This season will see the first major upgrades to the fan spaces at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, since the ballpark opened in 2001. With completely overhauled concessions—both in terms of the actual dining items and the physical stands—fans will have an abundance of choices for the upcoming season.
The Brewers and concessionaire Delaware North are taking some physical hints from the city’s layout and installing First Base Ward and Third Base Ward spaces on the Field Level, featuring 11 new concession stands, new portable stands and two new full-service bars. Previously the Miller Park concessions spaces were set up as large stands in the middle of the concourse, with smaller stands to the side. This new setup should alleviate some of the traffic congestion on the Field Level concourse space, while the new menus seek to offer more than the traditional brats, pizza and popcorn offered in the past.
More local names had been introduced to the Miller Park concessions in last few years, including burgers from AJ Bombers and beers from naming-rights partner MillerCoors. (Yes, you can see the MillerCoors brewery from Miller Park.) New concession items will have Wisconsin ties—like frozen custard and cheese curds—and we expect other popular Sconnie offerings, like a Sunday Bloody Mary bar, to return.
It goes without saying that the Brewers should have a very strong selection of beer at a Major League Baseball ballpark: the city’s heritage as home to large brewers and the resurgence of craft brewers in the city make for a strong local scene. As part of those upgrades, the Brewers have announced a Local Brews bar on the Miller Park Loge Level, near Section 207. Sad to say (depending on your viewpoint, of course), I’ve tried most of the beers on the list. We’re not going to list them all here—click here to see them all—but we can recommend the following:
- Badger Club Amber, Wisconsin Brewing Company. Sconnie brewing legend Kirby Nelson struck gold in an unusual way: he was tinkering with WBC’s Golden Amber and came up with a totally new brew. It’s perfect for a ballgame: Light enough to quaff.
- Riverwest Stein, Lakefront Brewing. Lakefront Brewery is home to Bernie Brewer’s Chalet from County Stadium, so these folks love their baseball. Riverwest Stein is an all-malt amber lager, a very German selection.
- 5th Element, One Barrel Brewing. Madison’s One Barrel Brewing is exactly as the name says: the beer is brewed in one-barrel quantities locally, and contract brewed by Octopi Brewing for wider distribution. The fifth element here is malted rye, and it adds a sweetness to a typically bitter IPA.
- Citrus Happy, Milwaukee Brewing. The citrus is grapefruit, which has become a popular flavor for summer beers. It’s billed as an IPA, but the citrus dominates.
- Outboard, Milwaukee Brewing. Cream ales are big in Milwaukee’s brewing past, and this cream ale from local Milwaukee Brewing is crafted as a light, summer beer. Plus, the outboard motor was invented by Ole Evinrude, who set up his machine shop in Milwaukee.
Sharp-eyed beer fans will note something missing from this bar: cult favorite Spotted Cow from New Glarus Brewing. The Brewers have sold Spotted Cow and other Wisconsin favorites throughout the ballpark, and we expect this to continue. So the bottom line: beer lovers already had plenty of reasons to hit Miller Park, and with the concessions overhaul set for 2017, there are even more reasons to a Brewers game.
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