Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival Returns to Bayshore June 17

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The Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival is back! After a gap of four years, one of the state’s best beer fests returns to Bayshore in Glendale with 35 breweries from around the state pouring samples all afternoon this Saturday June 17.

What makes this brew fest special is that it's presented by the Wisconsin Brewers Guild—one of the few that they put on—which means that only guild member breweries will be participating, and you’ll have the chance to meet owners, brewers and brewmasters themselves. Many beer festivals are staffed by volunteers or beer distributors’ representatives, but this fest attracts the real movers and shakers of Wisconsin’s craft brewing industry. Not only that, they tend to bring the good stuff, the special brews, and the limited releases, and always some good swag.

The Wisconsin Brewers Guild is a nonprofit that helps state brewers (not all of the almost 250 state breweries are members) and promotes their interests, not the least of which are in the legislative arena (and you might be surprised how many of those come up, and often), as well as things like supply chain issues that affect small and independent brewers. It may also come as a surprise that these hardworking brewers, far from working against each other, join together for their common interests, not to mention camaraderie and good times.

The first fest was in 2009, and the last 14 years have certainly seen some major changes in the Wisconsin craft brewing landscape. At this year’s fest you’ll find quite a few Milwaukee area breweries including Sprecher, Gathering Place, Dead Bird, Rookery, 1840, Bavarian Bierhaus, Explorium, Good City and Third Space, as well as some from the outlying areas like Raised Grain (Waukesha), Brewfinity (Oconomowoc), and Old Germantown.

There will be other breweries, some new and some that have been around for a long time, from all over the state, like Pearl Street (LaCrosse), South Shore (Ashland), Stevens Point, Great Dane and Karben4 (Madison), Sand Creek (Black River Falls), Titletown and Hinterland (Green Bay) and quite a few more.

The Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival has always been known for its food, and this year is no exception, with samplings from FreshFin Poke, Bavarian Bierhaus, Sur La Table, Wild Fork Foods, and more, plus a food truck alley featuring five local food trucks.

Tickets are $65 advance or $75 at the gate, with VIP tickets at $80. The event runs from 1:00 to 5:00, with VIP early entry at noon, and advance tickets are available at wibrewersguild.com/event-5193718.

For more info visit wibrewersguild.com/wiblf and for the complete list of breweries attending, visit wibrewersguild.com/WBLFBrewers.