Madison Beer Review

2012-02-02T22:45:32.960-06:00

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I wasn't anywhere near Amherst this past Satur...

2012-02-01T10:37:38.253-06:00

I wasn't anywhere near Amherst this past Saturday but my father and I did manage to have both a Kosmyk Charlie Barleywine and a Bourbon Barrel Stout each while playing cribbage. Our last game was not the most well-played.

I don't know how much of a difference it makes...

2012-02-01T09:04:10.757-06:00

I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but it's probably not a bad idea for homebrewers to contact their state senators regarding SB 395. The current law is ridiculous.

excellent i must say !Still a work in progress. Gr...

2012-02-01T05:16:30.288-06:00

excellent i must say !Still a work in progress. Great beers and no Miller or Bud on tap!

Tried the Full House IPA @ Dexter's last nite....

2012-01-31T11:37:35.537-06:00

Tried the Full House IPA @ Dexter's last nite.. very nice... looking forward to investigating this more!

Mud Puppy Porter is a trusted friend!

2012-01-28T09:43:47.142-06:00

Mud Puppy Porter is a trusted friend!

Peruvian Morning for the win! Coffee Stout a close...

2012-01-27T13:01:01.333-06:00

Peruvian Morning for the win!
Coffee Stout a close second.

I absolutely love Exodus.

2012-01-27T09:35:47.916-06:00

I absolutely love Exodus.

Great link Mark, I dug a bit deeper into that blog...

2012-01-25T16:14:25.233-06:00

Great link Mark, I dug a bit deeper into that blog and found this one: http://inhoppursuit.blogspot.com/2011/08/columbia-finally-gets-her-limelight.html

The photo comparing Willamette to Columbia is pretty cool.

oh, and I also really like the NG Barleywine - sneaky beer though, it'll hit you hard when you're not paying attention.

Very interesting, reading Columbia didn't even...

2012-01-25T14:26:55.696-06:00

Very interesting, reading Columbia didn't even register with me. Thanks for the link.

One of the hops unmentioned above but used in this...

2012-01-25T13:09:01.899-06:00

One of the hops unmentioned above but used in this beer is a long abandoned variety called Columbia which has a fascinating history: http://inhoppursuit.blogspot.com/2010/03/hoptalk-with-hopmeister-al-haunold-part.html

I would have sworn this beer used Citra because of what struck me as a mango flavor that I associate with that hop. Curious to know if this is also a characteristic of Columbia.

Joshua, thanks for pointing it out. No malicious i...

2012-01-18T21:02:37.278-06:00

Joshua, thanks for pointing it out. No malicious intent, just didn't get it in. It's been corrected.

Wouldn't it be appropriate to credit the origi...

2012-01-18T20:02:27.162-06:00

Wouldn't it be appropriate to credit the original writers of the article, the fine folks over at Hoosier Beer Geek?

March madness: preferential ballot?

2012-01-17T09:33:24.307-06:00

March madness: preferential ballot?

Yes...how about a "March Madness" style ...

2012-01-13T13:07:02.950-06:00

Yes...how about a "March Madness" style bracket tourney, with 64 beers being sampled in a head-to-head, bracket competition. Brackets could include Macro Lagers, e.g. (Bud, MGD, Busch, Miller High Life, Coors, etc...), Macro Lights, Wisconsin "Old School" (Pabst, Old Milwaukee, etc...), Wisconsin Ambers, Wisconsin Bocks, East Coast Beers, etc.... Eight venues could each host a bracket, with 5 panelists deciding on each pairing...with the Final 8 coinciding with the weekend of the Final Four or so.

Marketing could be the answer. Very few people fi...

2012-01-12T09:32:44.409-06:00

Marketing could be the answer.

Very few people find craft beer on their own. Drinking (should be or) is a social activity. If we just drank alone, no one would name a drink sex on the beach or strip and go naked.

So, people have to introduce others to craft beer. If you do not socialize often with craft beer drinkers, or if craft beer drinkers only socialize amongst themselves, it creates "positive feedback loop", and large swaths of the population miss out on the most diverse beverage in the world.

I think Scott makes an excellent point. I can clai...

2012-01-11T19:08:52.012-06:00

I think Scott makes an excellent point. I can claim to be from 7 different nations - most of which have healthy beer cultures, and all of which are inhabited mostly by cracker-ass honkeys like myself - and the sometimes negligible percentages of my ethnic makeup don't stop me from getting my pride on.

My guess would be that, just like white people who...

2012-01-11T17:05:45.673-06:00

My guess would be that, just like white people who don't drink craft beer, they just plain don't like the taste of beer. So they drink the least offensive, most water-tasting beer they can find. Beer with flavor is a shock to some people's sensibilities, when all they've known is flavorless, light lagers. That's true regardless of race, IMO.

I'm part of the 3% of African-Americans who dr...

2012-01-11T15:11:47.845-06:00

I'm part of the 3% of African-Americans who drink craft beer, and I also wonder what percentage of white Americans drink craft beer. How do those numbers compare to the number of people of color drinking craft beers? Also, I frequent area watering holes and often see white patrons buying Miller Lite. So the numbers would be interesting to me for that reason as well. Why aren't white people drinking craft beers right here in Wisconsin?
-Jen

Tradition? There are very few african ales on the ...

2012-01-11T09:36:04.891-06:00

Tradition? There are very few african ales on the market (and that crap from sprecher doesn't count).

Whereas white people often come from a long hodge podge of european ancestry, its easy to lay a heritage claim to certain types of beer you like.

im probably way more swede than i am scot, but i know more about my scottish ancestry and so Scotch ale's seem to taste even better.

As far as latin communities are concerned, they have their own alcohol traditions, and craft beer may not be one of them, but craft booze is.

What percent of the white/black/latino middle or u...

2012-01-11T09:08:23.844-06:00

What percent of the white/black/latino middle or upper class are those numbers?

I would assume most craft beer drinkers are white ...

2012-01-11T08:38:30.389-06:00

I would assume most craft beer drinkers are white because white people occupy a larger population in the US and the majority of wealth belongs to white people. Craft beer is a luxury and white people, in general, are the ones who can afford it.

A tough call; I raise a pint to all, but I tip my ...

2012-01-10T18:43:47.311-06:00

A tough call; I raise a pint to all, but I tip my cap to RedEye in Wausau. Folks outside of central Wisconsin don't know what a great place this is for both food and beer. Brewer Kevin has 4 excellent house beers (Bloom, Scarlet 7, Veruca Stout,and the fantastic IPA, Thrust) plus he cranks out amazing specialties and seasonals every two weeks or so (Charlatan Imperial Stout comes in mid-January!). To compliment your imbibing, Chef David prepares some extremely tasty dishes, from wood-fired pizzas, to fresh catch of the day, from ribs to wraps, paninis and an amazing burger. It is well worth a road trip for southern Wisconsin beer lovers to check out RedEye (and Bull Falls tap room less than a mile away!. Come up to Wausau and enjoy...cheers!

Who's your audience? Just beer nerds or averag...

2012-01-09T12:11:41.131-06:00

Who's your audience? Just beer nerds or average folks who just like good drink and food? Or both? I'd wager that a barrel-aged or sour festival would bring in basically just beer nerds.

I personally have no interest in a Hop Fest because that's what store shelves are these days. But I would imagine that would pull people in since such a festival would be riding the hop wave of popularity.

A Wisconsin-only fest could be nice but I'd like to see breweries that don't distribute here such as Lazy Monk and Valkyrie.

Midwestern copy of "Night of the Funk" i...

2012-01-09T10:40:45.109-06:00

Midwestern copy of "Night of the Funk" in Boston.