Happy New Year Everyone! What a year it has been for us here at Crusin’ for Booze. Can you believe we’ve been in business, doing reviews for three years?! 2024 saw us traveling thousands of miles to the Last Frontier, Alaska, and checking out some fantastic beers, scenery, and renewed our enjoyment of the outdoors. As 2024 draws to a close, we have made a few realizations looking back on this year and what we’ve learned.
Great beer can be found in the most unlikely of places.
While beer and all sorts of imbibements are wonderful, and the focus of this blog, we need to remind ourselves to stop along the way and enjoy life, scenery, and experiences instead of rushing to the next review.
Hannah and I realized - and have known for a while, that we work well as a team together here on Crusin’ for Booze and have decided that that’s a partnership that we want to work on forever - that’s right, we got engaged while in Alaska - on top of a glacier, no less!
As in past years, we are going to highlight some of our favorite spots that we’ve had a chance to review in the past year!
Best Beer of 2024
You know, this was a tough year for beer for us in Wisconsin; Hannah and I had limited beers that we ended up taking home to stock the Crusin’ for Booze beer fridge. Between us becoming more educated on beer styles and off-flavors, and doing a ton of traveling, we didn’t find as many stand-out winners this year in the state as compared to past years and there were plenty that left us wishing they were better. Â
Overall, some of my favorite beers this year were offered by Lake Louie - Sandy Cheeks, a pineapple hefeweizen that has become synonymous with summers in Madison, and Autumnal Fire, a freaking great doppelbock with deep spice notes offered in September by Capital Brewery. However, I didn’t officially review either of those! Â
So, with that said, my favorite beer that I did review this year in Wisconsin is actually going to be Warped Speed by Lake Louie Brewing Company. The beer that made them famous and is a technical example of a Scottish Wee Heavy and is as consistent as it is tasty and widely available throughout the state. It’s a great cold weather beer for me and one that reminds me of cozy nights sitting barside while awaiting a fish fry and has found it’s way into the Crusin’ for Booze beer fridge more than once!
Hannahs’ favorite from this year in Wisconsin goes to Cherries, Simply by Black Rose Blending Company (formerly Funk Factory, both now closed). This was everything that Hannah wants in a sour beer plus the added fun of being barrel aged with some woodsy notes and that wild-fermented sourness that is so distinct to kettle sours. While Black Rose was a controversial topic around Madison for a good time, we really lost out on some great beers that could go toe-to-toe with many nationally recognized spots. It’s going to be a while before we find those lambic style beers again and they will be missed, which is why we brought as much home as we could during their final days.
Unique Imbibement of 2024
Once in a while, we come across an imbibement that becomes a permanent fixture on the Crusin’ for Booze bar - until it loses its spot of honor to something tastier. This year, we stumbled upon Trumies out of Chippewa Distillery. While they may not be fancy, and they may even get some upturned noses, we touched on the idea of being able to fully customize a Bloody Mary to the imbiber’s personal tastes and Trumies does just that - offering a multitude of options to split the base of a martini from sweet, to spicy, to salty, to savory and back again - this is something that I’m embarrassed to say I did not think of before and something we think every bar in Wisconsin should offer. They’ve definitely found a home on the Crusin’ for Booze bar and our bloodies are all the better for it!
Best Destination Brewery of 2024
If you’ve been following along with us this year, you know Hannah and I did a lot of traveling and reviewing around Alaska. While we did plenty of exploring outdoors, we had the chance to try some really amazing beers in fantastic locations that sported near-unbeatable views. If you read those articles, it should be pretty clear that we think the beer at Anchorage Brewing Company is up their with the best beer we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing and is an absolute must-stop, no excuses if you are into the beer scene and get the chance to go. They consistently hit it out of the park with Sours, Saison’s, IPA’s and Stouts.Â
You’ll also know that 49th State Brewery, with solid food and some great beer, is also easily our favorite destination brewery of the year in terms of outdoor space. With 3 stories in total, two of which feature outdoor space and a rooftop bar, and 360 degree view of parts of the Cook Inlet and Chugach Mountains, port, and the beginnings of the Turnagain Arm, it’s a view that is as serene as it is majestic, all while sipping on some delicious beer.  Â
Best Outdoor Space of 2024
This one was a neck and neck decision for us. Â
On the one hand - Lake Louie Brewing Company, which offers tons of outdoor seating, views of their pond, a large fire pit, outdoor stage, and outdoor taps, as well as plenty of grass for beer centric picnics. Â
On the other hand - Capital Brewery in Middleton Wisconsin may not have grass, but offers a covered outdoor bar, plenty of seating, lots of live music, and some shaded tables.
Both of these spaces are dog friendly, reliable spaces to spend warmer months and into fall, but in the end, Capital Brewing is going to win out for the walkability to downtown Middleton and plethora of options for carry-in food. It’s not to be underrated - grabbing a burger at the Village Green with Barlow, doing a little shopping, and then winding up at Capital on a random weeknight for us.
This was a tough call, and you really can’t go wrong with visiting either once Spring pops up this year and there is just about equal chance of running into us at either - stop by and say hi to us and the pup if you do!
Best Indoor Space of 2024
Although we hit some unique spaces - Bodihow’s Brewpub’s bike repair shop, Riverstone Brewing Company’s Tiki Lounge and Whiskey Bar, and even the newly renovated space at Timber Hill Winery - our favorite indoor space this year goes to Knowlton House Distillery in Mosinee, Wisconsin.Â
Both Hannah and I-and the Residents of Cabin 8- were quite taken with the brilliant copper tanks above the bar, tons of natural light and woods, and wrought metal done in a way that wasn’t too over-the top. We were as impressed with the spirits made from the milk-by-product as we were with a few of the cocktails and everyone was more than happy with their food. Hannah was absolutely in love with the aesthetic of modern barn meets indoor lounge. There was something new to see around each corner, from comfy furniture, glass garage doors, the impressive production floor, or additional secluded seating. Hannah and I definitely think this one is worth the weekend drive and we are excited to see if they eventually start producing their own beer!
Added to the Crusin’ for Booze Bar in 2024
Trumies Flavored Vodkas - Chippewa Distillery
Sandy Cheeks Pineapple Hefeweizen - Lake Louie Brewing Company
Warped Speed - Lake Louie Brewing Company
Autumnal Fire - Capital Brewery
Jalapeño Wine - Timber Hill Winery
Snowed In Cinnamon Cider - Mershon’s Cidery
Various (at least a case) - Saisons and Sours - Black Rose Blending Co.
A big shout out to all of you, our readers, without - this blog would just be our own musings! We will continue to review and try out new content in 2025 and we look forward to all of the new things we will see and experience. Always feel free to reach out to us to join us for a review, share your own thoughts or critiques, or suggest a new place for us to try!
Until then, from all of us here at Crusin’ for Booze:
Happy New Year, keep on Crusin’ and don’t stop boozin’!
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