Hop Haus Brewing Company

While many of the Madison breweries have gotten big, Hop Haus is a breath of fresh air being a small neighborhood brewery with some great beers brewed onsite. In my opinion the IPAs are some of the best in the city.
I would not come for the food (although they do have some food deliveries), but will definitely come again for the beer. I live five minutes away and it took me over 6 months to find it. Hidden gem!

I ended up at Hop Haus under some unusual circumstances. My plan had been to attend a potluck out on some land outside of Verona, but of course Mother Nature decided she wanted run of the place and nixed any chance of us being outside by throwing heavy ran and a tornado watch our way. She must have been annoyed we didn’t formally invite her to the party. SORRY, GOSH.
One of our group members had previously enjoyed his time at HH, so he gave them a call the day before our party when the rain was just a threat to see if they’d be willing to let us bring our food in and take over half the place. They were totally down, and were still amenable the next day when the threat became a reality.
The staff was kind, there were plenty of tables, and as promised they had no issue with us setting up our spread. I don’t know if bringing in outside food is something they regularly allow, but I appreciate them helping us out in a pinch!
Unfortunately, the beer menu that night didn’t particularly appeal to me, but that’s just a matter of preference. I also wasn’t super fond of having to walk in the rain to get there — the parking options are quite limited on site, and the side road that abuts Hop Haus doesn’t offer any parking options. On a nice day, though, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Thanks again to the staff for taking us in! I think they made fans of a lot of us!

After Mother Nature rained on our plans for hosting a UYE at a Unilocaler’s house, Bill B from Verona launched Plan B and reached out to Hop Haus with the hope that they would host our UYE. They agreed, and before I knew it, I was on my way to this young nano-​brewery.
— Not a lot of parking in the lot directly in front of the facility
— Facility is part of a small strip mall
+ The strip mall is new and quite nice
+ Hop Haus did an awesome job of making the inside of the facility look like a full-​scale brew haus
+ Plenty of seating inside
+ Love the look of the polished concrete, retro barnwood, and tin
— A bit noisy inside due to all of the hard surfaces
+ Awesome bathrooms
+ Friendly staff — very accommodating and helpful
+ Super reasonable prices for brews
+ Approximately 4 – 5 Hop Haus offerings on tap
+ Tasting flights were generous
+ Guest taps were interesting and rounded out the menu
+ They offer Fraboni’s pizzas for food
I really liked the Peace Train Pale Ale. I’m a sucker for a good APA, even more so if it has a reasonable ABV, and Peace Train came in at 5.4% which is awesome. Truly an outstanding APA.
I wish they weren’t located 18+ miles from my house (40-​minutes by way of the beltline), otherwise I’d have a bar stool here with my name engraved on it.

They have been a great addition to Verona and the craft beer scene around Madison.
The beers are on a constant rotated basis at the bar, and I’ve been pleased each time I went. Their Afternoon D-​light is outstanding, like «have a single pint and need to buy a growler that day» good.

Drove past the location a couple of weeks prior and wanted to check it out. Glad we made it back and we enjoyed a flight of their beers and was not disappointed. I will make it back

Starting off on a leisurely drive on a Sunday afternnon, I never made it out of town when I saw Dane County’s newest brew pub/​micro-​brewry was open. Hop Haus Brewing opened their doors on ⁶⁄₂₄ and has had a steady stream of traffic ever since.
Their initial offerings include four wide-​ranging types of beer. Get the flight for $ 9 and you get all four flavors plus your choice of one of the ‘guest’ beers they carry from WI Brewing Co. (also in Verona), Vintage Brewing, or Karben4. Three more propietary beers are ‘on tap’ in the next two to three weeks. I really liked the ‘Allegedly Albino Pale Ale’ and the ‘Deuce Deuce Porter’. On opposite ends of the beer spectrum, the first had a great full bodied flavor for a lighter beer while the latter had great notes of coffee with just an ever so light finish of chocolate to smooth things out. The ‘Wildcat Amber Ale’ (a nod to Verona High School’s mascot) has a good citrus note to it. The ‘El Andy IPA’ was o.k. but for me, wasn’t a standout. What really tickled me was the Budweiser tap pull… which is what they use for their tap water. Macro-brewery…take that!
The facility itself, while a bit austere right now, is still being worked. The bar and walls are all reclaimed barn wood (from down the road on Cty. M) and corrugated metal. Very non-​pretentious, very green, and sure to be well accented in short order.
Hop Haus also offers 6 types of wine, non-​alcoholic beverages, and some basic food offerings. Pizza from Fraboni’s and Curt’s gourmet popcorn. On this day, Freeman Bros. BBQ food cart was parked in the lot to augment their menu. The plan is to have a food cart in the lot everyday during the summer. Hop Haus opens at 3 during the week and carts will be set up about 5 and about noon on Sundays. They have a full calendar of cart sign-​ups already. Check their website for the cart schedule.

There is limted parking, which would be my biggest concern on its long-​term viability but being right on Main St. in Verona, and right next to the Military Ridge bike trail, the place will be worth the parking pains and a great spot to quench a thirst!