If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind experience full of bold colors, flavors, and unicorns that shoot fire out of their nostrils look no further than Karben4 Brewing. Born and bred in Madison WI, Karben4 has been gracing us with their take on beer since late 2012 (which honestly doesn’t seem that long ago). Since their start, they’ve allowed their operations to slow grow while listening to the consumers and letting the community help guide decisions on productions. This is most likely why they’ve had so much success in a relatively short amount of time. Even if you’re not from the Madison area, you can spot their colorful beer labels in any cooler. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone pick up a Fantasy Factory solely based on the label. If you’re familiar with Karben4’s style you also might have noticed other companies “borrowing” the wild, colorful label style 😉 

No one could replicate the insanity that is Karben4’s brewpub, though. Low key atmosphere with psychedelic pops of color and paintings everywhere, they truly are unique. Instead of sports, the TVs were tuned into FreeFrom where Pretty in Pink was playing. The walls have huge canvases and the music is a healthy variety of 60s all the way up to the 80s. 

Their beer, as you could imagine, is just as funky with lots of interesting twists and flavor combinations. For example, Ode to a Chocolate Bar is a Bourbon Barrel Stout with Sea Salt and Almond (for real tastes like a candy bar too) and their BAB43K is a Port Wine Barrel Belgian Quadruple, which if you didn’t already guess, is a quadruple Belgian aged in port wine barrels. With so many options and flavors I’ve never experienced, my good friend, Megan, and I decided a flight would be the best way to go. We ended up with a good mix, some of which we REALLY liked and others we could’ve done without. The Imperial Red Ale, Lady Luck, was one such disappointment. While red ales aren’t my favorite go-to, I think it being on nitro is what did it. I’ve never had a beer on nitro that I was excited about… Fantasy Factory was our fave out of the bunch, of course, but Dragon Flute was a close second; smooth and fruity, it had a calm easy-drinking flavor which you’d expect from an American Pale Ale. 

So if you’re looking for a fun, relaxing brewpub experience go no further than Karben4. It a spot I sincerely hope to visit again soon with friends and sample more of their beer, and food (which I wasn’t lucky enough to sample). If you’re into funky merch too, I’d highly suggest the bottle cap earrings!

Cheers ~ Steph  

Check ’em out!

3698 Kinsman Blvd, Madison