So, you’ve arrived in Milwaukee & naturally your next move is to find a brewery – it’s just the Wisconsin thing to do. If you didn’t come to Milwaukee with the pure intention of drinking great beer, you may be asking:
How many breweries are in Milwaukee?
The short answer is 30+ breweries within city limits. The long answer is too many to keep track of as many more have popped up since the 2018 count.
You’ll quickly discover that Milwaukee has an immense sense of beer pride and a never-ending supply of new and unique breweries to try. Due to the sheer amount of craft breweries in the city, it’s actually not possible to visit them all in one weekend trip – you’d need days, if not weeks! Even after living in Milwaukee for 6+ years as self-proclaimed “beer enthusiasts”, we haven’t even put a dent in tasting all the fabulous craft taps that Cream City has to offer.
Given the broad selection, how do you decide which one to go to? Who has the best beer? Where do you even start?
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of the best breweries in Milwaukee (as of spring 2019 – list contents will definitely change) highlighting each one’s unique features, atmosphere, iconic beers, and their tour details. Like fresh cheese curds, no two breweries in Milwaukee are the same (but they’re all delicious)!
Where do the locals go? Which breweries have the best deals? How do you pick which breweries to visit? Keep reading to find out!
Milwaukee Breweries Map
Lakefront Brewery – The Milwaukee Classic
Lakefront Brewery is one of the oldest craft breweries in the city and an undeniable Milwaukee staple. Its unbeatable location on the Milwaukee River make it the perfect spot to hang out, enjoy some fried cheese curds (probably the best in the city), and sip on a pint of one of their many delicious taps.
- Location: Riverwest
- Beers to Try: Riverwest Stein, Lakefront IPA, Fuel Cafe
- Atmosphere: Fun & Lighthearted
- Unique Feature: During Lent, Lakefront packs to capacity for their traditional Friday Fish Fry and is complete with polka bands, dancing, and laughing locals of all ages and stages of life. Its lively, fun, and the dining area is even arranged into communal style seating just to accommodate the masses– just like a traditional German beer hall!
- Tour Details & Review: Honestly Lakefront has one of the best tours in Milwaukee – lively, entertaining, & usually hilarious! Each tour comes with 4 six-ounce beer samples, a pint glass, & a beer token for another bar. It’s definitely a must-do tour in Milwaukee. Tour details & tickets here!
Good City Brewing – The Good Brewery
Founded in 2016, Good City took the Milwaukee brewing industry by storm and quickly made its mark as one of the best breweries in the city. As the name implies, its just a good brewery to its core – good to the city & community through their volunteer & sponsorship programs, a good place simply to hang out and relax, and beer that is just good for your soul. It’s one of our favorite places to go & we both agree they brew the best beer – the Good City Motto is actually Stephanie’s favorite local beer!
- Location: East Side & Downtown Deer District
- Beers To Try: Motto, Risk, & Reward
- Atmosphere: Hip, Fun, & Just Plain Cool
- Unique Feature: Both locations have an amazing rooftop beer garden which is perfect for hanging out and enjoying the Wisconsin summers. Their downtown location is right next to the Fiserv Forum which makes it the perfect place to hang out for a Bucks game or concert.
- Tour details & tickets here!
Milwaukee Brewing Company – The Modern Favorite
Milwaukee Brewing Company is another brewery that’s been a Milwaukee staple for a few years now – well before the current “Beer Revolution”. MKE is deeply rooted in the Milwaukee community and all their beers are named in reference to different pieces of Milwaukee’s history as well as unique features of the city. A trip to MKE is an event in itself & you’re guaranteed to have a good time.
- Location: The Deer District (9th Street)
- Beers to Try: Louie’s Demise, O-Jii, Polish Moon
- Atmosphere: Fun, Rowdy, Modern
- Unique Feature: MKE has a couple tea-infused beers using locally made Rishi Tea (that are actually pretty good!) They also pioneered sustainable brewing operations in Milwaukee using solar power to heat their water & donating their mulch to community gardens. (along with so much more!)
- Tour Review & Details: The MKE tour is honestly the best deal in all of Milwaukee. $12 – all you can drink – for 2 full hours, and the tour portion is optional. The tours (from what we can usually remember) are fun, interesting and the perfect way to pregame any event – or even make an event of the tour itself! Tour details & tickets here!
MobCraft – The Crowd-Sourced Brewery
MobCraft is the perfect place to hang out, play games, and try unique, small-batch beer. The majority of MobCraft’s recipes originate from crowd-sourcing ideas; meaning that all their beer drinking patrons, like yourself, can submit different flavor ideas for the brewery to create! There’s always something new and different to try – so we highly recommend getting a flight!
- Location: Walkers Point
- Beers to Try: Whatever is new on tap or anything from this list of previous winners!
- Atmosphere: Relaxed, Fun
- Unique Features: MobCraft is the world’s first ever crowd-sourced brewery – Wisconsin ingenuity in its best form!
- Tour details & tickets here!
Black Husky Brewing – The “Mom & Pop” Brewery
Black Husky Brewing graced Milwaukee with its presence when owners Tim & Toni moved their operations from the rural town of Pembine, Wisconsin to Milwaukee’s edgy Riverwest neighborhood. With them, they brought along the very distinct essence of the “Wisconsin Northwoods” and furnished their brewery to give it a cabin feel – even hand building a bar made with real logs! Growing up near the Pembine area, we felt right at home at Black Husky & really connect with their story.
- Location: Riverwest
- Beers to Try: Black Husky Pale Ale, The Dogfather
- Atmosphere: Wisconsin Northwoods
- Unique Feature: The whole establishment is super dog friendly and all of their beers are named after the dogs they owned & loved over the years back in Pembine.
- Tour Review & Details: Proclaimed as Milwaukee’s Worst Tour – but Best Beer by On Milwaukee. The Black Husky tour is held every Saturday at 2:00 or by request only. Since their operation space is pretty small, there’s not a lot to see – but you’ll get to see it all with a delicious beer in your hand! Tour details & tickets here!
Pabst Best Place – The Brewery with History
One man’s passion for beer & Milwaukee history brought Best Place back to life after decades of deterioration following the Pabst Brewery shutdown in 1996. This tour focuses on the history & preservation of the iconic Pabst Blue Ribbon brand, operations, and its Milwaukee roots.
- Location: Historical Pabst Complex
- Beers to Try: PBR – of course!
- Atmosphere: Classic, Historical
- Unique Feature: Pabst Best Place is not owned or operated by the corporate Pabst Brewing, but instead by Jim Haertel, who brought Best Place back to life. He now manages it as a wedding and event venue while also preserving an iconic part of beer & Milwaukee history through daily tours.
- Tour details & tickets here!
Pabst Brewery & Taproom – The Hipster Revival Brewery
After Pabst officially moved their operations back to Milwaukee from California in 2016; they established their new headquarters in a former Pabst factory building. Although PBR doesn’t currently own or operate any brewing facilities (instead they contract out their beer production), they did open a taproom upon their return to the Good Land. Located in a remodeled church, Pabst now runs a small batch beer operation where they make traditional Pabst recipes while also releasing limited edition brews.
- Location: Historical Pabst Complex
- Beers to Try: Old Tankard Ale, Andecker, anything on tap that looks fun!
- Atmosphere: Historic, Hipster
- Unique Feature: The brewery itself is in a cool converted church right in the middle of the old Pabst Brewing complex.
- Tour Details: There are no official tours at the Pabst Taproom – but a virtual one can be seen here!
Third Space Brewing – The Industrial Brewery
Located in the undeveloped industrial park in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley (not too far from the Third Ward), Third Space Brewing has an undeniably cool space in an old warehouse building with exposed brick and infrastructure. They have a large taproom as well as an outdoor beer garden to enjoy those coveted Wisconsin summers. It’s an awesome place to hang out & enjoy high quality, delicious beer.
- Location: Menomonee River Valley
- Beers to Try: Happy Place, Upward Spiral, Unite the Cans
- Atmosphere: ‘Industrial meets Rustic”
- Unique Feature: Third Space has been a huge player in the revival of beer culture in Milwaukee – from hosting beer festivals to lending equipment to other breweries, they’re advancing Milwaukee one beer at a time.
- Tour details and tickets here!
City Lights Brewing – The Date Night Brewery
City Lights Brewing earned its name by setting up shop in the old Milwaukee Gaslight Building of the West Side Water Works complex in the Menomonee River Valley. Its located right on the Menomonee River which makes it the perfect stop to stop for a pint or two on a sunny day. It’s also a great pre-game spot before a Brewer’s game – they even have shuttles running starting 2 hours before first pitch!
- Location: Menomonee River Valley
- Beers to Try: Coconut Porter, Hazy IPA
- Atmosphere: Historical & Charming
- Unique Features: Its location in the old West Side Water Works complex means it has a ton of industrial charm & a lot of its original features. Many of the original structures are sill on the property giving it a great atmosphere & cool backstory.
- Tour details & tickets here!
Sprecher Brewery – The Family Friendly Brewery
Founded in 1985, Sprecher Brewing is another long-standing player in the Milwaukee beer scene. They brew very traditional-style German beers, the majority of which fall in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot. They have a fun tour that isn’t as technical as other tours, making it more welcoming for families with younger children – but it still fun as an adult too!
- Location: Glendale
- Beers to Try: Black Bavarian, Hefe Weiss
- Atmosphere: Traditional, German
- Unique Feature: Sprecher also brews specialty sodas that taste super good! They’re so good that we find ourselves thinking of Sprecher as more of a soda company than a brewery (which probably isn’t how they want us to feel.) The root beer is our personal favorite!
- Tour Review & Details: The Sprecher tour is fun, entertaining, & welcome to all ages. Each tour includes 4 beer samples & unlimited soda samples and a cool indoor beer garden to enjoy them in. Tour details and tickets here!
Miller Coors – The Macro Brewery
Although we definitely prefer craft & micro breweries – visiting & touring an international brewer/distributor is also a pretty cool experience. Seeing the sheer size and complexity of their brewing equipment and production facilities while also learning about the massive quantity of beer that they produce & ship is amazing, baffling, and overall super interesting! Plus – Miller got its start right here in Milwaukee – so even though it’s a macro brewer, it still has local roots.
- Location: Miller Valley
- Beers to Try: Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite
- Atmosphere: Corporate,
- Unique Feature: The Beer Caves – before refrigeration became mainstream, the original Miller Brewery created underground caves to keep their beer cold before shipment or consumption.
- Tour Review & Details: The tour is great for seeing the macro side of beer production. Its educational, informative, and pretty entertaining – although very professional and production focused. Tour details and tickets found here!
Our Rankings
And now – the moment you’ve been scrolling for: our definitive favorites for a variety of categories! Like most things in life, these rankings are subject to change based on mood, development, and a variety of other variables. Heck – you may even disagree with us! But either way, we are all drinking amazing, high quality craft beer – so we’re all winning.
- Favorite Brewery: N/A – too hard to choose
- Favorite Tour: Lakefront
- Best Deal: Milwaukee Brewing Company
- Most Unique: Mobcraft
- Overall Best Beer: Good City
- Best Atmosphere: City Lights
- Most Milwaukee: All – in their own way!
Additional Milwaukee Breweries To Check Out
Eagle Park Brewing
Broken Bat Brewery
Urban Harvest Brewing
Enlightened Brewing Company
Gathering Place Brewing
1840 Brewing Company
Venture Brewing Company
Component Brewing
Which brewery is your favorite & why? Tell us below!
Or is there a brewery we missed? *gasp* Tell us which one we should check out next!
