Grumpy Again: Wisconsin

Back again in the wilds of Wisconsin.  I'm going to be in and out for a while.  Luckily if one thing can be said about the good people of Wisconsin, its that the like a beer or two.  So, yeah lots to talk about.  So long as you like talking about beer.

I visited the Grumpy troll earlier this year, but I had to kind of run through and they have a pretty impressive selection.  So it was worth going back and spending a little more time.  The change of the seasons had a few new additions to the beer menu, mostly in the form of lighter summer ales.  But their style remains very much the same.  They favor the hops here, even their dark beers have a generous sprinkle of bitterness caught in their malty web.

Belsconsin: An IPA from the brewery who, as I said before, like their hops loud and waking up the neighbors. The aroma is light with citrusy floral hops.  The flavor starts slightly malty before the hops hit with the subtlety of a freight train.  It was a little too intense for my tastes, someone tell those damn hops to keep the noise down.

Captain Fred: This brewery's version of a light lager.  The aroma is pretty much standard, light, grassy, a hint of hops but nothing all that different from the typical American Lager.  The flavor packs a little extra punch, though.  It's got just a hint of citrus on top of the typical character.  For a style that never really interests me, it's pretty good.

Sunflower:  This is a farmfouse ale with honey finish.  No aroma there, but it has a sight floral flavor off the top with some citrus buried just below.  Finishes a little bitter and dry, but a nice lighter beer overall.

Hopsburger:  This beer has kind of a strange aroma that made me think of milk.  .As far as pilsners go, this one has fallen off the hoppy end of the scale. There's a bit of grassy herberbal hops that grow and grow until its nothing but dry and bitter.

Malbock: I got a light fruity citrus aroma off of this beer.  There was some light malty flavors at the very beginning before citrus spicy hops finish off the palate.

Liberty Pole Pale: There's no aroma to speak of.  It's very bitter with floral slightly spicy notes.  It has a long lingering bitter aftertaste.  Again with a style that is typically hoppy by nature, this went a little far for my tastes.

Trailside Wheat: Very light bannana coconut aroma. Lots of tropical fruit with a very distict coconut flavor in there.  It sets it a little apart from the typical German wheat beer.