Cercis Brewing Company, Columbus

Cercis Brewery in Columbus

Columbus, Wisconsin is known as “Redbud City” for the lovely trees that bud during a certain time of the year. When a craft brewery wanted to start up here and use the redbuds as inspiration for their name, it turned out a certain big brewer didn’t like a startup brewery using “bud.” So, Cercis Brewing opened in May 2018, it used the name from the genus term for the redbud tree that populates this lovely town of 5,000 where the Rock River meets the Dodge-Columbia County border.

Located in a classic 1920 building that served numerous purposes throughout its lifetime, Cercis Brewing creates a number of locally-sourced craft beers. Primary brews include their Ten Pin Pale Ale, Cercis ESB, the Clocktower Cream Ale, Riverbend Red, and the Rye-O Ale, which is pronounced the same way as the little town of Rio just northwest of Columbus along Highway 16. There’s “Hello My Name is Amber” along with a Red Pale Ale, and seasonal brews. They also offer a number of guest beers from other nearby craft breweries.

Cercis Brewing also has an active kitchen, serving and sending out pizzas, sandwiches, Milwaukee soft pretzels, cheese boards, salads, soups, quesadillas, and more. The building is cool, too; it’s served as a bowling alley, a wagon station (yes, when horse-drawn wagons were a primary source of transportation), and a bunch of other stuff.

You’ll find Cercis in the downtown area of Columbus on Dickason Boulevard, one block off City Hall from Highways 16 & 60, and one block off Highway 73/Business U.S. 151 (Ludington Street). Highway 89 approaches town about one mile to the southwest, and today’s U.S. 151 freeway bypass is just to the northwest, via Highways 16/60. Heck, if you want to road trip by train, the Amtrak station is only two blocks away!