Audience Participation: As I Contemplate A Trip West, How Do You Travel?

One thing I've realized. I know very, very little about beer not produced in Wisconsin.

I have the occassion to drive to Portland, Oregon starting on Thursday through Monday (Labor Day). I'll be passing through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Aside from Surly and Upright, I have no idea what beer is any good, what I should be getting, or even what I can expect to find in stores. I have to check luggage for my flight back (I'm taking a tent with me and tent stakes aren't exactly allowed in the carry-ons, you know?), so I plan on bringing back as much beer as I can.

There is one side of me that says "Eh, f- it, figure it out on the road." This is my impetuous sense of adventure that can result in really cool, unique stuff based on the personal recommendations of people and places that you meet and see along the way. It is this sense of "get in a car and go" that, frankly, got me into this trip to begin with (you will find out, if you were to meet me, that you can pretty much talk me into doing anything that I've never done before). However, this is putting my faith in strangers as I have no frame of reference or guide to show me the way. Moreover, there is a huge possibility for missed opportunity for the sake of spontaneity.

On the other hand, by planning and having some idea of what to look for, I can maximize the bounty of my trip. This is my first trip out there, and while I may get back to Oregon or Washington, the odds of me being in North Dakota, Wyoming or Idaho anytime soon is pretty slim. So, my other option is to assiduously research the breweries and brewpubs, make a list of stuff that I want and go straight for that at the liquor store and supplement that list (or check that list) with local knowledge.

So, what do you think?

How do you travel? Do you throw caution to the wind or do you do your research down to the beer bar closest to your hotel?

Beer, Cheese ... and Startups ... and Beer Startups

Yestday Dane101 posted an article from TechCrunch about the entrepreneurial spirit here in Wisconsin. I've talked about my friends over perBlue, one of the highlighted companies that is making some pretty nifty mobile games.

Earlier this week, I was happy to attend a talk by Madison's Economic Development Director, Mr. Tim Cooley. He pointed out what a lot of us in "the biz" already know: Wisconsin's problem isn't a shortage of talent, infrastructure, or ideas, but rather a shortage of capital. We don't have enough people - venture capitalists, investment firms, etc - willing to invest in all of the startups going on here.

The situation is getting better, particularly for "big name" industries such as biotech and e-commerce. And, part of the reason for that is the recent (2005) investment tax credit passed by the state to give an incentive to invest in these kinds of companies that is now starting to pay some dividends. This is a 25% credit on funds invested into "Qualified New Business Venture". Obviously, this begs the question: what is a Qualified New Business Venture and does your company qualify? The rules are as follows:

To be certified as a Qualified New Business Venture by the Department of Commerce, businesses must be able to answer "Yes" to the following six questions:

1.Are you seeking private equity funding for pre-commercialization activities related to the development of a proprietary new product or process in Wisconsin?

2.Have you been in business for no more than 10 consecutive years?

3.Are your principal administrative offices located in Wisconsin?
and
Does at least 80% of your payroll go to people employed in Wisconsin?

4.Do you have less than 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees?
(FTE=Total number of hours worked per year multiplied by total number of employees divided by 2,080 hours)

5.Do at least 51% of your employees work in Wisconsin?

6.Since its inception, has your business received, in aggregate, no more than $10 million of private equity investment in cash?

It is my belief that brewery startups would qualify as "Qualified New Business Ventures" under this definition. There are two issues that would determine eligibility: 1)"pre-commercialization activites" and 2) "proprietary new product or process". The second is easy: recipes are trade secret, hence proprietary. Easy peasy. The first is a little more difficult: "Pre-commercialization activity".

Some organizations define pre-commercialization activity as things like market analysis, research and development, and product testing. On the other hand, "Commercialization Activities" are generally understood within the product life-cycle to assume a product is available for the general public. So, "pre-Commercialization" would be anything prior to "available to the general public". In the software universe, the equivalent of "beta" testing would be "pre-commercialization".

So, let's apply that to the brewing industry for a moment. What does "pre-commercialization" mean in a brewing context? Beta testing? What is beta testing? Well, how many batches do you think it takes to perfect a recipe, to do market analysis on the success of a recipe to determine acceptance, and then roll out the product to a wider market?

I'd argue that most brands take at least 2 years, if not 5, to become fully refined. Take, for example, O'so's Picnic Ants Saison - last year's version was very, very different from this year's. And not in a "rotating brand" kind of way like "Stone Anniversary" or something. Rather, this year's is a refinement, based on market analysis and product testing, research and development, beta testing; call it what you like, but it is no different from the 5 years that GMail sat in beta to refine it for general consumption.

So, I would argue, any brewery that otherwise meets the other definitions would be engaging in "pre-commercialization" activity by limited release of new brands to refine proprietary recipes. So, what's "limited release"? Good question. GMail was in beta for 5 years and it counted as "limited release" because you had to be "invited"; given the multiple millions of email gmail.com addresses before it came out of beta, I'd argue "limited release" is a pretty fluid definition. Or, for a more local option, look at perBlue's Parallel Kingdom - it qualifies. Alice.com qualifies and it has thousands of users - far more than drink, say, BrewFarm beer.

Yet another way that the brewing industry is similar to the software industry ... So, I think it's time to add "breweries" to the list of things that Wisconsin is known for. Oh ... wait ...

New Glarus Abt

On Monday we talked about how the rest of the midwest is innovating and being creative and collaborating in unique ways that don't seem to be present in Wisconsin. A commenter mentioned that Beer Advocate barely recognizes Wisconsin in its list of top brewing states. I would argue that there are systemic reasons for that beyond the apparent "truth" of the matter asserted: for instance, all of the other states have much larger cities than Wisconsin does and Beer Advocate is all about numbers. Second, few Wisconsin breweries distribute outside of Wisconsin, so the potential pool of tasters is considerably smaller. Of course, this is somewhat self-perpetuating in that lack of distribution prevents demand and increases awareness of other brands, leading to less demand and awareness.

Not to mention that we in Wisconsin are a little ... how shall we say? ... odd?

Blissfully ignorant of trends going on in the rest of the universe, Wisconsin breweries are putting out some phenomenal Dortmunders (Brewfarm Select), Weizen Dopplebocks (Capital), Saisons (O'so), Old Ales (Lakefront Bridge Burner), and bizarre bastardizations that defy description (Matacabras and Thermo Refur). Only Brewfarm Select (available in the Twin Cities) is available outside of the state (I don't think Capital and Lakefront send these particular brands out of state).

[ed note: also Thermo Refur is available in MN. I understand that many WI breweries pick and choose a few outside-WI locations, but, for the most part, only regular and a few seasonals are making it out and certainly very little of the stuff might be considered innovative, creative, or interesting.]

Which brings us to the one in-state brewery that does seem to get the attention and notoriety it deserves: New Glarus. Notoriously reclusive, New Glarus keeps on trucking, and getting high marks from smuggled bottles that seem to blindly find their way around the world. Pssst...hey...I have a bottle of Raspberry Tart...need a bottle of Imperial Saison...

Yet even New Glarus, while worldly in its releases, seems ignorant of trends. In the last years it has released the sour Imperial Saison, Berliner Weiss, Old English Porter, and Cran-bic. Yet, in the year of sour, only the softly tartish Enigma approaches sour. Instead, New Glarus chooses to release its Cherry Stout and now, this, an Abt.

Do you even know what an "Abt" is? I don't. Hell, I don't even know how to pronounce it. I've heard it pronounced like "apt", like "abbot", and my own personal choice "A.B.T."

Beer Tutor tells me that an "Abt" is another name for a "quad". Which is interesting because New Glarus just brewed a Quad.

Created by La Trappe, Abt (also known as quadrupel) are Abbey and Trappist beer styles of great strength and bold flavors. Abts tend to be darker with dark fruit flavors while Quadrupels tend to be lighter in color and may have a peachy taste. Both styles have strong, rich, malt flavors with very low hop content and flavor. Alcohol presence is very noticeable and the ABV is usually over 10%.

Not sure I buy that distinction, by the way; I've had "quads", such as Ommegang's Three Philosophers and Avery's Reverend (not to mention New Glarus' own Quad) which are darker. Perhaps not quite the dark emphasis, a brighter fruit yeast and alcohol notes, but not exactly light and "peachy" either.

In any event, it's not exactly the trendiest beer in the world and I don't exactly foresee a coming onslaught of quads and abts in the near future. Maybe we don't need the validation that the rest of the country seems to crave. As of yet we've managed to sustain more breweries per capita than almost any other state in the nation; our domestic market is supportive and seemingly insatiable. So, here we are, with a stereotypical Wisconsin craft beer - obscurity and independence made extremely well.

New Glarus Abt
BeerAdvocate(A-). RateBeer(91).
[Ed Note: Matt, Travis, and I all wanted to review this beer, so rather than draw straws or rocks-paper-scissors or race to the blog, we all wrote a review]

Matt:
Appearance: Brown with ruby highlights, small head.
Aroma: Lots of Belgian yeast character; dark fruit, raisin, plumb, a bit of clove.
Flavor: Similar to the smell, Belgian yeast esters with some Pilsner-malt grainyness and just a touch of caramel. Quite dry in the finish, not a lot of malt character. This was probably made with only base malt and dark candy sugar, with little or no character malts.
Drinkability: Nice and dry, maybe even a bit drier than it's Belgian inspirations, but the ABV and warming alcohol flavor make this a sipper, not one for the session.
Summary: A nice addition to the Unplugged lineup, if not as innovative as some of the other offerings. Quite similar in yeast character to a beer like St. Bernardus 12, but a little bit lighter and drier in the finish, making it seem more like a higher ABV dubbel than a Grand Cru/Dark Strong, but now I'm just splitting hairs.

Jeff
Appearance: a beige foamy head sits on top of a saddle brown body with an orange-ish glow on the edges
Aroma: smells of cherries and a slight oakiness; a bit roasty and a shimmer of alcohol on the end of the nose
Flavor: a little more malty than the nose might imply, the yeast esthers are definitely front and center, but there is a strong caramel malty sweetness; a definite alcoholic syrupyness hints at the strength
Body: big-bodied and slightly syrupy
Drinkability: Definitely not one to pound, and I would be hard pressed to drink more than one in succession, but I'm enjoying the one that I have in front of me, and, really, what more could you ask for
Summary: I did this entire review without reading Matt's (above) first. I think he's probably right on with his assumptions about the malts, but I sense some roasted malts in there as well that may add some color and a bit of aroma and the tiniest bit of flavor, but the candi sugar is prevalent; I disagree about the dryness though, there's a crispness in the front of the flavor profile, but the finish does not seem dry at all; overall, it's enjoyable as a refined beer perfect for sipping in the late fall, setting down to age for a few years, or pairing with a braised chicken in red wine sauce.

Travis

Appearance: pours a dark, opaque mahogany with lighter ruby edges.  A finger or so of greyish khaki head fades to spotty skim after a minute or two.

Nose: Bready yeast dominates the first whiff, with dark cherry, rum-raisin and nutty notes carrying through to a sherry-like finish.

Palate:  Liquid bread rolls onto the tongue as dry, crackery malts make way for candied dates, raisin, vanilla, cherry and green apple skins.  The yeast, candi sugar, malt bill, and alcohol content combine for a drying overall impression in the mouth.


Dan has created a truly "authentic"-tasting Belgian-style beer with the Abt.  Throw this in a svelte .3L bottle and slap a Made in Belgium sticker on it and I wouldn't bat an eyelash.  Belgian beers are especially defined by the yeast strain used and those characteristic spicy-estery notes have proven difficult for most American brewers to replicate.  If Capital Brewery's Weizen Doppelbock is liquid banana bread, the Abt is liquid fruit cake.  I mean that in the best possible way, of course.

Without the use of excessive barrel-aging or wild yeasts that can often lend an over-engineered feel to some of the Unplugged-series beers (the Quad and Imperial Saison come to mind - though I did enjoy both), the Abt is allowed to shine as a fine replication of the complex elegance that makes the abbey beers of Belgium so memorable.  I can't wait to revisit this beer after a year or two as the yeasts and malts are allowed to mature, mellow, and meld.

On Our Neighbors To The South

As I think about the upcoming weekend in Chicago(or the past weekend, since you're reading this on Monday), my mind is drawn to the "problem" of Illinois and Chicago specifically.

Wisconsin has a love hate relationship with the State of Chicago, and also the State of Illinois. But make no bones about it - Chicago is its own state - if you were to look at Illinois' statutes and laws, it is littered with clauses like "In counties with a population in excess of 1 million people, then X, otherwise, Y." There is only one county in all of Illinois with a population in excess of 1 million people. Chicago, literally, has its own rules separate from the rest of the state.

But, really, when Wisconsin-ites talk about FIBs, what they are really talking about is people from Chicago-land (as an aside: I love that people really call the Greater-Chicago area "Chicagoland"; it sounds like an amusement park) - Chicago, and the outlying suburban areas (often, especially the outlying suburban areas). We are infrequently concerned about people from Peoria, or Matoon, or East St. Louis; it's the fucking bastards from Chicagoland that we flip off and swear at - behind their backs of course. We would never turn down the tourism dollars.

Which brings us back to the point of this post (you were beginning to doubt there was one, weren't you?): Wisconsin has always had its beer to lord over our wonderful southern neighbors. Heck, even the Wrigley faithful celebrate a Wisconsin beer - Old Style. Not to mention the suckers buying cases of Leinie's while they blow their cash in the Northwoods.

Even ignorning for the moment the fact that Miller's world headquarters have abandoned Milwaukee for Chicago, if the Great Taste is any indication, Wisconsin is in for some serious competition. Just a small list of breweries in Chicago-area producing amazing beer: Three Floyds, Goose Island, Metropolitan, Revolution, Flossmoor Station, Half Acre, Two Brothers, DeStihl, and Piece. Beer there is exploding and the market is practically insatiable.

Think about the consequences of that for a moment. Put it in perspective with the perceived "brain drain" that our state wrings its hands over. What's the central problem of "brain drain"? After school, our most talented students are leaving for (let's be honest) Chicago (also New York and Atlanta). What are students drinking in college? Swill? Probably. Yeah, Spotted Cow is in its rotation, and every now and then students will pick up a Capital or Furthermore or Ale Asylum or Lakefront or Pearl Street. But, for the most part, students are drinking Milwaukee's Best, High Life, Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, and pretty much anything they can get for $40 a keg.

After school, when these students have jobs and discretionary income, they become the beer geeks, the people that enjoy and are willing and able to pay a premium for good beer. But, if they are leaving Wisconsin and buying beer in Chicago, what do you think they are drinking? New Glarus? Nope. Tyranena? Probably not. Capital? Maybe, but probably not. See the above amazing list of breweries and brewpubs that litter the Chicago landscape.

When these people come back to Wisconsin to raise families, (because no one wants their kids in the Chicago School District, right?) what will they drink? Goose Island? Pretty good bet. It's only a matter of time before the other breweries are here (oh, and those brewpubs? they can distribute here, too).

Goose Island has upped its game considerably in the past few years. When I lived in Chicago, I refused to drink, or even acknowledge the existence of, Goose Island - I had some shockingly awful service at the brewpubs and had sworn off of them. But even I have to admit that Sofie, Bourbon County Stout, Pere Jacques, Matilda, and Demolition are all amazing beers. It's only a matter of time before Half Acre (brewed at Sand Creek, by the way [ed note: it was pointed out that Half Acre recently installed their brewery and only a portion of their product is still at Sand Creek with the rest now being brewed in Chicago at the Half Acre complex]) or Metropolitan or Flossmoor are here. The only thing that keeps Three Floyds from selling better than it already does is price and lack of non-year-round brands.

I don't think that I am atypical of the "New" Madison-ian, or even "New" Wisconsin-ite. I'm not from here, but came here (via Chicago) and brought with me my own tastes and preferences. I drink a lot of Wisconsin beer, but I also have a sweet spot in my heart for Great Lakes Brewing Company. As more and more people make their way here (young, professional, high-tech) they bring with them their preferences. And as our own "brain drain" folks come back, they too are bringing preferences with them.

So, I'm sure you're asking, what's the point? The point is we, Wisconsin breweries, need to be competing with these breweries that have, in the past, not really presented much of a threat. More brands, more creativity, better execution. Bigger regional and national presence. It is no longer feasible to ignore markets outside of Wisconsin. Our market is a great beer market, but it's getting crowded with folks from Chicago (see the list above), Colorado (see all of the great Colorado breweries), California, and the East Coast, not to mention the entire rest of the Midwest.

To grow, and be recognized as some of the best breweries in the world (which we are), we need to be more pro-active. A strong Brewers' Guild is essential. Strong laws and a legislature that promotes the growth of one of its best revenue-generating industries is also essential. But being tuned into what it is going on regionally, nationally, and globally, reacting to those things, collaborating, innovating, and being creative is essential for survival. Because each in that long list of Illinois breweries is doing all of those things very well.

Jeff's Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 Recap

I think Matt and Travis hit everything right on the head for the most part. But, of course, I still have a penny or two of my own thoughts to commit to paper.

What did I like? I thought the organization, again, was fantastic - especially given the sheer number of people involved in putting this event together. Whether it runs like a greased pig or not (I'm not sure that's the right metaphor), it certainly seems to evade falling apart. This year, the entrance line was cleared in record time - down from almost (over?) an hour last year, to under 20 minutes. Event staff and volunteers did their jobs, were accessible, and friendly. The brewers seemed to know what they were doing, where they were going, what time to be there, and all of their needs seemed to be getting met. Significantly, I did not hear a single brewer, volunteer, or even attendee complaint.

What Did I Really Like? The week encompassing the Great Taste has turned Madison into a week long celebration of craft beer for the entire Midwest. Philly, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Portland, all have beer weeks. But few celebrate the beer of their particular REGION as well as Madison does. It makes a statement that not only is Madison one of the premier beer destinations in the entire Midwest, but it is a leader in Regionalism and emphasis on local food. Beer tastings and beer dinners all week, and a Kegs and Eggs Breakfast at Old Fashioned on Sunday really showed the amazing things that can be accomplished in the entirety of the food industry when everyone is focused on local. Without the Great Taste of the Midwest, this celebration would not be possible; with the Great Taste, this celebration makes Madison the epicenter of Midwestern beer for an entire week.

Room for Improvement? I've gotta say that this year's glassware was definitely a big miss; it was entirely too large and I felt like I was dumping a lot of beer. Others were clearly taking advantage of the generous pours. While I like the traveling minstrel idea with the music, it often gets lost - so either dump it entirely, or make it more of a focus.

Not Good: Like Travis and Matt both pointed out, this year's losers were mediocre to poor sour beers, of which there entirely too many. I thought Kuhnhenn's Cask Geuze was a perfect example: watery, thin and one-note, it didn't really add anything to the style. Also a big loser was spirit-barrel aged beer. A Port-Barrel Aged Rauchbier from New Albanian was strange and unenjoyable (although the next tap-handle to the right, the Bourbon Barrel Sour Brown was fantastic).

Good: Good sour beers: Jolly Pumpkin's Biere de Mars, DeStihl's (Normal, IL) Sour Brown and Sour Strawberry (!?) were excellent, and Travis' winner the Brugge Brasserie (Indianapolis, IN) Pooka a sour beer aged with boysenberries was excellent. Speaking of weird fruit...while Minneapolis Town Hall's Mango IPA did not work, and Old Hat's (Lawton, MI) Peanut Butter Stout wasn't as bad as you might thing a beer brewed with peanut butter would be, the aforementioned Brugge Brasserie (boysenberry) and DeStihl (strawberry), in addition to Dave's BrewFarm's Bumbled honey pale-ale, O'so's Big O Cranberry and Short's Imperial Spruce India Pilsner (almost a top-3, despite "Imperial India Pilsner" making no sense at all) made great use of "adjuncts".

My Top 3: while my tastes are different from yours and there's no possible way to try everything, of the things that I had, these are my Top 3 from the 2010 Great Taste of the Midwest:

Honorable Mention: Revolution Brewing Company's Coup D'Etat Saison. Revolution is a new craft brewery in the heart of hipper-than-thou Logan Square in Chicago. Revolution brought an impressive range of beers from the big (Sodom, an Imperial Stout brewed in collaboration with Three Floyds) to the small (Gomorrah, a small beer made from the second runnings of the Sodom). But my favorite was the Coup D'Etat Saison, a dry, spicy, grassy, peppery saison that is surprisingly strong (7.5%) for a summer day.

Number 3: Vintage Brewing Company's Sahti. Making use of an antiquated Finnish style of beer that uses juniper instead of hops, and an ecclectic mix of grains Brewer Scott Manning has produced a crisp, fresh summer beer that weighs in at only 5.3% ABV. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for gin, so the fresh and interesting fruity pine-notes from juniper is a pleasant experience. It is a wonderfully different sort of beer that is available right here in Madison.

Number 2: Surly Tea Bag Furious. Take one of my favorite beers on the planet, the over-hopped amber Furious, double-dry-hop it for an huge complex hop aroma, and age it in a cask to get some awesome subtle wood undertones? Come on, it rarely gets better than that.

Number 1: Schlafly/O'Fallon/New Albanian C3. St. Louis Brewing Company, better known as Schlafly, was on my list last year with a refreshing Dortmunder. This year, Schlafly has teamed up with O'Fallon and New Albanian for a whole series of "session beers with a unique twist." C1 was an Oak Aged Dry Hopped Smoked Rye Pale Ale and C2 is a Smoked Belgian Dark Strong Ale. New Albanian explains the C3 thusly:

C3 is extreme in its restraint, in our collective ability to resist the abundant urges to add more and explore more ideas in a single beer. By dialing in our collective vision, we have struck out in a new direction with C3.

Based on the classic English Mild, C3 features Marris Otter, Munich, Brown and Carafa malts.

After much debate the collective again went with the theme of restraint, and a single hop was the choice: Citra.

The C3 is an amazingly complex, yet easy-to-drink beer. Hops were used in every portion of the brewing process, except the boil so there is very little hop bitterness, but huge flavor and aroma from the funky, musty, citra hop. This funkiness combines with the clean, but complex malt flavors to produce a beer that tastes like it should be three times its size, but manages to weigh in at a palty 4% ABV. FOUR PERCENT ABV SHOULD NOT TASTE THIS AWESOME.

Travis' Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 Recap

Another year, another Great Taste in the books.  2010 marked my 5th consecutive year attending the granddaddy of regional beer festivals.  With my Wooden Anniversary has come a new perspective on the fest as well as a different plan-of-attack, or more accurately - lack-thereof.

After a few years of arriving in-line early enough to be among the first few dozens of entrants, allowing for plenty of time to scour the program and plot a course and schedule special releases, recent years have devolved into more of a wander until something catches your eye or your beer is empty and you spot the nearest vacant booth strategy.  In my advanced age (I'm 26 - yeah, I know - shut up already, kid) I just can't be bothered to join the crush and wait 15 minutes in the cattle line for another sample of Dark Lord or its ilk.  I've had it, it's great, but there are hundreds of other beers that I haven't tried and likely never will if not at this fest.

Trying to carouse with and/or guide a growing list of friends, beer acquaintances and roommates also made it tough to stick to any coherent route or schedule.  Sure, I missed a lot of fun and rare special releases from the heavy-hitters like Surly, Founders, Three Floyd's and the like, but I also stumbled upon some hidden gems from lesser-known breweries that I had yet to discover and at this point in my Great Taste career, frankly, that's just more appealing.  Anyhow, on to my impressions from this 24th iteration of the Great Taste of the Midwest:

Trends:
Sour grains - Every brewer and their brother brought a sour beer or 3 to this years fest.  Certainly, the modern beer nerd's palate has grown much more accommodating to the funkier side of brewing in recent years.  I've made it a point to head straight for the Real Ale tent when I enter the fest the past couple of years as some of the more interesting recent offerings have poured from these gravity-fed, softly-carbonated, slightly-warmer vessels.  My first beer of the fest this year was a cask gueze from Kuhnhenn Brewing out of Warren, MI.  It fell a bit flat, both in tongue-twisting funk and carbonation, but it was fun to see American craft brewers tackle this challenging Belgian farmhouse lambic style (unfortunately, I missed New Glarus' R&D Gueuze, which seemed to be a resounding success).  Plenty of buzz surrounded Brugge Brasserie's sour offerings, especially Pooka, their boysenberry sour (which I regrettably missed) and their secret, by-request-only Spider, which rivaled New Belgium's La Folie in the masochistic acetic acid tongue-torture quotient.

Smoke in the water - Another modern trend in craft brewing has brought rauchbier into the relative mainstream.  Once a German niche, smoked beers are more and more prevalent every season and its a movement I fully endorse.  Minneapolis' Town Hall Brewery brought a Smoked Hefeweizen this year that struck a nice balance between rich, meaty smoke and the light body and fruity esters you expect from a German-style weizen.  I also managed to stumble upon Blind Tiger Brewery in Topeka, KS, who brought its GABF Gold Medal-winning Smokey the Beer.  Smokey didn't disappoint with a light, crisp body billowing with smoky goodness.  One of my overall favorites from the fest and perhaps only my second sample at the Real Ale tent after crashing the gates was Fat Heads Brewery's (Ohio) Smoke and Burn Porter - a version of their Up in Smoke Porter aged in bourbon barrels with chipotle peppers.  Smoke and heat in one beer?  SOLD.

Honey/Crisp - Meads and Ciders have long had a presence at the taste with standout examples from Wisconsin's own White Winter Winery and AEppelTreow Winery often being some of the more memorable and palate-soothing samples I enjoy.  Michigan's B. Nektar Meadery has added to the stand-out mead presence in recent years as well.  This year, Kentucky's Cumberland Brewery brought a refreshing Huckleberry Meade and I know I tipped a few other passable meads from other enterprising breweries this past weekend.

Hits: 

• Fat Heads Cask Smoke and Burn Bourbon Barrel Chipotle Porter
• O'so Spike's Maple Sap - brewed with 100% maple sap instead of water and aged on maple chips.  Like drinking maple butterscotch, but in a good way
• Titletown India Ink - super roasty black IPA doesn't hold back with the schwaarzbier-esque malt profile and a nice piney hop character
• Central Waters Brewhouse Coffee Stout - if you haven't had this yet, FIX THAT.  Purest coffee flavor in a beer I've ever experienced.  I ended my taste with a full 8oz pour to facilitate the post-fest wake-up process.

Misses:

• Ill-conceived sour beers - just because you can throw some wild yeast in a tank doesn't mean you should.  These beers are intricate and finnicky and take years of practice and honed technique to get right.  We don't need every Brewpub 'N Steakhaus inflicting their infected experiments on us.  Use them in your house salad vinaigrette and leave these to the experts until you're ready. /endrant
• Peanut butter beers - more of them every year, still yet to try one that wasn't either 'meh' or 'blech!'
• Giant tasting glasses - It's an attractive little mini-stein that I will be happy to use for personal tastings and sharing big beers, but it's just too damn big for a beer fest of this nature.  Too many generous 7oz pours that I had to dump on the ground for my own health.  As soon as I saw it I knew it was going to be trouble.

Matt's Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 Recap

Good – Gotta give my boys in the Madison Homewbrewers and Tasters Guild big props on organization once again. Everything ran smoothly, and giving out the programs and glasses early made entrance into the park extra smooth. The Real Ale tent was also a highlight. I particularly enjoyed the cask offerings from Surly, which included the hard-to-acquire Darkness imperial stout and a great Cedar-aged Cynic saison.
Bad – Glassware. I might be totally out on a limb on this one, and I know it’s weird to bitch about too much beer, but the glass was to too big. While they are very nice mini-steins that will make a great addition to my collection, they were literally twice as large as last years (I tested it out once I got home). This being a tasting event, larger pours make it harder to try as many beers. I know that you can dump something out if you don’t like it, but if I do like it I feel a kind of “don’t waste good beer” obligation and have to finish my whole sample. After a few four ounce pours of oak aged Imperial stout, the speed with which I went around the rest of the festival was significantly hindered.
What Got Me Excited – As much as I might say I love session beer and try to oppose “extreme beer” as a trend, I have to admit it is the extreme beers that get me excited at this festival. The bourbon barrel aged beers came out again this year, as they always do, and while anyone can throw a beer in a barrel, the ones that do it well can be fabulous. I made sure to show up for the special tapping of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (their stellar coffee and oatmeal stout aged in bourbon barrels that were previously used to age maple syrup) and Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout, both of which were as good as advertised. I also waited with an enthusiastic crowd at Pearl Street, where the folks working at the booth led us all in a chant of “Dankenstein! Dankenstein!” as they got ready to tap the Imperial IPA. I also got to check a beer off my bucket list when I was able to try Sam Adams Utopias, the highest ABV non-distilled beverage in the history of man, or something like that. The 27 percent ABV beer was more like a cordial or strong port wine than a beer, but was certainly an experience.
What Just Didn't Work – Short’s Brewing out of Michigan had a list of very interesting sounding beers, such as the Agave Peach Wheat, Nice Spice, and Blood Orange Wheat Wine. The only problem was, none of them were any good, with way too much spice and fruit, and a strange off flavor in the wheat wine.
Favorite Beer – Another big trend we’ve seen in craft beer has been a big explosion in sour beers. As more consumers are beginning to appreciate these styles, more and more craft brewers are experimenting with them. For some breweries this just means tossing some bacterial cultures into a beer to see what happens, or worse yet, labeling an infected batch “Belgian” or “experimental sour” and passing it off as intentional. But for others this trend has brought out great amounts of creativity and led to some extremely sophisticated and delicious beers. This year I particularly enjoyed the Pooka from Brugge Brasserie, a bright pink boysenberry sour, and Jolly Pumpkin’s mildly sour and delicious Biere de Mars. But the best beer I had all day was a Gueuze from New Glarus. Pale golden in color, refreshingly tart and complex, the beer was as good as any Belgian Gueuze I’ve had. A really astonishing accomplishment.