Tasting Events
From adult tastings to fun and unique sampling for the entire family, plan to take part in the tasting experiences offered during the festival.
Corks & Kegs
The Corks & Kegs adult tasting experiences feature local and regional craft beer, wine and hard cider. This popular event is a happy hour like no other. Your ticket grants you entrance to unlimited sampling and light appetizers.
Enjoy live entertainment while you mingle and compare tasting notes for over 40 craft beers, wines, and hard ciders from the Midwest, many from within a 40-mile radius of the festival.
Each guest will receive a souvenir tasting glass.
Only 125 tickets will be sold for each Corks & Kegs event! Tickets are $30 each.
Milk & Cookie Pairing
Whether you’re a kid or a kid at heart, there’s something special about milk and cookies. We’ve specially paired five flavors of milk (from our friends at Kwik Trip and Prairie Farms) with five popular freshly baked cookie flavors (from our friends at Rise Baking Company).
This year’s Milk & Cookie flavors are…
PB2 (PB squared) – PB Chocolate Milk with a Peanut Butter Cookie
Malted Classic – Chocolate Malt Milk with a Chocolate Chip Cookie
Caramel Cinna-Yum – Salted Caramel Milk with a Snickerdoodle cookie
The Cookie Monster – Whole Chocolate Milk with a Chocolate Chip M&M Cookie
Strawberry Cream Pie – Strawberry Milk with a Sugar Cookie
Tickets for this tasting cost $1 per tasting and are available for purchase onsite.
Craft & Curd: Paired
It’s the ultimate brewery face-off! Six local breweries battle it out for best brew and cheese curd flavor pairing. Who will win? That’s up to you–You’re the judge for this intense (and tasty) competition!
Here are this year’s participating breweries and their cheese curd pairing:
Barley John’s Brewing Co, New Richmond, WI
Double IPA Cone Gnome the Barbarian paired with a Scotch Bonnet Cheese Curd
An over-the-top blend of hops bursting with juicy citrus, tropical fruit, and floral aromas.
Hop & Barrel Brewing Co, Hudson, WI
Blood Orange Brut IPA paired with a Sour Cream & Onion Cheese Curd
Notes of citrus blood orange with sweet melon and a dry finish.
Pitchfork Brewing Co, Hudson, WI
Barndoor Brown Ale paired with a Hickory Bacon Cheese Curd
English brown ale made with crisp Marris Otter base grain and East Kent Golding Hops. Malt nose start with warm roast finish. (5%ABV 25IBUs)
Rush River Brewing Co, River Falls, WI
Unforgiven Amber paired with a Cajun Cheese Curd
Rich in flavor and mildly sweet, this amber ale has a subtle herbal nose and robust caramel color and flavor. A classic session ale, great with food. (5.5% ABV)
Swinging Bridge Brewing Co, River Falls, WI
Kinni Kolsch paired with a Buffalo Cheese Curd
Clean, crisp and delicately balanced with a low hop character and a very slight fruit taste.
Zymurgy Brewing Company, Menomonie, WI
Bauble American Pale Ale paired with a Taco Cheese Curd.
Bright & Juicy hops, Vienna Goldpills & Flaked Oats, Wisconsin-grown hops for aroma and dry hopping. (4.6% ABV)
These flavor combinations have never been sampled before… until now! Voting will take place during each Craft & Curd event and the winning brewery’s craft and curd pairing will be announced at the festival upon tabulation of the votes.
Only 300 tickets available for each day! All 6 beer/curd tastings for $20.
Block Party!
Join us for a Block Party dedicated to the cheese lover in all of us! You’ll take a delicious trip around the state as you sample unique Wisconsin cheeses, each with their own Claim to Fame. The Spiciest Cheeses in our state… we’ve got ‘em! Wisconsin’s Moldy but Goodies… yep, you’ll taste those, too! Aged cheeses, smelly cheeses, Wisconsin’s perfect pairings, and unique cheese curd flavors… over 30 types of cheeses will be available for tasting!
Guest cheese experts will be on hand to answer your questions and share how our dairy state and all our cheeses, came to be so famous, not only in the Midwest but all around the world!
Ticket includes a beer, hard cider, or wine of choice, and a complimentary prune juice chaser–after eating all that cheese, you might need it! ;-)
Tickets will be available online beginning June 1 for $20 each.
Ice Cream Tasting
A great time for the entire family, this one-hour real dairy flavor celebration features creative combinations to tickle your tastebuds.
This year’s ice cream is compliments of our friends at Cedar Crest…
Jumping Jersey Cow
Mississippi Mud
Door County Cherry
Blueberry Waffle Cone
Amaretto Cherry Mackinac Island Fudge
Birthday Cake
Tickets for this tasting cost $1 each and are available to purchase onsite.
