About

Gathering Place Brewing Company presents Lager & Friends: an invitational beer festival highlighting lager focused breweries. First started in 2019, the festival features some of the best lager brewers all around the country - not just Wisconsin. Celebrating the men and women whose passion, skill, and technique go into creating these well crafted brews.

5th Annual Lager & Friends - 2023

Lager & Friends returned to the Heidelberg Park festival grounds at The Bavarian Bierhaus. We had 26 breweries from around the Midwest pouring some gorgeous lagers to match the beautiful weather. It was the largest attended Lager & Friends to date!

4th Annual Lager & Friends - 2022

The in-person festival returned with 30 breweries at a great new venue: The Bavarian Bierhaus.

3rd Annual Lager & Friends - 2021

We stayed virtual in 2021 and had really awesome conversations about lager featuring brewers from Oregon and Connecticut as well as a German brewing professor from Weihenstephaner and an American beer author living in Prague.

2nd Annual Lager & Friends - 2020

The in-person festival was canceled due to Covid, but we made the best of it with a pretty awesome virtual festival featuring interviews with brewers and a virtual brewery tour!

1st Annual Lager & Friends - 2019

Our first ever Lager & Friends Beer Festival was held at Turner Hall Ballroom and featured 20 breweries from across the country.