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.

Pack It In

It's summer in the upper-Midwest, and for those of you like me, you want to seize this precious 6 weeks and cram in as much outdoors time as possible.

When it comes to "drive-in" camping, one doesn't have to put much thought into what beer to bring: if it fits in the cooler, it works. When it comes to day-hikes, backpacking, or boating, however, one has to plan a little better.

With hiking, beyond the obvious concern of weight going in (glass is heavier than cans), you have to consider the weight coming out. With hiking or boating, you certainly don't want to leave your trash behind (or toss it in the lake), so whatever you "pack in" you'll have to "pack out." This again, suggests that canned beers are the preferable hiking beers. Finally, bottles break. You don't want broken glass in your pack or in your boat. Bottom line: start looking for cans.

Unfortunately, many, if not most craft beers fail to offer their wares in cans. Fortunately, there are some craft offerings that are both delicious and canned.

BEER ON THE BRAIN'S 2010 HIKING/BOATING BEER GUIDE:

1. Dale's Pale Ale - Oskar Blues (Colorado)

Oskar Blues was the pioneer in canning craft beer. Since 2002, Dale's Pale Ale, Oskar's signature ale, has been offered only in cans.

This American Pale Ale has a nice citrus/grapefruit hops nose and a slightly sweet bready malt body. It's bitter, with a clean hop finish that's perfect on a hot sunny day. Lots of flavor, but not too heavy.

2. Surly Cynic - Surly Brewing (Minnesota)

Surly is a staunch advocate of canned beer, choosing to release their entire line of award-winning craft brews in cans.

The Cynic is a Saison/Farmhouse style ale and pours a rich vibrant gold. You can smell some Belgian-style yeast notes as well as some coriander and spice. The beer has a medium body, smooth, with the perfect level of carbonation. Being Surly, there are a bit more hops in this one then you'll find in others of the same style. Great for a hot day. If you can find a better Saison in a can, well, if can find another Saison in a can, you'll be lucky.

3. Brew Free or Die IPA - 21st Amendment Brewery (California)

Although founded in 2000, 21st Amendment has only recently found its way out the Midwest. We're happy it made it out here. With a six hop punch in the nose, and a nice balanced malt back, their IPA is another solid offering from the Left Coast. Bonus for us flyover-land hikers and boaters? It comes in a can and is generally cheaper than the aforementioned beers.

Honorable Mentions:

Fat Tire - New Belgium Brewing (Colorado)

New Belgium's flagship is also available in a can. Surprisingly, should you take the time to pour one out, it tastes better out of the can, then out of the bottle! This is no coincidence. As Bon Appetit puts it, "New Belgium adds a slurry of active live yeast to its Fat Tire cans just before sealing to take up oxygen and prevent stale off-flavors. The result is a fresher, more complex beer. Think of it as a mini keg."

Hamm's Lager - Hamm's (Wisconsin)

It might be owned my MillerCoors now, but those of us in the "Land of Sky Blue Waters" still know that a Hamm's tastes great out on the canoe. Lest you think I'm succumbing to nostalgia and clever marketing, Hamm's won the gold for best American Lager at the Great American Beer Festival in 2007.

Beer of the Week

Located in Amhearst, Wisconsin, Central Waters Brewing has gone through many changes since its inception in 1998, including owners, brew kettles, and location, but the Oisconsing Red Ale has been there since the beginning.

Named for the Algonquin word for the Wisconsin River, this beer pours a ruby and amber color with a small white head. Subtle lacing appears, and the head refreshes itself after each sip.

The beer has a subtle nose, but it's there if you "look." There are notes of roasted malts, subtle caramel, and just a hint of flowery hops.

Oisconsing has a medium body, smooth and caramelly in the front, with biscuit and graham in the middle, with just a nick of hops on the back. It's a solid amber somewhere between a Fat Tire and an Oktoberfest style.

Owing to the medium body, relatively mild alcohol, and subtle hops, it's highly "sessionable." Although I have a bevy of delicious beers in my refrigerator at the moment, I find myself reaching for this one more than I expected. This is another quality outing from another one of Wisconsin's hidden gem microbreweries. Go Badgers!

Links of Interest:

Central Waters

Don't Worry, Be Grumpy

Some of you out there in beerland are so into your hobby that you plan side-trips to brewpubs and breweries on your travels (or entire trips if you're die hard). In that spirit allow me to point out a charming destination in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.

Mt. Horeb, affectionately known as the "Troll Capital of the World," a nod to the town's Norweigian heritage and Main Street which is lined with troll sculptures and nicknamed the "Trollway," is a classic Midwestern small town with a population of 5800. It lies about a 30 minute drive from the state capital, but is much further than that in terms of lifestyle.

The town's Main Street retains many original buildings, antique shops, a bakery, and most notably, the Mustard Museum.



Most beer lovers out there also carry an affinity for fine mustard, and as such, this is a required stop. The Mustard Museum features mustards displayed from around the world, and offers an equal sized gift shop where one can taste hundreds of mustards and of course purchase.

Right around the corner from the Mustard Museum is our featured attraction: The Grumpy Troll.

The Grumpy Troll was opened in 1996 in the former Mt. Horeb Creamery. The pub has 8 beers on tap including a wheat, an IPA, a Red Ale, and a Stout. The CCCP Stout and the Maggie IPA are the standouts in my opinion, but should you have trouble deciding, they sell a sampler featuring all 8 beers (plus a special brew if you're lukcy) in 4oz sample sizes.

The restaurant features a giant menu with plenty of dishes for the carnivore and vegitarian alike. The bratwurst is delicious and comes slathered in sauerkraut, accompanied, of course, by side of delicious mustard.

The Troll is a nice addition to the town's charming Main Street, and adds a destination for beer lovers and hungry townies and tourists. While the brewpub only has a few standouts, that's more than I can say for many brewpubs, and on the whole, it's well above average and worth visiting.

Beer of the Week

Wisconsin is home to many fine ambers: Sprecher Amber & Lakefront Riverwest Stein to name two.

Capital Brewery in Middleton brews a sturdy repertoire of beers in the German style including various bocks, Oktoberfest, and our BOTW, Wisconsin Amber.

Wisconsin Amber is a rich malty beer with just a hint of hop bittering and aroma. It pours a color true to its name, with a minimal white head that leaves some lacing on the glass.

The beer is carmelly and sweet, with just enough hops to even it out. It's loosely based on a Vienna lager, and is definitely hopped like one.

The mouthfeel is quite nice, with a medium body, soft carbonation, and a clean crisp finish. One could definitely have a few of these in one sitting.

From the perspective of a lager, there are few in the US that can match Capital and Wisconsin Amber is no exception. When judged against beers of similar style, WA stands out, and drinks easily.

Remember this one come fall; it's perfect paired with a crisp breeze.
Links of Interest:

Wisconsin Amber & German Beer Fish

PS: This BOTW is dedicated to my own Wisconsin Amber, who is moving away from her home in Madison to join me here in Minneapolis. I couldn't be happier.

Beer of the Week

I know that I am somewhat heavy on the Wisconsin beers on this blog, but what can I say: it's the land of my birth, and it happens to make some damn good beers.

I am relocating soon, from Madison to Minneapolis, so the beer will probably take on a more national beer scene scope, but fear not, many quality Midwest beers will still be featured.

With all that said, our beer of the week once again comes from Wisconsin, this time from Rush River Brewing in River Falls, near the Twin Cities on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. Rush River was founded by two native Midwesterners, Dan Chang from Milwaukee, and Nick Anderson from Minneapolis.

I first encountered Rush River while living in Minneapolis a few years back. I saw an Amber Ale I had never seen before on tap at a local watering hole. I asked the bartender about it, and he said he wasn't sure, but thought that it was from Minnesota. I took a gamble and was pleasantly surprised by the balanced character of this delicious American Amber.

Fast forward a few years, and I get an email from a loyal BOTB reader:

"Have you ever heard of Rush River? Their Bubblejack IPA is awesome! Pick up a sixer when you get a chance!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa. IPA? Sixer? These were things I had never seen from Rush River. It became a mission to investigate. I was passing through Hudson, Wisconsin (also near the MN-WI border), and stopped at a liquor store to check the local wares. Sure enough, Rush River's "Bubblejack IPA" greeted me on the shelves.

Bubblejack, although it sounds more like a "Cannabis Cup" winning strain than a beer, is truly representative of the India Pale Ale style. It pours an unfiltered cloudy orange color with a minimal white head. The smell is fainter than some IPAs you'll come across, but the hoppy aromas of grapefruit and floral citrus are definitely there.

The taste is very well balanced, with the hops standing loud and proud, but not slapping you in the face. We all know that an IPA should be well hopped, which Bubblejack is, but it isn't like some beers that hit you over the head with a hop-mallet. There are some notes of graham and bread in there, and a subtle malt body too. At 6% ABV, this IPA is definitely right in the alcohol range of the style.

Judged against other IPAs, it's not as fragrant as it could be, and perhaps just slightly (ever so slightly) over-carbonated, but the balance is perfect, and the body and overall complexity of the flavor are awesome.

Cheers to Rush River; hopefully we'll be seeing more of your quality brews around in the near future.

Links of Interest:

Rush River

Beer of the Week

It's been a big beginning of 2008 for me: I got engaged, I was offered a large law school scholarship, the Packers are in the NFC Championship. So it's only fitting that this beer of the week is equally big.

Sprecher Brewing, originally from Milwaukee but now in a suburb, is perhaps best known for a soda of all things. Their root beer is known far and wide, and rightfully so; it's delicious.

But this old-world style brewery offers much more than just pop. They have a delicious dark lager called "Black Bavarian," a decent Oktoberfest, and an excellent amber lager, simply known as "Sprecher Amber." But none of these beers are "big" enough to be this week's BOTW. We need something big, something strong, something that reeks of old brewing lore. I turned to a rare offering from the brewery: Czar's Brew, Russian Imperial Bourbon Stout.

I love a good imperial stout. This beefed up version of a English stout featured high alcohol and hops content to preserve the brew for its long sea voyage through the Baltic. Coming in at 11%ABV, Czar's Brew certainly lives up to the "unapologetically strong" aspect of the imperial Stout.

The beer is black, but not as thick as I was expecting, much thinner for example than Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Imperial Stout or Fuller's Breakfast Stout, which both pour like motor oil. In fact, if I had one complaint about the beer, it's that it's too thin.

The head is small but persistent, and leaves some lace on the glass. It's not as dark as the heads on the aforementioned stouts either.

The nose is amazing: bourbon, wood, chocolate, berries, it's all there. Some bourbon barrel beers smack you in the face with whisky aroma, but this one blends it nicely. Some styles are better suited for bourbon aging, and stouts are definitely one of them.

The mouthfeel is thin as well, and slightly dry. At 11% the alcohol dries the taste a little, but it isn't overpowering. A semi-sweet chocolate taste and bourbon mix and mingle.

This definitely a bold beer, and I would buy it again, but if I could offer some suggestion to the brewer, it needs to be a little bit thicker and it's way overpriced. It's going to be hard to find this one out there; there were only 1000 liters produced. It's expensive, but compare the experience you'll have drinking it to that of a fine wine, and you'll be more accepting of the price.

Beer of the Week, Christmas Edition

So the beers I've recommended this winter have been without added spices: more unadorned seasonals really. Well, should you want a festive spiced brew over the holidays, I have found just the one for you.

Coming directly out of Brew City, USA, Lakefront Brewery produces a Holiday Spice Lager brewed with orange zest, cinnamon, and clove. It pours a hazy deep amber with a an off-white head that quickly dissipates. The beer smells like clove, but also raisins and caramel. The honey really comes through on the palette with a maerzen like sweetness surrounded by festive spice.

I generally shy away from overly spiced beers; I dislike Lakefront's Pumpkin, for example, but for some reason this extremely spiced beer seems to work, especially around the holidays. It's definitely going to be polarizing; either you will like it, or you will hate it, but I encourage you to give it a go. Lakefront is an all around excellent brewery, and they win some points for creativity on this beer. If you are ever in Milwaukee, take the tour. It's a cool old warehouse near downtown, and you get a lot of beer and a sweet pint glass.

Merry Christmas to you, from me, and Lakefront Brewery's Holiday Spice Lager.

Links of Interest:

Lakefront Brewery

Less Filling! Tastes Great?

It only took 30 years to come up with the idea, but Miller recently announced that it would be introducing different varieties of its Lite brand. Tapping into the growing craft beer movement, Miller will test market 3 new beer styles that are lower in calories and carbs than other beers in that style.

Those of us in the Wisconsin market will not be privy to the new Lite wheat, blonde ale, and amber, because clearly, if the state of cheese and brats wants an amber ale, we're going to have an amber ale, calories and carbs be damned. The lone Midwest market to get these new taste sensations is Minneapolis, and they will also be sold in Baltimore, San Diego, and calorie-conscious Charlotte.

I can't slam Miller for this because I haven't had the beers, so I'm giving them the benefit of the extreme doubt. My only thought is: most people who drink Miller Lite don't do so exclusively because of the calorie content, but also because of the style of the beer (pilsner more or less). I think the share of wheat beer drinkers that have desperately been searching for a low-cal option is small, and though I'm sure the desire exists (hell it would be great if every beer was low calories...no more beer guts!), I don't think those drinkers are going to switch to Miller's options to save 50 calories if the full taste isn't there as well.

I think that if Miller wants to crack into the craft beer market, it should start making some craft beers. Letting the brewmasters at Leine's run wild with bold selections like the "Big Eddy" series is a good start, but in my amateur opinion they should take the route of Coors and establish totally new craft brands. Blue Moon, anyone? Who knows, maybe now with the infusion of Coors personnel, they will.

Links of Interest:

Full story in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentintel

Beer of the Weekend

I was sick on Friday, so there was no Beer of the Week to be had, but in lieu of that, I have a special BOTWE.

I'm hardly one to recommend a beer from a large macro like SABMiller (now MillerCoors), but Miller's 140 year old, Chippewa Falls, WI based subsidiary Leinenkugel's can squeeze by my normal regulations.

Although Leine's was acquired by Miller in 1988, which was then subsequently added to the SABMiller empire later, Leinenkugel's is the seventh oldest brewery in the country, and is still brewed in Chippewa Falls (and Milwaukee), and still run more or less by the family. Were it not for the infusion of Miller marketing dollars, and the brewery's willingness to innovate, it might have been one of those sad stories of regional breweries I write about in the Pabst Americana Series. As it stands, Leine's is available in 38 states.

I'm not a huge Leine's advocate; in fact, out of their 7 year round brews, I dislike 5 of them, and of their seasonals, "Big Butt," a doppelbock, is the only one to stand out.

The second in the "Big Eddy" series, however, is a standout. So named for the stream that fed the original brew house, Leine's foray into specialty release territory started with the Big Eddy IPA. The second, released within the last month in select markets (Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit), is the Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout.

I talked a little about Imperial Stouts back here, so refresh your memory if need be. This Big Eddy pours like motor oil, with a thick tan head that emerges after you pour, with some remains lingering throughout. True to form, Leine's Russian has a high alcohol content, and three different varieties of hops, both used to preserve this style of beer for its long sea voyage over the Baltic. The alcohol certainly comes through in the nose and on the tongue, giving this brew a big mouthfeel and a dry finish. It smells faintly of bourbon. Although alcoholic, the flavor is dominated by sweet malts, with hints of maple and black cherry. The coffee flavor common in stouts is there, but it's not overpowering.

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy series is a step in the right direction, and the Russian Imperial Stout is a worthy beer. It's not really brewed to be paired with food, so enjoy it on its own, perhaps paired with a cold winter afternoon.

Links of Interest:

Leinenkugel's

Beer of the Week

Located in a Swiss immigrant enclave of south-central Wisconsin, New Glarus Brewing is owned by Deb and Dan carey. New Glarus produces a wide variety of brews, mostly in the Germanic style, and are probably best known for their "Spotted Cow" beer, a sweet yellow farmhouse ale with yeast in the bottle, loved by hippies and frat boys alike. But we're not here to talk about Spotted Cow, we're here to talk about the BOTW, New Glarus' latest offering "Organic Revolution."

We talked earlier this week about organic beers, and this was one of the beers I mentioned. It's not the best beer in world, but it certainly isn't bad. I like that New Glarus is responding to the progressive Wisconsin market and is offering this organic amber ale. It's a light copper color and has minimal head and carbonation. The brew uses organic Hallertau hops from Germany, and I've heard some people say it's grassy and hoppy, but to me this isn't an overly hopped beer; the organic Wisconsin malts are certainly not overshadowed. There's kind of muddled sweetness going on versus a crisp hoppiness.

This isn't New Glarus' best beer, but it's a noble effort. Support the organic revolution and pick up a six-pack of this BOTW next time you're at the store.

Links of Interest:

New Glarus Brewing

Green Beer

No, we're not talking the dyed Miller Lite that the Holister crowd downs at the "urban" sports bar on St. Patrick's Day, we're talking environmentally friendly and tasty beer.

You would have to be living in a cave not to have noticed the explosion of the Organic foods movement over the last 10 years. Perhaps partially a reaction to the deluge of chemicals, pesticides, and general industrialization of agriculture, and perhaps part of the overall movement towards environmental sustainability, Organic products are an expanding market growing 16 percent between 2004 and 2005 and expected to grow an additional 11 percent each year through 2010.

Organic farming is nothing new. It has it's genesis in the 1930's, and has enjoyed a new life since the 1970's. As the new organic movement grew there was pressure for the USDA to step in and set a standard in what had been a patchwork of local and state organic certification. The USDA took its first steps in 1990, announcing the option of certification, and then further solidified the rules in 2000.

Although the USDA had been under considerable pressure from agribusiness, for once the government sided with the small guy. Among the practices that large agribusiness wanted to allow for organic food were: irradiation to kill bacteria, genetic modification, the use of sewer sludge as fertilizer. All three were banned by the USDA under the 2000 rules, thanks in a large part to public outcry and the objections of small organic farmers. The USDA went as far as to adopt all of the recommendations of the National Organics Standards Board, including a total ban on antibiotics in animals raised for organic meats.

With the standardization of the rules, and an obvious market demand, organic beers, wines, and spirits were a logical next step. Since all are produced using simple recipes of produce and water, there is nothing to stop producers from introducing organic beverages.

Like traditional foods, the percentage of organic beers to conventional beers is small, but it is growing. Organic beer sales have increased from $9 million in 2003 to $19 million in 2005. While total beer sales fell slightly in 2005, organics increased by 40 percent. The trend was so stark that it caught the attention of the evil empire, Anhueser-Busch, who now produces two different organic beers: Wild Hop lager and Stone Mill pale ale.

While some may look at A-B's entry into the market as a blessing, it could also be a curse. Under current regulations, beverages labeled organic have to contain at least 95% organic ingredients. A-B's organic beers use non-organic hops (they are a small fraction of the total ingredients of the beer despite a large impact on flavor), and A-B is currently lobbying the USDA to add hops to a list of "exemptions" of non-organic things that can be used in organic foods.

A-B's excuse is that the hops are not commercially available. Apparently they didn't talk to Russ Klisch of Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery. Lakefront produces an organic ESB that uses 100% organic hops, and Mr. Klisch has taken availability into his own hands, growing two fields of organic hops to be used in the beer. A-B fails to mention in their petition for the exemption that the majority of their hops for their organic beers come from fields that they own, grown in Idaho. If A-B was actually concerned about the supply of organic hops, they could simply go organic themselves.

I'm assuming that since you are reading this, you are a discerning beer consumer, so I won't recommend that you try the Bud products. Some common, yet craft brewed options come from Butte Creek, of California, and Wolaver's of Vermont. Wolaver's is brewed by Otter Creek Brewing and has a full slate of beers including a witbier, an IPA, and a brown ale. Both Wolaver's and Butte Creek can be found in about 25 states (note: even Wolaver's uses some non-organic hops to supplement its supply; its beers are made 98% organic).

There is, of course, more to being green than simply buying organic. Samuel Smith of the UK produces several organic beers, but to reach you, they have to be shipped across the Atlantic, which means more packaging and more fossil fuels burned in transport. Drinking locally is also a key part of drinking green. Fortunately there are options for those of us in the Midwest as well.

Mentioned earlier was Lakefront Brewing's Organic ESB, from Milwaukee. To me, Lakefront's ESB lacks the balance of a proper ESB. It's too hoppped without enough malt balance. It's not a bad beer, but it's certainly not great. I'm a fan in general of Lakefront beers, but although organic, ESB is one of the weaker offerings. Perhaps now with time and its homegrown hops, Lakefront can improve this one a little.

New Glarus Brewing of Wisconsin has recently released an organic of their own, called New Glarus Organic Revolution. Is Revolution an amber lager or an amber ale? It's colored and amber, and smells like a German lager, but tastes like an ale. It's medium to light bodied, with spicy, grassy hops, and a sweet malt back. I prefer it to Lakefront's organic, but I've had better from New Glarus.

Hopefully as more growers begin to offer organic options for brewers, the variety and quality of organic beers will improve. This is in part driven by market demand, so go into trying organic brews with open eyes and a green thumb. We've come a long way in the organics market, but have much further to go. I give a green thumbs up to those brewers who are leading the pack and repsonding to green beer drinkers.

Cheers to the Pioneers!

Links of Interest:

Organics on Amber's blog
Lakefront Brewing
New Glarus Brewing
Wolaver's

Jack Frosted Mugs

The mercury is finally starting to drop here in the upper midwest; we saw snowflakes yesterday! So, in anticipation of that first onslaught from Old Man Winter (which us seasoned Midwesterners know can come at any time now), it's time to suggest some good brews for winter.

To me, a good winter beer is full-bodied and malty. It doesn't have the intense hops of an IPA or APA, nor is it light and crisp like a Pilsner or an American lager. A good winter brew is hearty, malty, and satisfying. It doesn't have to be drank at a cold temperature, and it pairs well with the savory meals and treats of the holiday season. With that in mind, to the beer!

Capital Winter Skål - Middleton, Wisconsin

Capital Brewery, located in the Madison suburb of Middleton, is an all-around excellent brewery. Focusing on the German styles brought over to Wisconsin from the old-world, Capital produces solid annuals like their Wisconsin Amber and Island Wheat, and a bevy of seasonals including a great domestic Oktoberfest, and their Winter Skål. The Skål is a rich amber color with an off-white head. It has a very malty aroma with very little hops present. The taste is earthy with a balance of subtle spice. Skål is a nice medium bodied brew that clings to the palatte, but doesn't have the "chew your beer" feel, or the rediculous spices you'll find in some other winter beers.

Summit Winter Ale - Saint Paul, Minnesota

I'm hardly one to recommend something from Summit; their flagship Extra Pale Ale, the IPA, and the Grand Pilsner are all easily surpassed by many domestic breweries, but I have to hand it to them: Summit Winter Ale is good. It pours a very dark, coffee brown, which is accompanied by a subtle coffee taste. The roasted malts are very noticeable in a "winter warmer" style, but are subtley balanced by Williamette, Fuggle and Tettenanger hops. The beer comes in a 6.2% ABV, but beneath the malt start and hop finish, you don't notice an alcohol flavor. This is far and away Summit's best beer.

McEwan's Scotch Ale - United Kingdom (Scotland)

Clocking in at 8% ABV, McEwan's Scotch Ale is an example of a strong scotch ale, or a "wee heavy." It isn't a winter beer in the sense that it is a winter seasonal (it's brewed year round), it's just a good brew to have in winter. McEwan's is a deep copper and is a carmelly, malty sweet delight. Are there hints of cola in there? There are definitely hints of alcohol in there. Like most Scotch beers, this one doesn't have the hops as bittering agents; it's smooth and solid. It may not be a winter seasonal, but it will sure warm you up.

Links of Interest:
Capital Brewery
Summit Brewing

Beer of the Week

Even though the last two beers of the week were from south-central Wisconsin, we promise that not all of them will be; however, it is Amber's birthday today, so in addition to this BOTW being a delicious brew, it is a nod to Amber. Happy Birthday! With that, we’re thirsty to name Ale Asylum’s Ambergeddon as our recommendation for weekend libation (of course, in moderation).

Our BOTW comes from right in our own back yard, Madison, Wisconsin. Ale Asylum brews a wide variety of beers including a stout, an American pale ale, a blonde ale, and a Belgian dubbel.

Ambergeddon is hard to classify. The brew is a cloudy unfiltered rich red-auburn and has a thick but short head. It has some of the maltiness of a traditional amber ale, but it has hops in an almost IPA level. The mingling of the hops and the malt is one of the qualities that make this beer stand out. Is it a hoppy beer, or a malty beer? It's hard to tell where one stops and the other begins.

The perfect balancing of malt and hops makes this a beer you can have again and again. It satisfies a wide array of tastes and has a cool name to boot. Congrats to the Ale Asylum on Ambergeddon for being our second Beer of the Week.

Links of Interest:
Ale Asylum

Beer of the Week

As a regular feature here on Beer on the Brain, we’d like to offer you a suds suggestion heading into your weekend. Due to a lack of creative power, we’ve decided to call this segment our Beer of the Week.

Amber & I don’t agree on every beer (Lakefront Brewery’s Pumpkin Lager for example), but our inaugural BOTW is one we can: Lake Louie’s Brother Tim’s Tripel.

Hailing from Arena, Wisconsin (about 30 miles northwest of Madison), Lake Louie produces a wide variety of beers: several ales, a witbier, and a couple of porters and stouts. There is definitely no shortage of delicious tripels out there, and a few perhaps better than Lake Louie’s, but that critique is not to detract from this excellent beer.



It pours a cloudy orange color, a little darker than many tripels out there and has an excellent fruity aroma, ringing with citrus. There is a minimal head to it, and I would put the carbonation at moderate. The beer feels good to drink; it has a thick mouthfeel, and is simultaneously smooth with a hint of tartness. The alcohol is not pronounced and the beer has a sweet and spicy finish.

If you like Unibroue's La Fin du Monde, then you should give Brother Tim's Tripel a try.




Links of Interest:
Lake Louie
Unibroue

Wisconsin on Tap

As mentioned here, Amber and I recently went to a beerfest called Wisconsin on Tap in Wisconsin Dells. It was part of their “Harvest Fest,” and honestly, it would not have been worth it to venture up there if there weren’t 27 microbrewers to accompany the pumpkin painting, goat petting, and craft buying.

Overall, the beerfest was great. I thought the idea of a Wisconsin only fest was a good one, and there were breweries from all over the state, from Milwaukee to Superior. The lines were never long, the vendors were friendly, and in case of rain, the stands were all covered under a massive tent. There were also a mustard tasting as well as a cheese tasting, which were nice touches of Wisconsin culinary tradition, and a nice break from the suds as well (pacing oneself is key, people; chug in moderation).

As part of the beerfest, they passed out rating cards, so all participants could rate the brews available. It was a cool idea, but the cards did not include any of the special tappings, not to mention that the beers listed were often not the ones available, or the listed beers were assigned to the wrong brewery. Fortunately we were prepared with our own notebook to rate and remember the beers and breweries.

Before we give out the full list of our ratings, I wanted to talk stout before to prep our fine readers for our winner, our favorite beer of the fest: Delafield Brewhaus’ Czar’s Choice Bourbon Stout.

Russian or Imperial Stouts were first brewed in England, and featured a high alcohol and hops content to help preserve the beer for its long sea voyage to the Baltic. The style nearly died out after the Bolshevik revolution, when exporting to Russia halted and production was switched to the domestic market. The beer no longer matured in barrels along the voyage, instead being immediately thrust onto the market. Apparently this did little to advance the beer as a style, and it faded away until being picked up by Samuel Smith’s.

Delafield’s Czar is indeed a “beefed up” version of an English sweet stout, and is aged for 12 months in a barrel as well, in this case, a bourbon barrel. Now I don’t think that the original imperial stout had the lactose in it that Delafield’s does, but the brew had a heavy coating body, and was sweeter than most stouts, almost mimicking the sweetness one would find in a wheated bourbon like Maker’s Mark. The combination of the bourbon taste with the milk stout sweetness is what really set this brew apart for us. It was smooth and heavy, with a complexity added by the bourbon that would be impossible to replicate. This is not a beer one has with dinner; this is a beer one has as desert. Our congratulations go out to Delafield Brewhaus. They’re located about halfway between Madison and Milwaukee, right off of Interstate 94. If you’re in the neighborhood, pay them a visit. They may not have the Czar’s Choice, but there are plenty of other beers to quaff as well.

Now without further ado, here is a complete list of our rankings, with 5 being the most delicious, and 1 being stagnant pond water. Anything 3 and above is definitely worth trying. Cheers!

Links of Interest:
Delafield Brewhaus
Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout
Ale Asylum
Moose Jaw Brewing
The Grumpy Troll

Delafield Brewhaus (Delafield) - Czar's Choice Bourbon Stout - 5

Ale Asylum (Madison) - Happy Ending Belgian - 4.5
Moose Jaw (Wisconsin Dells) - Dunkel Weizen - 4.5
Grumpy Troll (Mt. Horeb) - Spetsnaz "CCCP" Stout - 4.5

Ale Asylum (Madison) - English Porter - 4
Cross Plains Brewery (Cross Plains) - Esser's Best - 4

Great Dane (Madison) - Drop Anchor Steem - 3.5
Delafield Brewhaus (Delafield) - Oktoberfest - 3.5
Milwaukee Brewing (Milwaukee) - Pull Chain Pale Ale - 3.5
Cross Plains Brewery (Cross Plains) - Cross Plains Special - 3.5
JT Whitney's (Madison) - Heartland Weiss - 3.5
Furthermore Beer (Black River Falls) - Knot Stock Pale Ale - 3.5

Lakefront Brewery (Milwaukee) - Bourbon Cherry - 3
Great Dane (Madison) - Oktoberfest - 3
Great Dane (Madison) - American Pale Ale - 3
Sand Creek (Black River Falls) - Cranberry Ale - 3
Sand Creek (Black River Falls) - Stout - 3
BluCreek Brewing (Madison) - Wild Blueberry Ale - 3
Milwaukee Brewing (Milwaukee) - Louie's Demise Ale - 3
Grumpy Troll (Mt. Horeb) - Oktoberfest - 3
Furthermore Beer (Black River Falls) - Proper English Ale - 3

Pangaea Brewing (Wisconsin Rapids) - Lilja's Wisconsin Heifer Weizen - 2.5
Thirsty Pagan (Superior) - Gicchi Gummi Golden - 2.5
JT Whitney's (Madison) - Badger Red Ale 2.5
Great Dane (Madison) - Pilsner - 2.5
Tyranena (Lake Mills) - Bourbon Barrel Ale - 2.5

Pangaea Brewing (Wisconsin Rapids) - Lilja's Pulling Boat Pale Ale - 2
Furthermore Beer (Black River Falls) - Fallen Apple - 2
Furthermore Beer (Black River Falls) - Three Feet Deep Stout - 2
Stone Cellar (Appleton) - Ankle Biter Amber - 2
Delafield Brewhaus (Delafield) - American Ale - 2

Minhas Craft Brewery (Monroe) - Mountain Creek - 1.5

Minhas Craft Brewery (Monroe) - Lazy Mutt Farmhouse Ale - 1
Stone Cellar (Appleton) - Vanilla Stout - 1

Oktoberfest!

If the word “Oktoberfest” was used in a word-association test, the most common response would surely be “beer.” Many cities around the world hold an Oktoberfest celebration, including: Cincinnati, Ohio; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; Blumenau, Brazil; and Hong Kong, but the fest from which all these others draw their name is held annually in München, Bayern (Munich, Bavaria).

Since its inception as a celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildberghausen in 1811, beer has been a central pillar in what has become a Bavarian tradition. Although beer stands long allowed fairgoers to fresco their tonsils with the Bavarian brush, the beer tents that we know and love were not added until 1896 by landlords who were backed by the local breweries.

Today Germany’s Oktoberfest draws 6 million people from all around the world to revel in Bavarian culture. The question for those of us not fortunate enough to travel to Deutschland is: what Oktoberfest beers would be good to enjoy at my local fest, or in my own home. After some exhaustive “research” we have some recommendations for you.

Aus Deutschland

Spaten Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany)

According to Spaten’s website their Oktoberfestbier is brewed each spring for “das größte Volksfest der Welt” (the largest folk festival in the world), and is 5.9% alcohol. Spaten Oktoberfest is a medium bodied amber beer, just slightly sweet with a rich malt body and just enough hops for one to notice the bitterness. In contrast with many American Oktoberfest beers, it is not spicy, nor is it too sweet or rich in body to prevent you from quaffing multiple mugs of this delicious lager (Amber & Ryan encourage you to chug responsibly).

From the US

Samuel Adams Octoberfest (Boston, MA)

Sam’s Octoberfest is an excellent American variety. It has a rich copper color, and a deep malt taste that according to their website is balanced by “German noble hops.” The beer is not as sweet as Spaten’s and the hops come through a little bit more. It has a medium body and you can definitely have more than two of these in a sitting (again, please chug in moderation).

Sprecher Oktoberfest (Glendale, WI)

Established in Brew City itself, Sprecher has since moved its operations to Milwaukee’s suburb of Glendale. Sprecher has a large roster of year-round beers and sodas (try the root beer), as well as a large selection of seasonal brews of which the Oktoberfest is one. The Oktoberfest is 5.75% alcohol, and boasts a blend of Caramel, Munich, and Pale hops. The beer is exceptionally smooth, even more so than the Spaten or the Sam Adams. The body is also slightly richer than both of the aforementioned beers, but it lacks the hops bite. Compared to other Oktoberfests of the area, Sprecher wins out, so if you’re in Milwaukee make sure you have your barkeep pull the tapper on this one a few times (Amber & Ryan suggest you take a cab, drunkie).

Stay tuned for pictures from Amber & Ryan's very own Oktoberfest!

Links of interest:

http://www.muenchen.de/Tourismus/Oktoberfest/7548/index.html
http://www.spatenbraeu.de
http://www.samueladams.com/
http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/beer.php?cat=2