It has become a tradition for some visiting breweries to partner with local establishments to showcase their excellent beers. Even if you missed out on Great Taste tickets, you’ll still be able to find many opportunities to sample some special beers all around Madison. Some of these events even feature breweries that are not able to join us at the Great Taste. Look below for a list of events!
If you’d like to submit an event, please go here.
Darkness and Donuts at Tipsy Cow
August 8, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 11:30 pm Tipsy Cow - Madison, WI
Darkness and Free Greenbush Donuts in the Morning! (While Supplies Last)
Timed Tappings:
9am – Darkness and Donuts!!!
2018 Cherry Vanilla Darkness
Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels with Vanilla Bean & Cherry Added
2017 Barrel Aged Darkness
Imperial Stout Aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels
2024 Cola Darkness
Imperial stout, aged in bourbon barrels with cola flavoring, demerara syrup, vanilla, and orange peel
2023 Nitro Coco Darkness
Aged in bourbon barrels, coconut, vanilla, and cacao, then is brewed on nitro for a rich, creamy finish – 12% ABV
11AM
Oktoberfest Cask Firkin!!!
Marzen Lager – 6% ABV
R&D Hazy IPA
Only Keg Outside of our Beer Hall
Barrel Aged Pentagram
Dark Sour Ale aged in red wine barrels for 18 months, then moved to a Rye Whiskey Barrel for 8 more months.
4pm
Sunshine Supernova
Sour Ale crafted with mango, pineapple, and orange puree.
Splitting the S
Irish Style Dry Stout
2021 Gimme S’More Darkness
Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout with Vanilla and Cinnamon Added
7pm
Fourteen
Barleywine aged in Parker Heritage Wheat Whiskey barrels and Tattersall orphan spirit barrels
Barrel Aged Ten
Our Legendary 10th Anniversary Old Ale aged on toasted sassafras, then aged on rum barrels for close to a year
2023 Darkness with Friends : Other Half
Darkness aged in Old Fitzgerald Bourbon barrels with Cloud Cover Hayissa Olocho Keramo Coffee and vanilla beans added
On Tap All Day
Furious
IPA
Niiice Beer
It’s a beer that tastes like a beer
Mosh Pit Juicy Pale Ale
Juicy Pale Ale
Mosh Pit Hazy IPA
Hazy IPA
Grapefruit Supreme
Grapefruit Berliner Weiss Tart Ale
Mister Surly’s Orange Whip
Cream Ale with Blood Orange and Vanilla
Axe Man
IPA
Hillsboro Brewing Company's 1st Great Taste! Pre-Great Taste Party @ The Brass Ring
August 8, 2025 @ 11:00 am - 11:30 pm -
Join the Hillsboro Brewing Company at The Brass Ring to celebrate their first time attending the Great Taste of The Midwest!
Hillsboro Brewing Company will be releasing exclusive beers throughout the day at The Brass Ring. Be sure to bring your putting skills Friday because they will have a putting game that can land you some sweet prizes starting at 4:00PM!Featured Brews:
Love Island – Hibiscus and Raspberry Sour
Sour Patch – Sour Patch Kid Sour
Jorts – Guava infused Hefeweizen
X-Thiols – Hazy IPA
Nutty Monkey – Pistachio Cream Ale
Space Invaders – Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
G5 @ Square Wine Co.
August 8, 2025 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm -
Come and hang with the G5 Brew Crew and have a beer on the Square at Square Wine Co.! Sample three beers for $10 or buy a four pack and your samples are FREE!! We will be bringing some of our tastiest and freshest beers AND maybe a rare beer to sample…
Untitled Art + boiler makers @ Grey Market
August 8, 2025 @ 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm -
Untitled Art will be taking over the taps at Grey Market. Come enjoy a variety of Untitled Arts beers and seltzers along with special boilermaker pairings. The team from Untitled Art will be onsite with awesome swag giveaways and special art prints.
Tap list:
•BA American Imperial Stout
•Nectaron Krush IPA
•Sunset Passion Sour
•Navel Orange Yuzu Seltzer
•Kiwi Whip Sour
•Cryo Citra IPA
•Beer Beer American Pilsner
Great Taste Eve w/ Barrel & Beam, Earth Rider, and Sway.
August 8, 2025 @ 3:00 pm - 10:00 pm The Muskellounge - Madison, wi
Join us for a Great Taste pre-party with some of our favorite breweries — Barrel & Beam, Earth Rider, and Sway!
We’re celebrating exceptional beer on Friday, August 8th from 3–6 PM. Representatives from each brewery will be on-site pouring and chatting about some of their favorite brews. Hank’s will be open and serving up a classic fish fry, so come hungry and thirsty.
Here’s what we’ll be tapping:
Earth Rider Brewing
• Valhalla – Dancing Goat Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale (in collaboration with Muskellounge)
• Superior – Pale Ale
• Royal Bohemian – Lager
• Blueberry Honey – Cream Ale
• Peche – SourBarrel & Beam
• Blanc Du Nord – Belgian Wit
• Terre à Terre – Classic Saison
• Life in Michigan – Oak-Aged Amber
• Beau Blue – Blueberry Wild Ale
• Heritage – Hoppy SaisonSway Brewing
• A Little Breeze – Mexican-Inspired Pale Lager
• Lovely Cherries – Barrel-Fermented Saison with Door County Cherries
• County Goldenrod – Oak-Fermented Saison with Locally Foraged GoldenrodCome raise a glass with us and get a taste of what these incredible breweries have to offer!
Great Taste Pre-Party w/ Titletown Brewing & Live Music
August 8, 2025 @ 3:00 pm - 10:00 pm Bierock - Madison
Great Taste of the Midwest is almost here and so are Great Taste Eve events, including a special one at Bierock on Friday August 8 from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
We’ve got featured beer tappings from Titletown Brewing Company in Green Bay and live music on the docket.
Performing live music will be Madison’s own Jack o’ the Dust, starting at 8:00 p.m.
Jack o’ the Dust is an acoustic folk duo comprised of Andrew Doiel on guitar and Amy McNally on fiddle.
Look out for indie-rock, punk and Americana influences in their soulful originals and covers. There is no cover charge.
Meanwhile, we’ll have a tap takeover with Titletown Brewing Company.
Visitors can expect a couple flagship and seasonal offerings from Titletown along with a couple others that are typically taproom exclusives, which we are proud to serve as a Great Taste Eve partner.
The beers in our lineup—along with beer styles—include…
Extra Point, Hazy IPA: Session hazy IPA. Tropical, stone fruit, strawberry, a little dank. Light, smooth and minimal bitterness.
Wild Card: Passion Fruit & Peach, Fruited Sour: Fruited kettle-sour with passion fruit and peach puree.Bent Tuba, Oktoberfest: Fall seasonal. Want a beer that kicks some serious brass? Bent Tuba is a smooth German-style amber lager, loaded with rich, toasty malt flavor, and complemented by a touch of crisp Bavarian hops. It’s playing your song.
Orange Crush, Citrus Wheat: American wheat with orange peel and fresh orange zest added.
Johnny Blood Red, Irish-Style Red Ale: Rich caramel malts and a touch of roasted barley create the distinctive flavor of this Irish Style Red Ale. Silver medalist, Irish-Style Red Ale, 2015 Great American Beer Festival.
Green 19, IPA: This hop-forward ale showcases a complex blend of citrus-like American hop varieties, their bitterness well-balanced by complex malt for exceptional drinkability.
Honey Ale, Blonde Ale w/ Honey: Local wildflower honey adds sweet floral notes to the lightly-toasted Wisconsin malt character of this golden ale. Brewed since 1996, this beer is named after the famous C&NW ‘400’ passenger train that kept the Green Bay depot buzzing for decades.
Early birds get the bonus of Happy Hour pricing. From 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., get $1 off all full-size pours of Titletown and all alcoholic drinks at Bierock.
Bierock will have its full food and drink menu during the event, as well as full indoor and outdoor dining available.
So stop by for the best Great Taste Eve pre-party in town.
Located at 2911 N. Sherman Ave., Bierock is part of the Northside TownCenter and across the street from Warner Park.
Great Taste Eve at Giant Jones Brewing
August 8, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm Giant Jones Brewing - Madison
Join our co-owner/brewer Jessica Jones as she guides you through a flavorful beer journey. She will be selecting a flight of four Giant Jones beers, then she’ll chat with you all about the beers & what makes them so special. Each flight is $16. We will have 2 time slots for this fun event. 5:30pm or 7pm. Book your slot now as space is limited; link is below!
If you didn’t get tickets for The Great Taste of the Midwest you will have your chance tonight. We have 2 pairs of tickets and will be raffling them off at 6pm & 8pm!
We’re proud to be Wisconsin’s only certified organic brewery, so come see what our BIG beers are all about b/c we brew big beers for EVERYONE!
https://giant-jones-brewing.square.site/shop/events/4
Beat the Brewer with Badger State Brewing
August 8, 2025 @ 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm I/O Arcade Bar - Madison, WI
Play games and win prizes with Green Bay’s own Badger State Brewing!
Earth Rider Pre-Party
August 8, 2025 @ 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Northside Lounge - Madison, Wis.
Earth Rider will be showing up to Northside Lounge with some delicious beers and awesome giveaways. We’ll have brewery reps there to chat and enthuse about amazing beer.
Great Taste of Madison
August 8, 2025 @ 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Delta Beer Lab - Madison, WI
Get to know Madison’s robust and diverse craft beverage scene right down the road from the Great Taste of the Midwest festival grounds! Delta Beer Lab will be hosting guest beers from 16 Madison-area breweries, cideries, and distilleries representing a broad range of styles and flavors for the discerning craft beverage enthusiast. Meet representatives from the guest makers, learn more about their products, and buy a flight for a chance to win brewery swag! Don’t forget to grab a bite from our friends at Caracas Empanadas, who will be popping up at the Delta taproom for the night.
Every year, Madison plays host to the Great Taste of the Midwest, drawing top breweries from the Midwest and craft beer lovers from around the country. We love our brewery friends from out of town, but we decided it was time to give our visitors a chance to really get to know the host city for this top-tier festival. Featuring some makers that won’t be at the festival on Saturday, this pre-Great Taste event concentrates on the Great Taste of Madison that we’re all so proud of. As the brewery closest to the Great Taste festival grounds, Delta Beer Lab is proud to be the perfect taproom to host our local friends for the night.
Square Wine Co. — After Dark!
August 8, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm -
This is a rarity folks…Andrea is going to stay open for 2 EXTRA HOURS for G5 and our friends. We will have all 6 collabs available a day before Great Taste. Flights of 3 or 6 will be available. Come and meet the peeps that make the beer and all our collab friends!
– Streetside, Cincinnati OH
– Barrel Theory, St. Paul MN
– Little Thistle, Rochester MN
– Forbidden Root, Chicago IL
– Gravity Box, Mauston WI
– Alluvial Brewing, Ames IA
🍻 Great Taste Eve – Pre-Party at Starkweather Brewing Company
August 9, 2025 @ 2:00 pm - 9:30 pm Starkweather Brewing Company - WI
Be first in line — the party starts as soon as our doors open Friday at 2 pm!
We’re pouring our award-winning flagships PLUS hitting it out of the park with:
🍊 An Orange Oasis (8.4% ABV)
🌞 Succulent Sunshine, Hefeweizen (6% ABV)Our friends from Milwaukee’s Pilot Project are joining the fun with:
🥒 Donna’s Pickle Beer (4.4% ABV)
🍻 Standard Goods Lager (5% ABV)
🌫️ Two Falls Hazy IPA (6.8% ABV)
Come kick off Great Taste of the Midwest with us — epic beers, great vibes, and your beer-loving crew!
Beer & Chicken Wing Pairing 🍗🍺
August 9, 2025 @ 6:30 pm - 11:59 pm Starkweather Brewing Company - Madison, WI
Friday, August 8, 2025
6:30 – 8:00 PM, $37 per person
We’re bringing together our award-winning craft beer and award-winning chicken wings for a one-of-a-kind pairing experience!
✨ What to Expect:
Savor the craft beers that Starkweather Brewing Co. is famous for, each paired perfectly with our mouthwatering wings — seasoned and sauced to perfection. You’ll explore a delicious range of beer styles and wing flavors, from classic favorites to daring and unique combinations that will surprise and delight your taste buds.
🎟️ Limited to 20 guests only! Buy your tickets now, get ready to treat your taste buds to this exclusive experience!Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1493175320579?aff=oddtdtcreator