 |  |
|---|
Top Wisconsin beers to pair with your Thanksgiving meal
on 11/20/09 at 12:00 pm | Beer and Thanksgiving are intrinsically linked in the settlement of this country -- the Pilgrims had beer on the Mayflower -- so why not serve local beers on your holiday table? Granted, it can be a challenge to find just the right beer(s) to go with the cornucopia of flavors found in a Thanksgiving feast, but try breaking down the meal with several beer options. |
 |
Beer Here: Hop Harvest from Central Waters Brewing
on 11/13/09 at 10:00 am | Did you catch a glimpse of the harvest moon a few weeks ago? Well, the brewers at Central Waters must have been basking in the moonbeams as they celebrated the release of their latest seasonal creation: Hop Harvest. Brewery staff did more than brew the beer -- they even harvested the hops. |
|
Beer Here: Eisphyre from Capital Brewery
on 11/06/09 at 2:00 pm | Just when the gales of November seem to come early, Capital Brewery takes its warm, malty Autumnal Fire to an entirely different level with the special release of a winter-hardy version named Eisphyre. This intensely malty, yet incredibly smooth doppelbock is capable of taking the chill off. |
|
Beer Here: Spetsnaz Stout from the Grumpy Troll
on 10/30/09 at 1:00 pm | For the past several weeks I've found myself on a malt quest -- searching for that perfect pint of flavor with tones of caramel and chocolate. These beers are often deep golden, brown or even stark black. Last weekend, in my desire to explore the tastes of the season, I ended up in Mount Horeb with a dark and rich, sweet and silky stout in hand. |
|
Beer Here: Hopscotch from the Great Dane Fitchburg
on 10/23/09 at 10:00 am | Hopscotch offers some big malty flavor, much like the current offering of fall Oktoberfests, only it has an assertive, bitter personality, making for a taste that you shouldn't, well, skip. |
|
Beer Here: Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale from Tyranena Brewing
on 10/16/09 at 10:00 am | It's the time of year when jolly orange gourds start appearing on steps and porches. But pumpkins are not just for jack-o-lanterns. Stop by your favorite beer shelves, and you'll find pumpkins in the six-packs. My choice when it comes to pumpkin pie in a pint glass comes from Tyranena Brewing. |
|
Beer Here: Satisfaction Jacksin Double IPA from Ale Asylum
on 10/09/09 at 10:00 am | No big secret that the folks over at Ale Asylum turn out some great beer. They also have a sense of humor that doesn't go unnoticed among the faithful. The Madison brewpub's newest beer, Satisfaction Jacksin, has a name that might remind you of a garage band from Sheboygan or an '80s porn star. And if it does, you're correct on both accounts. |
|
The big beers of fall
on 10/09/09 at 9:00 am | Those who enjoy a good malted beverage know that this time of year reflects the seasonal change in more than the color of leaves. It's when the lighter, crisper brews of summer are nudged aside by the deep browns and big malty brews of fall. "I love the bigger beers. They're my kind of beers," says Jamie Martin, brewmaster at Wisconsin Dells Brewing. Dan Carey of New Glarus Brewing has a similar passion: "I really like a malt-accented beer, and an Oktoberfest is right up there for me." |
|
Beer Here: Fallen Apple from Furthermore Beer
on 10/02/09 at 11:00 am | The fall apple harvest means fresh pie or cobbler to some. But Furthermore Beer offers a liquid alternative with its current seasonal beer called Fallen Apple, which just hit store shelves in Madison. |
|
Wisconsin breweries capture honors at 2009 Great American Beer Festival
on 09/27/09 at 6:00 pm | Capital Brewery and New Glarus Brewing were among the local beer makers winning awards at this year's Great American Beer Festival. The annual competition in Denver concluded on Saturday, drawing over 49,000 visitors to the three-day festival that includes awards in more than 75 categories. |
|
Beer Here: Altbier from the Great Dane Downtown
on 09/25/09 at 12:00 pm | What does the autumnal equinox inspire in the beer person? An altbier comes to my mind -- an indicator of the halfway point between summer and winter, a benchmark for the change of season. These beautiful deep copper-colored brews remind me of the colors of changing leaves. |
|
Beer Here: Chocolate Imperial Porter from Tyranena Brewing
on 09/18/09 at 2:00 pm | Regulars at the Tyranena tasting room are the beneficiaries of brewer and owner Rob Larson's skill with big malty beer. He's been playing around with cocoa nibs in his imperial porter and developed something very special. |
|
Beer Here: Red Lager from Leinenkugel's
on 09/10/09 at 1:00 pm | Have you tried to find a Leinenkugel's beer on tap in Madison recently? A few weeks ago, I stopped in Chippewa Falls to see the relatively new Leinie Lodge hospitality center. The visit reacquainted me with a few of the brewery's mainstays, enough so that over the Labor Day weekend I thought a Leinie's Red sounded like a good beer to pair with a burger at lunch. |
|
Beer Here: Slow Eddie from the Grumpy Troll
on 09/04/09 at 10:00 am | Every now and then in my quest to keep up on what's brewing in southern Wisconsin, I'm confronted with a creation that just doesn't fit mainstream beer flavors. I put chili or hot pepper beer among those considered atypical. Recently, during a stop at the Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb, I was introduced to a favorite of the locals called Slow Eddie. |
|
Beer Here: Oktoberfest from Sprecher Brewing
on 08/28/09 at 10:00 am | The Oktoberfests have begun arriving on shelves near you. At the risk of seeming to wish away the remaining days of summer, when Marzens begin turning up it means that the cooler nights and colors of fall are not too far off, and the beer season is changing too. |
|
Beer Here: Pine Marten Red Ale from the Great Dane Hilldale
on 08/21/09 at 11:00 am | You could say this is one weaselly beer. The Great Dane at Hilldale just tapped Pine Marten Red Ale, a brew that pays tribute to the reddish-brown weasel that roams Wisconsin's North Woods. Brewer Don Vasa has made a beer that shares a few qualities, in a good way, with this rare and endangered little creature. |
|
Beer Here: Milk Stout from Moosejaw Pizza & Dells Brewing Company
on 08/14/09 at 1:00 pm | Jamie Martin, the brewmaster at Moosejaw Pizza & Dells Brewing Company, says she likes making the beers of fall and winter most. Over the past week the seasons must be changing at the Wisconsin Dells brewpub, as Martin just began transitioning from the lighter beers of summer to heavier beers like her rich, malty Milk Stout. |
|
The beer gods smiled on Great Taste of the Midwest 2009
on 08/10/09 at 1:00 pm | There's a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin that gets passed around a lot in the beer world: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Whether or not Franklin actually uttered these words, there must be some truth to the saying: The heavens bestowed a blessing of sunshine on Madison's annual Great Taste of the Midwest, held this past Saturday at Olin-Turville Park. |
|
Beer Here: Tripel Nova from Ale Asylum
on 08/07/09 at 3:00 pm | I'm extremely happy to learn that Tripel Nova has just become an addition to the Madison brewery's seasonally released bottled beers. Up until now, you could only get it at the brewpub in single glasses or growlers, or at festivals like the Great Taste. Four-packs started rolling off the bottling line this week, though, and have found their way to local shelves. |
|
No tickets for the Great Taste of the Midwest 2009?
on 08/05/09 at 2:00 pm | Okay, so you are not among the 6,000 ticket holders to the Great Taste of the Midwest at Olin-Turville Park on Saturday. You can still experience some of the brews that'll be offered at the annual beer festival, though. |
|
Beer Here: Snake Hollow IPA from Potosi Brewing Company
on 07/31/09 at 1:00 pm | The opening of the Potosi Brewing Company and National Brewing Museum in July 2008 marked a return to beer making that extends back to 1852, a heritage that includes well-known brews like Good Old Potosi, Holiday and Pure Malt Beer. Today, the new brewpub has a version of all three of those, but the one addition to that very old lineage is an IPA called Snake Hollow. |
|
Good old Potosi
on 07/31/09 at 9:00 am | The drive from Madison to Potosi, via Highway 151 and County Highway O, takes about an hour and a half. It's an old, rural landscape, but beautiful with trees, woods and cold-running trout streams. It's not hard to imagine that today's natural beauty isn't that far from what Gabriel Hail, who immigrated from England, saw when he arrived in Potosi and built the brewery that would become home to the community's namesake beer. |
|
Beer Here: Bully Porter from Gray Brewing Company
on 07/24/09 at 1:00 pm | Bully Porter uses a bulldog on the label, a reference to the family pet belonging to Fred Gray's grandmother, Margaret Gray. Fred says the dog, known as Bully, was a slobber dog -- a mouth-watering image for his porter! |
|
Beer Here: U.S. Pale Ale from Capital Brewery
on 07/17/09 at 1:00 pm | Capital Brewery and its brewmaster, Kirby Nelson, are well known among fans of German lagers, especially those who like the smooth, malty styles of Oktoberfest, doppelbocks and maibocks. Fans of the brewery also know that Nelson makes a handful of ale beers with brews like Rustic Ale and U.S. Pale Ale. Both are both clean tasting and very drinkable, but the pale ale caught my attention on a beer-buying excursion over the recent Fourth of July weekend. |
|
Beer Here: The Big O from O'so Brewing
on 07/10/09 at 1:00 pm | With the hotter days of summer now upon us, the lighter wheat beers seem just right with their crisp citrus flavors and effervescence. The Big O from O'so Brewing is a light-bodied beer made with a heavy dose of wheat malt.
|
|
Beer Here: Mr. Natural's Organic Nut Brown Ale from the Great Dane
on 06/26/09 at 1:00 pm | When was the last time you picked up a comic book with your favorite beer? Ever heard of Robert Crumb? If you're into underground comics and know who Crumb is, then the next time you're at the downtown Great Dane Pub and Brewery, look at the beer menu board for Mr. Natural's Organic Nut Brown. |
|
Beer Here: Crack'd Wheat from New Glarus Brewing
on 06/19/09 at 2:00 pm | As for the beer of choice for the day, it was difficult to pick one, but on a beautiful hilltop overlooking town, a wheat beer just seemed right. And with New Glarus, there's a choice among three different weizens. With its crisp hoppy edge, it was Crack'd Wheat that I decided to take home as a memento of the occasion. |
|
Beer Here -- Whole Hog Six-Hop IPA from Stevens Point Brewery
on 06/12/09 at 1:00 pm | Fans of hoppy beer might want to take note that the Stevens Point Brewery is going "Whole Hog," introducing a new line of beers that includes a Six-Hop IPA. The brewery opened in 1857, which makes it one of Wisconsin's oldest beer producers, and is well known for Point Special Lager and its iconic royal-blue cans. |
|
Beer here at the Duck Pond with the Madison Mallards
on 06/05/09 at 1:00 pm | What goes well with duck? Apparently beer! The Madison Mallards’attendance figures keep growing every year, and beer may be one factor in that success. |
|
Beer Here -- Wild Rice from Capital Brewery
on 05/29/09 at 11:00 am | After being out of the beer lineup for a few years, our own Capital Brewery of Middleton has a proven recipe that is returning to area beer shelves this summer. Wild Rice lager took a few years off, but it's out again now, and it's well worth picking up a six-pack over the next few weeks. |
|
|
Log in