an afternoon with beer

One of Madison’s own breweries, Ale Asylum, recently moved from its original location on Kinsman Blvd down the street and around the corner to a bigger, purpose-built brewing house that even The Google doesn’t know about yet* on Pankratz St, and until yesterday we were possibly the last people in town who hadn’t been there for a visit, so after our weekly Saturday morning ritual of drinking coffee in our jammies all morning, we showered and dressed and jumped into the O-Mobile to head over there for a bite of lunch.

Compared to their previous location, the new brewery is HUGE with lots more bells and whistles. The original brewery was shoehorned into one unit in a strip mall, but the Pankratz St location is so big that they appear to have plenty of room to add more equipment as their operation grows.

Not only is their brewery bigger, so is their brewpub. Thank goodness they had the resources to expand that along with the rest of their operation. And the food is still just as good as the beer. I tried their black bean burger and washed it down with a goblet of their house ale. My Darling B ordered a couple of fish tacos, which went so well with her glass of heffeweizen that she ordered a growler to take home for later.

After lunch, we went from Ale Asylum’s new location to their old home where a new microbrewery, Karben 4, has taken over the premises and even some of the equipment. The bartender poured tasters of their black IPA and Irish Red Ale as we talked about their beer before I finally settled on a glass of SamuRyePA. My Darling B didn’t have to dither too much about what she wanted: all she had to do was read that Night Call was a smoked porter and she knew she wanted a glass. We passed a happy hour sipping our suds before we headed back to Our Humble O’Bode.

*Okay, it turns out The Google does know after all. The brewery doesn’t show up on the satellite view when I searched the address, but when I zoomed in real close, Bingo!