I may not get to Madison much but when I do I will be going to Octopi Brewing. Not only is the facility cool, open, and inviting they have on top of that a few good beers. The staff is super helpful and the space is just chill all around. Bags outside or games inside. It is a little of the beaten path but worth the jaunt if your looking for some brews. Favorite at the Good Day, One-One Thousand Maker's Market was hands down the oh so blonde coffee stout. I need more of that in my life. The place was super packed for the event and I think the event put them on the map for breweries in Madison. It was a bit hectic and I'm not sure they knew how to handle as much traffic as they had. They did their best though and I would call that a success in my book. Looking forward to going back one of these days real soon! read more

If you're looking for an unassuming IPA or lager or stout, this probably isn't the place for you. Octopi specializes in big, unique, creative beers packed with flavor and alcohol content, and they do them well. My wife and I stopped in while traveling over Thanksgiving. We'd sampled some Octopi beers previously at various beer festivals and knew their reputation preceded them. Sure enough, the beers we sampled in the taproom were boozy, flavorful and delicious; one of our favorites was a Pink Lemonade IPA we ended up taking home in a four-pack. As far as we're concerned, Octopi is one of the leading breweries in the Midwest, and we'd highly recommend a visit. read more

Five stars for the experience. I don't drink and I didn't eat anything. So if you want to stop reading now, I wouldn't blame you. Went here with three friends. They are all craft beer lovers. They were super stocked about each beer they tried. My boyfriend left with a four pack and a crowler. My friend left with a 20 pack. He was so excited he never let go of the box. Atmosphere was awesome. They have games to play, an outdoor space, and bartenders were nice. We missed it, but there was an fair here yesterday. I've followed them on Instagram to make sure I hear about their next fair. read more

See all

Great atmosphere local establishment. The beers are very niche but they should have at least something that everyone can drink... but mostly crazy beers like milkshake stouts. The food menu is narrow but never disappoints. Love going there. read more

The outdoor patio space has a nice homey feel. The food does not disappoint either. We had the brisket tacos which were smoked perfectly and were very tender. The BLT burger was good as well. We would have preferred a slice of bacon instead of pork belly, but the sandwich had good flavor. The fries with the BBQ rub are a must try! They are delicious! We would also recommend the Dachs Lager to drink if you like lighter beer. We will definitely be back. read more

Octopi Brewing - BLT Burger and BBQ rub french fries - Breweries Near Me - Waunakee, Wisconsin

See all

I happened upon this brewery on my way to the hockey rink that is very close by. The beer was really good and a pretty good section too. We might have picked a busy time because our food order took quite a lot longer than I would have expected. Maybe that was by design so I'd have another beer. Either way the food was good. read more

One of our favorite breweries! Great spot to stop for unique beer and yummy food. The set up is great if you have a larger party with many big tables. Would highly recommend! read more

Very good beer selections. More unique than most craft breweries. I would have rated a 5 but the food sucked. Had burnt ends and queso dip. Ends were terrible and queso was bland and not hot. Bummer. read more

We made the trip up to Waunakee a few months ago to finally visit Octopi. They are a big operation, note that most of their beers are contract brewed. Attached to their large brewery, they have a large taproom attached with a of things on tap: from their house brand to collaborations to some guest taps. Beers were good, staff was very helpful and fun. No food served. They have a nice outdoor area including a few picnic tables to drink outside, and they occasionally host events like movie viewings. read more

YUM YUM YUM. The cool logo doesn't hurt! Stopped in on the way to Milwaukee to sample some beers and left with our wallets feeling a little lighter as we needed to take one of everything home. read more

Locally crafted beer with windows facing the equipment. I love that this place had its menu not just printed, but up on the wall in giant lettering. We had a book club gathering here, it was a tad challenging to make that work due to acoustics of the building and other people wing around, so we ended up more having two discussions on the same table. But since that isn't the typical reason to go to a brewery I looked for other reasons to enjoy it. The service was amazing. There was one calm bartender doing his best to answer questions and fill orders with a smile on his face even when a customer wasn't crazy about the taste of his beer. An exchange was made and I was pleasantly surprised over my raspberry beer. I expected a sweeter taste as many fruity beers are. Considering the color was a beautiful raspberry as well it was light and slightly tart which gave it more character and didn't overpower me. Thanks, Octopi! I shall visit you another time read more

Met some friends for drinks here. The brewery is pretty straight forward. No food was offered when we visited but they are working on a patio area where they can park a food truck. The inside had a few tables and a bar, nothing fancy, but very functional. The beer was good and the staff was friendly. They had different options including an Imperial Stout, lager, the presently popular IPA, and some other selections. We definitely think this brewery is with revisiting. read more

Excellent beer and guess what? They just opened a kitchen! The food they had before was amazing. I can't wait to go check out the new food. Excellent beer and service. Fun atmosphere. Honestly, best brewery in Madison area. read more

Drive across Dane county on Sunday get to brewery at 430 pm. Doors locked, people inside, won't waste my time again. BS

Octipi brewing has the best beer I have ever tasted with a unique atmosphere that is very relaxed and comfortable. When friends visit I enjoy taking them to Octopi as well as meeting friends and coworkers there. Their pricing is fair and I highly recommend them read more

This place is awesome! Stopped by on the way up to Castle Rock Lake for the 2nd time and both experiences were great. The first time (a couple of years ago) they found out we had a dog with us and told us to bring him in. They were super friendly and even gave him water. This time they weren't even technically open yet but still let us come in for a beer and stretch out legs, and get our baby out if the car for a bit. Will definitely be back. And the beer is just as awesome as the people!! read more

Please post clearly all holiday hours. Contrary to Yelp! saying you were open yesterday, Dec 26, your doors were locked when I arrived. Calling today Dec 27 2:15p, to confirm that you're "open" (as posted in Yelp!) only put me into vm with no mention if tap rm is actually open. Please get it together if you'd like more visitors. read more

Loved, loved, loved, this place until... no more dogs inside. Stopped by Sunday, the day after the restaurant opened and they were closed. No notice. This evening we came to eat and watch the game. Well, the game is on. The manager informed us that they will have the game on and the speaker on the tv will have the volume on however the music will be on at the same time. Have you people bumped your head.... you now have the music on and the crappy little tv speaker on. one more thing I need to comment on. The bartenders are spot on. read more

What a fun place in the middle of an industrial park! We stopped in on Sunday afternoon right before the Super Bowl. There were two other tables there sampling beer and eating some bar snack foods. The bar area is so fun and inviting. They have a cool octopus painting covering on of the walls, some fun chairs and lots of seating. They have a huge patio area and food carts when the weather is a bit nicer out. I was surprised to see that they do offer food (other than food cart food) during the winter season. I had the Silurian Stout from Door County. It was a really good beer with lots of chocolate and vanilla flavors. I followed up my stout with a nitro coffee. They have nitro coffee. Let me repeat... they have nitro coffee. They are my new best friend. The coffee was as good as my stout. So creamy and delicious without anything in it. I usually like cream in my coffee, but this nitro does not need any frills added to it. My partners in crime were doing quite a bit of beer sampling and they were raving about everything that they were trying. I will need to stop back during the summer to check out that vibe, for sure! read more

See all

Always a solid variety of beer and their own great food truck. Fantastic patio and best of all the whole place is dog friendly!

We stopped here recently to check it out. It was a Friday night around 9. We were not greeted, even though it was not busy. We sat down and were ignored for awhile before we were acknowledged. When the bartender did come over the first thing out of her mouth was that it was last call and asked what she could get us. A menu maybe? We had never been there before so we didn't know anything about their beer selection. For a newer place I would think that they would be more friendly and welcoming to draw in new customers. The decor was very minimal, not much to look at on the walls, and the light was out back by the bathrooms which made it hard to see which one to go into! The one beer we did get was fine. I wouldn't recommend if you appreciate customer service and a nice atmosphere! read more

Juicy NE IPA and S'mores Stout we're off the chain. Unique location since it is right by a newly developed sub division and industrial park area. Place looks amazing. It has a very industrial look to it. Very family friendly as well. read more

Octopi started out with a nice homey neighborhood feel. You could tell that the staff enjoyed sharing Octopi brews with customers. We quickly became regulars, something I've never done before. It was great to have the bar manager know my tastes in beer as he enthusiastically encouraged me to try something new on tap he knew I would enjoy. When the food cart was finally set up, it was nice to have vegetarian options on the menu. If the food cart was closed, there was always the delicious Fraboni's cheese pizza. We ordered many. That all changed last summer when the longtime staff was replaced with newbies who clearly knew nothing about bar management or customer service. Poor service and snotty attitudes became the norm. We stopped coming in regularly after several disappointing visits. We're talking standing at the bar waiting for 10 minutes for even any eye contact from a bar tender, only to have them serve the person next to me who had just walked up. The final straw was when we opted to hold an impromptu meeting at Octopi on a weekday evening last October. Of the ten people in our group, four - including my husband and me - were vegetarian. We were all quite hungry and chose Octopi, because the beer is good and there had been veggie options on the menu. We were surprised to find that the food cart menu had been revamped and had zero non-meat options. Not even fries or nachos or mac-and-cheese. Nada. The meat eaters in the group each ordered food. We asked the bar manager if we could please have a cheese pizza. The new rule is that no pizza can be made as long as the food cart is open. Ugh...we were so hungry and everyone else was eating. But we waited for the food cart to close. When it did, I asked for a cheese pizza. I was refused. The food cart guys hadn't left yet, was the excuse given. I pointed out that we had four vegetarians in our group (which had already spent $100 in food and beer since arriving). The bar manager rudely refused to put a freaking frozen pizza in the pizza oven for us. The other bar tender on duty snuck over to our table to apologize. She put the pizza in for us in defiance of the bar manager. When I complained about this poor service and rotten attitude of the bar manager the next day, the higher management simply said sorry 'bout that. That's not good enough for me. Other regulars I know have also experienced similar crap service there and have switched to more friendly places, like Mr. Brews. read more

Never again. We went on a night where there was an event, Good Day Market, so it was quite crowded. Trying to get served at the bar was impossible. Well, not really impossible, but we were ignored for 15 minutes before deciding F it and left. Bartenders looked right by us, through us and around us to serve others that came in after us. Even raising an arm as if to say "over here please" did nothing. Maybe you had to be a local to get served, not sure. They really should check out some other breweries to see how they do it successfully. Their set up is horrendous. Also, there was suppose to be two food carts serving food, but one was closed. Long drive for disappointment, don't waste your time. read more

Great beer, there special one offs are great. Gluten Free Fish fry is a plus. Only criticism is to bring back Galaxy/Nebula full time. It's one of the beat beers they make. read more

Only been here a few times and very excited about their new kitchen. Wish they had more items on the kids menu though.

Great brewery! I do miss the Madagascar vanilla mild ale though, any chance you'll bring a clone of it back?

I tried my first Octopi beer at the end of summer. It became one of the top beers I've ever had since it was S'mores. We decided we needed to go to the brewery and based our anniversary weekend around this idea. We live two and a half hours away and were anxious to get there. Boy we were disappointed. Lots of staff behind the bar but the service was awful. Once we got a beer it was in a plastic cup. Really?? So many dogs we were scared to move as we might step on them. We had one beer and we hit the road. Life lesson I guess. read more

Solid brews that they make, or contract brew for different breweries. Like the "crowler" system (canning system for tap beers in bomber size cans). read more

Great beers offered in the tap room. Great atmosphere that makes for a fun evening out. Pizzas offered are delicious as well.

Great staff, friendly and helpful. We go a couple times a month they even remember our names.

A great brewery that has great community events. A great food truck as well , a thumbs up for Octopi!

Stopped in yesterday for a few beers. I tried the HopRocket IPA and the Galaxy IPA. I really enjoyed both. As an added bonus, there was live music on Sunday afternoon which was fantastic! I plan to be back again soon to try out more of their incredible beers! Cheers! read more

So back a second time, been 10 months since my initial and only visit. they now have 10 of their own beers! Flight of six pretty tasty. Osiris the best. Food choices pretzel or frozen pizza. So come for beer, eat elsewhere. read more

I tried about 5 or 6 of their beers and thought they were all superb. The staff was really friendly and the interior is pretty nice. Pizza was good too, and I thought the prices were good. I also like that you can purchase six packs of some of their beers or get crowlers of most of their beers to go. read more

Love!!! Great beer and employees!! They all make you feel welcomed and are very helpful when choosing a beer. Fun place to just go and hang out :) read more

Love the Jungle IPA, but gotta ding them a star for grammar: the plural of "octopus" is either "octopuses" or "octopodes", but not "octopi". Anyway, pore speling didn't hurt Google, whose founders intindid the naim to be "Googol". Keep the nice brews coming! read more