Thursday 3rd of May 2012 07:21:04 PM

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I heard many good things about Vintage Brewing Company before we arrived. We tried the sampler of 10 beers including a Kolsch, Amber, Dunkelweiss, IPA, Ginger Amber Double Witbier, Belgian Witbier, ESB, Dusseldorf Altbier, Oatmeal Stout, and a Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. The sampler was $15. They have guest beers, wines, and spirits also. The beers were all good but nothing stood out as great. Service was slow as the bartender was busy flirting with the college girls at the bar. The place has bar, dining, and lounge areas. We sat in the lounge area. There are TVs scattered about, all running different sporting events. The brewery is a stand-alone building in a strip mall. Everything is non-smoking with free WI-FI and plenty of parking in the strip mall lot. A mix of music from the 50s to the 80s was playing on the overhead system and a band was setting up for later in the evening. We didn’t have any food as we were between lunch and dinner. Overall I was a bit disappointed and will try the other microbreweries in town on our next visit.

Saturday 23rd of July 2011 01:13:37 PM

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I heard about Vintage Brewing while I was at a different stop on my Madison leg of beercation. I decided to squeeze it in while I was in town. I am glad that I did.

Vintage is located in a standalone building next to a strip mall. There is plenty of parking.

The interior is large and new looking. It is tastefully decorated with lots of wood. There are a fair number of TVs but they are not overly obtrusive. I sat at the bar in the center of the place. It is a large rectangular bar with seating all around. There is a big fish tank in the center. The bar stools were comfortable and there was a chair rail for my feet. They also had purse hooks for the ladies.

I had limited time to enjoy Vintage so I ordered the sampler. I asked for one of everything they had on tap. That turned out to be 17 beers! I ended up staying a little longer than I had originally planned.

The selection of styles was very impressive and overall the beer was good. There were a few lighter beers as there always is at these places. They weren't bad, but just not my style. The oatmeal stout was very tasty and so was the APA. Of course I liked the barrel aged beer too. There was an Islay style beer that I found very interesting due to the unique peat flavor. I am not a big fan of Islay scotch, but the beer was worth a try. I am not sure I could drink a whole pint of it though.

I was planning on eating at my next stop of the day, so I didn't order much in the way of food. The fried cheese curds gave me something to munch on while working my way through the many beers.

Since I was at Vintage on a weekday afternoon, the place emptied out after the lunch rush. It felt luxurious to have the whole place to myself. We chatted with the bartender and the hostess who were friendly. Our water glasses were filled repeatedly as we savored our collection of samples over a couple of hours.

Overall, I liked Vintage so much that I bought the t-shirt. I liked the wide variety of beers and the atmosphere was nice. I would definitely come back to this place if I was in the area again.