Cheers with Friends in Middleton

Whether it’s sitting with friends around a bier stube or pulling up a stool at a bar, or lounging on a couch with a glass of wine, friends and neighbors can celebrate the new year with their drink of choice.

Capital Brewery & Bier Garten, brewery tour

Beer lovers

Craft beer lovers will discover outstanding options in Middleton.

Middleton’s own award-winning German-style craft brewery, Capital Brewery, is conveniently located downtown near many restaurants and free parking. Pull up to the bar in the Bier Stube (“beer hall”) for a beer or seltzer on tap. Winter hours are: Sundays: noon-6 p.m.; closed on Mondays; Tuesdays-Thursdays: 4-9 p.m.; Fridays: 3-10 p.m.; and Saturdays: noon-9 p.m.

Longtable Beer Cafe

Visit Longtable Beer Cafe downtown to find a charming café/bottle shop-tasting room that boasts more than 300 types of beer for purchase (to take away or drink onsite), as well as a dozen rotating taps. Longtable is also a full restaurant serving lunch and dinner from fish fry to craft burgers to shared charcuterie.

Free House Pub

World of Beer near Greenway Station offers an eye-popping selection of more than 500 bottles and dozens of taps from across the state, the country and the world. The Free House Pub, another downtown favorite, has 21 draft lines featuring different beers every day, while Craftsman Table & Tap on the north side of Middleton features 18 rotating taps and eight thirst-quenching cocktails.

And don’t forget Hidden Cave Cidery, a locally owned and operated cidery using Wisconsin-grown apples. Hidden Cave also often has live entertainment on the weekends so check its calendar.

Grape Water Wine Bar

Wine aficionados

Want to raise a glass of red or white — or something sparkling — instead? Head to Grape Water – Tap Wine Bar on Hubbard Avenue, where you’ll find more than a dozen wines on tap, including varietals from California, France, Spain and South America. Grape Water also sells sparkling wine, beer and cider. Barriques is a combination café and bottle shop in downtown Middleton that offers a wide variety of wine, spirits and beer. And Grace Coffee also has a wine menu available.

Local favorites

When one of your nicknames is “the Good Neighbor City,” you’re sure to discover some friendly local haunts.  Monk’s Bar & Grill has been serving up cold beer and hot cheese curds at its Middleton location near Greenway Station since 2011. The Village Green is an old-fashioned tavern in downtown Middleton known for its traditional pub fare like hamburgers and homemade chili.