The Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival is back! This year's festival takes place on Saturday, June 17 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Bayshore Town Center.
It also happens to be Father's Day weekend, so it could well be the perfect prelude to dad’s big day, or just a great excuse to sample a wide variety of tasty brews in an outdoor setting.
Hosted by DRAFT Magazine, Welcome to Glendale (the City of Glendale’s Convention and Visitors Bureau) and the Wisconsin Brewer’s Guild, the Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival is the premier all-Wisconsin craft beer and tasting festival, featuring more than 100 craft beer selections from more than 40 craft breweries throughout the state.
And that’s not all. Each brewery is paired with a local chef, Wisconsin cheesemaker or restaurant, which will serve up delicious fare that pairs exceptionally well with the accompany beer, ensuring that you won’t go hungry during your Wisconsin beer tasting excursion.
This year’s festival will feature a custom growler stand by the Wisconsin Brewers’ Guild, musical entertainment and EmbroidMe, a retailer specializing in goods featuring custom embroidery and screen printing.
"Whether you’ve come year after year, or you’re attending for the first time, Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival is the place to be every June," says Jeff Hamilton, president of Sprecher Brewery in Glendale and member of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild. "This gathering allows visitors from across the nation to sample the state’s best craft beers and food, as well as the opportunity to meet the brewmasters and chefs behind the day’s creations."
General admission tickets, which include a souvenir glass and unlimited sampling of both beer and food, are $45 per person ($55 at the door).
A limited number of Wisconsin Beer Experience VIP Tickets are also available. At $75, VIP tickets include all the benefits of a general admission ticket, plus early access to the festival (at noon), a one-year subscription to Draft Magazine, a special collectible from the event and admission to a special VIP tent featuring a collection of unique beers that won’t be served elsewhere onsite.
Food lovers tickets, which allow unlimited sampling of food only, are also available for $25 each. Hotel packages are also available.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit wisconsinbeerloversfest.com. You can also follow Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival on Twitter and Facebook for exclusive information about the festival, including the participating breweries and restaurants.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
