a major plus. It is located in an industrial complex with the brewery taking the back part of their building and the restaurant taking up the rest. Depending on the time you go, it could take a while to get a beer, but we didn’t have any problems as there were plenty of servers.

Value: 4 This is a tough one to grade. The cost of the tour is only $5 which is a huge deal because the tour is worth that itself. But you only get one pint, and you don’t get a glass to take with you; it has to be purchased separately. There are other tours that cost $10 where you get more beer and a glass, but the tour has fallen short. So you still pay the normal price for a pint, but you get a tour to go along with it. Also, please be aware that the tour is cash only.

Beer-Taste: 4 I thought the taste of the beer was fantastic. Obviously, depending on the beer you get, there will be different notes. I tried the Madtown Nut Brown ale that truly had a nice caramel taste but was also smooth. The different malts that make up this beer (7 in all) bring great life to this. The Bedlam! IPA is another great choice that has a nice hop flavor and hint of fruit. Ale Asylum does like hops and most of the beers will taste a littly hoppy compared to other beers that are in the area, so if you love IPA’s or the taste of hops in general, this is a great place to try.

Beer- Variety: 4 Ale Asylum offers 6 different year round beers with maybe one or two rotating seasonals offered. A major plus is when visiting the brewery, they will offer an experimental or limited beer that is a great choice.

Tour: 5 Plain and simply one of the best tours that I have ever been on. The tour guide was not some waiter they pulled off the street. The tour is by one of the people that work in the brewery. Ours was done by the head brewmaster and he did a fantastic job of telling us about the beer, the company, and their mission. The tour wasn’t too short but it also wasn’t too long. They showed the whole process and told about how the company was doing. The group got to see how they operated and where all the ingredients came from.

Other Noteworthy Items: The tour guide and staff were all super-friendly and so welcoming. The restaurant has a nice selection of food but mainly focusing on pizza and sandwiches. More importantly, it tasted pretty good too! Ale Asylum offers at least samples along the tour of a particular beer. But what is noteworthy is that you can actually see and taste the wort if you wanted to. As most other Wisconsin breweries we have visited, Ale Asylum does a great job at supporting the local farmers and business by giving their grains to the farmers or even making pizza crust out of them. They have even started using solar panels for a more earth-friendly appeal.

Overall, this is one place you have to visit. The beer is great as it is brewed by real people who love beer and love what they do.

Marigold Kitchen & The Old Fashioned Restaurants

April 21, 2015 / Rachel / 0 Comments

For us, it is an obvious choice–when we spend a couple days in a new city, we want to try to get a good mix of the unique and local favorite restaurants–no chain restaurants for us!

I already shared a little about the couple fun places we found in two previous posts–Baumgartner’s in Monroe, WI, and Hubbard Ave Diner in Middleton, WI, but the places I want to share today are right in the heart of downtown Madison.

If memory serves me correctly, we visited these two places on the same day, Marigold Kitchen for breakfast, and The Old Fashioned for dinner. In between dining at these two fantastic places, we hung out in downtown Madison visiting the Capitol, a couple museums, and enjoying the downtown area.

Marigold Kitchen is seated about a half block East of the Capitol on Pinckney Street, we saw that it was pretty popular among locals, so we thought we’d try it out. They only serve breakfast/brunch and lunch, and based on our plans for the day, we decided the night before that we should get there early. Upon entering, it was slightly confusing how the operation worked, but we took our cues from other patrons and got in line to order. After placing our order, we found a couple chairs at the counter. We both love omelettes–I opted for one with zucchini, roasted red peppers and goat cheese, while Matt chose one with chorizo and a corn relish. Major fail on my part for not snapping a picture, but Matt’s will have to suffice! The omelettes were served with “Marigold potatoes” and toast. Despite our attempt at getting there early, things seemed like they were starting to get chaotic; the busyness made for a loud environment, but the food was delicious, the servers were kind and helpful and we would definitely go back again!

The Old Fashioned is also on Pinckney Street, but it faces the Capitol, so if you’re lucky enough, you end up with a view! My word of caution about The Old Fashioned–it is a VERY popular place, be prepared to wait. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that it was so popular, so we ended up waiting for a very long time–at the time I don’t believe they took reservations, but that may have changed. So, what makes The Old Fashioned such a hotspot? They pride themselves on being quintessentially Wisconsin–their food sources are all from within the state and they love to share it with anyone who will listen. So, of course we had to start with a cheese plate–remember, WE’RE IN WISCONSIN! Matt ended up with a Sheboygan bratwurst with beer-batter cheese curds, and I straight up went for the carbs and had the Grilled Cheese with both Swiss and Cheddar (I probably had a side salad too out of guilt, but it was not memorable). Everything was absolutely delicious and aside from the wait, this was by far my favorite restaurant we went to during our trip.

After ~~stuffing ourselves~~ finishing our meal, we went for a nice long walk around the Capitol and surrounding area–what a great way to end our day!

Middleton, WI

April 16, 2015 / Rachel / 0 Comments

Just West of Madison is the suburb of Middleton; had we not arranged for our hotel to be in Middleton I think we likely would have missed out all we were able to enjoy there. Middleton is home to a number of little treasures, I’m going to share about three that we were able to visit.

After traveling up to Monroe, visiting Baumgartner’s, Minhas, and New Glarus, we drove up to our hotel in Middleton. Not wanting to venture into Madison proper yet, we searched for a place to grab dinner close to where we were staying. Yelp recommended Hubbard Avenue Diner, and it was all of three miles from our hotel so we said yes! Stepping in to Hubbard Ave Diner, you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. It has the quinntessential vibe of an old-timey diner with the menu and love of pie to prove it! Little did we know that they are all about the pie there! After waiting close to 45 minutes to get a table (it is a popular place on a Friday night!), we were seated and served quickly. When we visit a new place that we know we’ll only try once, Matt will always ask “what is the one dish we should have at this restaurant?”. Thus, he ended up with chicken pot pie and warm applesauce and I had the pot roast with veggies. We thought the specialty dish would have been a burger, but not here! The servers and clientele were all very friendly–an attitude we almost always experienced outside of Chicago and the suburbs! Unfortunately, we didn’t save room for pie but thought/hoped we might return another night when we were needing a snack.

Hubbard Avenue Diner Menu

Matt enjoying his last bites of applesauce.

The National Mustard Museum was by far one of my favorite parts of our trip. When I had been researching things to do I didn’t come across it–I think we actually discovered it via a brochure in the Hubbard Ave Diner. Just a block from the diner, we decided we had to check it out; the claim to fame was something along the lines that there were hundreds of different types of mustard and the museum was FREE. The upstairs of the museum is a huge mustard store and gift shop. Throughout the store, there were samples of different types of mustard with pretzels. or you can take a particular mustard to the counter and one of the helpful employees will pull an open jar from the refrigerator case and allow you to try it. The employees were so knowledgeable knowing the different styles and telling us about the different tasting notes–who knew mustard was so involved! Mustard and different gift boxes are available for purchase as well–we stocked up on Christmas gifts for our parents and they loved it! The downstairs is the actual “history of mustard”, everything from when it was first used, to when it started being mass produced as French’s. There are mustard jars from all parts of the world that line the walls, along with other memorabilia and even a little space to watch a film. I know that this was a random little museum, but I loved learning and sampling(!) the mustard.

Vending machine mustard at the National Mustard Museum.

Capital Brewery is also located in Middleton, just a few blocks from the diner and museum. For $7 you get to go on a tour of their facility, receive a commemorative glass and get to sample four of their beers. This seemed like a pretty good deal, so we arrived early and were able to purchase tickets, receive our four tokens for the beers, and glass, and go on an afternoon tour. They have since changed their process and you must reserve/purchase your tickets online, so be prepared for that. The start of the tour included an informational session in their lounge where you could start your samples while listening to the history of Capital Brewery. The tour then moves through their hallway of awards–we were surprised to learn of their achievements and awards–not because the beer wasn’t good, but because we hadn’t heard of them! As the tour moves into the warehouse where the beer is produced, they share their brewing process; the tour guide we had was very proud of their product and passionate to share with the group; it was a great way to spend $7 and 90 minutes.

Logistics: 3 Now that they have moved to an online reservation system, this seems like it would be easier because you have a guaranteed spot, but it does mean you have to plan.

Atmosphere: 2 There was at least one bachelor party in our tour group, along with several other obnoxious patrons that made the tour not as enjoyable.

Value: 4 $7 for a long tour, four samples and commemorative glass make for great value.

Beer-Taste: 4 There was a seasonal beer available that had pumpkin notes, along with their year-round beers, we were impressed and enjoyed all that we tried.

Beer-Variety: 4 There were 8 different beer options available, so you really had to choose your samples carefully!

Tour: 3 The tour was informative, but I think the guide being a bit over the top made the tour just ok for us.

So there is Middleton in a snapshot, I think we captured the highlights, but also wish we had more time to explore. What are some of your favorite unexpected places you’ve visited (like The National Mustard was for us) and why?

Monroe, WI

April 14, 2015 / Rachel / 3 Comments

Matt on the Monroe Square

On our trek to Madison, we detoured through rural northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin so that we could hit up Minhas Brewery. Located in Monroe, WI, we didn’t have detailed plans other than to arrive by 12pm so that we could be a part of the 1pm tour. Thankfully, Monroe was just a couple hour drive from our apartment, so we set out around 9a and arrived around 11:30a. We purchased tickets for the tour and explored the town square of Monroe. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Monroe is a Swiss town (and has the architecture to prove it!), and is the Swiss cheese capital of the U.S.!

Baumgartner’s Menu

Yelp told us that we had to check out Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern–it is, after all, Wisconsin’s oldest cheese store. Let’s just put it out there (and I think Rebekah will agree with me), that we’re never going to turn down visiting a “Cheese Store”. Baumgartner’s faces the town square and is a charming restaurant that seats about 50 people. The front of the establishment is the “store” with refrigerator cases of cheese and sausage with just a couple tables and chairs. The back of the store serves as the restaurant. Pulling up chairs to the counter, we perused the menu overhead and ordered. Now, if you’re in Wisconsin, it really should go without saying, but at every opportunity, you really should order a cheese plate. HELLO, YOU’RE IN WISCONSIN! So, what did I have for lunch? A sausage, cheese, and cracker plate with a cup of chili. #noshame Matt unsurprisingly ordered a Reuben. We were SO glad we visited–conversation among customers was easy, the food was delicious, and we loved the casual atmosphere.

Enjoying our soda and beer on the Minhas Tour

Minhas Brewery was the primary reason we came to Monroe, and we left happy travelers. The tour was promised to be at least 45 minutes, would include a walking tour through the buildings and production lines, and would include samples of their beers. The tour started with a short video explaining the history of the brewery’s 160 years of operation and various ownership. We were given samples during the video and our guide offered to “fill us up” prior to the walking tour. The walking tour took us through their brewing process all the way to packaging as we learned about the history of the buildings and evolution of the brewing strategies that have employed. We also learned that Minhas makes their own sodas under the label Blumer’s Soda and were educated on that process as well. At the end of the tour, each participant was given a 6 pack to take home–in the beer pack there were 4 different beers, 1 soda, and a commemorative glass; in the soda pack, there were 5 different sodas and a commemorative glass. For $10, this was a great value and such a fun tour: the guide was knowledgeable, the other tour participants were enjoyable to be around, and the beers and sodas were on point. Also to note, you have to check out “The Herb and Helen Haydock World of Beer Memorabilia Museum’ located in the Minhas Brewery gift shop!

I am going to just provide you with a snapshot of our brewery rubric, I think the highlights are captured above to give you a sense of what you’re getting into should you visit Minhas. Check out our Brewery Grading Rubric post for more info on the specific categories.

Disclaimer: for the Texans reading this, soda is synonymous with “pop” or “coke”; I know the exact terminology is debateable, but since we were in the North and it is associated with a label, we’re going to go with the local opinion on the matter.

Madison Trip Overview

April 13, 2015 / Rachel / 2 Comments

Matt and I have a tradition of alternating years that we plan something for our anniversary and birthdays. We’ve done everything from a weekend trip, to a basketball game, to (last year) eating at Wendy’s with our three week old. We both love this because we get the opportunity to surprise each other and not one person always has to be responsible.

For our second anniversary, we were both knee deep in work. Before I started at my full-time job, we had been taking short weekend trips about once every 6-8 weeks, but with both of us working it had become a lot harder to get away. We both desperately needed a change of scenery, even if for just a few days! We both love Wisconsin and the previous trips we had taken there, so naturally when it was my turn to plan, I chose to put together a long weekend trip where we might be able to explore a new area of the state.

Now, you’ve probably already picked up that we enjoy visiting breweries and trying new beers as well as exploring whatever new town/city we happen upon. Originally, I had the idea to drive out to a bed and breakfast that was also a brewery(!); I was SO excited about this. You can imagine my sadness when I researched and found out that it was in a super small town, where by my Google search, there wouldn’t be any restaurants and the brewery itself wouldn’t be open. I tried SO hard to tack this on to either the first night or last night of the trip, but it just did not pan out. So, back the drawing board! Thankfully I found a few great online resources to look up various breweries in southern Wisconsin and came across four different breweries within a couple hours of each other–two of which happened to be in Madison.

Once I figured out where in Wisconsin we would be going, it was easy to put the rest of the trip together. When I trip plan for us, I use TripAdvisor, Yelp, and even city websites to create a list of a handful of places that we might want to visit, this includes restaurants, breweries, museums, local events, points of interest, etc. I try to gather all the helpful information such as hours of operation, address, tickets needed, admission price, and any other helpful information. If I’m feeling really ambitious I put everything on a map so we can easily see what things we might want to do on the same day. We usually don’t set an itinerary unless we really want to see a particular museum and say it is only open on Friday afternoon, then we plan accordingly.

So, some of the things you’ll be reading about the next few days are from this southern Wisconsin and Madison trip. Because of our work schedules, we took three whole days (including travel), leaving on a Friday morning and returning Sunday late afternoon. We decided that we could have easily spent one more day in Madison because there were things we did pass up, but if you’re looking for a snapshot, I think we captured it. Here is an overview of what we’ll be covering the next few days.

Tuesday — Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern & Minhas Brewery, Monroe WI

Wednesday — New Glarus Brewing

Thursday — Hubbard Ave Diner, National Mustard Museum & Capital Brewery, Middleton WI

Monday — Wisconsin State Capitol & Madison Museum of Modern Art

Tuesday — The Old Fashioned & Marigold Kitchen

Wednesday — Ale Asylum