December 3, 2009
Super cold, I think they forgot to turn on the heat. This store has waaayy too many crappy Western Craft brands. The only redeeming quality in this is that they have a lot of Flying Dog and wayyyyyy more Avery than any other store I’ve ever been to. And I love Avery.

October 8, 2009
An interesting stop for anyone coming to or living in Madison. Instead of being WI-centric, Brennan’s is the spot in town to pick up interesting Mountain and Northwest states beer. You can make mix 6packs for 7.99. Huge selection of produce and cheeses. You could cerainly put together a nice tasting here, though the food prices are a touch on the high end. Worth checking out.

July 31, 2009
Cool Place. Kind of pricey but had a nice selection of beers, small build your own cases. If in Madison worth checking out.

June 22, 2008
Liquor department tucked in the back of a grocery store that has some tasty samples. First thing you see when you walk in the liquor store is a build your own singles section with the beers organized by type and signs informing you of the type of beer and it’s main characteristics and food pairings. The first think I notice while glancing through the section is that I don’t recognize a lot of the beer brands… El Toro, Estes Park, Yellowstone Valley, Palisade Brewery along with a handful of stuff I had seen (Avery/Millstream/Great Divide/Capital/etc). While looking through the beers, the liquor area manager Nick came over a let me know they were sampling the beers. Nice. They had five beers to try, nothing spectacular but nothing offensive either. He even gave me a list of all of beers the carry. Build you own six packs were reasonably priced at 7.99 or 29.99 for a case.

May 13, 2008 [ Updated August 8, 2008 ]
I’ve been here a handful of times. Small market specializing in produce, cheese, and meats. Nice place worthy of note because they fill a small beer niche not covered by Riley’s, Steve’s, and Woodman’s. Namely, they have a good number of Colorado micros that the others don’t offer. Nothing earth shattering, mind you, but if you’re a Colorado beer nut or something, this is your place. They also have a typical selection of local micros and I most recently noticed a smattering from Kansas. Try the cheeses as you stroll through.

January 8, 2008
This Brennan’s had the usual assortment of foods, cheeses, and produce, but I found the beer selection to be mediocre for the chain. They have a nice build your own six pack selection, but it’s comprised of very average beers from odd midwestern breweries (some in IA and KS represented), common Avery, and the like. This isn’t a bad stop, but I’d prefer Steve’s right down the street.

June 22, 2007
***Middleton location. Very nice beer selection available in six-packs, singles, and build your owns. Decent Wisconsin and Mountain state selections for individual bottles. My personal "Build Your Own" sixer was comprised of mostly mountain states and New England state breweries. Nothing top of the line, but a great place to go for a sixer of beers that you haven’t yet rated. The cheese and seafood looked very good, as did the frozen fruit medleys and vegetable compositions in the freezers. A nice large produce section greeted me upon entry. Really only had produce, dairy, and meat/seafood, but I can imagine a civilized shopper going here for those three food groups. Felt like a farmer’s market more than a traditional grocery store. Again, an underwhelming but inventive single beer bottle section to choose from. Recommended.

November 26, 2006
This place seems fantastic at first glance, but really melts under the gaze of a beer geek. The beers are mostly from the mountain states and I believe they are all overstocks/rejects from contract brewers. I took home numerous "poor outs" before I realized you should avoid the huge pile o’ beer (singles) in the center of the beer section. They do have a cooler full of the typical local brews - and they seem relatively safe. Their cheese is always top notch in terms of typical Wisconsin cheese, but they rarely have anything artisinal. Seafood is downright bad, but the attached Jacobson’s deli is good. Their fresh produce is also usually from out of state, so not particularly fresh.

January 11, 2006
Very nice selection of micros with a lot of Colorado/California breweries. Also a good representation of Wisconsin breweries, including their own "Brennans" label (sourced from Capital Brewery in nearby Middelton). Very nice mix & match capabilities. Big bonus--there are always food samples (cheese, fruit, crackers, bread, etc) available throughout the store. They even have beer and wine samples at certain times. The staff at both the Northport Drive and University Ave locaions seem very knowledgeable about beers and they will even search out new brews on your recommendations (they’re currently going after Alaskan Amber at my suggestion). Prices are generallly good to excellent. Over the 3-4 years I’ve shopped there, I’ve only got one "bad" beer that had been over-aged.

August 17, 2005
My wife and I always stop here and at Whole Foods (they’re close) on our way through to my in-laws. Brennan’s has a fair selection of microbreweries from Colorado and Wisconsin. I picked up a six pack of CW Satin Solstice on my last visit. They also have a number of beers bottled with their own Brennan’s label, and I’m not certain who makes the product. The beer selection is decent, but come here for the artisanal cheeses and fresh produce.