Dane101 - Beer Desk

Memo from the Beer Desk: Looking Back on the Great Taste

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:00:40 +0200

It has been a week since the Great Taste of the Midwest, and I have had time to reflect upon it. This was the seventh consecutive Great Taste for me, and it was probably the finest. The new, more spacious layout was comfortable, the weather was superb, and at the end of the day I was still somewhat mentally fit. Truly, a roaring success.

While the usual array of super-hopped pales, barrel-aged porters, and such were available, for me this was the year of sour brews. We’re in the Belgian era, and tart styles like lambics and saisons look to be coming into their own. I also enjoyed some tasty sour ales and interesting fruit beers. I’m a Lemonhead kind of guy, so these sour styles all made my day.

Memo from the Beer Desk: Choose wisely at the Great Taste

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:28:57 +0200

Like a stealthy werewolf dragging a cooler of booze -- holy crap, that’s a labored simile, eh? -- the Great Taste of the Midwest has crept up on me once again. I was shocked -- shocked! -- to realize that the end of this week will be marked by the glorious intake of a carnival of beer.

Gonna be a few changes this year, notably an altered layout with five smaller tents rather than three large ones, plus an education tent that will include sessions on pairing beer with cheese and chocolate. Still, expect the usual spectacle of beer madness. But, hell -- you can’t have a beer festival without some cautionary examples, right? With a tip o’ the hat to Goofus and Gallant, we present the adventures of those two delightful beer-swilling scamps, Dumbass and Debonair.

Memo from the Beer Desk: Good to the Last Drop

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:12:57 +0200

I’ve been known to enjoy the occasional cocktail or sarsaparilla, but by and large, I drink only three beverages -- water, coffee, and beer. The fine folk at Furthermore have simplified my life by combining the latter two in their new beer, Oscura.

I sampled the new brew at Furthermore’s Sh*##y Barn Party last Saturday. Picture, if you will, an old barn filled with oodles of beer -- offerings from Metropolitan Brewing from Chicago, Stonefly out of Milwaukee, and RePublic, the embryonic brewpub planned for Madison’s east side. And Furthermore, of course. Add in music, food, art, and tents set up outside like some sort of shantytown, and it was like some sort of damn hippie beer geek heaven.

Memo from the Beer Desk: If Willy Wonka had a Brewery...

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:12:38 +0200

The house that Spotted Cow built is expanding, and boy howdy, it’s a sight. There was something of a celebratory reception in the bucolic splendor of New Glarus this past Friday. Through a combination of guile, wit, deviousness, and (mostly) dumb luck, I managed to weasel my way in.

I’d heard, rather vaguely, about New Glarus’ expansion, but assumed that it was something rather straightforward -- knock down a wall or two, add a couple of fermenting tanks, maybe a few throw pillows, and you’re done. This, it turned out, was wrong. In fact, the expansion wasn’t even at the familiar brewery. I was directed down the road, past a red barn and up a gravel road. A few minutes later, there it was, and not just any old barn -- this was a massive, spiffy new building, with a sign proclaiming it as the New Glarus Brewery’s water purification facility. (Of course, if I actually bothered to read the local paper more than twice a year, I wouldn’t have been surprised by any of this.)

Memo from the Beer Desk: Bockfest and the Maddening Crowd

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:14:22 +0100

Madness, madness.

I’ve been going to Bockfest for years now. Back in my day, before these damned cellular telephones, facsimile machines, and lava lamps, one could actually sit in the biergarten and drink bock in a leisurely manner. As the years have gone by, the crowd has swelled larger and larger. Good for Capital, I suppose... but midway through an hour-long wait for beer, trapped in the middle of a sea of people, I began to curse the tides of progress.

After this soul-crushing winter, perhaps it was the first bright hint of decent weather that caused the event to resemble a tick about to pop. Gates opened at 11:00 and beer didn’t flow until noon. By that time, the crowds were solidly packed around the various dispensing locations. My friends and I staked out a promising location and waited.

Memo from the Beer Desk: The Germans get bitter

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 04:35:34 +0100

Holy crap... Kirby made a pale ale.

Capital Brewery’s U.S. Pale Ale hit store shelves last Monday, though it’s been on tap out at Capital’s bier garten for a few months. And I’m not complaining by any means – heavens, no. It’s just somewhat unexpected. Hell, even Capital as much as admits it. “Like you, we never expected to discover this beauty of a drink,” reads the blurb on the six-pack. “But here it is. Unexpected. Humble. Disarming.” Well, I’ll be damned.

See, here’s the thing: Capital is known for its German-style beers. Just check out this nugget from Capital’s website: “Wisconsin has a great heritage of being a lager beer-producing state. We wanted to carry on this tradition by producing beers with a strong German stylistic emphasis.” Those beers include brewmaster Kirby Nelson’s Bavarian Lager, Oktoberfest, Maibock, Blonde Dopplebock, and my oft remarked-upon personal favorite, Autumnal Fire.

Memo from the Beer Desk: Well-designed

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:07:57 +0200

Local breweries have garnered a few awards recently, but Furthermore Beer has snagged a somewhat different form of recognition: a mention in PRINT Magazine’s Regional Design Annual. On page 188 -- where Wisconsin is lumped in with the “Rest of the Midwest,” by the way -- the labels for Furthermore Proper, Knot Stock, and Three Feet Deep are on proud display.

And as an FYI, Furthermore’s Fallen Apple is currently on special at the Old Fashioned. Initially, I was mildly skeptical of this brew, as I haven’t been big on cider since getting some truly impressive hangovers on Woodchuck many, many years ago.

Memo from the Beer Desk: Drink the Fire

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:03:32 +0200

Just a quick note: As the temperature plummets, take comfort in the fact that Capital Brewery's glorious Autumnal Fire is once again available. Autumnal Fire is my absolute favorite Capital brew, and I welcome its arrival every year.

Capital describes the Fire as "a doppelbock based on an Octoberfest personality." Indeed, this is a smooth and tasty beer with a remarkable punch. It almost makes the impending doom of Wisconsin's winter worthwile. Almost.

Memo from the Beer Desk: The Great Taste, once more

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:05:25 +0200

Despite my earlier bout of crying like a little girl over my inability to purchase Great Taste tickets, I did eventually manage to snag some tickets. While I shan’t name my source, I will describe this person as the very pinnacle of generosity. Thus, I was able to continue the tradition of spending the second Saturday in August as a drunken ruin.

This year, it was hot. Damn hot. So hot, in fact, that my group arrived to the Taste a bit late -- a first. Somehow, it seemed wiser to spend a minimal amount of time standing in an endless line as the sun beat down. And I stand by that decision. Indeed, the beer was strong enough to make up for a wee delay in tasting.

Brewblogging the Great Taste of the Midwest 2007

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:00:08 +0200

Dane101, sadly, didn't have tickets for the Great Taste of the Midwest on Saturday. However, plenty of people were at the Great Taste of the Midwest and many of them have blogs. We have scoured the internet for these beer bloggers to collect their tales of libation at one of the most popular yearly events in all of the midwest. The Great Taste of the Midwest is run by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild and is the second longest running craft beer festival in North America. There are 500 beers to choose from at the event and attendees pay a meager $30 for tickets (which typically sell out in just a couple of hours on the day they go public). Words from attendees below:

Prost! No Tears in my Beer

Thu, 10 May 2007 20:27:39 +0200

Some of you no doubt read Doug's lamentation on this very webpage about not being able to get tickets for the Great Taste of the Midwest last weekend. My own attempt at getting into line early was hampered by having spent time at JT's Top of the Swamp the night before. Ergo I find myself in the same boat as him. But fret not! This Saturday is the Second Annual Microbrew Fest in Oregon. It takes place from 1-6PM at Liberty Park (next to Mulligan's Bar & Grill). Tickets are $25 and include a souvenir glass for "unlimited sampling". For a mere $5, your designated driver can get into the festival and drink all the soda he or she desires and eat free food.

As the spring gives way to summer, there will be a few other festivals of note around the state where you have a bout with John Barleycorn. To wit:

Memo from the Beer Desk: Skunked on the Great Taste

Wed, 09 May 2007 03:20:42 +0200

Great Taste of the Midwest tickets went on sale this past Sunday at noon, and as has been the norm over the past few years, they sold out lickety-split. I had put off posting this information for purely selfish reasons. After all, why run the risk of alerting the ignorant masses and losing out on tickets? Alas, it was all in vain. For the first time in many years, I was unable to score tickets.

I’ve had luck getting my tickets at the Wine & Hop Shop on Monroe in recent years, so I figured that I’d get ‘em again. Arriving two hours early had worked in last year’s ticket hunt, so I figured that a 9:00 am arrival would be a safe bet. Well, no. Almost, but not quite. The cut-off occurred with just two or three people standing in front of me. While the line around me was filled with groans, curses, and the rending of clothes, I like to think that I responded with a certain amount of dignity and grace.

Memo from the Beer Desk: New Beer Alert!

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 02:40:45 +0200

There's a new beer to be drunk (drank? drinked? slammed? chugged?) in town -- "Fatty Boombalatty" from Furthermore. I happened upon it this afternoon at the Old Fashioned in bottle form, and it's certainly worth a sample.

"Unrepentant, unpretentious and unfiltered, our Belgian-style ale features a touch of wheat and plenty of hops. Dangerously drinkable!" So says the label, and indeed, the beer itself is a smidge challenging, with a nice balance of flavor.

It's rather fruity, and while Belgian ales often have a subdued hop character, this beer has a considerable hop zing. Like all of Furthermore's beers, it's a unique offering. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

Memo from the Beer Desk: Checking in on Ale Asylum

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 02:00:03 +0200

It’s been almost a year since Ale Asylum opened on Madison’s east side to general acclaim. While Ale Asylum beers can be found on tap and in bottles throughout the area, I can never tell when my tastes are going to coincide with that of the larger populace. Thus it’s been something of a pleasure to see that the brewery’s bar is usually full when I drop in, and I’ve overheard folks at pubs such as Genna’s order a Hopalicious and then speak in hushed tones of its superior quality. I’d like to think that my stellar review from last year is responsible, but I doubt that brewmaster Dean Coffey’s beers need my help.

Prost! The brew news for March 2007

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:26:45 +0100

Last month marked the release of Dan Carey's first Unplugged beer of 2007 – New Glarus Belgian Quadruple. This is Dan's take on the Trappist ale. Since he does not reside in a Belgian Trappist monastery, it cannot technically be labeled as a Trappist ale but those inclined towards Chimay or Westmalle should be quite satisfied when reaching for a NG Belgian Quadruple. The quadruple means that there is four times the malt here than in a normal Trappist ale. I should also note that this beer is matured in bourbon barrels which moves it away from a traditional Trappist (or abbey) ale. This is a wonderful way to sip away the snowy and rainy nights we've been subjected to as of late.