Good City Brewing

Good City Brewing Company is the subject of this blog post, and in refreshing change of pace, I’ve actually been to this brewery recently. Located in a large building adorned with their key logos on Farwell and Windsor place on Milwaukee’s East Side, one of the highlights of this brewery is the rooftop patio. They also have like three bars in the building: The main one in the taproom, a smaller one in a larger room meant for gatherings and events, and a third on the rooftop patio. Their beers tend to be a little hoppy for my taste, so I haven’t tried too many of them, but they do have some that I’ve found to be really incredible.

The first time I went there was last fall, I tried a few, and found that they were mostly hoppy, and I settled on the Film Festival Lager, an amber colored märzen that was remarkably easy on the palate, perfect for drinking on a cool, fall day. Recently, however, I tried the Stadt. The Stadt is a smoked version of the Film Festival, and in my opinion, is better in every way than the original. The smoky taste of it alone was incredible, it tasted almost like bacon, or a good smoky gouda. I’ve talked a lot about how the Cherry Bohemian from Exile is my favorite beer, but this smoked lager passed it up, it was truly incredible. I’ve also tried the Nomad, their summer ale, the Good City Pilsner, and the Detail porter.

At first sip, the Nomad was too hoppy for me. I kept drinking it, because I didn’t want it to go to waste, and after a few more sips I started to taste the fruity notes, and it became much more pleasant. It wasn’t on the level of the Stadt, or even the Film Festival lager, but it was an enjoyable beer to drink, especially on the patio. The Pils, which is the name for their pilsner, is good for the first drink, but after that it got a little too hoppy for me. It’s a good beer, fresh tasting and light in color, but I wouldn’t say it stood out apart from anything else I’ve tried. The Detail porter is another good one. A classic porter, it was dark and creamy and you could taste the notes of chocolate and coffee that make up any porter worth its salt. Coming in at only 5.4% ABV, it’s not too hard to drink either.

Overall, I would say that while Good City doesn’t have a lot beers that I personally like, if you are a fan of IPAs, you need to go there. They do also have a bunch of good darker beers, like the Detail porter and the Stadt. Other highlights include the rooftop patio and the fact that they actually have the menu of of an upscale restaurant. It’s definitely a place that I will be visiting again this summer.