MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

Neighborhood bar STONEFLY (formerly known as ONOPA BREWING), stationed in a rustic red brick street corner building (with maroon interior) across from a cool record store, supports hip café clientele with well designed beers, nightly live entertainment, lounge seating, and a large right side beer garden (visited July ’05).

Brew tanks are saddled behind billiard tables in separate backroom where brewmeister Jacob crafts a revolving assortment of beers. On this stop, sampled whiskey-bound, orange rind-embittered, marmalade-fruited Bouzards Special Bitter, mocha-malted éclair-sweet alcohol-ridden Moustacheride Pale Ale, perfumed citric-cherry-induced medicinal warmer Fratney St. Flanders Ale, and black cherry-softened, mocha-nutty, black coffee-finishing Oatmeal Stout.

www.stoneflybrewery.com

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

Within walking distance of the center of provincial midtown, MILWAUKEE ALEHOUSE is conveniently situated along the Milwaukee River in a red brick building with a waterfront deck providing scenic industrial view (visited July ’05). Upon entering, right side bar with hanging mugs welcomes visitors and oak tables line the center with large screen televisions spewed across the room.

Specializing in martinis, frozen drinks, and the recommended Ale Mary (tomato juice with pickled hop shoots, lemon lime, pepper bells, carrot, and roasted garlic), this large pub also offered pasta dishes, sandwiches, burgers, burritos, and pot roast.

Front brew tanks served wheat biscuit-y soft-fruited Downtown Lites Honey Ale, acidic highly-carbolic dry-hopped honey-dripped yellow-fruited Solomon Juneau Golden Ale, gentle Cascade-hopped pine-embittered stoned-fruited Pull Chain Pale Ale, and dry buttery Scotch ale Louie’s Demise (bottled for consumption).

Perfect milk chocolate-sweetened, espresso-embittered, vanilla-spiced Sheepshead Stout made nice dessert fodder. Red-fruited grape-ester-y Cask Conditioned Pale Ale went down easy as butterscotch swirled finish increased its sticky mocha resonation.

A second Milwaukee Alehouse opened in Grafton around 2007.

www.ale-house.com

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

Water Street’s main drag boasts sundry bars and brewpubs, such as Stout Brothers Public House and Irish pub, Oak Barrel (where I met a bartender who took my friend Jeff and I to a tiny, wood-shelved bar with a wild assortment of aged liquor and hand-crafted beers. Initially visited May ’01, we also hit Irish pubs Sweeney’s, Mc Gillucuty’s, and Fitzgibbons.

 Beforehand, we’d shared award winning honey lager, pale ale, and pilsner over lunch at Water Street Brewery. Decent bottled beers found on trip included Lakefront, Sprecher, Capital, and New Glaurus brews. At Miller Park Stadium, home of baseball’s Brewers, had unexpectedly good Point Cascade Pale Ale and New Glarus Fat Squirrel, August ’04.

Revisited Milwaukee in July ’05, finding exceptional New World Wine Company, which boasted a great microbrew selection, then sojourned to all three Milwaukee brewpubs. Milwaukee’s first brewpub, the upscale brick-walled WATER STREET BREWERY, specialized in German-styled beers to match its Bavarian populous. An enormous glass-encased beer can collection filled the walls inside the midsize dining area (with high definition TV) and beer taps were shelved in central bar area.

Traditional brews include watery maize-soured lemon-dried Honey Lager Light, sour-grained malt-heavy raw-honeyed Munich Lager, peppery red-fruited tea-teased Pale Ale, frisky Band-Aid-scented smoke-spiced Water Street Amber, and murky popcorn-like Old World Oktoberfest.

Better were seasonal fare: banana-tart clove-backed mango-peach-kiwi-infused Bavarian Weiss, bitterly acidic orange-peeled lemon-tart Belgian Wit, astringent raspberry-rasped lemon-dropped Raspberry Weiss, and impressive hop-roasted caramel-Scotched off-dry Steam Beer.

Water Street opened brewpubs in Grafton and Delafield around 2008.

www.waterstreetbrewery.com