The Malt House Opens Its Doors

Today at 16:00 Madison welcomed its latest drinking establishment – The Malt House. The owner is Bill Rogers of the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild. While I'd planned on being the first person there, things went awry when I had to stay late at work. But I eventually arrived and found a note in the door's window saying something to the effect that Budweiser products were persona non grata. When I finally crossed the threshold, there were many folks already there.



The joint looked sharp. It was all new and shiny. The 150-year old bar looked just swell and the place had an austere, yet comforting ambience.



There was a selection of brews on tap which were listed on a chalk board in the back as well as a cooler full of tasty suds, many of which were unfamiliar to me. (Mostly the Belgian ales.)





My first acquaintance of the evening was a strapping lad named Pete and together we surveyed the selection of Belgian ales. Drinkers all around us were trying various brews and everyone was taking a look at everyone else's selections asking how it tasted. Pete got a Belgian and was immediately surrounded by others asking how it tasted, where the beer was from, and the like. There was this communal atmosphere of beer drinkers collectively sampling new flavors.

The poor bartender was swamped and there were empty glasses everywhere waiting to be filled. The taps were giving a lot of foam so it took a while for refills. For his part, Bill seemed to be balancing his time socializing and taking orders with the emphasis on the former. There were some wait times but I can't complain considering that the bar had been open for all of two hours.

As Pete and I were talking, a woman sat next to me and she looked familiar. I asked her if she had been at Mickey's last night but she said no. She looked like someone I met at The Dulcinea's birthday gathering the night before. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I continued chatting with Pete. After he left for a prior engagement, the woman, Kelly, and I struck up a conversation. Kelly left southern California for the laid back, friendly, and beer-centric Midwest. She was a homebrewer and a member of the Guild. Kelly remarked how she had brewed lagers over the winter, which endeared me to her, and this relates to my only legitimate criticism so far: the paucity of lagers available. There was no bottled beer menu so perhaps there was stash under the counter that I missed, but I was disappointed at how few lagers were for the taking. Everywhere I turned there were ales – fine ales them all – but I was hankering for a New Glarus Edel Pils or a Pilsner Urquell. A lager, a lager – my kingdom for a lager!

Since the place has no kitchen, some kind soul did a spot of catering. There were hot beef sandwiches and I swear I spotted a tray of cheese. I ordered an O'Fallon Smoked Beer and remarked that some summer sausage would go well with it. Kelly agreed. We chatted about the available brews, her trials and tribulations of getting tickets for The Great Taste, and where the Guild will hold its meetings now that Wonder's Pub has been transmogrified into a café. And I think I may have talked her into attending Cheese Days in Monroe this year. As our conversation wound on, the gentleman next to her bought a $10 glass of this sour raspberry lambic which sounded quite intriguing. Had my wallet been fatter, I would have no doubt gotten one myself.

After Kelly took off, I found myself talking to Andrew, a grad student majoring in cognitive psychology when not sampling Belgian ales. He told me about the UW's program and explained Steven Pinker and his reputation to me. Quite fascinating stuff – how people acquire language and behaviors, the differences between us and chimps, etc. Had it not been a school night, I suppose that I could have listened to him for some time. But it's a school night and responsibility beckoned.

Next go round I plan on trying Capital's Prairie Gold, which is on tap. It's Kirby's new summer seasonal, a Belgian blonde ale. Since I didn’t have any Belgians, I'll have to enjoy a few next time I go.

If there were any doubt as to the bartender's dedication and passion to her trade, check out this action photo of her opening a bottle with gusto.



As for The Malt House, so far, so good. There were a lot of Guild members there this evening so it wasn't exactly a good gauge of the bar's future. Still, with a patron doing the catering and Bill's enthusiasm for beer, it certainly could turn out to be the neighborhood tap of choice for east side beer snobs like me.