03 August, 2012

Madison Is Now Ground Zero of a Grodziskie/Grätzer Revival

First Scott Manning at Vintage brewed a grätzer and now his confrère Mark Knoebl of The Grumpy Troll has done the same:



Scott tells me that Knoebl's version has less bitterness than his and has a lower original gravity as well. Methinks a trek to Mt. Horeb is in order.

A couple new labels of note:





A new Oktoberfest on the scene, eh? It'll be difficult to keep me away from Capital's mellifluous take on the style but I shall have to give it a shot. I am pleased to see Leine's do a Baltic Porter, a much under-appreciated beer. Capital did one a few years ago for their Capital Square series and I loved it. I long for the day when Kirby brews it again.

Turning to the world of mead, Bos Meadery has opened its doors over at 849 E. Washington. MadTable has a nice profile of Colleen Bos and her establishment. Oddly, the article describes mead as a "medieval drink" when it then proceeds to say that it is "world's oldest fermented beverage". Using these words makes it sound like a Dogfish Head kind of thing – a beverage that people haven't made in centuries and only now is the recipe being dusted off. But mead never went away. Poles, for instance, have been drinking it for centuries even as Americans forgot about it.



The near east side can now claim to be home to a meadery, a distillery (Old Sugar), and a brewery (One Barrel). Next thing you know someone will starting making sake on the isthmus.

On a similar note, I recently noticed that there's a new outfit making sangria in Milwaukee - Lovino. Biz Times has a brief article about them.

Jaime and Erica Zdroik have launched Sangria by Lovino, a Bayview-based ready to drink bottled sangria. The Sangria has been released in 83 Roundy's locations in Wisconsin and plans for release in a few Milwaukee-area restaurants are currently underway.

The sangria is produced and bottled in Algoma, Wisconsin and shipped to more than 83 locations throughout Wisconsin.

According to Erica, the product is best served on ice and mixed with citrus fruits.

"Our product is all natural and is different than other bottled sangria on the market," Erica said. "Our sangria is 12.5 percent alcohol, compared to other sangrias which tend to be closer to 6 or 8 percent. We don't dilute the product at all."


It is now available in Madison.



Narragansett Brewing Company of Rhode Island is expanding its reach outside of the East Coast and we Cheeseheads will be the first lucky victims of their cunning plan. To the best of my knowledge, I don't know anyone who's ever tasted Gansett brews. Their line-up of a pale lager, a "light" beer, cream ale, porter, Märzen, helles bock, and golden ale doesn't have any trendy styles but I can't complain about the prospect of another helles bock next spring.



Lastly, Madison Beer Review has a comprehensive list of Great Taste pre-parties. With such a plethora of choices, I don't know where to go. Last year I sweated out much of the night at Brickhouse but not before a stop at the Capital Tap Haus where I drunkenly pleaded with Kirby to avoid the primrose path of pale ales and to instead stay with the lagers. Thankfully he didn't remember me the next day.

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