Update: I went on their tour this weekend. It was very informative and was lead by their head brewer. He passed around the grains and hops for us to smell. We could try a Cascade hop too, which I did. This is the cleanest brewery I have ever been to! It was well-organized and the fermenters were named after important women in the owner's life. Tours are on Saturdays at 3:30 pm.
I can't believe I hadn't been on their tour! I lived in Lake Mills for 18 years.
I'm not much of a beer drinker, but that being said, I had the best microbrewery beer I've ever had here. We were meeting some friends who were coming in off the bike trail, and they had planned to eat dinner there. The brewery does not serve food, but you can order delivery.
Like another reviewer mentioned, the place is dog friendly.
I had the Three Beaches Honey Blonde, which I really enjoyed. I later tried the cherry lambic variety. It was good, but having consumed a fair share of Lindeman's Framboise in my days, I expected it to be a litter sweeter than what it was.
If I was passing though, I would plan another stop to this brewery.
After enjoying Tyranena beers in the bottle for a couple of years, I was really looking forward to visiting the source.
I arrived on a Friday around 5PM. Â Because they are a brewery first and the "tasting room" second, it is in a large stand-alone industrial building. Â There is plenty of parking in their private lot.
The tasting room was pretty small. Â There is a bar with about 12 stools. Â I didn't find the stools to be super comfy, but they weren't too bad. Â There was a chair rail, but no purse hooks for the ladies. Â The other side of the room was filled with about 6 high tables.
So I settled at the bar and ordered the sampler. Â They were out of one of the beers and we substituted with their root beer instead.
The beer was fantastic. Â I like the Fargo Brothers hefe, the Scruvy IPA, Bitter Woman IPA, and the Rocky's Revenge. Â The "kinda lambic" sour was not as good as I had hoped for. Â I do like sour beers, but this one just didn't have the pucker I was expecting. Â And of course, their easy drinking Three Beaches Honey Blonde was very popular with other patrons, but I found it boring.
There were some live music on the patio between 6PM and 9PM. Â They opened the door and windows so I could hear it fine without leaving my spot at the bar. Â It was some kind of folk/country music mostly. Â I didn't love it, but it was a nice touch for an otherwise pretty sterile environment.
After my sampler, I ordered pints of a few of my favorites. Â The Scurvy is really good on tap!
The bartender was not particularly engaging. Â Friendly, but he did not seem genuinely interested in interacting with self proclaimed beer tourists. Â That's OK though, he kept my beer and water filled, so I was happy.
Note: Â When I ordered water "no straw" as is my habit, he replied that they don't even have straws. Â I was so happy to hear this. Â They also apparently don't have ice as the water was served without that as well.
Having had my recommended daily allowance of pretzels and mustard I decided to get more food. Â The bartender provided me with the book of delivery places. Â My wife ordered a pizza from Timber Creek Pizza. Â After some initial confusion caused by the girl that answered the phone (she wasn't sure that they delivered to Tyranena), we eventually got a pizza delivered right to the tasting room. Â The poor guy didn't even know the name of who he was delivering for, but I saw him and completed the transaction.
There are dogs. Â Why anyone feels compelled to bring dogs to a bar I am not sure, but the ones in attendance were well behaved and there was no barking. Â This is a little quirky thing only made possible by the fact that they don't serve food I guess.
Once the sun went down, the decision to open the door and windows for the music turned into a poor one. Â The mosquitoes infiltrated the place and it got pretty annoying. Â But not as annoying as the choice of loud country music that filled the place as well.
As the sun went down and the mosquitoes and young drinkers started taking over the Tyranena tasting room, I was ready to end my day.
Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Tyranena. Â My 4 star rating is primarily based on the beer. Â The bar space is small and sterile. Â It is fine for enjoying a few beers, but it is not really trying to be a pub. Â The lack of food makes it hard for me to spend the day. Â I would definitely come back to Tyranena if I was in the area, but I don't know if the good beer is enough to draw me out to the middle of Wisconsin.
This is a nice little brewery. I was up there over the weekend to get tickets for The Great Taste of the Midwest. The brewery ran the entire event in a nice and orderly fashion. as far as I could tell, nothing went wrong for the participants.
As for the brewery itself. The tasting room is tiny. A bar, and a half dozen small tables. Which is fine if it isn't busy, but if they are, then it can get cramped. Fortunately for us, the weather was nice for the most part and we were able to sit outside on the patio where there is more room.
There is no food served here other than pretzels with mustard. They do have a propane grill on the patio that you can bring your own meat to cook on, so that's nice.
Their beer is pretty good. Nothing that really impressed me to the point that I would travel the hour or so distance just to get, but if I was in the neighborhood, I'd definitely stop in for one. I'm not a hop head, but their Scurvy and the Rocky's Revenge were my favorites.
Service was good while I was there, both Saturday night and Sunday morning. I never had to wait long for a beer and they even let me get behind the bar to snap a picture of one of their tapper handles.
I used to be the world's biggest fan of the Tyranena Brewery, but I fear I've had my last Tyranena beer ever... Without exaggerating, I've made dozens of special trips to the brewery with friends, coworkers, and clients - and the brewery is 45+ miles from my home and office (each way). I raved about the beer, the quality, the story behind it, and the integrity.
But after what I perceived to have happened during their "mug club lottery night," I'm done. Â The brewery has a "mug club" that offers anyone a chance to enter a lottery, which if they win, can then purchase a limited-edition hand-made ceramic mug for $50 and then enjoy $4 refills for a year.
To become a mug club member, there's a registry/drawing that opens on Thanksgiving day and runs through New Year's eve. You're allowed to sign up (in person, so you have to physically go to the brewery) no more than once a day during that time; each "signing" is supposed to get you an entry into their random drawing, which is held from 7pm - 10pm on a Saturday night in January, and you must be present at the brewery to win.
For someone like me, who lives almost 100-miles roundtrip away from Tyranena, it was quite an effort and commitment to participate in the lottery. But I was such a supporter that I personally made 21 special trips from the far west side of Middleton to Tyranena to register for the drawing.
I figured I had a "real" and fair shot at earning a mug, So imagine my horror when my friends and I witnessed the owner cherry-picking through the entries, appearing to filter/pre-screen/hand select "winners." Really??? So much for loyalty and "the luck of the draw."
After spending all night watching Rob sit at his corner table surrounded by friends and groupies as he selected "winners" while my name (along with dozens of others) was apparently discarded or shuffled to the bottom of the pile, I vowed to never buy another one of his beers ever again. Sure, it's his brewery but at least be fair and don't be so blatant with the "hand picking" of mug club members by sifting through them in front of everyone, holding them at arms length and then shaking your head side to side as you looked at the names...
Maybe he was sorting through people he knew weren't there, but the whole thing left a really sour taste in our mouthes. Â So I say "never again." Â
The mug club night was my last trip to Tryranena, and my last supporting effort. Â I'll spend my money with New Glarus, Capital, or any of Wisconsin's dozens of other locally-owned breweries. Â
My friends and I left in disgust - we've spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Tyranena; it's a shame that they can't even run a fair "lottery."
What a sham and what a shame. Â I'll never enter another one of their bike races, marathons, nor will I take people to visit the brewery, or buy a Tyranena beer/product ever again. And my Tyranena hats, shirts, sweatshirts, and bike jerseys are already in the trash. I'd donate them to St. Vinney's, but I don't want anyone advertising for the brewery. Â :-(
Boo.
This is our go-to place for beer in Wisconsin. Â There is a spacious "tasting room" Â Closed Mon and Tue in winter. Â My favorite of the "standards" they always serve is the Bitter Women IPA. Â In the summer we always have the Heiffenweisen on a hot day with sliders from the American Legion. Â Last night I had the bourbon brown ale. Â It was good for sipping. Â I would not recommend it with food, as the bourbon flavor is pronounced.
Review Source:We ended our third night of the road trip at Tyranena and let me just say, this was a great last stop. We ordered some food from a local take out place and had it delivered to the brewery (I can't remember where we got the food from but it was ok). The bartender has a really convenient binder of all the local eateries that will deliver to the bar since they don't have a kitchen. That being said, on to the beers! The BF and I got the sampler of everything that they had on tap and there were some stand outs and one or two hot messes. I did not care for any of the Kinda Lambics but really enjoyed the Three Beaches Honey Blonde, The BF liked the Bitter Woman and we both really liked their root beer. We liked it so much that we ended up getting a growler of it. After reading other reviews I would love to come back here during the summer with BBQ gear. This place sounds even more awesome than we had thought it was.
Review Source:I used to live in Cambridge near Tyranena. Â I miss it so. Â For your first time, have a sampler. Â The beer here is incredibly good, but if you're looking for a bar scene, this is not it. Â It is a nice place to play board games, grill out, pet the dogs that are always wandering around, and spend a lazy summer Sunday on the patio.
I really like the Three Beaches Honey Blonde, Bitter Woman, and Rocky's Revenge. Â There is no food but free pretzels there, but they have printed up the numbers of local delivery and take-out places printed up for you if you would like some food while you're there.
It is fairly small, so big groups probably aren't a good idea. Â
Comfortable with tasty beer and totally worth the drive.
Here's how to fully enjoy this place:
1. Go to the grocery store or your freezer, or whatever and get you favorite thing to grill and all the stuff you need to grill it/them.
2. Go to the brewery.
3. Ask to use the grill, get the sampler pack of beers.
4. Grill your food, eat it, drink the beer, eat the complimentary pretzels and mustard.
5. Be thankful that beer as good as that is made so close to where you live, and is as affordable as it is.
6. Take a long sigh, and be that much happier that you can enjoy moments like that.
7. Make it home safely.
Special Note: sometimes when it's nice out they have musical acts there. That's always a good time.
Just a tasting room, so the only food you'll get is pretzels and mustard. I'm just sayin'. But we camp up here a lot, and always take a nice bike ride to Tyranena. The beers are great, and they have a super cheap sampler with nine or ten tastings for ten bucks. And their tasting pours are like five ounces. So riding the bike is a good idea because we usually leave wasted and full of pretzels.
They have board games and give tours on Saturday. Also live music. A really cool little brewery experience.
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