Two
months ago I moved here with my wife from upstate New York to be closer to
family. Moving across the country tends
to bring about a small amount of upheaval and the need to find new norms for
comfort. I drink beer which means I have
a need to slip into the local beer culture in order to get a sense of the
community. My first effort was to track
down a new watering hole. Luckily, I
didn’t have to go far as Eddie’s Alehouse in Sun Prairie is stumbling distance
from home.
Eddies
isn’t a classy, deep mahogany kind of bar. It’s a wood paneling and grease
stain kind of bar. On my first visit I am accompanied by my wife, Katie, and
her mother, a pseudo-Wisconsinite by way of Illinois after spending a life time
in the Northwoods. She brings with her the
claimed knowledge of the video machines that actually pay out. I’m skeptical, but to her credit, she tends
to win…
We walk
into Eddie’s to find a packed house. The bar is at capacity. Two girls are
nearest the door drinking some golden elixir from Chimay glasses. Proper
glassware is always appreciated. More of the same all the way down to the
opposite wall where the kitchen opens to the bar. Tables here range from small
and round to comfortable for six. The beer menu can be found on the dry erase
boards mounted to the wall behind the bar or in a handy printed format, but
beware, the print might be outdated. Either way, there are no prices, only ABV
content for each selection. There is no
wait staff except to clear the piled up glasses. Drinks and food are ordered
through the bar tender.
Eddies,
interestingly reminds me of any towny bar except for the 140 beer selection and
friendly service even to us new comers. The walls are lined with marketing
pieces for the large breweries and a few locals. Nothing here is over stated. The tin ceiling may seems a bit out of place
with the wood paneling, but I can only hope it is the original. This place
could exist in any town, anywhere, and it could succeed on the stripped down,
no frills ambiance combined with a robust and frequently changing beer menu.
We order
a round and steal a vacated chair in the corner by the video gambling. From what I can tell of my mother-in-law’s
excitement level, these machines aren’t going to pay out. Surprise.
For me,
I cannot pass on my first chance to try Bell’s Hopslam. Weighing in at 10% ABV
but smelling and appearing like a sweet mango fruit juice. It is a notable occasion when I find a “rare”
beer to be worthy of the accolades but this is as good as beer gets. As the
hops release their chorus of aromas, the mélange seems to hang just below the
rim of the pint glass waiting to engulf your nose in a syrupy nectar of pine
and pineapple and mango. Not a hint of the alcohol to provide fair warning of
the danger that lies between you and the bottom of the glass.
While
Hopslam is a double IPA, it is brewed with honey and uses its texture to
provide richness and body. Honey in beer
is a complicated ingredient. It is
filled with fermentable sugars and can become a bittering agent if the yeast
have their way with it. I’m not a brewer, so how Bells pulls this off so
effectively is out of my expertise, however, I have had a few beers that use
honey and only rarely does it work. This
is brewed once a year and most of the sales are done at the brewery in Michigan,
thus making Hopslam difficult find under normal circumstances.
As my
pint glass finds its way to my lips at a far more rapid pace than I would
normally allow the edges of the world began to soften. Soon I was staring at
that last remnants of the laced foam on the glass.
This is
actually an easy beer to ignore for the non-hop head. Many who stick to Belgians and wheats are
unlikely to give this a shot once they hear there are six hop varietals. But IPAs in general have moved away from
straight bittering hops to floral and citrus hops which make these massive
beers far more approachable.
The
drinking here is abnormally cheap for those coming from the east coast and the locals aren’t the “blogging while I’m
drinking” crowd. Nevertheless, I stole a
picture of the Hopslam on my iPhone ever mindful of the eye-rolls directed at
my back. It was a first for me, and posterity beckoned.
You nailed it, Kevin. Definitely a small-town bar with a big-town beer list. Stopped there for the first time a few weeks back to sample one of their great burgers; was surprised to see such a solid beer list. I don't remember what I drank; but I do know that they were two very good IPA's that any hophead would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was just in there again on Sunday. Goose Island IIPA on tap along with New Belgium's Tart Lychee. Great place.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Sun Prairie and development a love of craft beer many years afterwards, but my parents (who fell in love with craft beer bc of my efforts) have made Eddie's a weekly staple for good bar food and an amazing selection. With the opening of Eddie's I welcome every return to SP to drink amazing local and Midwest craft beer. Amazing to see the craft beer revolution grow into the suburbs and small towns. Every bar that had its outdoor sign sponsored by macro breweries now have local crafts like New Glarus and the like on tap.
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