Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
In a sea of mostly negative news when breweries are concerned, here is a bit of positivity. New Glarus Brewing will be adding space to their campus in Wisconsin. It will take a few years for this expansion to be completed so plan your midwest brewery vacation accordingly.
I was excited to hear from professor and author Jennifer Jordan on the Beer Me podcast (part of the All About Beer family of podcasts). She is in the process of researching her new book Before Craft Beer: Lost Landscape of Forgotten Hops.
The book will chronicle the Wisconsin hop growing industry way back in the 1800’s. A great topic and I am a sucker for stories about lost times in history. The podcast is a little slow and doesn’t dig into too much but does give a starting point for when the book comes out.
The CIA recently launched a podcast and an even better brewing institution has one too, New Glarus Brewing is streaming.
I listened to the Oktoberfest and wheat beer episodes and found them to be a good dip into Dan Carey’s mind and the mindset at New Glarus. I am glad that the podcast tackles one style per show and secondly that the shows are thirty minutes.
I am not a huge fan of the questions. They ramble a bit and bounce around a bit much but Carey like his brewing can make magic even with not the best questions. It ends up being a good mix of beer talk and stories about the brewery.
The best thing I can say is that I really want a Spotted Cow right now.
Amber ales are not normally seen and Irish Ambers even more rare but the famous New Glarus Brewing Co. has a Snowshoe for you. They describe the beer as, “brewed with a blend of American and German malts. We also infuse generous amounts of hops from Slovenia and the Great Pacific Northwest to add a special note of warmth for your winter evening’s enjoyment.
Expect this beer to be a beautiful copper-red, with a fruity ale body and a spiced hop finish.”
We finish up the month with our 3rd stop in Wisconsin. Aptly at Third Space Brewing.
You can thank Camp Minikani for introducing founders Kevin Wright and Andy Gehl to each other. Now they are brewing up beers like…
It Was All A Dream – Juicy IPA
“If you don’t know, now you know…It Was All A Dream is our newest special release Juicy IPA. Brewed with an awesome new and extremely limited experimental hop, Dream is super peachy with flavors of pineapple, passion fruit, and berry rounding it out. A slightly hazy complexion, mild bitterness, soft mouthfeel and juicy hop flavors make this beer a dream from which you won’t want to wake. This beer won’t be around long so get it while it’s good and plenty.”
Madame Grisette – Farmhouse Ale
“Grisette is a traditional Farmhouse Ale originally brewed for the miners in southern Belgium to quench their thirst after a long day on the job. Perhaps best described as Saison’s hoppy sister, the Grisette was a beer of the working class that is well suited for a brewery built in a historic factory. Our Madame Grisette is brewed with wheat for a light bready body. Spiciness from the Belgian yeast strain coupled with fruity hoppy flavors and a pleasant bitterness evoke notes of citrus, pear, bubblegum, peach and clove spice in a refreshing and flavorful beer.”
East Meets West – Dry-Hopped Saison
“Our first collaboration beer, brewed with our friends at Good City Brewing (on the East Side) and Raised Grain Brewing (in the West Suburbs), brewed right here in the middle at Third Space Brewing. This beer is found only in each of our tap rooms so come get some before it’s gone.”
Java Blanca – Coffee Cream Ale
“Java Blanca is the second beer in our java series with our good friends and neighbors at Stone Creek Coffee. This coffee cream ale is full bodied and pleasantly sweet with a creamy mouth feel from the addition of oats to the mash. South American coffee beans, grown at high altitudes, add a sweet and acidic character to this beer along with strong coffee aromas and a subtle coffee bitterness in the finish.”
Milwaukee Mule – Sour Ale
“Inspired by the classic cocktail, our Milwaukee Mule is a refreshing summer sour with a bright, tart acidity that is balanced with fresh ginger juice and pureed lime. This sour wheat ale is a perfect choice for hot summer days.”
The second of three stops in Wisconsin is Raised Grain Brewing in Waukesha. Two homebrewing doctors met a former professional cyclist and over a Red IIPA created the brewery that would win a Gold Medal in 2016.
Here are the beers that I would order up for my first taster tray…
Kilted Kölsch
“Clean and crisp, our Kölsch is a tribute to the strong German influence in Wisconsin with a signature Scottish twist. It’s also one of our tailgating favorites, so grab a growler on the way to the game!”
Take ‘Er Easy Amber
“A perfect beer for a laid-back afternoon with friends, this Wisconsin amber is smooth, malty and easy drinking.”
Ah Ha IPA
“A boldly hopped American IPA that gets its name from the “Aha!” moment our brewer had when brewing a drinkable, not-too-bitter IPA. Quadruple hopped with Ahtnum and Amarillo hops.”
Six Stone Scotch Ale
“Our Scotch Ale gets its name from the weight of the grain (in Stone) that goes into each barrel of beer. It has a bold, malt-forward flavor enhanced by Belgian malts with a sweet touch of bourbon that results from the oak-aging process.”
Maybe those intrepid Beer Bloggers that went to Milwaukee for the Beer Bloggers Conference got to try beers from our first Wisconsin stop, Funk Factory Geuzeria.
They brew a beer style, Meerts. Another “forgotten” style in the lambic family. The FFG describes it Meerts thusly, “meaning March, is the low alcohol (2-4%) “table” or “field” beer traditionally made from the second runnings of lambic’s turbid mash. I refer to it as Lambic’s baby brother.”
So, obviously, I would focus on the original and variants in my first taster tray….
Meerts
Cherry Meerts
Peach Meerts
Blood, Sweat, and Unicorn Tears (Cranberry sour)
Cervino (Chardonnay/Sour ale hybrid)
The second half of the L.A. summer season is here, time to load up the ‘fridge with warm weather beers and start to be amazed at how early the fall seasonals are on shelves.
~ e-visits to three breweries from with the Beer Bloggers Conference landing in Milwaukee, we visit three Wisconsin breweries.
~ special featured reviews of Unibroue beers
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Dodge City by Tom Clavin
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your August started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) August 1st – All Your Oats Can release at Eagle Rock Brewery
2) August 3rd – Russian River Tap Take-Over at Lucky Baldwin’s Trappiste Pub location.
If you did not get enough of cranberries at Thanksgiving then maybe this frosty wheat ale from Tribute Brewing in Wisconsin will be the holiday treat for you.
First off a cashew pilsner does not sound very appetizing. Then you add in the notorious Durian “fruit” which even the brewer, MobCraft describes as smelling of “onions or rotting meat” and this has stunt brew written all over it. Thanks be that Wisconsin is far enough away from L.A. that I won’t have to smell this.
Or maybe I can carefully open the essence of Durian liquid that I received from my Oregon kin and place some drops in a Budweiser to see what happens.