Your guide to Great Taste of the Midwest 2011 eve pre-parties and beer tastings

Congratulations if you are one of the 6,000 ticket holders to the 25th anniversary of the Great Taste of the Midwest on Saturday, August 13! The privilege of buying a ticket means you may have camped up overnight just to stand in line for sales that ended in minutes, or simply beat the odds of the event's mail lottery.

Ticket or not, though, the annual Great Taste has become such a big deal around town that a burgeoning host of pre-parties are starting to rival the actual festival.

A number of Madison restaurants are hosting breweries and special beers on the evening before the festival. What's more, some out-of-state breweries turn up only that night. While last year there were less than 20 organized pre-parties, there are more than two dozen this summer, many with brewery staff attending.

While most events are held on Friday night, several others are planned for other days leading up to the festival.

Parties coinciding with the Great Taste include:

• Alchemy
  Friday, starting at 8 p.m.
  
  • Argus Bar Grille
    Friday, starting at 8 p.m.
    
  
  
  • Barriques Coffee Trader
    Friday, starting at 7 p.m.
    
    • Barriques Market
      Thursday, starting at 5 p.m.
      
      • A variety of beers from around the Midwest will be offered as a warm up to the preview parties.
    
    
    • Brasserie V
      Friday, starting at 5 p.m.
      
      • Brickhouse BBQ
        Friday, starting at 6 p.m.
        
        • Peruvian Morning Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout, Glacial Trail IPA, Bourbon Barrel Glacial Trail IPA, Mudpuppy Porter, Belgian Style Blonde Ale, and Brewhouse Coffee Stout. Also look for the the barrel-aged Exodus, a tart Flanders red ale made with Door County cherries -- the beer was supposed to be out earlier this summer, but federal approval of its label delayed its release.
        • Nebraska Brewing Company of Papillion, Nebraska: Ten beers, including NE Blonde Ale, Brunette Nut Brown, Cardinal Pale Ale, EOS Wheat, Hop Gold, India Pale Ale, Infinite Wit, Smoked Porter, and Summertime Rye.
        • Capital Tap Haus
          Friday, starting at 5 p.m.
          
          • Eternal Flame, a beer that is made to mark the brewery's 25th Anniversary -- portions of this year's vintage will be used as a seed beer that gets added to all future batches. Other beers on tap include Island Wheat, Supper Club, Pilsner, Wisconsin Amber, and Hop Cream Ale.
        
        
        • Capitol Chophouse
          Thursday-Saturday
          
          • The Coopers Tavern
            Friday, starting at 6 p.m.
            
            • Dexter's Pub
              Wednesday, starting at 4 p.m.
              
              • of Maine made with Brettanomyces yeast and Lactobacillus).
              Thursday, starting at 5 p.m.
              
              • of La Crosse, Wisconsin: Brewer Joe Katchever and his staff will be on hand to pour Pearl Street Pale Ale, DTB Brown Ale, El Hefe Hefeweizen Holy MALTrimony (altbier), Dankenstein (double IPA) and Tambois Raspberry Frambois. When ordering Pearl Street beers all week, you can put your name in for a Friday night drawing for a pair of Great Taste tickets.
              • 
                Friday, starting at 6 p.m.
                
                • of Black River Falls, Wisconsin: Several general and special releases, including Mango IPA, Bourbon Barrel Scottish Ale and a version of Oscar's Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout aged in port wine barrels.
                Saturday, starting at 6 p.m.
                
                • Glass Nickel Pizza-Atwood
                  Friday, starting at 7 p.m.
                  
                  • Great Dane-Downtown
                    All week
                    
                    • No specific public party is scheduled for Friday, but look for special beers being released all week leading up to the Great Taste, including cask versions of HopJack Pale Ale and Black Watch Scotch.
                  
                  
                  • Jordan's Big 10 Pub
                    Friday, starting at 5 p.m.
                    
                    • of Bloomington, Indiana: Dragonfly (IPA), a Milk Stout made just for this party and the Great Taste, and several specialty bottles that may include a sampling of Belgian lambics.
                  
                  
                  • Madison's
                    Friday, starting at 5 p.m.
                    
                    • 
                      Friday, starting at noon
                      
                      • The Malt House
                        Thursday, starting at 5 p.m.
                        Upland Brewing Company
                      • of Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Bridge Burner Strong Ale, East Side Dark, Fixed Gear American Red Ale, Oktoberfest, Fuel Café (barrel aged coffee stout), and Rosie (an oak-aged Kriek). The brewery will also be bringing two beers that will served from a stichfäss keg, a German type of barrel, or firkin, that sits upright on its end: Klisch Pilsner, and a version of Fuel Café that was fermented in whiskey barrels from the Mason Lounge
                        Thursday, starting at 8 p.m.
                        
                        • of Champaign, Illinois: Brewmaster Bill Morgan will be on hand to offer three of his beers.
                      
                      
                      • Merchant
                        Friday, starting at 5 p.m.
                        
                        • Gemuetlichkeit Oktoberfest and an exclusive release of Deb & Glenn's Cherry Kinda-Lambic. The restaurant will also be serving a three-course beer dinner for $40.
                      
                      
                      • The Old Fashioned
                        Friday, starting at 7 p.m.
                        
                        • of Wilson, Wisconsin: Look for owner and brewer David Anderson to pour BrewFarm Select (golden lager) and Matacabras (strong ale).
                        • Paradise Lounge
                          Friday, starting at 8 p.m.
                          • 
                            Thursday, starting at 4 p.m.
                            
                            • 
                              Tuesday, starting at 5 p.m.
                              
                              • The Tipsy Cow
                                Friday, starting at 4 p.m.
                                
                                • Fatty Boombalatty, Makeweight (triple pale ale), Knot Stock (pale ale brewed with cracked black pepper), and Oscura (coffee infused dark lager).
                                • Dark Horse Brewing Company of Marshall, Michigan: Smalls Like Week IPA, Red Hot Shocker (red ale with cinnamon Red Hots and jalapeños), Kmita (kölsh), Raspberry Ale, and Rod (a cask American red with an infusion of "aphrodisiac" herbs).
                              
                              
                              • Tornado Club
                                Friday, starting at 8:30 p.m. in the downstairs Corral Room
                                
                                • Picnic Ants (saison), Hop Whoopin (IPA), Lupulin Maximus (double IPA), Rusty Red, a special batch of Dank (imperial red ale) made with Brettonymices yeast, Goldilocks Revenge (Imperial stout), and three versions of Night Train (porter) aged in bourbon barrels -- one straight bourbon barrel aged, another with coffee added, and a third with cocoa nibs. This event is also a fundraiser for Underground Kitchen, which was destroyed by a fire on June 30.
                              
                              
                              • Vintage Brewing Company
                                Friday, starting at 6 p.m.
                                
                                • Vintage will dedicate most of its 22 tap lines to special pre-party beers, including Bourbon Barrel Max Stout, DeVille Belgian Barley Wine, and Alpentraum smoked weizenbock. Among the most unique brews will be a barrel-aged version of a Belgian abbey ale named Dedication -- it is more than nine months old, and for most of that time was aged in a barrel used to make apply brandy. Also look for whiskey barrel-aged versions of the brewpub's imperial stout.
                                • of Green Bay, Wisconsin: Brewers Dave Oldenburg and Dave Malcolm make a special guest appearance, and plan to bring Hopasaurus Rex (IPA), 400 Honey Blonde Ale, and Apricary (apricot and honey summer ale).
                                • Vintage will also be running its bus to transport patrons between its brewpub on Whitney Way, its downtown location Vintage Spirits & Grill, and the Walgreens on the Capital square. The bus will run from 6 p.m to 9 p.m. on Friday evening, with plans for it to leave the west side Vintage on the hour, and stop at Walgreens approximately 20-25 minutes past the hour and the downtown Vintage around 30-40 minutes after the hour.
                                Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.
                                
                                • Vintage will be offering a brunch with bus transportation to and from the Great Taste at Olin Turville Park. Departure times are 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.; return trips are at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
                                Sunday, starting at 10 a.m.
                                
                                • Vintage will offer a hang-ver brunch to cap (or tap) off the weekend.
                              
                              

                              Specific brewery serving times may vary, so it is a good idea to call ahead to find out when a particular beer might be available or what will be served. Most of these pre-Great Taste parties are centered around the Capitol Square in downtown Madison, all within a short walk of one another, but others are scattered throughout the city. Public transportation and taxis are a safe and sensible option for a great evening.

                              More info about Great Taste pre-parties can be found in a guide published by the