We stopped in on a Saturday afternoon for wine tasting…read more We were greeted by the owner and he was pleasant. His wife, the owner/winemaker was there as well and stood up to greet us. I believe he said the wine tasting menu is split between wine with grapes they purchased to make wine, wine from other wineries and wine they make from their own grapes. We thought we should try the wines from their property because what is the point of trying wine from someone else. They also have a frozen wine we saw a few people stop in to purchase and people appeared to love it. We should have tried it! The wine flight was served in a little box with small plastic cups and a small souvenir wine glass. I feel terrible saying this but the wine was just terrible. We could barely finish the thimble size tasting of each wine. Perhaps we should have tried the wines they brought in or the frozen wine. They said the winery is up for sale. I hope it is purchased by someone who is passionate about winemaking and can make some delicious wine with the grapes from the property.

My aunties and I went to visit this newer winery in Wisconsin, just minutes across the border of…read moreMinnesota. Big lot and building, you can't miss it. There's 2 rooms when you enter, on the left is the tasting room and dining area. Huge bar to walk up to order the flights or glass of wine. The have food too, not a big selection but charcuterie board and pizza. Additional to wine, they also offer coffee and beer. The second room to the right is smaller, more intimate like a bar. We got a small souvenir glass with our flight for free.

Neat little place with a casual vibe and fun atmosphere. We were there for drinks and they had a…read morewide selection of beers and drinks. There was live music that afternoon and it was a very enjoyable experience. You order at the bar. There was a small market area with a variety of items. Will come again to try their food!

Saturday I set out for a short brewery trek of three breweries... I was excited to visit my 363rd,…read more4th and 365th breweries! Quite the array my palate experienced! The first brewery.... fine, just fine, nothing great. The last brewery? Off the charts... fantastic!! Balsam Lake? Yikes..... I arrived to a full patio and quite the busy inside. Good omen, right? Once I began tasting through my flight... two words came to mind...not sure if they're correct or... but they were... Tourist Trap....? I built a flight of four, four styles I commonly order, so I'm familiar with them and they're preferred. My flight consisted of #3 Angler's Amber, #7 Stump Bay Stout, #17 Marges Doppleganger Doppelbock & #18 Haugen All The Honey. The Honey beer was delicious and was he only one I could stomach to want to finish. The Angler's Amber? WHAT is that, is that a Bitter Amber? That is NOT a style....for good reason! This beer I could only take three sips of... in disbelief that it was that bad! The stout and doppelbock....just not good. Three days later and I'm still at a loss for words to describe what my palate was dealing with? Being to nearly 400 breweries I wouldn't consider myself a slouch, nor definitely an expert but when three of four beers are unpalatable... it's not me... it's the beer. Such a disappointing experience. Getting the $16.00 tab for what I considered awful beer sure didn't help ease the unfulfilling feeling. Maybe I should have opted for the Boysenberry Blonde that I debated and a beertender said was her current go-to? This brewery is three years old so...maybe they're still working kinks out? New brewer? I may have to peruse untappd for other beer ratings but at this juncture I wouldn't go back, just bummed out by the experience as a whole.

Having taken a few summer trips to the lake, of course alcohol is a key component to the trip! Came…read moreacross this family owned liquor store along the way. I'm always a big fan of supporting local business, and this place definitely deserves it. Kent is one of the nicest owners you'll ever meet and the town is just a gem. The Bottle Shop has always had any alcohol we've needed and at great prices. I highly recommend everyone to stop by here on your way to the lake. You'll be greeted with warm smiles and snag some great prices on booze!

Great small town brewery…read more The first brewery in Northwest Wisconsin. Valkyrie Brewery had been around for 24 years. Can you believe that? 24 years in a town of 400 inhabitants. That says volumes about community and good beer. This was our 2nd time visiting the brewery. We were passing through town on our way elsewhere and decided to stop. When we arrived not many people were in the taproom, just us, one other patron and both owners. True small town hospitality, everybody was friendly and welcoming as we joined the fun at the bar. There are no flights but you do get 4 free samples to try the beers. All together there are 14 beers on tap. After the samples you can order a 10 oz or 16 oz. The 10 oz is only $2 and the 16 oz is $7 and you get to keep the pint glass. That's a lot of beer to try and they have a lot to offer. The beers range from retro American lager, black IPA, Porter, bock, red lager and many more. For those who are not beer drinkers they do offer a cider, 4 Bitten Fruit. It's very refreshing, like an apple champagne. For designated drivers they have a homemade root beer. We were in for a treat as they offer a brewery tour at 1pm on Saturdays. We decided to take it and it was just us and the owner/brewmaster Randy. I mentioned it's a town of 400, right? But it is also winter and tourist traffic has definitely slow down. The brewing takes place in the basement if the building. They use old dairy equipment for a lot of the brewing processes. This isn't some glittering high end bank loan established brewery. This was probably the most informative and interesting tour I've been on in a long time. Or perhaps the most attentive since it's small. After the tour we head back upstairs to the main bar to run down the tap line and sample all the beers! That's quite a bit of beer. Great way to finish the tour and enjoy the wide range of offerings. Talking about the qualities and subtleties of flavors in the beers. Space is open with a variety of seating. Plenty of cribbage boards and card games to keep you and your group entertained. They offer free popcorn and range of spices to top it with. Ann Lee, the other owner, has her paintings on the walls for sale. Overall highly recommend if you're looking for good beer in Northwest WI.

I love this place! Ive been to 95% of the breweries in Wisconsin and this is on the top of a short…read morelist for me. To me it is the essence of craft brewing which is actually hard to find now a days. It isn't some bank rolled investment opportunity like so many are. It hasn't out grown its roots like so many have. It's a couple of owners who really like beer and hosting guests. They concentrate on the beer and ambiance over franchising and distribution area. They have been brewing for 24 years and you can tell. They are well entrenched in the industry and have a vast knowledge of brewing beer and showing people a good time. The brewery is in a small town surrounded by country roads. The brewery is in an old brick Ford dealership turned creamery right on the main drag. The bar is both spacious and cozy. The walls are covered with murals and beautiful home made art work. The husband and wife proprietors are true artists. There are over 14 taps and all with good independent flavors. I think a lot of craft breweries have 8 beers and they all taste about the same. Not here. There is something for everyone, even a cider. We were lucky enough to be there at 1pm on a Saturday which is tour time! Randy took us around and showed us everything there is to know. Since it was an early fall snow storm the tour consisted of just my girlfriend, me, and Randy. He provided as little or as much information as you could handle. We have been on many tours and he connected so many dots. He had an expansive brewing knowledge that he broke down to lamens like us very well. As you might guess the brewery equipment was mostly all modified dairy tanks and used 1960s pig iron. It was a lot of fun. It reminds you that skill and knowledge make good beer, not loans and new stainless steel.

We were visiting the area and stopped in at The Sawmill after a friend recommended the pizza. They…read moreare only open on Sunday afternoons to the public. The rest of the week is reset for private events. First, the venue is the perfect place to sit outside and enjoy the large property when the weather is nice. There are a couple of buildings with outdoor seating as well as indoor space for events. There is a large flat screen TV by the bar inside the main building if you would like to sit and enjoy a game, etc. They have outdoor live entertainment which was very nice to sit back and listen to the music. They also had a few yard games which people were enjoying. The website isn't quite up to date as it instructs you to bring your own picnic supplies, non alcoholic beverages, etc. as they just serve beer. However, they do provide paper plates and napkins a well as have a full bar including some wine and non alcoholic beverages for purchase. Sawmill had a set menu of a few thin crust pizza options as well as a handful of seasonal pizzas. No additional pizza toppings allowed but you can ask for a topping to be removed if you don't like it. Our group ordered a Pep Fest which is tomato sauce, pepperoni, co-jack and a Trippin' Balls which is tomato sauce, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, sausage, mozzarella. The pizza was okay. Toppings are limited. The pizzas are cooked in an outdoor wood fired pizza oven so we were expecting more of a crispy thin crust pizza. The pizza dough is not crispy but soft and doughy. Not exactly what we were expecting but the flavor was pretty good. Every employee we encountered was nice and everyone seemed to enjoy working there. It's a nice place to hang out, have a drink and enjoy the outdoors and live entertainment.

5 stars - definitely worth the stop if you're in the area!…read more I really enjoyed my first visit to Sawmill Pizza & Brew Shed. It's out in a rural area, quite a trek west of downtown Clear Lake. But they have plenty of signs directing the way. And "yes", back in the day, it used to be a real working sawmill. I was skeptical when my 2 Wisconsin friends invited me to hang out at Sawmill on a Sunday. Only open 1 day a week on Sundays? Only open from 2:30 to 7:00? Only 4 kinds of pizza? Yes, it's true! But it's great! The property is huge, many acres with tons of parking. They have multiple buildings, outdoor activities, a lake across the street, live music, pizza, beer, and soda. The whole atmosphere is like a super chill county fair - awesome! The custom pizzas are great too. They're all the same size - large. The pizza is neopolitan style & cooked in a brick fired oven. The flavor options are great. They're all, basically, giant gourmet Italian style pies. They can definitely compete with any fancy-dancy pizza joint in the Twin Cities (minus the snobbery). The beer options are excellent. They have a bunch of interesting craft beers on tap in addition to standard options in cans & bottles. Finally, this place is run like a clock. They're extremely well organized. Everyone is super friendly too. That goes for the staff as well as the guests. (No pets or outside alcohol allowed.) For those of you that may be interested, Sawmill does special events too. LOW CARB: It was a little tricky eating low carb, carnivore style at Sawmill. Basically, I picked the pizza with the most meat & the thickest toppings and I scraped all the toppings off the doughy crust. It worked fine. I ate all the toppings and none of the high carb dough. And I saved the crust for the family of noisy crows that visits me every morning. So everyone was happy...me, my buddies, and my feathered friends. A big thumbs up! -Maxx

Get on their fruit email list! I start buying crates as soon as they start getting them in and am…read moreNEVER sorry! June finished a flat of Florida strawberries. It won't be long until apricots and sweet cherries. Go to their website and subscribe. I buy bulk dry goods there and Havarti too.

My family and I stumbled across this gem after the coffee shop we intended to test was closed for a…read moreprivate wedding. The Country Lane Pantry has really good marketing as I kept seeing this name appear on multiple signs in the small town of Barron. While they don't sell coffee, they do have a wide variety of baked goods, baking materials such as spices, cookie cutters, fruits, nuts, cheeses, crackers, fudge, candy, etc. A very similar feeling to a co-op, this place even sells outdoor patio furniture, bird feeders, dog houses, etc. The home decor items are outside where the food remains inside. Service was nice and the longer line went fairly quick. One register up front for purchase transactions and one in the back for buying cheese and fudge.

Hopsack is such a fun find in Balsam Lake. It fits the little cabin town vibe perfectly and feels…read morelike one of those places you're really glad you stumbled across. The coffee is great and the staff is incredibly kind and welcoming. The space itself is open, spacious, and modern but still has that cozy, comforting feel you want when you're up north. They also have a really nice selection of products for sale, almost like a small market. You can grab food and drinks to go, along with cabin essentials and other fun items. This is just a great spot to stop for coffee and browse a bit. A really great addition to the area and such a fun little place to visit.

We unexpectedly stopped at Hop Sack with 13 people and ordered smoothies, coffee drinks and donuts…read more The gals working prepared this large order quickly and professionally. A very good experience and the products were very good

We like this place for its wonderful, peaceful location, sprawling view, and always appreciate…read moreplaces with outdoor seating. We've been there a few times and the service and food were great. I would highly recommend an improvement and that would be to clean up the outdoor seating. When I see dirty areas at any restaurant, it makes me wonder how they take care of the kitchen. (Have never sat inside) I realize they may have events in this outdoor area, and want to accomodate smokers, just maintain it. Buckets of cig. butts , empty glasses on the ground, a dead bird on concrete. Also spend a little on some less shabby furnishings. Do some weeding and planting and this place would be taken up a notch, being more attractive upon approach and a better dining experience

This place is your local thug bar. can't bring in visitors from out of town as the locals want to…read morestart trouble specifically those from Arden Construction. Sad that this place has gone down hill since Sadie is no longer there. Do not go here! there are better welcoming places who won't over-serve those who can't handle their liquor.