Your guide to this summer’s BEER FESTIVALS
Start stringing your pretzel necklaces: Beer Festival season is upon us. Curt Foreman founded BrewFest Partners, which organizes beer festivals acroos the country but with a concenttration on Wisconsin . Foreman started his first beer festival in 2004, Great Lakes Brewfest, and in 2009 brought Firkin Fest to Cathedral Square Parl. the Park. in countryStartCurt 2004, Foreman stringingGreatbut with Lakes foundedyoura concentrationpretzel Brewfest, BrewFest necklaces:and on Partners,in Wisconsin.2009 Beer broughtwhich festival Foreman organizesFirkin season startedFestis beer uponto his Cathedral festivalsfirstus. beer Squareacross festival GlarusIn August, Brewing he’llin Franksville.introduce Holy Cow, a beer festival spotlighting 16 brews from New Also making its debut is Milwaukee Craft Brewery Week, which starts July 28. The Milwaukee Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival cruises into Waukesha with food trucks and beer samples on May 20. The sponsors have rounded up more than 25 food trucks and will pour from a selection of 40 craft beers. In between, Deschutes Brewery brings its Street Pub tour to Milwaukee, one of only five stops in the country.
May 12-13 and May 19-20
What: Mayfest Where: Bavarian Bierhaus, 700 W. Lexington Blvd., Glendale When: 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and 2 p.m. to midnight Saturday
Mayfest is the traditional Old World celebration of nature’s reawakening after winter’s cold darkness. You know — spring. Bavarian Bierhaus celebrates with fresh beer, carnival rides, a pig roast and live music.
Tickets are required for general admission and table reservations. Table seats are $10 and are first-come, first-served on Friday; reservations are accepted on Saturday. Individual tickets are $4 in advance; $5 at the door for those 10 and older. Children younger than 10 are admitted free. See Eventbrite.com for advance tickets.
May 13
What: Pabst Milwaukee Brewery Grand Opening Street Festival Where: 1037 W. Juneau Ave. When: 1 to 7 p.m.
The subject of the celebration is beer. The brewery and taproom in a former church takes over the surrounding block for a grand opening street festival. An open-air art gallery and outdoor stage with performers Arrested Development, IshDARR, Hugh Masterson and more Milwaukee artists scheduled to perform.
May 20
What: The Milwaukee Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival Where: Waukesha Expo Center, 1000 Northview Road, Waukesha When: Noon to 6 p.m.
The combination of more than 24 food trucks and 40 beers to choose from is irresistible to us, apparently. Janet Prensky, spokesperson for Food Truck Festivals of America, said that in five years of organizing these festivals — 60 of them overall — the Milwaukee event is selling faster than any previous event.
It’s a chance to make your own food pairings with breweries from throughout the state and elsewhere. Food and beverage purchases are separate from an admission fee.
Breweries onboard include Raised Grain, Leinenkugel, Lakefront, Lake Louie, Great Lakes, Sprecher, Titletown, Wisconsin Brewing, Furthermore, Lombardi and Hopothesis.
Bring a nonperishable food donation for the Waukesha Food Pantry and receive a Food Truck Festivals of America koozie.
Admission is $5 in advance online; $10 at the door. Children 12 and younger are free. See foodtruckfestivalsof america.com.
May 20
What: Frothy Forage 2017 Where: Riveredge Nature Center, 458 County Road Y, Saukville When: Sampling from noon to 2:30 p.m.; after-party runs from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
Run for your beer. Or to your beer. The microbrew festival offers samples from 15 brewers, mead makers and wine producers.
New this year, all participants will have access to a Beer Trek through Riveredge forest and prairies where special stations, such as one run by Sugar Maple, will dispense craft beverages along the way.
Admission includes beer and wine sampling, a special tasting glass, live music from the Evergreen Grass Band and access to the Froth Beer Trek.
Tickets are $35 if purchased by May 17; $40 after May 17 or at the door. Designated driver tickets are $10 and include a sampling glass and soda. See riveredgenaturecenter.org.
May 26-28
What: Summer Untapped Where: The Micro Pavilion at Wisconsin State Fair Park, 640 S. 84th St., West Allis When: 5 to 11 p.m. May 26, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. May 27, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 28
Summer Untapped is from the folks at The Micro, the beer pub embedded at State Fair. Not technically a beer festival, it’s a chance to try more than 50 Wisconsin craft beers while listening to live music. See the event page on Facebook.
June 3
What: Beer Barons World of Beer Festival Where: The Schwabenhof Banquet and Meeting Hall, N56W14750 Silver Spring Drive, Menomonee Falls When: Starts at 1 p.m.; last call is 5 p.m.
It’s a beer festival run by home brewers who really like beer. And enjoy sharing it. The more than 350 beers, meads and ciders being served have been hand-picked by the home brewers. There’s a Very Important Beer area with rare and not often sampled beer and another area for presentations from beer experts.
Food will be available for purchase. The World of Beer Festival also includes shuttle service. Tickets are $50 for general admission; VIB admission is $70. Designated drivers are admitted free.
June 17
What: Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival When: Bayshore Town Center, 5800 N. Bayshore Drive, Glendale When: 1 to 5 p.m.
Wisconsin Beer Lovers is an all-hands-on-deck beer festival, produced by the Wisconsin Brewers Guild. Expect the guild to show off its best, which makes this festival a plus. An added bonus is watching shoppers doing their Saturday shop- ping at the stores of Bayshore and looking over at fest-goers and their tasting glass with alternate looks of thirst and envy.
VIP tickets are $75 in advance and include early-entry exclusive access to VIP-only area with special beers and more. General-admission tickets are $45 in advance. Designated driver tickets are $25. Food samples are included in the ticket price. See wiscon sinbeerloversfest.com.
July 15
What: Tater Tots & Beer Festival, Sheridan Park, 4800 S. Lake Drive, Cudahy When: 1 to 4 p.m.
The festival is a chance to sample beer and tater tot creations. Only 1,000 tickets will be sold to the festival, according to the announcement on Facebook. Designated-driver tickets are already sold out.
Tickets are $75 for VIP tickets (with access to special beers) and $37 for general admission.
July 22
What: Deschutes Brewery Street Pub When: 2 to 10 p.m.
Technically, this is not a beer festival. But it is a chance to be festive about beer. The Deschutes Street Pub Tour parks in Milwaukee for the day to pour a selection of its popular beers, including the reserve series The Abyss, from a 400-foot traveling bar. The brewery will team up with local chefs for food pairings and local bands for entertainment.
The festival is still waiting for application approval on the site. Milwaukee is one of five cities on the tour this year.
Deschutes teamed up with a few others including Hydro Flask, Humm Kombucha and KEEN Footwear for games and other street party activities. Admission is free.
July 22
What: Firkin Fest Where: Cathedral Square Park, 520 E. Wells St. When: VIP ticket-holders enter at 3 p.m.; general-admission ticket-holders enter at 4 p.m. The festival ends at 7:30 p.m.
First, a definition. A firkin is a small wooden barrel or covered vessel from which beer is dispensed. Drink samples from 50 cask-conditioned ales in firkins and an assortment of ciders while you look up at the city’s growing skyline.
Highlights include more than 150 beers, historic Milwaukee brewing displays, a beer memorabilia tent and music from the Squeezettes.
Ticket prices are $49 for general admission; $80 for VIP admission, which includes a chance to try rare beers. Designated-driver tickets are $15 and $25. See milwaukeefirkin.com.
July 29
What: Milwaukee Brewfest, 1600 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive When: VIP ticket-holders get in at 2 p.m.; general-admission tickets holders get in at 3 p.m. Last call is 6:30 p.m.
Sample more than 100 beers with a view of Lake Michigan. Among the brewers signed up are Milwaukee Brewing, Deschutes and Lakefront. The festival also highlights beers that are part of Milwaukee’s history from Old Tankard Ale to Schlitz.
VIP tickets are $75 in advance and include early entry and a VIP Lounge. General-admission tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the door. Designated-driver tickets are $15. See
July 28-Aug. 6
What: Milwaukee Craft Brewery Week
It’s technically not a festival, but there are festive events throughout the week around the Milwaukee area from the Milwaukee Craft Brewery League, an alliance of metro-area craft brewers. What: Amplified Ales Where: MobCraft Brewing, 505 S. 5th St.
As part of Milwaukee Craft Brewery Week, MobCraft hosts an outdoor street party pairing beers with music. The party will be held on the grassy median between MobCraft and Conejito’s from 6 p.m. to midnight.
Aug. 5
What: Border War Beer Fest
Where: Harbor Park, 5501 Ring Road, Kenosha
When: VIP ticket-holders get in at 2 p.m.; general admission ticket-holders get in at 3 p.m. The festival runs through 6:30 p.m.
The festival is a chance to try beer from Wisconsin and Illinois brewers and see who takes home the “Willy,” a traveling trophy awarded to the state with the best brews as voted on by attendees. Live music, a selection food trucks and a 5K race are part of the festival.
VIP tickets are $79 and include unlimited taste samples of rare and limited-release beers; general-admission tickets are $45. Designateddriver tickets are $25 and $15. See borderwarbeerfest.com.
Aug. 6
What: Second annual Project Terroir Beer Festival and Street Party Where: D14, 2273 S. Howell Ave. When: Noon to 8 p.m.
Part of Milwaukee Craft Brewery Week, this event started last year under the leadership of D14 owner Matt McCulloch. McCulloch wanted an excuse to have a party and worked with other brewers to create a street party/beer festival in which nine local brewers used all the same ingredients except one to create a beer.
They’ll do the same this year but with more participants.
Aug. 12
What: Great Taste of the Midwest Where: 1156 Olin-Turville Court, Madison When: 1 to 6 p.m.
If you’re just hearing about this now, you’re too late for this year. Tickets for the popular festival are sold in-person and for cash the first Sunday in May or by lottery if postmarked by a certain date.
If you missed out for 2017, strongly consider it for next year. The Madison Homebrew and Tasters Guild sponsor the festival in which 150 craftbrewer stands stretch throughout the park, which sits on the shores of Lake Monona. As the name implies, it draws brewers from all over the Midwest who want to share their best not only with the fans but with the other brewers. Fest-goers get caught in the hug.
Some food items and merchandise are sold at the festival. Tickets are $60 and there is a two-ticket limit. See great taste.org.
Aug. 26
What: Holy Cow Beer Fest Where: Franksville Park, 9416 Northwestern Ave., Franksville
The new festival will serve 16 New Glarus brews including 2013 to 2015 versions of the brewery’s Enigma. A second trailer will hold taps for other breweries. Highlights include a 24-foot bacon bar.
Coming this fall
There’s more: Ervtoberfest, a celebration of beers, is set for Sept. 9 at Erv’s Mug, 130 W. Ryan Road in Oak Creek. Great Lakes Brewfest is set for Sept. 19 at the Zoological Gardens in Racine at 2131 N. Main St. And the 2017 MKE Cider & Nano Beer Fest will be held Oct. 17 at Schlitz Park, 1543 N. 2nd St.; see milwaukeeciderfest.com.