Great Lakes Distillery & Tasting Room

Great Lakes Distillery is Wisconsin's first distillery since Prohibition, opened by founder Guy Rehorst in 2004 and now the anchor of the Walker's Point tasting room at 616 W Virginia St. The room pours the distillery's own craft spirits and cocktails, but it earns its place in a sober directory because Rehorst also makes his own non-alcoholic spirit in-house: SANS Junipre, a botanical zero-proof spirit built on juniper, ginseng, orange zest, cardamom, chili pepper and coriander at under 0.5% ABV, with zero calories and zero sugar. It was designed as a one-to-one replacement for gin and other spirits, which lets the bar mix genuine cocktails rather than sugary stand-ins.

The tasting room keeps a standing "low- and no-alcohol cocktails" section on its current menu. The fully non-alcoholic A Dry Splash pairs SANS Junipre with cranberry juice and TopNote Classic tonic, while the low-ABV Crantini rounds it out with Good Land cranberry liqueur; assorted Lakefront non-alcoholic beers are also on hand for beer drinkers who are skipping the alcohol. Milwaukee Magazine featured the program in its Milwaukee mocktail roundup, noting the herbaceous house spirit can take the one-to-one place of any spirit in a cocktail. Because the venue still serves full-strength alcohol, it is a hybrid rather than a fully dry bar, but the non-alcoholic offering is substantial and, crucially, non-intoxicating.

Practically, the tasting room runs Monday through Thursday from noon to 9pm, Friday until midnight, Saturday 11am to midnight, and Sunday 11am to 7pm, and it remains active in 2026 per its posted hours, recent Yelp activity, and current first-hand visit write-ups. The Fox Den window inside the room serves beef, chicken and vegan smash burgers plus shareable "foxy bites," and the distillery layers in tours and evening social programming, making it an easy group destination whether or not everyone is drinking.