December 2002/January 2003
GABF Report
Wisconsin's craft and regional brewers made a respectable showing with seven medals at the 21st Annual Great American Beer Festival in October. All but one of the medals went to brewers in the Madison/South area.
Two Wisconsin brewers--Angelic and New Glarus--won two medals each. Angelic got the state's gold medal, a gold for Sinner's Stout from among 26 Oatmeal Stout entries. Liberator Doppelbock won the silver in German-style Doppelbock from among 14 entries. New Glarus won its medals with its fruit beers, a silver for Belgian Red from among 37 Fruit and Vegetable beers and a bronze for Raspberry Tart in the Experimental category (32 entries).
Great Dane Oktoberfest was a bronze medallist from among 45 entries in German-style Maerzen/Oktoberfest. Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing Company in Wisconsin Dells got to a quick start for a new brewpub with silver for Dana's Dunkel in the European-style Dark/Munchner Dunkel category (13 entries). For the American variant, Leinenkugel's Cream Dark won the silver in American Dark Lager (10 entries).
Fox Valley and Northeastern Wisconsin: We're on a Beer Run!
The Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild made an October tour of Fox Valley and Northeastern Wisconsin breweries. To endure the time on the bus between breweries, the Guild kept from getting thirsty by enjoying Angelic bitter, Great Dane Scotch ale, and a variety of homebrews including a tasty wild rice beer from the This Beer Doesn't Suck Brewery while listening to a selection of Canadian drinking songs and watching videotapes of beer-themed movies, and, yes, one of them was "Strange Brew."
The new seasonal at Fox River Brewing Company in Oshkosh was still in the fermenter, but the group enjoyed the pub's award-winning Scottish ale and other year-around selections with an early lunch and got to see the brewpub's expanded lounge before continuing on for a stop in Marinette at Railhouse. I'm usually not a big fan of fruit beers--unless, of course, perhaps the fruit is part of an intensely sour lambic or something made in New Glarus--but the peach Pilsener at Railhouse was the beer of choice at that stop.
The first day of the trip finished at Nicolet Brewing Company in Florence, Wisconsin, way up nort' near the Michigan border. Brewers-Owners Art Lies and Deb Simons welcomed the group upon our arrival at the brewery's bier stube, as expected, but the surprise was to find Penny Pickart of Briess Malting Company helping out behind the bar. It seems that she and her husband have a cabin in the area and, um, just happened to be visiting the brewery that night. I asked Art to pour me "brewer's choice" for my first pint, and he poured their Oktoberfest. Wow! I alternated between the seasonal Oktoberfest and the year-around Pilsener throughout the evening. The "dessert" beverage was a high gravity "eis-beer" that started out as Nicolet Dark. Although maibock was out of season, Deb and Art directed us to one of the local bars for which the brewery saves a few extra kegs because it's the owner's favourite. The owner later scolded Art for directing all those out-of-towners to the precious maibock reserve; "your friends drank up all the maibock; that beer's for the locals!" Visits to other Florence bars proved to be the source of some spanking good tales involving the cider wing of the Guild and some local patrons.
Sunday morning began with a return to the Nicolet for a post-breakfast pint and case purchases before setting off to Slab City Brewery in Bonduel. The brewery has expanded considerably from the milkhouse brewery I last saw years ago during the send-off party for former Egan brewmaster Greg "Quick Mash" Nash. But Brewer-Owner Bill Winsand's hospitality was the same as ale-ways. Following a tour of the brewery, the group got down to sampling Slab City beers near the eternal pint. Of all the good beers, a favourite was the newest one, Old 47 Reserve, a bourbon barrel-aged version of the Old 47 Pale Ale. (For those who have wondered about that label, it's named for the old road with that route number.) The "Reserve" will be soon available in growlers only and only in limited quantities.
The Guild's tour finished at Appleton Brewing Company's Adler Brau brewery and restaurant for dinner and a tour. The bourbon barrel craze has hit Appleton as well, and we were treated to samples of barrel-aged barleywine during our tour. Mmmmm, barleywine....
More Madison/South Central news
Anyone who knows his or her beer in the Madison area knows of Capital Brewery's reputation for German-style lagers, but English ales? Capital president Tom Fuchs is seeking to round out the brewery's offerings with the start of Capital Imports. The line of six English ales are from two historic breweries, Hook Norton, founded in 1849, and Frederic Robinson, dating back to 1838. The Hook Norton Best Bitter is a 3.4% (v/v) session beer with considerable flavour for a low gravity beer. Old Hooky is balanced a shade toward the malt end of the spectrum, while Generation is a bit more assertively hoppy. Although the labels may remind some people of the Capital labels, Fuchs said that the Best Bitter label is as it appears in England, save for the Capital Imports and other U.S. information. The other two labels were redesigned for consistency with the Best Bitter. Two of the three Robinson beers are available now, with the Old Tom barleywine to follow sometime in December. The bottles sport a Capital neck label indicating a "Kirby Nelson selection." Seeing that on a beer called Double Hop caught me a bit off-guard. Nelson is assuredly a malt-oriented brewer and has long teased me about my affinity for hops dating all the way back to when I brewed the first American Pale Ale ever sold at the Great Dane. But Double Hop refers to the frequency, not the quantity, of hopping. Northern Glory, which I have not yet sampled, is said to be malt-accented, yet with adequate bittering for balance.
Tyranena celebrated its third anniversary in November and had a couple of special beers on tap for the thirsty crowd. Rob Larson aged some of his brown ale in a bourbon barrel and blended it with the regular brown ale as a seasonal brew. The blend is available to the public only at the brewery's tasting room and at Wonder's Pub in Madison. The treat for those who made the celebration, however, was samples of the unblended bourbon barrel brown. But if you visit the brewery and say the secret word, you might still have a chance to taste it. While enjoying the music, I did a little of my own blending by adding some of the porter to the straight bourbon brown. Perhaps Rob will get another barrel and try aging some porter in it. Bitter Woman IPA, previously available on draught at the brewery and select accounts will see wider distribution in bottles.
The 2002 edition of Gray's Autumn Ale, one of the brewery's longest-running tasty seasonal beers, is sold out for 2002. Look for Gray's Irish Ale starting sometime in mid-December. The label will look a little different this time around, as Fred Gray describes it, to reflect the history of the Gray family business. All of the seasonal beers will sport the new look. Gray's has been expanding its market presence on the other side of the Wisconsin-Illinois border, and it has paid off in bigger sales for the Janesville craft brewer.
J.T.Whitney's customers drank through a batch of the seasonal Pumpkin Ale so fast that it's all gone, but it was replaced with the Holiday Nut Brown late in November. If you attend any UW Badger athletic events (and not just football!) you can stop in afterward for a free beer with your ticket stub.
Angelic has another batch of Belgian Abbey almost ready to go and Devil's Dubbel will return as a winter seasonal. Both of these Belgians were World Beer Cup 2002 winners. On the restaurant side, look for a new menu in 2003. We all know that beer is important for good health. Assistant brewer Shane Welch must have been working on his Beerobics because he completed the NYC Marathon in under three hours. Congratulations!
Great Dane's second location, in sub-Urban Fitchburg, opens in December. If you're visiting the original downtown pub, be sure not to miss the Belgian Special Ale.
Wisconsin Dells on Tap beer fest was a success this year with 17 brewers and more than 1,000 thirsty patrons. Look for it to return next October. If you have an urge to visit sooner than next autumn, check out Moosejaw and enjoy a beer at one of its three bars.
The Joseph Huber Brewing Company has released its popular winter seasonal Berghoff Hazelnut Winter Fest Ale for another year. The beer was introduced in 1995. Expect this limited production seasonal to last until February. If you're in Southern Wisconsin for the holidays (or if you live here year-around), consider a tour at one of the country's oldest breweries, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm ($2 per person over 14.)
Milwaukee
Milwaukee Ale House's next seasonal beer will surely not fit the "session ale" label they give to their rotation of special brews, but I'll just as surely look forward to sitting down for their Belgian Ale that they'll be presenting as their winter warmer "session ale" starting in early December. It sounds like a good one to try if you happen to be in on a Saturday afternoon at 1pm when Practical Brewer Jim Olen is giving the weekly tour. Take the tour and get two beers and a pint glass to keep for $5.
Sprecher Winter Brew, a gold medal winner at the 2002 World Beer Cup, is back for another season. Winter Brew is a winter warmer in a slightly bigger interpretation of the Munich Dunkel style.
If find yourself in between Madison and Milwaukee and feel like having a beer, you would do well to stop at Delafield Brewhaus and hope they still have some of the Hop Harvest Ale left. This American Brown Ale brewed with homegrown hops is a full-bodied beer to support all that wonderful hop flavour. If the hopheads have ale-ready finished it off, you can console yourself with a glass of brewmaster John Harrison's award winning tripel, which recently went back on tap.
West/Central/North
Pearl Street Brewery in LaCrosse is presenting a bountiful holiday feast of food and good cheer at Winter Ball 2002 on December 7 starting at 6pm. The event will be at the Westby Rod and Gun Club (next to the ski jump) and free shuttle busses will run from downtown bars to and from the event all night long. Brewer Joe Katchever has saved some special kegs of some of his seasonal beers for the event and will also be introducing his barleywine. But the big beers won't be the only cheer he hopes to spread at this event. In the spirit of returning something to the community, Katchever is making Winter Ball a benefit for Aspen Johnson, 14 month-old baby suffering from a rare blood disease. Next spring Aspen's kidneys will be removed and his father Adrien will be donating a kidney to replace them. Recent layoffs resulted in the family losing its health insurance coverage, and Katchever hopes that a donation from the event, as well as the additional publicity, will help out a little bit. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 day of event. Call 608.784.4832 or 792.6455 for further information.
Viking Brewing Company's Mjød (mead) is back after a long absence, and the annual holiday ale, JuleØl, will be on the shelves late in November. BEER Party write-in gubernatorial candidate and brewmaster Randy Lee reports that another winter seasonal, Invador, will be back in January.
Stevens Point Brewery has introduced a new specialty brew, Point White Biere.
Looks like you won't have to go to Northern Wisconsin to enjoy some of the beers of South Shore Brewery in Ashland. While beer shopping recently I spotted bottles of South Shore Nut Brown, Honey Pilsener, and Rhoades Scholar Stout.
That's all for this issue. Sign up online at http://greatlakes.brewingnews.com for "Hop Tips," Great Lakes Brewing News' email newsletter covering the entire Great Lakes region. Readers and brewers: If you have news for the paper or for "Hop Tips" send it to [email protected] and I'll follow up.