Old Milwaukee: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Okay I promised a new joint this week and here it is.  The thing about the Milwaukee Brewing Company is that it has a kind of weird untold history with me and this blog.  See, this is not actually the first time I've been here.  It's just the first time I've managed to get in, get a seat at the bar and get beer.  Every other time I've been here, this place has been packed full.  I'm talking nowhere at the bar, not tables... hell people were standing three-deep at the bar the last time I was here.

 Maybe it's because it's in the middle of the week, maybe it's because I'm here in summer for a change and the denizens of Wisconsin are enjoying the few months of the year when they can be outside without pieces of them freezing and dropping off... whatever, it was finally empty enough that I could get in and grab a pint or two.

I guess what I am saying is, if you're going to seek out this little watering hole in downtown Milwaukee, go early, go during odd times or be prepared to fight a crowd for bar space.  Be warned, this place seems to have more then it's share of regulars and I'm guessing they don't fight fair.

So I got a tasters flight during my visit here.  They have a pretty extensive beer menu and so they break up their flights between a regular beer flight and a seasonal.  I went for the former, although due to some shortages, a few seasonals made it on.

Outboard: The beweries light beer offering. It has a lemony grassy aroma,  Pretty simple, light slightly lemony but your basic light beer.

Ulao: A belgian whit beer. No aroma to speak of.  Lots of tropical friut spice and kind of a skunky flavor.  I have to say this one wasn't my favorite, the Belgian yeast seemed to put some pretty odd flavors here.

Louie's Demise: This is the flagship beer of the brewery, an amber ale  with a fruity, cherry aroma. It starts slightly sweet and fruity right off the top.  Quickly moves to woody, herbal flavors.  The beer finishes suprisingly dry for its aroma.  As far as amber ales go, this one was very nice and complex.

Polish Moon: A sweet stout with light roasted aroma.  The flavor contains rich chocolate and coffee notes off the top.  There's a slight charcoal bitter flavor that follows but overall a very nice sweet stout.

O-Gii: Something from the seasonal list and something a little different, a tea beer. No aroma to speak of, but I get a huge blast of floral  lavander and herbal notes right off the top.  Finishes appropriatly bitter, the hops compliment the herbal flavors from the tea extremely well.  This monster packs a 9.2% alcohol and it hides it dangerously well.  It's one of those beers you could sit and drink a few of before realzing that you can't stand up anymore.

Hop happy: Pretty standard IPA style.  The aroma contains malt and herbal notes.   Citrus, floral hops hit hard and fast but are somewhat tempered by a high malt bill.

Black Iron: Rather hoppy aroma for a black ale.  The flavor has lots of the coffee and chocolate flavor you would expect from a beer like this.  The brewery claims it lacks the bitter roastiness that you would find in a normal black beer due to the use of dehusked German malt but.... I can't taste it.  It starts sweet and ends with bitter roastiness just like you would expect.

And that's officially it.  I am pretty confident that I have hit all the breweries in the Milwaukee area.  If anyone goes through the archives and finds one I missed, let me know.  Otherwise, mark Milwaukee off the list, been there done that.... for now.

Me So Horny: Milwaukee Wisconsin

Contrary to what the title might suggest, no, I didn't accidentally post my adult dating site ad on my beer blog... WHICH I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BEING HAPPILY MARRIED AS I AM!

No seriously, I deleted that thing years ago.

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Too much information?  Okay, let's talk beer.

Not exactly the sunniest place on Earth.

This weeks selection comes from brew city, Horny Goat Brewing Company.  Their beer is available in bottles all over the Wisconsin and the surrounding area.  In Milwaukee they have their brew pub, the Horny Goat Hideaway.  The brewpub consists of the main building and a series of open patios and a satellite bar that's little more then a shed that can be opened on warm, sunny days.  It struck me as a little weird since Wisconsin isn't know for having a lot of really nice weather, especially this time of year.  I'm sure this place is spectacular in the summer having a great deal of area to sit outside with a cold one, but when I was there... yeah even with gas-powered fires in the patio, it was the exclusive domain of the few smokers persistent enough to risk hypothermia for their fix. Everyone else crowded in the main bar with something strong and warming.

Horny Blonde Ale: Light ale with a faint lemony aroma.  It pack quite a bit of flavor for a traditionally light style.  It's flavor starts light and lemony goes to slightly heavier medicinal hops later.

Baby Got Bock: This is their spring seasonal. It seems a bit early, but spring probably can't come fast enough in this state.  It starts with a very light herbal aroma.  The flavor is also light with warm malty flavors, and lightly, grassy hops I'm tasting towards the end with a little bit of light peach fruit mixed in as well.

Hopped Up and Horny: Starts out with a light floral aroma. Bitter floral hops dominate the flavor profile here with a dry, bitter finish that really lingers on the palate.

Brownie Porter: A slightly different take on a very common style, the object of this creation was to end up with a freshly baked brownie in a glass.  Not normally the flavor one associates with beer, but the result was remarkably good.  There was a heavy cinnamon and nutmeg aroma. The flavor was much lighter.  I tasted brown sugar, cinnamon and spices.   The only downside is the bitter herbal aftertaste that just seems out of place in this beer.

Stacked Milk Stout and a pulled pork pizza.

Stacked Milk Stout:  This beer has a very light chocolate aroma. In the flavor, I got some vanilla, coffee and cream and dark malts.  Not overly complex, just enough to add a little depth to this perfect cold-weather beer.

Chocolate Cherry Stout:   No aroma to speak of here.   The flavor was not what I expected, I get the fruit off the top among the chocolate and coffee, but it finishes very dry and more than a little bitter.  This strikes me as good fruit beer for those that do not like fruit beers.

Double IPA: Heavy floral aroma here.  Huge hit of floral Cascade hops in the flavor.  It has some lighter malt to help with the balance, but this one borders on a hop bomb; not too intense, but getting pretty close.

That's all from the frozen wastes of Wisconsin for now.  Next week, I'm off to Southern California for a more hospitable climate and more beer.

The outskirts if not the fringe: Milwuakee, WI

I find myself back in Milwaukee.  Overall not a bad place to end up all things considered.  The last time I was here, I visited one of the downtown breweries.  This time I'm a bit farther out.  Okay a lot farther out.  In retrospect it might not be accurate to label this post as being in Milwaukee.  This is actually in a outlying communities that lie between Milwaukee and Madison.  But what the hell Milwaukee is close enough.

Delafield Brewhaus is kind of a strange place in the world of microbrewing.  The brewpub is located a long ways away from the major urban centers in a huge building.  The bar section off to the right as you enter is larger than most brewpubs I have visited.   Add to that a large section for restaurant seating and an additional space on the second floor for parties and overflow and you've got a pretty massive place.

Overall my experience was very good.  Our waitress was fantastic and fairly knowledgeable about the beer that they brew.  That being said, the beer was kind of average.  I had a tasters flight of three regular beers and two seasonals and none of them really stood out in any way.  With it's being 30 minutes away from either Milwaukee or Madison, it might be worth a trip out here once, but that's about it.

Leisure Beer: This is their version of the light lager.  There's not much to say about it other than it's very clean with a slight bitter bite at the end.

Sommerzeit Hefe Weisen: This one had a very spicy aroma with a lot of tropical fruit and banana.  The flavor profile didn't have many of these esters.  Really the only thing I could pick out was the heavy spice character of clove and coriander.  It was just too much.  I was glad I only had to finish a small glass of this particular beer and not an entire pint.  

Delafield Amber: This is the flagship beer and best-seller in the brewery. It's aroma is extremely light and the flavor has a watered-down taste to it.  It's slightly malty but not much more complex than that.

Pewaukee Porter: This beer starts off with a sweet caramel aroma.  The flavor adds coffee and sharp roasted barley.  It does have a slightly bitter back but it tastes like it comes from the black patent malt as opposed to any hops.

Naga Wicked: At this point we get into the seasonals.  It was at this point I discovered where the brewery had been hiding all their hops.  The aroma was absolutely bursting with citrusy hop character.  There was some additional pine notes in the flavor.  Those that like their beer hoppy should probably just stick to this selection.

Fruhlighzeit Malbock: There was some debate on the subject at the bar, but I am going to come right out and say it.  This beer smelled like feet.  It was one of those beers that I had to really wonder if that was the brewer's intention or if something had gone wrong somewhere.  The flavor however was very good.  It had lots of light berry and fruit flavor along with vinious character.  It finishes dry with no detectable hops.  

 

That was the end of the tasters flight.  As I looked over the beer menu I found a beer they had left off the flight... and for good reason.  It was their 13th Anniversary Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Barleywine:  The aroma was wonderful.  I picked up port wine, caramel, raisin and chocolate notes.  The flavor adds more of a dark chocolate quality with a lot of nutty, woody flavor from the whiskey barrel along with a slight alcohol note.  This is defiantly a malt bomb, but the flavor complexities make it quite enjoyable.

"What Made Milwaukee Famous...:" Milwaukee Wisconsin

Another dispatch from Milwaukee.  It's been a bit hard to keep updated as of late.  The good news is it's because I've found myself on the road a lot lately.  The bad news... well I've been needing to play catch-up.  As I write this, I am actually miles away from the state of Wisconsin, though I won't say exactly where.

German influence on American beer cannot be understated in the least.  You need only look at the quintessential American beer, the pilsner to truly understand the role German brewing has in the American drinking culture.  The epicenter of that movement?  Milwaukee.  Years later German styles still influence the craft brewing culture in this state.  By way of example: Water Street Brewing Company.

Milwaukee Waterfront District

This brewpub is located on the waterfront district of Milwaukee.  As the new microbrew culture started up in this country, Waterstreet Brewing led the way for Wisconsin becoming it's first brewpub back in 1987. The downtown location itself has the look and feel of an old-world or early American bar. In addition, it is a strange museum dedicated to the art and craft of brewing in Milwaukee.  Thousands of old beer cans line the walls, there are cases of old tap handles and neon and porcelain signs line just about every wall in the bar.   It's almost worth a visit just to browse the walls and cases looking at the moments from the long brewing history of this city.

They have a pretty extensive beer list at any given time.  I sat down and got started with a flight of samplers.  There is quite a lot of them, so I'm going to do my best to keep this brief.

Imperial Stout: This wasn't actually part of the sampler, but I had it as a pint with dinner.  Full bodied, but not as compared with many other beers of this style.  Lots of roasted barley, coffee and chocolate flavors and aromas. There is also a hint of cherry or raspberry flavor peeking out.

Tasters Flight:  First row from left to right: Honey Lager Light,
Mimic Lager, BavarianWiess, Raspberry Wiess.  Back row:
Amber Ale, Pale Ale, Octoberfest and Westphalia Braun.

Honey Lager Light: Okay now on to the taster tray. This is their version of the American light lager and I have to say that it's pretty good for the style.  Light grassy aroma with a refreshing flavor that contains just a hint of fruit sweetness that made me think of honeydew.  Still not a huge fan light lagers but I have to say that I could drink a lot of this and be quite happy.

Mimic Lager: No detectable aroma that I could detect.  And the flavor... well... the best way I could think of describing the flavor is that it tastes like a brewery smells... but in a good way.  Lots of grassy yeasty flavor.  I quite enjoyed this beer.

Bavarian Wiess: This is a traditional German wheat beer.  Has a spicy banana and tropical fruit aroma.  Very creamy mouthfeel with clove and citrus.  Pretty typical for the style.

Rasberry Wiess: This one has a sour raspberry aroma.  Pretty simple flavor profile.  Lots of sour berry flavor.  Those that don't typically like fruit beers might like this one as it edges closer to the drier side of the style.

Pale Ale: This one doesn't have quite the bitterness of other pale ales.  There is a lot of malt flavor off the top with a hint of citrus that usually comes from sweet orange peels.  It ends just slightly bitter.  Not really my favorite, but only because I prefer pale ales that pack a bit more hops in, those that like big malty beers would  [probably like this one a lot.

Amber Ale: This beer reminded me of a brown ale rather than an amber ale.  It has a slight fruity aroma.  It was sweet, malty and fruity off the top of the flavor and ends with some raisin flavor and is very smooth.

Octoberfest: By the time I got to this beer on the tasters flight I started to notice a constant theme: none of their beers really have much an aroma at all.  This one is no different.  Some toasted grains and ends with just a hint of bitterness.

Westphalia Braun: This was a creation from the brewery's apprentice brewer.  It's not bad; a heavy dark beer with a espresso aroma.  The flavor has lots of coffee and chocolate notes with a hint of caramel.

Mead: This also wasn't on the tasters flight, but I couldn't resist a glass.  A good mead is hard to find.  More and more breweries and wineries are experimenting with this ancient elixir more and more, but it's still kind of a rare find.  It's about as simple as booze gets; put honey in water and add yeast.  This one was on the sweeter side of the spectrum.
That's all from Milwaukee.  From here it's up to the fertile brewing fields of Portland, Oregon.  Although it's almost laughable to pick one brewery in that city and write a single blog about it.... well that's what I am going to do.  So laugh away.
Cheers!

The reemergence: Milwaukee Wisconsin

"This is a still found in one local gentelmans basement here in Milwaukee," said the tour guide, holding up a rusted metal pot with a funnel and pipe welded to the top, "this lovely bucket is a condenser," he said holding up a dirty bucket with a rusted metal coil, "This is all you need to make your own vodka. And that is a felony."
Proving my status as a sub-par journalizer, I don't remember the name of the tour guide at Great Lakes Distillary. If and when you go, ask his name. I've been there twice and it's the same guy.   Anyway this was how our introduction to the world of micro-distilling started.
Most days of the week, they have at least two tours though the distillery. They have a bar and a shop open at regular hours, but it's worth the tour if only for the tasting session afterward.

We started with the Rayherst Vodka. Obviously a neutral spirit. It was just slightly sweet with just a hint of almond flavor.

Lemon Honey Rayherst: Pretty much self explanatory. Lots of lemon, slightly sweet honey flavor. They use real lemon peels and honey and it really shows here. If you enjoy the flavored vodkas that have have come out over the past few years, seek this out.

Rayherst Gin: A very complex gin including juniper, sweet basil and ginseng. The aroma is pine and citrus. The flavor starts with orange and sweet herbal flavors. Juniper and other medicinal herbs follow. This has a different enough flavor that even those who don't like the 'pine tree' taste of gin might like this.

Roaring Dans Maple Rum: Named after a famous local pirate. Type the name 'Roaring Dan' into Google for a complete profile, but I will summarize here by saying that he made life interesting for anyone who used the Great Lakes to make a living. His namesake rum is made with real Wisconsen maple syrup. The aroma is sweet and woody, obviously from the maple. The flavor is mostly the same, although at 90 proof, there is a lot of alcohol flavor. This is best cut with an ice cube, but is very good either way.

Pumpkin Seasonal: It's rare to come across a liquor that is truly unique, but this is it. This is a batch of pumpkin ale brewed by the nearby Lakefront Brewing Company that was put through the still. The result is weird and wonderful. The aroma is fruity and sweet with cinnamon and clove. The flavor is heavy on pumpkin spices; cinnamon clove and coriander. It's slightly sweet and has a woody character about it as well.

Amerique 1912: There is probably no liquor in the world with more lore and mystery attached to it than Absinthe. In college parties all throughout this great nation of ours there are tales of wild trips to Eastern Europe and bouts with the Green Fairie that lead to vivid hallucinations and uninhibited debauchery that can only be experienced by drinking 'real absinthe'. It was those kind of stories that kept absinthe illegal in this country until 2006 when a group of people finally convinced the legislature of something that we all kind of knew. Those guys in college were full of shit and the great authors of the roaring 20's drank it because it was delicious, not because it is liquified peyote. Great Lakes Amerique is an American reproduction of an old European recipe that blends fennel, anise and wormwood. The aroma and flavor is all black licorice. It's slightly sweet with a creamy mouthfeel. Strait out of the bottle it's abou 120 proof as is meant to be cut with about a 2:1 ratio of ice water that creates a beautiful cloudy green appearance that makes you realize why this drink is the stuff of legend.