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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

The weather was perfect. A few inches of snow had fallen the previous night and there was the threat of a blizzard hanging over us. This was optimal beer drinking weather and the biergarten at Capital Brewery was packed on Saturday for the 10th Annual Bockfest. I arrived with my girlfriend and her youngest son a bit after 11 to find the place rather sparsely populated. Food stands were still readying themselves but the beer was flowing and the porta-potty seats were suitably chilled. Island Wheat, Maibock, and Amber would be on tap all day but the first kegs of this year's Blonde Doppelbock, a limited spring release, were to be tapped at about 12:30 after it had been blessed by brewmaster Kirby Nelson.

Looking at the drawing of the New Glarus Company's expansion, I had a flashback to my childhood as I spent much of it in a German drinking hall or Trinkhalle. Well, a replica of one, anyway. You see, the house I grew up in was built in the 1920s by a German immigrant who did well for himself. He built a nice home on Chicago's north side and made the basement into a 19th century drinking hall. Modeled after an old European village, the New Glarus expansion will no doubt make for a wonderful spot for me to emulate my German ancestors.

“Tied House”? What the hell does that mean?

At a time when spirits and bottled beer were expensive, the typical saloonkeeper earned most of his profit from lager on tap, and served the product of only one brewery. This “tied” system, as it was called, began emerging in the 1870s, as brewers, needing to pay for their remodeling projects, for the new and larger brewvats, for steam engines, malt hoppers, and icehouses, sought the security of guaranteed retail outlets for their beer.

- Maureen Ogle, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer

Oh. Okay then. If you’re a fan of the beer brewed by Gray’s Brewing Company, you’ll be in good shape. Me, I’ve always been lukewarm on ‘em. I find Gray’s beer to be merely okay at best. And I’ve been rather bitter since I tried to take a tour of the brewery a few years ago and found that their advertised hours were nothing but a pack of lies. But I try not to let these matters affect my judgment.

Keeping up with all the beer news in and around Dane County is a Sisyphean task. New beers are being introduced constantly and, with the change of seasons, comes a change in styles. But try I must.

Although Madison's Fauerbach Brewery closed in 1966, the label was resurrected last year and the beer is again being brewed, this time by Gray's in Janesville. They are introducing, or should I say reintroducing, their Fauerbach Export this month. It is a Dortmunder style pale lager. This style emphasizes the sweetness of the malt with a touch of the bitter hops underneath. The Fauerbach website says that bottles will be available starting on 1 December but I didn't see any on a recent trek to Steve's Liquor.