Mmmm.... Dirty Old Man

The Madison Isthmus website has a review of a beer I just had at the Midwinter Brew Fest at the Milwaukee Ale House last weekend: Tyranena's Dirty Old Man.

I'm a big fan of Tyranena beers, especially their extra hoppy styles like their Bitter Woman IPA series. This beer is part of the Tyranena Brewers Gone Wild series of beer - extreme flavors and unusual styles that are all very good.

Dirty Old Man is an Imperial Rye Porter that was aged in rye barrels that used to contain Jim Beam Yellow Label (Rye whiskey, aged 4 years, 80 proof).

This beer is strong, dark, and sweet. It also has a strong whiskey taste.

Beer aged in bourbon and whiskey barrels is very popular lately and it took me awhile to get used to the whiskey taste, but now I really like it, especially when it has warmed a little in a glass.

Tyranena Dirty Old Man is rated an A- on Beer Advocate.

Best Madison Beers of 2007

Robin Shepard from the Isthmus lists the best Madison beers of 2007 (Madison and the surrounding areas, I guess). The complete descriptions and links can be found on their website. There are some great beers listed here, and I haven't tried them all yet.

Here's the breakdown:

Most surprising beer
New Glarus Brewing Company -- Smoke on the Porter

Biggest beer
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company -- Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout

Best seasonal beer
Tyranena Brewing Company -- Gemuetlichkeit Oktoberfest

Best beer for a nightcap
Central Waters Brewing Company -- Bourbon Barrel Stout

Best summertime beer
Furthermore Beer -- Fatty Boombalatty

Lowest-cost beer with "some" flavor
Minhas Craft Brewery / Joseph Huber Brewing Company -- Berghoff Red

Best beer for a bowl game
Ale Asylum -- Hopalicious

Best beer to ring in the new year
Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company -- Merry Isthmus Ale

Best beer after shoveling snow
Capital Brewery -- Autumnal Fire

Best beer of 2007
Lake Louie Brewing: Louie's Reserve (L.R.)

Great Dane can now sell their own beer

Starting last week, the Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company started selling their own brand of beer at its Hilldale restaurant in Madison.

The brew pub opened its third Madison location last year, but was unable to sell its own beer there because of a law dating back to the 1930’s that prevented them from selling at more than 2 locations. So Great Dane had been selling their competitors' beer, and their brew kettles at the Hilldale location remained dry.

A provision in the new Wisconsin state budget now allows to brewpubs to sell their own beer at up to six locations without using a distributor. They can also to brew up to 10,000 barrels of beer per year, an increase from the 4,000-barrel limit under previous laws.

But the beer distributors successfully lobbied to add restrictions to the provision that prevent breweries from making both a lot of beer and serving food. So brew pubs that are successful in making beer (so they eventually reach that 10,000 limit) have to stop serving food. And successful breweries can’t open a restaurant at their site or at another location.

So who would think that’s a good idea – telling a brewery that they can’t open a restaurant? The beer distributors do. They don’t want places serving their own beer. They want their money, so they want to distribute all the beer. But since beer at a brewery doesn't need to be distributed, they made it illegal instead.

This limits business unfairly, and is a stupid law. What started out as a good idea (allowing Great Dane to serve their own beer – a no brainer) turned ugly once the distributors got their hands on it.

I’m not aware of any businesses that effected so far – supposedly all breweries operating before the law went into effect have been grandfathered in and are still allowed to sell food. But any new breweries won’t be able to sell food. We'll see how it works out.

Half Acre, All Wisconsin

I was in Chicago this week and I finally tried one of the beers from Half Acre Beer Company that I wrote about in September.

It was good, but that's probably because it's made in Black River Falls, Wisconsin by the Sand Creek Brewing Company (contract beers account for 30% of their production).

They only make one beer so far - Half Acre Lager - and it was tasty. My 3 choices at the hotel were only Half Acre, Heineken, and Miller Lite, so I think I made the right selection. It was a pretty light beer but it had good malt and hop taste to it - much more taste than tradition light beers. I'd have it again.

I also went to Goose Island Brewery in Wrigleyville. While there I had a $10 glass of their Imperial IPA which was great (9% alcohol but come on, $10?). I also sampled 8 more of their beers, many of which I had before but the good ones were Matilda, 312 Urban Wheat, and their Christmas Ale. The brew pub is a nice place with decent food too.

Rowland's Calumet Brewing Company

Why haven't I heard of the Rowland's Calumet Brewing Company? I've been to a lot of different beer tastings with breweries from around the state, but I don't believe I've ever had any of their beer. They weren't at the Great Taste of the Midwest, so maybe they don't do beer events. Chilton is less than two hours north of Milwaukee so I think I'll have to check out their brew pub the next time I'm nearby.

From the Fond du Lac Reporter:

CHILTON — Oktoberfest beer made by Rowland's Calumet Brewing Co. of Chilton has been named one of the Top 10 Oktoberfest Beers in the country by Draft magazine.

Draft said Rowland's Oktoberfest Beer, "never falters." The beer was featured in the September/October 2007 issue of Draft.

"This is a complete surprise," said Pat Rowland, son of Rowland's founders Robert and Bonita Rowland. "We didn't even know that we were being tested. This is a real honor."

"Oktoberfest Beer started out as a seasonal beer for us and the demand was so high that we just started brewing it all year round since 2002," Bonita Rowland said.

Rowland's makes about 25 beers, 11 of which can be ordered on tap at any time at the company's beer pub. Rowland's also brews a draft root beer and a handful of specialty beers like "Pumpkin," used in local fall festivals. The Rowland family has been brewing beers since 1990.

The brewery and beer pub are located at 25 N. Madison St. in Chilton (Highway 57).

Stupid Brew Pub Law Update

As I discussed in an earlier post, under current law, a Wisconsin brew pub can operate only two locations if it produces more than 4,000 barrels of beer a year. That is stupid. Why limit businesses like that?

Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co., a Madison-area brew pub operator, opened its third location earlier this year, but is not allowed to serve their own beer there. So instead, they have to serve their competitors' beer. That is stupid too.

Earlier this year, Great Dane asked for a change in the law to lift the production limit to 10,000 barrels and allows up to six locations. That sounds like a good plan, except that 10,000 is too low, especially for places like Lake Front Brewery. But it's still a good start.

But the beer distribution industry (who has strong connections in Wisconsin government) doesn't like brew pubs and microbreweries because they are able to distribute their own beer.

When they heard about Great Dane's proposal, they were quickly able to get a provision added that bans a licensed brew pub operator from also owning a brewery that produces beer for packaged sales.

It also prevents breweries that are currently producing over 10,000 barrels from obtaining a restaurant permit. And if a brewery is under the 10,000 barrel limit, the brewery will be able to get a restaurant permit but will never be able to grow above 10,000 barrels unless they give up the restaurant.

The budget proposal also includes a provision banning Wisconsin wineries from selling their vintages directly to restaurants, liquor stores and other retailers. Instead, wineries would be forced to sell through wine wholesalers.

Since a lot of brewery business models in the state have been built on having a restaurant in their facility, this is a very damaging addition to the bill.

This bill was in the spotlight last July and was successfully tabled by opposition from microbrewery and brewpub owners in Milwaukee and the rest of the state. But this weekend the bill was quietly added to the proposed state budget, which was passed and now goes to Governor Doyle to sign. He does have power to veto any part of the budget, including this stupid brew pub law.

At least two Milwaukee breweries will be affected by the law if the budget is signed as-is. Lakefront Brewery would not be allowed to open another location (like a restaurant or bar) and sell their own beer there. The production limit might require him to close the Lakefront Palm Garden restaurant, which operates at his brewery, 1872 N. Commerce St. Lakefront Brewery this year will produce around 9,600 barrels and is expected to exceed 10,000 barrels in 2008.

The Milwaukee Ale House is building a stand-alone brewery in Walkers Point. But if this law is passed they may be forced to convert the 2nd Street brewery into a brew pub - a move that would require a large investment.

JSOnline has the full article about the Ale House.


10/26 Update: It appears that Doyle has signed the budget with the new brewing restrictions intact. I guess time will tell how this affects our state microbreweries and brew pubs.

I really don't think Great Dane should be vilified for wanting this change to Wisconsin law, even though Tyranena and other state breweries are mad at them. The Wisconsin Wholesalers Association and the Wisconsin Brewers Guild are the main culprits. The law that was passed puts limitations on the microbreweries in Wisconsin in order to aid the beer distributing businesses. Artificially limiting the success of a business can't be a good thing.

Considering Wisconsin's brewing heritage, we should try to be as brewery-friendly as we can in this state, and do everything possible to promote this unique craft industry, not limit its growth.

Great American Beer Fest Winners

The Great American Beer Festival is a three-day annual event hosted by the Brewers Association held at the end of September or the beginning of October in Denver. The GABF brings visitors from around the world to sample more than 1,600 different American beers. Over 100 beer judges from the US and abroad participate in the evaluations of one or more beer styles, ultimately judging 2,300 beers entered by more than 450 domestic breweries. Gold, silver and bronze medals in 69 beer-style categories are awarded, though not every medal is awarded in each category.

The 2007 GABF was this weekend. Here are the winning beers from Wisconsin:

Fruit Beer or Vegetable Beer - 94 Entries
Gold: Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, WI
Silver: The Great Pumpkin, Elysian Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: Raspberry Tart, New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI

Herb and Spice Beer - 58 Entries
Gold: Summertime 69, Gunnison Brewery, Gunnison, CO
Silver: Sigda’s Green Chili, CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing Co., Fort Collins,CO
Bronze: Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI

Gluten Free Beer - 8 Entries
Gold: RedBridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Silver: New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Shakparo Ale, Sprecher Brewing Co., Glendale, WI

I didn't realize that Sprecher made a gluten free beer. That is a definite Lakefront copycat rip-off. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but is Milwaukee a big enough town for TWO gluten free microbrews?

American Style Lager - 33 Entries
Gold: Hamm’s, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: McHenry Lager, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MA

American Style Specialty Lager - 16 Entries
Gold: Icehouse, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Mickey’s Ice, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI

Whoo-hoo! A Miller sweep. Too bad I don't like any of those beers.

European Style Dark/Münchner Dunkel - 18 Entries
Gold: Dunkelstilsken, CB & Pott’s Restaurant & Brewery (Highlands Ranch),
Silver: Capital Munich Dark, Capital Brewery Co., Inc., Middleton, WI
Bronze: Munich Dunkel, Redrock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT

American-Style Dark Lager - 12 Entries
Gold: Roadrunner Red Lager, Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson, AZ
Silver: Henry Weinhard’s Classic Dark, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Elevator Dark Horse, Elevator Brewing Co., Columbus, OH

Baltic-Style Porter - 13 Entries
Gold: Killer Kowalski, Flossmoor Station Brewing Co., Flossmoor, IL
Silver: Foothills Baltic Porter, Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC
Bronze: Amnesia, The Grumpy Troll Restaurant & Brewery, Mount Horeb, WI


The entire list of categories and winners is here: http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/pdf/gabf07_winners.pdf


Update: The eight medals Miller won at the Brewers Association's annual Great American Beer Festival were more than any other beer brewer that took part in the competition.

Since 1996, Miller has won 113 awards between both the Great American Beer Festival and the bi-annual World Beer Cup, more than any other large brewer, according to the company.

Madison 'Hops and History' brewery tour

There's a walking tour in Madison this Saturday called "Hops and History," which will be held from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, beginning at the Great Dane Brew Pub and ending at the Angelic Brewing Co., site of the former Hausmann Brewery.

Hosted by Robin Shepard, author of Wisconsin's Best Breweries and Brewpubs, the tour is being organized by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and costs $20.

Seven locations will be featured on the tour, including the former Breckheimer Brewery and Fauerbach Brewery in downtown Madison.

The Capital Times from Madison has more information.

Oregon makes good beer

I had some great beer from Oregon this weekend at the Great Lakes Brew Fest in Racine from Rogue Ales. All the beer Rouge brews is really good.

The northwest has tons of quality microbreweries and brew pubs, and it's all about hops that are grown in that region.

Here's a good article from the Oregon Daily Emerald, the independent student newspaper at the University of Oregon:

Good beer: what Oregon does best
Oregon's thriving culture of microbrewing makes it stand apart from anywhere else in the country.

New Chicago Brewery - Half Acre Beer Company

Gabriel Magliaro is the owner of Half Acre Beer Company, which has been available in Chicago for about a month.

It looks like they only have one beer so far that's contract brewed at Sand Creek Brewing Company in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. About 30 percent of Sand Creek's business is from contract brewing.

Half Acre Lager, the first release by Half Acre Beer Company is brewed using only water, hops, barley and yeast, making sure to respect the integrity of the brewing process and the purity of its ingredients. We chose to balance a rich malt base with a livlier hop content, encouraging a natural, vibrant taste and smell while maintaining the beer’s full body and cloudy, amber appearance. Half Acre Lager is suitable to pair with a range of cuisines and experiences during the season of your choice.

The full article from the Chicago Sun-Times.

All-In-One Beer Making Machine

Some guy invented 'The Device,' the world's first all-in-one beer making machine. Just add the ingredients and go.

There's a video and a little more information on Popular Science's website.

I like how it serves beer too. Brilliant.

Madison Breweries

In honor of the Great Taste of the Midwest last weekend, The Isthmus has a good article about the many small craft brewers in the Madison area.

Here's the list from the article. I've tried beer from them all.

Ale Asylum
3698 Kinsman Blvd.

Capital Brewery
7734 Terrace Ave., Middleton

Granite City Food and Brewery
72 West Towne Mall

Gray's Tied House
915 Kimball Lane, Verona

The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co.
123 E. Doty St.
2980 Cahill Main, Fitchburg
357 Price Place, Hilldale Mall

The Grumpy Troll Restaurant and Brewery
105 S. 2nd St., Mount Horeb

J.T. Whitney's
674 South Whitney Way

Lake Louie Brewing
7556 Pine Road, Arena

New Glarus Brewing Co.
County Trunk W & Hwy. 69, New Glarus

Tyranena Brewing Co.
1025 Owen St., Lake Mills

Brew Pub Law

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article today on a proposed brew pub bill in the Wisconsin state Legislature. The Brewpub Tourism Development Act limits how much beer a brew pub can produce, which could hamper the growth of brew pubs that want to sell their beer in packaged form at liquor stores and supermarkets. Local brew pubs protested the new bill by spilling bill into the Milwaukee River.

I first heard about this bill a few months ago when I went to visit the new Great Dane Pub at Hilldale Mall in Madison. I'm a big fan of Great Dane and I think their downtown Madison restaurant is probably the best brew pub that I've been to. The Hilldale restaurant is their 3rd location and I even brought an empty growler along so I could take some beer home. But when we arrived at the brew pub we were told that they weren't allowed to serve their own beer because of an antiquated Wisconsin law - so they serve some of their competitors beer their instead. I thought that was crazy.

Under current law (enacted in 1933), a Wisconsin brew pub can operate only two locations if it produces more than 4,000 barrels of beer a year. The pending bill would raise that production limit to 10,000 barrels and allow up to six locations.

This works out for Great Dane, but breweries and brew pubs with standalone breweries think this unfairly favors brew pubs that don't package their own beer. All of the brew pubs in Wisconsin are well under 10,000 barrels a year, but some of the breweries, like Lakefront Brewery, are already near or above 10,000. This means that Lakefront would not be allowed to open another location (like a restaurant or bar) and sell their own beer there. Lakefront thinks this gives brew pubs like Great Dane a big advantage, especially if they decided to open a brew pub in Milwaukee (good for me, bad for Lakefront).

Milwaukee Ale House owner Jim McCabe is against this bill because he's opening a stand-alone brewery in Walkers Point and another brew pub in Grafton. Although the Milwaukee Ale House only does 1,300 barrels a year now, they'll be producing a lot more beer once the brewery is up and running and could reach that 10,000 limit.

Rob Larson from Tyranena is also against the bill and wrote about it in his brewery email newsletter: Today, all small breweries are essentially treated equally. We can all bottle, keg, distribute and are permitted two liquor licenses (one at the location of the brewery and the second on property owned by the brewery). This has created a level playing field between small brewers, whether they choose to have a restaurant or just a tap room. The new legislation (28 pages in length) creates an uneven environment, one which favors brewpubs over microbreweries... and then favors certain brewpubs over others. The bill would permit brewpubs to brew, bottle, keg, distribute and have up to six locations without the onerous financial burden of owning all the real estate. In essence, they can do everything a microbrewery can do... but have four more locations and not be required to own all the real estate. I personally enjoy eating and drinking at the state's brewpubs... but they are also competitors for draft lines and potentially bottle placements in the store. I do not think the state should be enacting legislation that gives them a competitive advantage over us.

Gray's Brewing Company has a brewpub (Gray's Tied House) in Fitchburg, but because they have stand alone brewing facility in Janesville, they would be prevented by statute from opening up any additional brewpubs while The Great Dane Pub and Brewery would be able to do so. The Milwaukee Ale House is hoping to open a second pub location as well as a stand alone microbrewery... but would be prevented from doing so under this legislation while others can have six locations. Quite frankly, I think all breweries should be able to have up to six liquor licenses. I would enjoy seeing a chain of Sprecher or Capital Beer Halls across the state... a number of Leinie's Lodges... or a bunch of Lake Louie Fish Houses... or New Glarus Swiss-themed pubs with chocolate on the menu and clocks on the wall. Personally, I would love to have a chain of bluegrass dance halls in key underserved markets. But these are things that cannot come to pass under this legislation. In fact, the Granite City brewpub chain would be limited to only two locations due to the way in which they brew... is that really fair?

Even the title "Brewpub Tourism Development Act" frustrates me. Do only brewpubs bring in tourists? Is the restaurant really the thing that brings people to town? I suspect the hundreds of thousands of people that tour Miller Brewery might disagree. Or the huge throngs that pass through Sprecher, Lakefront or Leinie's each week. Or the tons that drive down to little New Glarus. Or the thousands that we bring into Lake Mills each year either just to come to the brewery or for many of our special events.

I am not opposed to the Great Dane being able to expand from two to six locations... I just want fairness in how it is done. Let all of us breweries have up to six locations.

I understand there is other legislation recently added to the bill that is also bad for some breweries (none of it's bad the the Great Dane, which is located one block off capitol square - walking distance for the Madison fat cats). Sand Creek Brewing in Black River Falls claims that the new bill means a "that any brewery that is currently over 10,000 bbls and doesn’t have a restaurant permit will never be able to get one if the bill is passed. If the brewery is under 10,000 bbls, the brewery will be able to get a restaurant permit but will never be able to grow above 10,000 bbls unless they give up the restaurant. Since a lot of brewery business models in the state have been built on having a restaurant in their facility, this is a very damaging addition to the bill."

Now I'm a bit worried about the bill. I want there to be more brew pubs, but it sounds like this bill could actually drive some out of business.

Fearful Symmetries has a lot more on the story: http://powervoyeur.blogspot.com/