WI Archives - From Texas to Beyond

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?

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.