United Nations of Beer

Sugar Maple bar

by Jason Pinkowski
(Beer Delegate, WI, USA)

Milwaukee has most certainly a lack of smoke-free establishments, but combine that with the fact that Sugar Maple bar has opened smoke-free and with 60 taps of micros and you have a winner. Opened back in April of 2008, Bruno Johnson and his wife Adrienne decided that Milwaukee needed such a place.

Sugar Maple is located 2989 S. Kinnickinic Ave., just off the K.K./Lincoln intersection at 441 E. Lincoln Ave., a building that once housed the Sikh Temple. This is right down the road from Bruno and Adrienne’s other Bay View neighborhood gem, The Palm Tavern.

I have now visited the location several times and have been completely blown away by the selection. Beers from the Mid-west region including taps from local Milwaukee favorites Sprecher and Lakefront brewery, Lake Mill’s Tyranena brewery, Illinois’ Goose Island and Two Brothers, and Michigan’s Bell’s Brewery and New Holland Brewery just to name a few are featured here on tap with yet a wide collection of bottles from other breweries in the area.

Not a single A-B, SAB Miller, or Coors product can be found on the premises, much to a micro brew fan’s delight. There are even taps from micro brewing favorites Dog Fish Head and Left Hand Brewery. Though beer is the featured drink of choice, there is no lack of selection for those who also enjoy whiskey.

The décor is best described as minimalist as there is the bar, several small ledges and chairs along the outside walls and some very short ‘coffee’ tables strewn about the location. The view of the taps along the wall is impressive and something that can not be found anywhere else in the Milwaukee region. The lighting is dim, and the building has an overall ‘wide open’ feel to it, think almost in the style of a shotgun house in New Orleans.

Sitting at the bar has a much more inviting feel to me than the outer areas, but it is most certainly a good layout of larger groups of friends looking to go out for a great evening of enjoying some of the areas best beers.

This bar is most certainly a must-stop for those visiting Milwaukee, and what would be a fantastic pub crawl of Sugar Maple bar, the Palm Tavern and Roman’s Pub. Now to go back again and try to knock out a couple more off the list of 60 taps...