Isthmus’s eighth annual Beer and Cheese Fest— Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Alliant Energy Center— is the perfect way to celebrate making it through a grueling four-day syllabus week.
Jeff Haupt, an owner of both Red Card and the Isthmus magazine, knows the Madison population well and aims to make the fest a laid back, fun event for beer aficionados as well as the average Joe.
“We don’t want to be a stuffy beer festival. We really try to be inclusive to everybody, so it’s just people who love beer and want to try as much as they can,” Haupt said.
The fest started out in just one section of the Alliant, but now takes up the entire 100,000 square feet of the main exhibition hall and then some. This year, a new cask ale area will be added on to the many returning attractions.
There will be about 400 different beers, as well as cheese carving, Haupt said. There will even be a “grilled cheese school,” where attendees can learn about matching grilled cheese and beer.
In addition to those events, there will also be dueling pianos, a silent disco, graffiti artists and a cheese pairing school. With 105 breweries present and 20 cheesemakers, there will be plenty to keep patrons busy throughout the afternoon.
The fest now includes nearly all the breweries in the state, as well as a handful from around the Midwest, such as Surly from Minnesota, and a few from as far as California. Isthmus hopes to continue to expand and include even more breweries in coming years.
“I think our goal is to always continue to make sure we’re very inclusive of all the Wisconsin breweries, and then try and continue to get everyone’s favorite breweries from around the country that don’t necessarily distribute here,” Haupt said.
The event will host as many as 5,000 people, making it one of the largest fests of its kind in the Midwest. To keep the center from looking like a cheese-feeding frenzy, the Isthmus team has worked hard on the logistics of the event to keep the fest comfortable for drinking and snacking all day long.
There are 1,000 VIP tickets available for beer aficionados and self-proclaimed beer snobs who want an additional two hours to sample and talk to brewers in a more personal way.
The fest’s later-than-usual date overlaps with the end of University of Wisconsin’s winter break, giving students a better opportunity to attend than in past years.
The fest is a great chance to do something other than binge-watch HBO Go and eat cheap Chinese on Saturday.
“For students who often don’t venture too far out of the bubble of campus, this is a really great opportunity to have fun. It’s a great party,” Haupt said.
Free shuttle rides are also available throughout the day, from locations like Great Dane Pub and HopCat, making it even more accessible to students and community members.
Isthmus is committed to “enhancing the brewery culture,” as Haupt put it, and the Beer and Cheese Fest is their first opportunity of 2017 to do that. Craft beer and local cheese could be exactly what UW needs to start the semester on a high note.
When: Saturday, Jan. 21
Where: Alliant Energy Center
General Admission: $50, 2 to 6 p.m., unlimited sampling of beer and cheese
VIP: $85, noon to 6 p.m., an additional 2 hours of tasting, t-shirt, free meal at food court
