Robin Shepard
Exterior of Prost, in an old church.
German beer can be a religious experience at Prost.
When beers from Weihenstephaner, the world’s oldest brewery, appear on tap, it’s a sign of serious curation of traditional German beers. Prost, the German beer hall at 401 E. Washington Ave., has Weihenstephaner’s Hefeweissbier Dunkel (a dark wheat) — one of my favorite German beers — on one of its 24 tap lines. Prost features what is arguably the best selection of fresh German standards in Madison.
The draft list also includes pilsners like Radeberger and Warsteiner, Hofbräu Kellerbier (unfiltered lager), Hacker-Pschorr Hefeweizen, Spaten Oktoberfest and Paulaner Salvator doppelbock. The only standards I didn’t find on the current menu were a light-bodied kölsch, and a rauchbier like Schlenkerla.
The beer menu rotates with seasonal beers, and for summer Prost will feature more hefeweizens and dunkelweizens. Both are great to enjoy in the small fenced-in patio along South Hancock Street. Watch for Weihenstephaner Vitus on tap this month; it’s a strong wheat bock beer that’s often difficult to get from local distributors.
Food is beer garden fare like a 15-inch pretzel that comes with warm cheese and assorted mustards and easily serves 3-4. Sausage boards, housemade schnitzel (pork or chicken), and a few specialty sandwiches, including a hamburger, round out the menu.
The building, built as a Lutheran church, has been home to a number of restaurants over the years, including The Monastery, Bellini Italian Restaurant, and Hail Mary Sports Pub. The church still has stained glass windows, wooden booths made from the old pews, Gothic arches and high ceilings. A mural by local artist Julie Vornholt features a badger, the state Capitol building and the entrance to Camp Randall, interspersed with barley and hop vines.
The former church is an appropriate place to drink a German bock or doppelbock; both styles that emerged in the monastery brewing traditions and were released around Christian holidays. The doppelbock was known as “liquid bread” to fasting monks during Lent. And beer names like “salvator” and others ending in ‘ator’ are associated with the Latin word for savior.
The communal atmosphere of a German beer hall appears to be coming back post-COVID, as there are more patrons requesting beer by the boot, owner Brian Reynolds and assistant general manager David Nau confirm. These two-liter glasses, resembling an actual boot, were shelved during the pandemic, as they’re traditionally shared among a group of friends who pass them around the table, drinking until the boot is empty. (The friend left holding an empty boot is often cajoled into buying the next one.)
“It used to be more common that the boot was passed to strangers,” says Reynolds. “That part is still slow to come back.”
There’s also the option of a one-liter boot for a little less sharing — it holds the same amount as Prost’s largest mug.
“When people ‘get the boot,’ that’s when the atmosphere of the communal tables really comes to life. You never see someone not smiling with a boot in front of them,” says Nau.
In addition to German beers there are a handful of selections from Wisconsin breweries, and a few non-alcoholic beers, along with seltzers, sodas, wine and a back bar that supports cocktails like a house-blended old fashioned.
