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.
Lager Kings of Wisconsin @ Working Draft Beer Company
August 7, 2026 @ 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm Working Draft Beer Company - Madison
Looking for something fun, creative, and delicious to do the night before the Great Taste of the Midwest?
Join Working Draft Friday, August 7th, as we host our friends from Milwaukee, Lakefront Brewery, for the Lager Kings of Wisconsin 🍺👑
We have a lot of fun in store for you, including:
Release of Workfront Czech-Style Amber Lager, a collaboration between WDBC and Lakefront
Melvis, an Elvis impersonator, performing from 2-5pm
Sandwich Hub slinging delicious sandwiches, including ‘Fat Elvis’ Sammies
Other Lakefront guest taps, including Dive Bar Lager on a side pull faucet
So grow your sideburns out and get ready for a Kingly night!
🦖 Toppling Goliath Pre-Party at BarleyPop Tap and Shop 🦖 ⭐ Featured Pour: 2025 Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (KBBS) ⭐
August 7, 2026 @ 12:00 pm - 11:59 pm Barleypop Tap and Shop - Madison, WI 53704
Get ready to pour the roar — Toppling Goliath is back at BarleyPop for our legendary Pre-Party to The Great Taste of the Midwest! We’ve been throwing this dino-sized bash for years, and 2026 is shaping up to be one of our best yet.
Join the Toppling Goliath crew, including members of our brewing team, for an afternoon of rare pours, great company, and prehistoric fun. Whether you’re chasing world-class stouts or hop-forward favorites, we’ve got a lineup that’s sure to make your taste buds go Jurassic.🦖 Draft List 🦖
Rare Stouts:
🔥 2025 Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (KBBS) 🔥 – For the first time ever at our BarleyPop Pre-Party, we’ll be pouring Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout (KBBS). Known as one of the most sought-after barrel-aged stouts in the world, this rare opportunity alone is worth the trip. If you’ve always wanted to try KBBS, this is your chance.
2026 Assassin – Smooth, stealthy, and dangerously delicious — the latest vintage of Toppling Goliath’s Assassin Lineage.Core Brands:
Pseudo Sue – The original hop beast that started it all.
DDH King Sue – Double dry-hopped and bursting with juicy tropical character.
Oktoberfest – A smooth, malt-forward fall classic that arrives just in time for festival season.
Joy Top Pilsner – Our new crisp, refreshing pilsner built for easy drinking and good times.
Caramel Apple Fandango – A sweet and tart seasonal twist that tastes like fall in a glass.Expect dino-sized pours, fierce flavors, and a chance to hang out with the Toppling Goliath team before The Great Taste festivities begin. Whether you’re a longtime member of the herd or visiting us for the first time, this is the perfect way to kick off one of the best beer weekends of the year.
No bones about it—this party is going to be a roaring good time! 🦖🍻
Great Taste Pre-Party with Titletown & Live Music
August 7, 2026 @ 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 7 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 Mudroom, starting at 8:00 p.m.
Mudroom is a Madison-based jamband that has been delighting fans for over a decade with 400-plus shows.
While they love to cover their favorite artists like Phish and the Grateful Dead, their funky, jazzy original music is their true passion. Mudroom performances feature a variety of musical styles, quite a bit of improvisation and are always worth the trip.
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 brewery descriptions—include…
Orange Cream Fizzy, Shandy: Dreams do come true. Is it a soda? Is it a beer? It’s a Fizzy! Orange, vanilla, sweet, effervescent, with a kick of alcohol. Kowabunga!
Canadeo Gold, Kölsch: An all-time great style named after an all-time great player. Clean and easy drinking with subtle fruit notes. The People’s Choice winner for our 30th anniversary comeback brew!
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.
Whitecap, Witbier: As white as the surf and as soft as a rolling wave. Cascading notes of bright orange citrus, banana and clove. Light and easy-drinking, best enjoyed with toes in the sand and the waves in view.
Iron Hopper, Hoppy Red Lager: Clean drinking hoppy red lager made with Centennial, Cascade and Amarillo hops. Hop forward lager with citrus, pine and floral aromas complimented with a malty, caramel backbone.
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.
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.
New Glarus Brewing Co. Presents… Pre-Taste on the Pitch
August 7, 2026 @ 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Baer Balcony, overlooking Historic Breese Stevens Field - Madison, Wisconsin
World famous (yet only in Wisconsin) New Glarus Brewing Co. will be hosting their pre-party to The Great Taste of the Midwest – Pre-Taste on the Pitch – on Friday, August 7th from 4 PM – 8 PM in the Baer Balcony, overlooking Historic Breese Stevens Field.
Join us a we welcome New Glarus Brewing Co. and sample some of the finest libations the great lands of Wisconsin have to offer.
This event is FREE and open to the public*.
Play yard games, converse with the experts, WIN TICKETS, and enjoy a beautiful night overlooking the pitch as Breese Stevens Field.
GIVEAWAYS:
All attendees will have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the upcoming Alabama Shakes show at Breese Stevens Field on August 30th, 2025 or one of THREE pairs of tickets to The Great Taste of the Midwest on August 8th.
*Must be 21+ years of age to comsume alcohol.
🦖 Toppling the Cardinal Bar 🦖
August 7, 2026 @ 4:00 pm - 11:59 pm The Cardinal Bar - Madison, Wisconsin
Join Toppling Goliath at The Cardinal Bar for our annual Madison pre-party and kick off one of the best beer weekends of the year with the TG crew. Brewers, team members, and fellow craft beer lovers will be gathering for an evening packed with exclusive pours, rare releases, and plenty of dino-sized fun before the festivities begin on Saturday.
We’re rolling in with a tap list that includes:
Pseudo Sue
Hazy Day Sue
Citrus Sue
Joy Top Pilsner
Oktoberfest
Barrel-Aged Amber Pear
Available in cans:
DDH King Sue
Lil’ Strawb (Drekker Collab)PLUS: We’ll have a very limited number of bottles for onsite consumption of our coveted barrel-aged stout Assassin 2026. This beast doesn’t come out often — don’t miss your chance to snag one!
Expect dino-themed fun, killer brews, and a chance to hang with the TG team before the big weekend. Let’s make Madison roar!
Big Grove Brewery's Inagural Great Taste Pre-Party at Nattspil!
August 7, 2026 @ 5:00 pm - 1:00 am -
Join us for our first ever Great Taste Eve Pre – Party! Nattspil will be dedicating six draft lines to us filled with your favorites and some brands that have not quite made it into distribution in Wisconsin yet.
We will also be pairing up with Clean Lakes Alliance all weekend to fundraise for them, featuring “Wade Wisely”, our Oatmeal Stout. Every purchase will raise money for to improve and protect lakes, streams and wetlands in the Yahara River Watershed.
Goodworks Brewing Company and Northside Lounge
August 7, 2026 @ 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm Northside Lounge - Madison, Wis.
Join Northside Lounge for a Pre-taste Eve event on the Northside with Goodworks Brewing Company! Meet the team, get some swag, drink some damn good beer. See you on the Northside!
Darkness and Donuts at Tipsy Cow
August 8, 2026 @ 9:00 am - 11:55 pm Tipsy Cow - Madison
10th Annual Darkness and Donuts at Tipsy Cow!
9am
Darkness and Free Greenbush Donuts in the Morning! (While Supplies Last).Featuring tappings of:
2024 Double Barrel Darkness
Aged in Tattersall Rum Barrels and O’Shaughnessy Bourbon Barrels with Vanilla 12% ABV2021 Blueberry Crumble Darkness
Rum Barrel Aged with Blueberries, Vanilla, and Lemon Peel 12% ABV2020 Mole Darkness
Bourbon Barrel aged with Vanilla Beans, Cinnamon, Chilies, and Chocolate 12% ABV2019 Old Fashioned
Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged with Moroccan Sweet Orange Peel 12% ABV11am
Furious IPA Cask Firkin
Double Dry Hopped With Amarillo and Simcoe
6.7% ABVOverrated
West Coast IPA
7.3% ABVLemonade
Refreshing Ale
5.5% ABVInfest the Citrus Nest Sour
Easy-drinking sour with mango, passion fruit, and cara cara orange
4.5% ABV2011 Smoke
Black Lager with Smoked Malts
8.2% ABV4pm
Axe Man IPA Cask Firkin
Double Dry Hopped with Citra and Mosaic
7.2% IPAWhen In Rome
Italian Lager
4.6% ABVA Pils You Can’t Refuse
Italian Pilsner
5.9% ABV7pm – S’MORES AND A NIGHT CAP!!!
Gimmie Smore Darkness
Bourbon Barrel Aged with Vanilla and CinnamonSeventeen – Boulevardier Inspired Strong Ale
Blend of Strong Red Ale and a Wee heavy, aged in Tattersall Bitter Orange Liqueur barrels and 10-Year Henry McKenna Bourbon barrel
11% ABV
Post Great Taste Brunch and Meat Raffle with Big Grove Brewery!
August 9, 2026 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm -
What better way to cure those Great Taste hangovers than with all day brunch, a meat raffle and raising money for Clean Lakes Alliance?
We will be featuring three drafts:
Easy Eddy – our award winning Hazy IPA
Citrus Surfer – our citrus American wheat made with all natural blood orange, lemon peel and coriander.
2021 Richard the Whale – Our classic Imperial Stout from 2021.Chef Trevor will be curating a menu that pairs well with these drafts. Meat Raffle will include meat from Jenifer Street as well as Big Grove Brewery merch. Proceeds from the meat raffle will be donated to Clean Lakes Alliance to help improve the lakes, streams and wetlands in the Yahara River Watershed.