A sixpack of freestyle: O'so Brewing

I picked up a six pack from this eccentric Wisconsin brewery.  I've mentioned before my love for such things.  There is nothing that fills me with as much hope and joy as the thought of a barely-contained maniac standing over a brewpot with a handful of obscure ingredients and a gleam in his eye.  O'so seems to have that same love.  The self-proclaimed 'freestyle brewer' invites the world to 'join the fight against boring beer'.  This is a motto they hold quite well, all of their beers have a little something extra.  A strange, texture or a different flavor that keeps the beer snob on her toes.  

One thing that I found endlessly entertaining was the fact that they put descriptions of their beer on their labels.  They were, for the most part, a little grandiose, but one would not expect much less.  I had a bit of fun with them and they are reprinted in italics.

Night Train Roasty Chewy Robust Judicious Cream Bold Complex Immense: Lots of roasted coffee and chocolate with maybe a hint of cherry on the aroma.    This is one of those beers where you have to run to keep up with the flavors that are running across your tongue.  I picked up the aforementioned coffee and chocolate, cherry, vanilla and so on.  It all takes place on a kind of bitter background of roasted barley.  Very nice dark beer.

Hopdinger: Pungent Hoppy Crisp Floral Bitter Piney Resinous Engaging:  Yep, that's pretty much the available lexicon when it comes to IPA's... except maybe engaging.  Not sure if I've ever labeled a beer engaging... I mean ALL beer is engaging, I suppose.  Anyway I pick up a little bit of pine and citrus on the nose.  Lots more citrus on the palate with a kind of astringent herbal flavor just behind it.  It's not an overwhelming IPA the citrus, floral and herbal qualities are intense but they are not overly bitter.

The Big O, Zippy Crisp Tangy Luminous Subtle Unique Sunny Jubilant: This has a very light malty aroma.  Kind of a lemony pilsners.  It's got a little bit of body and starts with a sweet malt that's... kinda pushed aside by a hint of lemongrass.  Nice, light, refreshing but not without an interesting nuance.

DANK Imperial Red Ale.  Wonderful brown sugar cherry caramel aroma.  Not the malt bomb I kinda assumed it would be.  The above flavors are more or less tempered with a coffee and unsweetened chocolate bitterness.  The cherry peeks through a little more then the other flavors and there's some slight astringent hops character in there as well.

Memory Lane: A special pilsner brewed to raise money for Alzheimer's research.  Light grassy aroma.  O'so brewing proves they have, not only the will, but the ability to put their own unique spin on every style, though in this case I'm not sure it's a good one.  There is a very intense, lemony sour flavor.  It wasn't unlike another German beer from Wisconsin.  This wasn't as pleasant, though. 

Dominator Dopplebock:  Wonderful chocolate cherry aroma with maybe a hint of charcoal.  The flavor starts sweet with that chocolate cherry flavor.  Some bitter pine and woody flavors arrive a little later and help temper the malt and blend together nicely leaving a crisp, slightly dry aftertaste.

New Glarus: A tour in five bottles.

Last time I was in Wisconsin, I brought a few friends back with me.  I've been aware of New Glarus for a while now.  I previously talked about one of their beers that came back with me during the first of these bottle beer tours.  I had the opportunity to acquire a few more of it's cousins for an unofficial family reunion. 

Two Women: A lager brewed in honor of the women of brewing as done by two companies run by women, New Galrus and Weyerrmann malting.  It has a slightly grassy aroma.  I picked up notes of peach and nectarine along with some grassiness from the hops.  I think I detected a touch of vanilla in there as well. 

Totally Naked: This is a beer brewed just as the label suggests.  Malted barley, hops, water and yeast. It is simplistic and it's suppose to be.  It has a light, grassy aroma.  The flavor is slightly malty with almost no detectable hops.  For a beer brewed to be a simple refreshing drink on a hot summer day, it hits the mark pretty well.

Dancing Man: Belgian wheat beer.  It has a heavy clove aroma.  At first, the flavor was really, really intense.  The tropical fruit, peach, clove and spice was almost too much at first, but as the beer warmed and my palate adjusted, I found it to be pretty enjoyable.

IIPA: I had to laugh at the label description for this beer, "More the 85 provocative IBUs reverberate cleanly through this Double IPA.  Local Wisconsin hop saturation from kettle boil to dry hop cellaring dominates this elegant and lustful sensory enchantment.  You hold a deceptively seductive Original Gravity of 20.9 Plato, following the always 100% natural bottle fermentation.  Luscious English Maris Otter malt is the essential heart of this voluptuous Double IPA.  Surrender is inevitable, so enjoy now!

I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think my beer might be hitting on me.

Apparently this a beer where they turn their brewer loose on whatever idea might be floating around his little mind.   This particular idea had citrus and herbs and spice apparent on the nose.  It's smooth, although those hops come on in force.  There's a moment where the malt holds them back, but they are there and they hit the palate hard with a dry, herbal grassy flavor that affect the back of the throat more then anything.  The finish is remarkably clean for a beer like this... though I don't think it's quite the 'lustful sensory enchantment' they claim.   Come to think of it, I don't know what a lustful sensory enchantment is, but I'll have to ask my wife if she's willing to do that.

Berliner Weiss: This is the second example of one of New Glarus' experimental beers.  This is a obscure style that charmed the likes of Napoleon in centuries past.  This pours very pale and clear from the bottle.  Has that wheaty, carbonated aroma of a light pilsner beer.  And the flavor... was not at all what I was expecting.  It is extremely tart.  The light color hides a lot of body, but it's still has a fizzy mouthfeel.  The flavor is refreshingly lemony, like a carbonated light lemonade.  Not bad, but I don't think I'd drink a lot of this.

The Random Acts of a Hopped up Drunk.

In my travels, I don't always end up in a microbrewery.  I mean I do.  I do a lot.  Just not all the time.  Sometimes I just find myself in some bar.  Sometimes that bar has a decent enough selection that I can find something interesting.  So, I write some notes and wait for a slow week to throw them all together in a erratic, random post.

So enjoy four random beers.

This is one of those.

Victory Brewery: Golden Monkey: A Belgian Tripple with the expected light bannana aroma.  Smooth, creamy, a little on the sweet side with a bannana nut flavor on the top.  Hops kick up in the back and leaves something woody and lightly floral.

Leinenkugles Brewery:  Leinies Honey Wiess:  Another lighter drinkable summer beer from The giant of Chippewa Falls Wisconsin.  It had a lemony aroma... but that was likely from the lemon wedge the bartender insisted on putting in.  The beer itself was lightly grassy, malty and... of course, lemony.  Very drinkable and it finished just slightly dry.  Not complex, it isn't suppose to be is it?

Wynkoop Brewery: Saision De Colfax: Found a beer from an old friend.  I visited Wynkoop brewery a couple years ago and was impressed overall.  What they failed to tell me when I first ordered this beer is that it's a little different from your normal saision.  For one, it's not usually as black as Guiness.   It had no aroma to speak of, but the flavor was rich with port wine, fruit and chocolate notes swirling around.  I'm not sure what this actually has in common with what is typcially a light, summer, farmhouse ale, but what the hell, I like it either way.

Dry Dock: Apricot Blonde: Another Colorado native.  The aproicot flavor is very pronounced.   It's quite sweet with lots of fruit.  Probably won't appeal to those who are dead set against fruit beers, but it was a nice refreshing drink either way.

Odell Breweries: Mycenary: Yet another from Colorado, guess what state I was in when I compiled this list,  It has lots of nice citrus hops in the aroma.  The army of bitterness is held at bay with a decent amount of malt.  The balance is very nice and it leaves the light, floral, citrus hop flavors in tact.

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.

An Annual Visit: Milwuakee Wisconsin

Still on my Wisconsin tour, particularly the area around Milwaukee.  I've been here enough times that I think I've more or less covered all the breweries near the city.  There are more in Wisconsin scattered among the towns and hinterlands, but Milwaukee is more or less canvased, with the exception of the Milwaukee Brewing Company which I will get to next week.

In the meantime, I stopped by a few of my past favorites to see what they've been up to.  Last year about this time I visited Delafield Brewhaus.  This place is to a bar what Yankee stadium is to a baseball diamond in the park, same basic function, huge difference in capacity and scale.  I think I covered in last year to some degree, but really... wow.

They had three beers on tap that they either didn't have last year, or wasn't part of the sampler I had.   On a related note I must have had the wrong beers or they have done something different.  I remember being a little... ambivalent about some of the beers last year, but the few I had this year were actually pretty awesome.  So we'll make this a quick post and talk about them:

Einhorn Bock:  This beer has a wonderful sweet, fruity aroma.  The fruit translates in the flavor with hints of cherry and strawberry with a kind of woody, earthy flavor mixed in.  It finishes very clean leaving almost nothing on the palate when it's gone.

Delooz-n-it: A very intense banana and floral aroma here. The most striking part of the flavor was the floral, almost lavender qualities right off the top that were followed by some fruity esters and a dry herbal spicy finish.  Different in flavor and fairly awesome beer here.

Strawberry Ale:  So it's like this...I was sipping one of my beers when an older couple sat down next to me.  The woman looked at the menu a minute and asked the bartender about the strawberry ale.  He told her about it using many of the same terms that I'm about to use.  The woman got quiet, looked back at the menu and turned to her husband, "I think I'll have that.  But you don't have to get it.  It's a chick beer."

The bartender smiled and poured the pint.  With it's light pink color and strawberry fruit aroma... yeah there's a certain femininity about it.

The bartender set the pint down and said, "Might be a chick beer, but you'll be surprised at the kind of guys that order it regularly."

The aroma is just what you would imagine, all sweet strawberry  The flavor is very sweet, but what is striking is the amount of flavor they pack into this beer.  I find that a lot of these tend on the light, watery side of the spectrum, but this was actually fairly robust for the style.

But...yeah... the woman was right.  If you're a man drinking this beer with any regularity then you're probably the guy at the bar who's friends give him a hard time because all your drinks come with a little umbrella.

Anyway, see you all next week when, yes, I break some new ground for the first time in a couple weeks.  Until then, cheers!

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.

Bottle Beer Tour 3: The Fermented Menace.

Okay, taking a short break from the road to empty out the beer fridge a little, (And yes, I have a refrigerator just for beer.  That's not weird, is it?)  Today is the day daylight savings time hits and to commemorate that fact we got about six inches of snow.  In typical midwest fashion, winter is going keep an icy hold as long as possible.

Tis the season of indecision, so we've got some winter beers, some summer beers and some nasty weather to drink away.

Abita Brewery, Marti Gras Bock:  Seasonal selection available only January through about mid February or something.   Pours clear and copper colored, with a very light herbal aroma.  Has a bit of a spicy, herbal bite to it.  Lots of caramel malts there as well, with a nice full body. 

Choc Brewery, Winter Stout: A winter stout with a wonderful chocolate, raisin coffee aroma.  The flavor has a lot of bitter coffee with some unsweetened chocolate. I also get just a hint of fruit somewhere in there, but I can't quite place it. 

 



Breckenridge Brewery, Agave Wheat:
Something a little different from a brewery halfway up a mountain.  This beer pours a cloudy golden color.  Slightly lemony and herbal. It has a kind of sour-sweet flavor.  Not like the sour of an infected beer, but more like green apple.  It has some slight herbal qualities on the back.  Lighter body, smooth mouthfeel.  Nothing all that astounding, but a nice summer beer anyway.

Huisbrouwerij Klein Duimpje, Erik De Noorman Dutch Barley Wine:  Okay stepping a little out of the United States a bit for the first time.  Pours cloudy and copper colored.  It has a raisin and plum aroma.  Full bodied with a slightly fizzy mouthfeel.  Sweet and malty with dark fruit flavors off the top with a slight bitter back and a dry finish.




This last one... I don't know if it even still qualifies as a microbrew.  I guess it is in the sense that Sam Adams is considered a micro brew by some.  Still, because I happen to have a bottle here, here's a midwest staple: Leinenkugles, Berry Wiess:  And it's pretty much as advertised.  Strong, fruity nose.  Very sweet raspberry flavor to the point of being a sparkling cider. 

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.

Frigid Northlands: Mount Horeb, Wisconsin

Grab your coat, we're going to have a rapid change of climate this week.  From the relatively warm Southern United States to Wisconsin, a place largely described as uninhabitable about three to four months of the year.

It is because of that weather, however that the beer selection is suddenly improving.  That's not to say the beer from the last three weeks or so hasn't been good, it has.   It's just been... well, kinda standard.  Like a brewer took out a style guide and designed a beer that perfectly fit within the acceptable style for, say an IPA.   It is pale, it has a lot of hops and an alcohol level over 5%, yes this is an IPA, no doubt about it. 

It's not their fault, it's nice outside.  You can leave your house without bits of you turning blue and falling off.  Here, that's less the case.  Instead people gather in the heated taverns and pubs practice and evolve the art and the craft of drinking.  Not just drinking to get drunk, but drinking as an end in and of itself.

This week I'm in the small town of Mount Horeb Wisconsin.  It's about an hour and a half west of Milwaukee and home to The Grumpy Troll Brewery.  They have twelve beers on tap at any given time running from a simple American pale ale to an Imperial Stout to a wild rice ale or a 'crisp American lager'.  I was passing through and my time was limited so I picked a selection of the beers I thought would be most interesting which turned out to be just shy of half the total selection.

Spetsnaz Stout: Starts off with a chocolate, coffee aroma.  The flavor is intensely bitter for the style.  It's texture is creamy it has a lot of roasted dark malt off the top, but it ultimately ends in a herbal bitterness that is surprising, but not out of place like hops can often be in a stout.

Eclipsed Imperial Stout: This one has a much stronger fruit aroma then it's little brother, it also packs a hop punch.  The flavor starts malty with hints of black cherry but finishes dry with an almost astringent bitter flavor.  You know how I was talking about bitterness seeming out of place earlier?  Yeah, this was what I was talking about.

St. Bernard Abby Ale: It had a very nice tropical fruit and clove aroma with a very similar flavor profile.  Like the stouts, this beer ended with a surprising amount of bitterness, but I came to believe this might have been some flavors left over from the two hoppy dark beers I had just enjoyed.

Maggie IPA: An imperial IPA.  If their stouts are hoppy, what are they going to do when turned loose on this style.  Answer, they are going to hop the shit out of this.  It presents with a citrusy, fruity aroma.  The flavor is sweet at first with some orange citrus.  The bitterness slowly builds in the background however, and soon it was dominated by intense floral hops.

Wee Curley: Scotch ale with a very, very light woody aroma.  Oaky, toasted malts hit really hard and really fast in the flavor leaving an unsettling amount of hop bitterness in the back.  At this point I'm not sure whether I've just spent too much time in a place where they have only heard of hops by rough description or if the brewer got his education from one of the Portland hopheads.

Like I said, a quick visit, but a nice one.  Next week I venture farther east to the city known for it's brewing tradition.

Cheers!

Bottle Beer Tour: A Midwest Sampler.

It is still the down season.  Not a lot of opportunity to get out and sample beer at the brewery, but quite enough time to sit down and pour myself a nice pint from one of the six-packs I collected on my previous travels.
So strap in time to go on a three-state tour of the Midwest:

Burning Skye Scottish Ale, Lincoln NE: Okay, so I picked this up at a local supermarket.  Aroma is light and malty with just the slightest hint of lemon.  Color is a deep copper color and hazy.  Flavor is a very light malt with a medium body.  Hops arrive in the middle kind of unexpectedly.  Not a lot of flavor but leaves a bitter, back of the throat feel.

New Glarus Brewing Co.  Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale, New Glarus, WI:
Intense spicy citrus hop flavor.    It's nice.  The aroma is there but it's not quite the hop bomb it would seem from the aroma alone.    The hops are there, but they add citrus overtones to a light malt bill for a nice, clean refreshing summer pale ale.  Absolutely wonderful beer.

Lucky Bucket Brewing Co. Certified Evil, La Vista, NE:
Kind of a local legend among the Nebraska beer snob crowed.  It has lots of dark fruit and coffee aroma.  Bitter coffee with with sweet chocolate and toffee back.  I taste a little butterscotch in there as well.    It's a big, malty beer but not as complex as some imperial stouts, but a pretty good selection.








Great Lakes Brewery Dortmuder Gold: Cleveland, Ohio
Very light lemony aroma.  Light sweet honey, citrus flavor finishes dry with just a hint of hops in the back.  An awesome light lager.  The flavors are subtle but very nice making this the ultimate summer session ale.

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.