What to know about the 2023 Traveling Beer Garden Tour, including dates, locations, hours and the beer

Hannah Kirby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read
The schedule for the 2023 Traveling Beer Garden Tour — an annual partnership between Milwaukee County Parks and Sprecher Brewery — was announced Thursday morning.
The schedule for the 2023 Traveling Beer Garden Tour — an annual partnership between Milwaukee County Parks and Sprecher Brewery — was announced Thursday morning.

Five hundred thousand beer pints. Thirty thousand beer liter steins. Fifty thousand root beer pints. Ten thousand root beer floats. Twenty-five thousand bottles of Sprecher soda. Eighteen thousand brats. Thirteen thousand hot dogs. Forty thousand Milwaukee Pretzel Company soft pretzels.

That's how much the Traveling Beer Garden Tour, which has become a Milwaukee County tradition, has served up since its beginnings in 2014, according to Milwaukee County Parks Executive Director Guy Smith.

The tour, a partnership between Milwaukee County Parks and Sprecher Brewing Co., is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

"It has greatly increased visibility of our parks," Smith said. "And it's gotten people not only to go to their neighborhood parks, but maybe they have gone to a park that they have not been to."

The tour's 2023 schedule was announced Thursday morning at a news conference at Sprecher in Glendale. Instead of running two simultaneous tours — the "Roll Out the Barrel Tour" and the "Pass Me a Pint Tour" — as in years past, there will be one tour with eight stops.

Here's what to know, from this year's tour dates, locations and hours to beverage and food offerings.

The Traveling Beer Garden Tour's dates and locations

  • May 17-29: Greenfield Park, 2028 S. 124th St., West Allis

  • May 31-June 11: Froemming Park, 8801 S. 51st St., Franklin

  • June 14-25: Cooper Park, 8701 W. Chambers St., Milwaukee

  • June 28-July 9: Grant Park, 100 E. Hawthorne Ave., South Milwaukee

  • July 12-23: Lake Park, 2975 N. Lake Park Road, Milwaukee

  • July 26-Aug. 6: McCarty Park, 8214 W. Cleveland Ave., West Allis

  • Aug. 9-Aug. 27: Doctors Park, 1870 E. Fox Lane, Fox Point

  • Aug. 30 to Sept. 4: Sheridan Park, 4800 S. Lake Drive, Cudahy

What are the beer garden's hours?

The beer garden is open from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

Beer and beverage options

The beer gardens will offer a variety of Sprecher craft beer, including Black Bavarian, Abbey Triple, Pineapple X-Press, IPAs, including a new one, and more. Beers from other local breweries will be rotating in, such as those from City Lights, Eagle Park, Lakefront and Raised Grain.

There will be a variety of hard seltzers, including Eagle Park's Ekto Kooler and White Claw, as well as ciders from Cider Boys.

Non-alcoholic drink options will include four or five Sprecher craft sodas, such as root beer, cherry cola, orange dream, cream, Green River, grape and raspberry, among others.

What food will be available?

There will be "beer garden favorites," Smith said, including brats, sausages, hot dogs and Milwaukee Pretzel Company soft pretzels.

A new addition: Rotating food trucks will be at the beer garden on the weekends.

What payment options are accepted?

Cash, credit and debit are accepted.

Free beer, root beer while supplies last on first day of each stop

The first day the beer garden arrives at each location, there will be a firkin tapping with free beer, and also free root beer, while supplies last.

Live music on Friday and Saturday nights

The Traveling Beer Garden Bands will play from 5 to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Milwaukee County Parks hiring for beer gardens

Smith said "we're always looking to hire folks in our parks," including for seasonal positions at the beer gardens.

People interested in applying will be able to do so at county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Parks/What-We-Do/Careers-with-The-Parks.

For more info on the 2023 Traveling Beer Garden Tour

For more info on the 2023 Traveling Beer Garden Tour, visit travelingbeergardens.com.

Tentative opening dates for Milwaukee County's permanent beer gardens

  • South Shore Terrace: April 12

  • Estabrook Beer Garden: During the week of April 10

  • Whitnall Beer Garden: May 5

  • The Vine Humboldt: May 25

Another permanent beer garden, which has been "one of our popular sites," may be announced sometime this season, Smith teased.

How the tour has helped Milwaukee County Parks

Since 2014, the beer gardens have generated more than $4.5 million in revenue for the Parks Department and nearly $12 million in revenue overall, Smith said.

"This helps sustain our parks system," Smith said. "We have to provide green space for all, trails, playgrounds, all of these things. And our beer gardens help to do that."

Improvement projects have included making several bathrooms at Grant Park ADA accessible; installing a bike fix-it station at Juneau Park; and planting trees, upgrading pavilions, adding more energy efficient lighting, resurfacing parking lots and more at various parks, according to Smith and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

"We wanted to make sure we gave back to the parks that these tours started in, and we've expanded beyond that," Smith said.

The Traveling Beer Garden Tour has become a "national model," according to Smith. He said his team frequently gets calls from across the country and beyond from people wanting to create this type of tour in their own communities.

Sign up for our Dish newsletter to get food and dining news delivered to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Traveling Beer Garden Tour 2023: Dates, locations, hours, beer, food