Greetings Great Beer Now fans and followers! This is the seventh entry in a multi- part series of blog posts relating to the Great Beer Now No Fibs Allowed Beer Tour 2018: A True Beer City Experience, which took place in the great city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Open up your favorite Midwestern- brewed beer and follow along as I explore Wisconsin’s largest city in search of the best in local suds. Cheers!
When you’re a small suburb of a much larger city, you often get overlooked as a place for food, drink, and entertainment. All of the action is taking place in the big city, or so people believe, and that makes your itty bitty suburb less likely to make its way onto a food and beverage seeking tourist or local resident’s radar. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the largest city in the state and while there is certainly much in the way of action taking place within the city boundaries, there is much to be experienced elsewhere and my desire for suburban malt beverages led me to visit The Fermentorium Brewery and Tasting Room, located at 7481 Wi-60 Trunk in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Northward Bound
The Fermentorium is located about 25 miles north of Milwaukee in the small town of Cedarburg, a city with about 12,000 residents. The establishment was opened in 2016 and serves a few snacks, but is otherwise a ‘bring your own food’ brewery.
Walking inside the Fermentorium reveals a large room with a good deal of seating. The brewery produces around 1,500 barrels of beer and is growing at a steady clip. They brew using a 10 barrel brewing system which operates continuously to produce the 20+ beers served on tap at any moment. At present, they package their beer in cans and in kegs for distribution across a small footprint.
Flights for Me
The Fermentorium has almost two dozen beers on tap, so there is no shortage of beer to sample. Here is a listing of the beers I sampled, listed alphabetical by name, followed by the style and my Untappd rating for each, on a 5- point scale:
- Fireman’s Park Red, Red Ale, 3.75
- Golden Spiral, Hefeweizen, 4
- Music Maker, American IPA, 4
- Operation Night Hawk, Imperial Stout, 4.5
- Rainbows & Lollipops, American IPA, 4.25
- Yellow Tiger, Cream Ale, 4.25
Overall average rating: 4.13 out of 5
I found many things to love about the beers at the Fermentorium. I like having so many options from which to choose and among the beers in my flight, I liked the Imperial Stout the best, but the two IPA and others were also lip- smacking delicious.
Suburban Bliss
The Fermentorium Brewery and Taproom is one of those semi- out- of- the way places you don’t always consider visiting. Milwaukee overflows with craft beer options and many who visit the city will likely want to spend all of their time within Milwaukee itself, hopping from one brewery and taproom to the next, taking in as much craft beer as they can within minutes of the city’s downtown.
My visit to Milwaukee consisted mainly of Milwaukee- brewed suds but I had heard from different sources that the Fermentorium was a place worth seeking out. It isn’t very far out of the way at all and depending on traffic, it takes little time to get there. A quick drive up Interstate 43 from Milwaukee and a left turn on Washington Street at Exit 92 is all it takes. You will see the Fermentorium on your left only minutes after you exit the interstate.
Things were on the quiet side when I paid a visit to the Fermentorium and that was perfect for me, because it meant I could soak up the atmosphere, talk to the servers, and otherwise get to know a little more about this suburban brewery and what makes it so special. The relative quiet was completely different from what I had experienced elsewhere in Milwaukee and I took full advantage of the calm atmosphere, both to examine the beers more closely and understand more fully what makes the Fermentorium so endearing to so many.
One standout with the Fermentorium is the atmosphere. The interior is large with a mixture of seats and couches for sitting. With so much seating, there shouldn’t be any problem finding a table and bringing along a large group, if you’re part of one. You can enjoy relative peace at the Fermentorium, which I found a nice contrast from the hustle and bustle I experienced at the drinking establishments in and around Milwaukee’s inner core.
With the beer, the Fermentorium is bound to please most any craft beer fan. As I stated before, the main reason I made the trip up Interstate 43 was because I had been told that the Fermentorium was easily worth the trouble to seek out because the beer was superior to most. After sampling several of the beers, I can see why other craft beer fans recommended the Fermentorium so highly. The beer is definitely the star of the show and I didn’t mind at all sacrificing the time from my packed schedule to try beer from this suburban brewery.
It doesn’t take much effort to find beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Whether you’re visiting a brewery, bar, restaurant, coffee shop, etc there is a good chance that beer will be available on tap or in cans/bottles. It does take some effort to sever yourself from the ease of beer hunting in Wisconsin’s largest city and head to one of the suburbs, but the Fermentorium is easily worth the investment in time and effort. There is much to like about this suburban brewery and you are bound to come away feeling satisfied so pay a visit to the Fermentorium Brewery and Taproom the next time you’re in the greater Milwaukee area. And tell them Great Beer Now sent you.
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