Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 (Eve)

For those of you who are in the dark, beer-wise (I don't mean Guinness), each year the Madison, Wisconsin Homebrewers and Tasters Guild puts on its annual beer-fest, the Great Taste of the Midwest ("GT"). The GT brings in brewers from all around the midwest eager to sample their wares. This fest featured 115 breweries sampling around 500 total beers.

As the festival has grown over its 24 years, the evening before the GT has evolved into a festival of its own, with brewers rolling into town a day early to take over the taps at local bars.

This year BOTB was onhand to partake in the pre-GT festival (known locally as "Beer Fest Eve"). And partake we did.

The evening started off at the new "Gastro Cantina" called King & Mane.




As was the case in previous years, when the space was known as "The Local," Michigan based New Holland Brewing came in to take over. New Holland took over the entire selection of taps, offering a bevy of different brews.


BOTB started off with a Koelsch style beer as to compliment dinner. No need to swing for the fences on the first pitch. The Koelsch was excellent: crisp, clean, and fruity, with just a hint of hops. The Germans would be proud.

The Koelsch was quickly followed up with a small pour of the Imperial Hatter, a double-down on New Holland's flagship Mad Hatter IPA. The Imperial Hatter was darker and maltier than its cousin, with a huge bouquet of citrus hops.

After the Imperial, we switched to a cask conditioned version of the Mad Hatter called "Cask Hatter." The cask conditioning gave the Hatter a smoother mouthfeel and allowed the hops some breathing room. I had always thought that the hop profile of the Mad Hatter was a little muddled (but only a little). The cask allowed you to taste some distinct floral notes. Yum!

Then BOTB headed over to Brickhouse BBQ which was hosting Wisconsin based Central Waters and Michigan based Short's.

Never having had the pleasure of trying Short's, we started with their IPA. It was a disappointment. Perhaps because the brewing world is awash in notable IPAs, the bar is fairly high. Short's was bitter, but without the nice hop profile found in quality IPAs. Short's IPA was well-hopped, but not hopped well.

We followed that up with Short's "Key Lime." I don't know why we were expecting this one to be tasty. In brewing there's a fine line between pushing the boundaries of the classic styles and making kitchy, novelty swill. It's hard to describe this one. It had a pale ale body, but with an odd graham cracker taste along side a tart acid taste. This one was truly awful.

The lone bright spot of Brickhouse was Central Waters' Peruvian Morning, a A Bourbon Barrel aged Imperial Stout made with coffee. You can taste coffee, of course, but also tobacco and vanilla. Rich and complex, this is creativity done right.

This it was on to Maduro, the perennial host of Bell's Brewery. Perhaps it was because of their 25th Anniversary, but Bell's went all out this year. There were pints of Hop Slam for $4; there were rarity's like Bell's rye beer, Kal-Haven; there was a Biere de Garde, La Pianiste; hell there was even Larry Bell! Cigars were smoked, pints were raised, and toasts were made to 25 years of Bell's brewing, Maduro, Madison, and the Great Taste of the Midwest.

It was the perfect ending to get us ready to tackle the fest on the following day. I think I even heard a group of people chanting "Lar-ry! Lar-ry! Lar-ry!" I might have even heard a "U-S-A!" chant. U-S-A indeed.