Once dominated by megabreweries like Miller and G. Heilemann, the Midwest has in recent years become home to a dynamic craft beer industry at the core of America's current brewing renaissance. Beer writer and Certified Cicerone® Michael Agnew crisscrossed Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin sampling the astonishing variety of beers on offer at breweries and brewpubs. The result is a region-wide survey of the Midwestern craft beer scene. Packed with details on more than 200 breweries, A Perfect Pint's Beer Guide to the Heartland offers actual and armchair travelers alike a handbook that includes:

• Agnew's exclusive choices on which beers to try at each location


• Entries on every brewery's history and philosophy


• Information on tours, tasting rooms and attached pubs, and dining options and other amenities


• A survey of each brewery's brands, including its flagship beer plus seasonal brews and special releases


• Brewery equipment and capacity


• Nearby attractions

In addition, Agnew sets the stage with a history of Midwestern beer spanning the origins of the immigrant brewers who arrived in the 1800s to the homebrewers-made-good who have built a new kind of brewing culture founded on creativity, dedication to quality, and attention to customer feedback.

Informed and unique, A Perfect Pint's Beer Guide to the Heartland is the essential companion for beer aficionados and curious others determined to drink the best the Midwest has to offer.

Includes more than 150 full color images, including the region's most distinctive beer labels, trademarks, and company logos.

Michael Agnew writes about beer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Beer Connoisseur, and other publications and is the author of the homebrew recipe book Craft Beer for the Homebrewer. He blogs at A Perfect Pint, www.aperfectpint.net.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS   vii
INTRODUCTION   1
The Rise of the Megabreweries after Prohibition   5
Minnesota's Beer: The History of Grain Belt   9
Brewery Caves Then and Now   13
How to Use This Guide   17

MINNESOTA   18
Twin Cities/Central   21
Northern   41
Southeast   50
Southwest   54
Fermenteries   57

WISCONSIN   58
Madison   61
Milwaukee   71
Northern   81
East Central   85
West Central   98
Southeast   110
Southwest   116
Fermenteries   119

ILLINOIS   120
Chicago Metro   123
Northern   158
Central   163
Southern   170
Fermenteries   173

IOWA   174
Central   176
Northeast   186
Southeast   194
Southwest   198
Fermenteries   200

GLOSSARY OF BEER TERMS   201
BIBLIOGRAPHY   205
INDEX OF BREWERIES BY LOCATION   207
GENERAL INDEX   211