Lakefront Brewery

1872 N Commerce St, Milwaukee, WI 53212, USA

Address:	1872 N Commerce St, Milwaukee, WI 53212, USA
Phone:	+1 414-372-8800
Site:	lakefrontbrewery.com
Rating:	4.5
Working:	11AM–8PM 11AM–8PM 11AM–8PM 11AM–8PM 11AM–9PM 9AM–9PM 10AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

mayorwalda

So, the fact is, this is a 5 star review. I am not giving thst score out of pity, or hopes of drumming up foot traffic, but if it does, that is great. Last week I visited the brewery for a tour. It was the first time Id ever been in Wisconsin, let alone Milwaukee. Visiting the location, it is set out of the way down on (one of) the rivers, and its a function-over-form looking building from the outside, a beige or yellowish block, sitting under a bridge. Inside its a classic style beer hall, with all the classic details you want without the stilted modernist approach. The tables at sturdy and the ceiling is high with lots of room for their flowing banners and their long bar to roll out. Their gift shop is understated and tucked away in the corner. The items in the gift shop all seemed very fairly priced if not even a little low for a brewery gift shop. But anyway, while the building is nice, itd not neccesary a 5 star location. What really set this experience apart was the tour and, notably, the tour guide. Eric guided us through lakefront brewing and he was not only very informative (like all or at least most tour guides) he was very, very funny. He knows how to entertain a crowd and his timing is phenomenal. This tour is a must for anyone, like myself, that thought after seeing 5, 6, 7 or 8 tours already that they couldnt possibly experience one that was on some way new. This tour is built for the people, and I mean all of them. Plenty of humor, plenty of information, there were even one or two things I didnt know as a beer nut, so, thats saying something! Finally, the beer. Lakefront is modern in this one aspect. They are definitely doing all of the interesting things you expect from a craft brewer and moreover they are doing it well! Tasty suds for all! Thanks, Lakefront brewing, I had a blast!

P Ch

Avoid this place. Several other microbreweries actually value their customers AND have great beer. 1. The tour is nothing great. Some witty toilet humor, but thats it. And if you plan to eat after the tour be prepared to wait and be hungry for a long, long time! The brewery makes it very difficult to eat till ~80 minutes after the END of your 1-hour long tour. So be prepared to wait a total of ~2 hours 20 minutes from the start of your tour before you eat. 2. The restaurant is totally avoidable - long wait to be seated (~40 mins); long wait to be serviced after seating (no food after 40 mins); uncaring, unsmiling, unattentive staff & management. We finally left after 40 minutes of waiting for our food after placing the order. We saw our waitress twice - once when we sought her out to take our order, and the second time when she told us they were out of the items we had ordered. ARROGANCE COMES BEFORE A FALL (Full experience including conversation with Manager on Tripadvisor. Curtailed here due to Google word limit.) Bottom line: consumers such as us and those reading this ought to give this business a message - that you cant arrogantly abuse your customers and get away with it. You may have built a business on past laurels, but you need to earn your stripes each day. Recent Google reviews show several 1 star disgruntled customers - something you didnt see for Lakefront previously. I for one will stop drinking Lakefront products completely, and will share my experience about the company and its values. It doesnt take long for a callous enterprise to crumble - even the Great Roman Empire fell.......one pillar at a time.

A Private User

I stopped here almost on a whim and fell in love with the place within 5 minutes of setting foot inside. I was warmly greeted at the bar inside by one of the owners, who very kindly directed me to the gift shop to sign up for the tour. Before the tour began, I got to sample several of their excellent beers (served by the same owner who welcomed me) as he chatted enthusiastically about various details regarding each brew. The tour itself was intimate and very informative - much more educational about the beer making process than any macro-brewery (Miller, Bud, etc.) tour. We got up-close and personal with the equipment and I was impressed by the unique character of the entire brewing facility (the old Slide House from the Brewers was neat). The beer itself was outstanding. I cant go into detail about all of the various varieties, but everything they made was well above average for its kind. The Pale Ale was especially good. All of this was great in of itself, but the great part was that for only $6 I got 4 pours of beer, and great tour by one of the owners, and a nice pint glass after the tour. I would have been satisfied at twice the price. Outstanding value.

Kevin Luty

Nothing great here besides the environment. I could see a wedding reception here being fun. They do have some "secret brews" on tap here that are usually higher alcohol content, but other than that you get 3 or so small samples during the tour and a couple tokens to redeem after the tour. Remember to tip your tour guides. The parking here is atrocious, however they might be adding some more. The workers here are all pretty cool and I havent had any problems. Ive also seem them hush loud audience members while they were talking. There is an area where you can put your coat while youre on the tour however a lot of people are in this room during the staging of the tour that starts after you. I havent had any issues with personal belongings missing but if youre worried about that kind of thing, just keep everything in your car or on your body. Do not wander around the area when its dark out unless you know where youre going. During the day its completely harmless and safe to walk around.

Brian Foster

We came for the tour, not the fish fry (which I hear is amazing). Lakefront is probably my favorite tour of all the tours in Milwaukee. Our guide was absolutely hilarious, possibly intoxicated, incredibly informative, and allowed lots of questions. The admission is fairly cheap ($7?) for the information, free pint glass at the end, and 4 tokens you get to exchange for 6 oz pours. After the tour (ours was between 30-40 minutes) there is a beer garden where you can sample more beers or you can head inside to get food. Some people were giving away tokens so you could get more than 4 if it comes down to it. Pro-tips... - Buy your tickets online EARLY (it sells out super fast - at least on Saturday) if at all possible. We went on Saturday and every tour was sold out by 11AM. - Small lot parking and street parking, so its a little bit of a pain to get in and out. - Its pretty kid friendly - some coarse language, but not terrible. - Dont be late!

Abhi Singh

Absolutely amazing experience. Loved it from the minute we walked up the ramp to the door. The little heads outside were a little odd but they were explained eventually when we got inside. It was only $7 for the tour (which for us from Chicago is ridiculously cheap) and you got a 6 oz plastic tasting cup along with four drink tokens. We did the tour which was in a half hour so we got to try two cups before the tour even started. I had the Fixed Gear, the Cream City Pale Ale, the Spice Lager, the Klisch, and the Riverwest Stein. My favorite was the Cream City Pale Ale, very smooth beer and very delicious. The tour guide, Evan, was especially well versed about the brewery and everything in it. The beer was delicious and the food after the tour was not very expensive and very delicious. After the tour, you take the plastic cup back to the gift shop for a pint souvenir glass as memorabilia.