Milwaukee, WIBeer Halls and Biergartens

Milwaukee Magazine dates the garden here to 2012 and calls it the first public beer garden in the country since Prohibition, the one dozens of others in the area followed. The theme is German throughout, with Hofbrau on tap and patrons eating sausages and pretzels at a spread of communal tables on a bluff above a waterfall on the Milwaukee River. It runs cashless, so bring a card. The magazine lists noon to 9 p.m. daily and noon to 10 p.m. Friday, in a public garden season that runs roughly May into October. Order a Hofbrau and a sausage.

Tucked into the woods just south of busy Capitol Drive in Shorewood, Hubbard Park pours Hacker-Pschorr Weisse by the liter alongside a short list of other taps, plus wine and cocktails for anyone skipping beer. Milwaukee Magazine notes an ample sausage menu from Usinger's and a fish fry every Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. Hours run 3 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, roughly May into October. Order a liter of the Weisse and a Usinger's sausage.

Milwaukee Magazine calls the Oktoberfest the Bavarian Bierhaus throws at Old Heidelberg Park the biggest in the area, a celebration that fills weekends for more than a month with food, live music and scores of communal tables set for sharing. Admission runs $5 on Friday from 4 to 11 p.m., $10 on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and free on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and groups can reserve picnic tables ahead. Order a stein and take a place at one of the long tables.

The county garden on the Bay View lakefront pours a range that runs from High Life and Leinenkugel's to Lakefront and Hamm's, which Milwaukee Magazine sets out beside an extensive food menu of appetizers, burgers and sandwiches. The magazine puts the tables a stein's throw from Lake Michigan and asks visitors to bring their county glass back for reuse. Hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday, roughly May into October. Order a Lakefront pour and a burger.

Milwaukee Magazine describes riverside grounds in Wauwatosa that are welcoming on a sunny day, with local taps from Third Space and Lakefront beside German classics and a side list of wine, seltzer and canned cocktails. Pizza, pretzels and brats hold up the food menu, and the garden runs Quizmaster trivia on Wednesdays plus frequent live music. Hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 9 p.m. on weekends, in an outdoor season the park opens on May 1. Order a German classic on tap and a pretzel at a table by the river.