Niko Ivanovic - The Daily Cardinal

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Madison’s best beer bar is...

By Niko Ivanovic | Apr. 24, 2013

This week, Niko wraps up his list of the 10 best craft-beer bars in Madison.

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Best beer bars in Madison, pt. 3

By Niko Ivanovic | Apr. 10, 2013

This is the third installment in Niko’s series of the best beer bars in Madison.

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Best beer bars in Madison, pt. 2

By Liz Puibello , Tom Walsh and Niko Ivanovic | Mar. 20, 2013

Two weeks ago, I kicked off the list with the delicious dive bar brews of the Malt House at No. 10, following Cooper’s Tavern’s rustic atmosphere and conservative tap list, which filled the No. 9 spot. The next bar on the list offers a similar modern exposed-brick and wood interior design, with two full bars and plenty of American craft beers to choose from.

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Best beer bars in Madison, pt. 1

By Niko Ivanovic | Mar. 6, 2013

I have been waiting, “researching” and reflecting about this column for a long time: a carefully crafted, undeniably subjective and inevitably controversial list of the best beer bars in Madison. Before I even get started, I want to warn you this is really just one beer geek’s opinion and that every single bar on this list is a must-try for any admirers of the almighty ale.

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Brew basics: a guide to drinking craft beer

By Niko Ivanovic | Feb. 20, 2013

One of the best—and admittedly most confusing—elements of craft beer is the seemingly endless list of styles that brewers toss around. For the adventurous, such limitless variety creates an optimism in tasting new brews, as even the most experienced beer drinkers are bound to stumble upon something new eventually. But for everyone else, the giant range of flavors can be intimidating, too often forcing you to take a shot in the dark when ordering something new. Though I can’t touch upon nearly every beer style out there, I’ll do my best to help.

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Time for Capital Brewery to adapt, innovate

By Niko Ivanovic | Feb. 6, 2013

Capital Brewery has been a Wisconsin institution for craft beer ever since the movement began gathering momentum a couple decades ago. Founded on the idea of bringing quality German-style lagers and ales to an audience who had become far too accustomed to drinking boring macrobrews, Capital found success by bridging the gap between bad beer and introductory craft brews. However, in the midst of an all-out craft-beer revolution, the brewery has to ask itself if this mentality is beginning to hold it back.

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Madison brewery comes out on top in beer battle

By Niko Ivanovic | Oct. 3, 2012

Today’s column brings the conclusion to the Wisconsin Battle of the Breweries, an ambitious taste test battle of seven of the Badger state’s greatest beer crafters. If you missed my last column, here is a quick summary of what the beer battle was all about:

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Batten down the hatches: The Beer Battle is on

By Niko Ivanovic | Sep. 19, 2012

From Miller-Coors to Pabst Blue Ribbon to the impressive list of craft brewers that call it home, and hell even our baseball team, Wisconsin is in many ways the beer state. We also consume more beer per capita than 44 of the 50 states, and UW-Madison will forever hold the honor of being the first public university with a student union that serves beer.

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Find a better beer at Brickhouse Barbeque

By Niko Ivanovic | Sep. 12, 2012

Though Brickhouse BBQ may not highlight any of our Friday night drunken pregame debates about where to go get wasted, the spot is undeniably great in the right context. I probably won’t make too many friends over at Alcoholics Anonymous for this suggestion, but the restaurant is arguably the perfect day-drinking spot.

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True confessions of a craft beer fanatic

By Niko Ivanovic | Sep. 6, 2012

This article marks my first post in a series of columns about Madison craft beer. An avid beer enthusiast for a while now, I’ve founded and operated a beer blog with a few friends for over a year and couldn’t be more excited to have this opportunity to write exclusively about Madison’s best beer, bars and brewpubs. However, before I jump into the heart of the craft beer scene surrounding UW-Madison, I want to take the time to tell you why I love writing about beer in the first place.