Few things present the opportunity for a road trip like destination weddings. Two good friends of mine from my college days recently got married in Green Lake, Wisconsin at the Heidel House Resort & Spa. This gorgeous venue was a fair drive from my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, but with a couple other wedding attendees to pick up and delicious beers to throw down along the way, it was a small ask to celebrate such a momentous occasion.
Stop 1: Big Grove Brewing
Location: Solon, IA
Distance In: 123 miles
A quick jog east on I-80 got me to Iowa City, where I picked up my former roommate Kevin, fresh off year one of law school at the University of Iowa. A beer connoisseur himself, Kevin was excited for a break from the college Keystones and ready to join me on this adventure. Our first stop would be Big Grove Brewery in Solon, Iowa, just outside Iowa City, for a beer and some lunch to get started on the right foot.
We found the door accidentally still locked, but a quick phone call got us in and seated at the bar. I ordered up their De Facto pale ale along with a mushroom goat cheese melt, both of which were excellent. Kevin, meanwhile, started the day boldly with a beer-only stop and the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Arms Race pale ale. He quickly bemoaned that it wasn’t called the Farewell to Arms Race, but the bartender quickly assured him that they’d used that clever title as well. He would also throw down a half pour of their imperial stout before we hit the road, as it’s a style Kevin can never pass up.
Stop 2: Galena Brewing Company
Location: Galena, IL
Distance In: 215 miles
If you’ve never been to Galena, Illinois, it’s a site to see. This tourist trap (I mean that in the best way possible) is filled with historical houses, small restaurants and trinket shops stuffed together along a gorgeous main drag that continually unwinds before you to reveal more and more places to stop. You could spend an entire day here, but we had places to be and breweries to visit, so we ducked into Galena Brewing Company to get a taste of what they had to offer.
Arriving just in time for an early-afternoon happy hour, we…ordered everything. We ran the gamut of flagships and seasonals along two flights that offered a wide variety of options both traditional and unique. Fingers crossed, we’d make it to Green Lake for the wedding in spite of it.
Nothing particularly struck my fancy here, so Kevin was happy to down most of the offerings, leaving me in excellent shape to keep us moving down the road. The gentleman seated next to us watching the Cubs game spotted my Confluence Brewing shirt and quickly told us he was previously from Des Moines. Was it sacrilegious for us to gush over Confluence’s beer while enjoying another brewery? Eh.
Stop 3: Brewery Creek
Location: Mineral Point, WI
Distance In: 241 miles
Somewhere between Galena and Mineral Point, Kevin spotted a particularly fierce-looking cow and exclaimed “It’s a lion!” Patently false, but good for a laugh. I briefly considered cutting him off.
Mineral Point, Wisconsin doesn’t look like much, but our bartender at the Brewery Creek Inn & Brewpub let us know that the city is an art hub, hosting several festivals every year drawing a big tourist crowd. Of course, that’s where Brewery Creek comes in, with a quaint selection of rooms across a couple of buildings for overnight guests, while at the same time offering a modest four in-house brews. The pale ale was unexpectedly bitter, but a fair brew and surely a great companion to any art excursion for the buffs of Wisconsin.
Stop 4: Grumpy Troll
Location: Mt. Horeb, WI
Distance In: 270 miles
The distance to The Grumpy Troll Brew Pub is a bit misleading. Before we embarked, my current roommate raved about Lake Louie Brewing up in Wisconsin and said we had to go, so I was sure to make it a stop on the route, but failed to do my research.
After barreling down Wisconsin’s rural, but gorgeous, highways and trotting out into a damp field to flag down a guy walking his two dogs and ask for directions, Kevin and I found ourselves at the end of an unmarked gravel road in front of Lake Louie Brewing, which is only open to the public for a single tour once a month. By now you’ve probably figured out that we had not shown up just in time for the tour.
We resolved to pack it in and skip to Madison when I spotted Mt. Horeb on a sign. My last time through Wisconsin I’d stopped at Grumpy Troll and knew Kevin would enjoy a quick detour through Mt. Horeb.
If you haven’t been to Mt. Horeb, the big thing there is, well, trolls. They’re everywhere – lawn decorations, statues and wood carvings in many of the city’s yards of strange, but endearing, trolls. Naturally, this is how Grumpy Troll ended up with its name. The place was packed, a testament to the quality of both its beer and beer cheese soup. We enjoyed our beers on the patio as the sun sank lower in the sky.
Stop 5: Wisconsin Brewing Company
Location: Madison, WI
Distance In: 283 miles
In Madison, Wisconsin, we picked up Nate, a friend of ours who lives in Rockford, Illinois and managed to get to Madison so we didn’t have to go too far out of our way. We learned that Kevin had never purchased any kind of wrapping for his gift for the bride and groom, so we corralled him into a nearby Shopko and watched him tipsily fumble around for a bag and some tissue paper – much more appropriate than the department store bag the gift currently sported.
We then moved downtown to hit Wisconsin Brewing Company. If you’ve never been to downtown Madison, you’re really missing out. This hip and happening area is catering directly to the 20-somethings milling about UW Madison, and so offers plenty of bars and restaurants for recent graduates like ourselves. All three of us being bit of politicos, it also offers a great view of the capital building, from which the various streets all fan out.
The guys ordered three of the daily special, the name of which I failed to take down. We drank, ate and laughed at Scott Walker’s expense, Nate ordered up a second beer in an attempt to catch Kevin and I (in beers sampled for the trip, of course – not drunkenness), and we finally meandered our way out of Madison.
The Wedding
We’d intended on making one more stop, but it was getting late, the day had been long, and the next night would surely be longer, so we bee-lined for Green Lake down more rural highways.
While there was a brewery in Green Lake, we didn’t quite make it there and rather opted to enjoy some New Glarus and Surly while propped on the dock at the resort between the wedding and reception, where more New Glarus was the beer of choice. When in Rome and all that.
Stop 6 – Ale Asylum
Location: Madison, WI
Distance In: 431 miles (round trip)
As we headed toward Rockford to drop Nate off, we couldn’t help but make one more stop. Ale Asylum back in Madison offered a variety of options, and I ended up taking home a growler of their flagship Hopalicious pale ale, my second favorite brew of the trip just behind the pale ale at Big Grove. I love a trip that starts and ends strong. We also enjoyed some hearty beer brats in the taproom and had to air up a worrisome flat tire before getting back on the road for good.
Final Report
Total Distance: 791 miles (round trip, over the weekend)
Total Breweries: 6
Total Beers: Uh…
Do it yourself
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