Brews of the Season

Core Weekly, a local weekly rag devoted to college kids and hipsters in their 20s, recently ran a piece on seasonal beers. The article was notable, to me, for the paucity of brews mentioned that are made here in Wisconsin. Well over half the population of this state claims some German ancentry and the quaffing of suds has transcended any ethnic associations to become part of the state's culture. If a town, no matter how small, is incorporated in this state, it has some kind of festival and these festivals all feature beer tents. The first thing one does when going to such an event is to find the beer tent and down some social lubricant before braving the crowds. And any cluster of buildings, whether it's a town or not, will have at least one tavern among them, even if there is no church. Although winter officially started only a few days ago and, despite global warming, it's been a snowy and chilly December. For centuries, the people of Northern Europe have hunkered down next to the fire during the long winter months with a potent potable to fend off the cold that rages outside. The descendants of those folks here in Wisconsin continue this tradition today. Unlike the author of the Core Weekly piece, I find no need to look beyond the borders of our fair state, much less the United States, for a fine brew to take the edge off the chilly weather. In fact, I would prefer to support the brewers in my community and my state, generally. In addition, beer is meant to be consumed fresh unlike wine which gets better with age. (Except barley wine, of course.)

In an age when our homes are littered with mass-produced crap made in China, I would urge my fellow Wisconsonians to seek quality beers made by people for whom brewing is a craft, not another division in a mega-corporation. Or to at the least, support the people who work at the larger breweries here in our state. And so I want to counter the Core Weekly's article by pointing out some locally brewed suds of the season.

Firstly, I want to start off with a favorite of mine - the barley wine from New Glarus Brewing. I've consumed some of this already but also have a 6-pack aging in my basement. This stuff is gooooood. Sweet and potent, just like me.

Unlike Core Weekly, I really like Capital Brewery's Winter Skål.



It's got a great combo of malty and hoppy goodness.

The Huber Brewery in Monroe (a bit south of Madtown), offers their Hazelnut Winter Ale.



I guess you'd consider Huber to be more of a regional brewery than a microbrewery but, still, their beer is pretty tasty and a far cry from Budweiser.

Also to the south of Madison is Gray's Brewing Company in Janesville. Their webpage is silent on the matter of a winter seasonal, but I assume their Winter Porter is available.



Madison is down to two brewpubs - well, three technically, but the Great Dane has two locations. (A third, the Ale Asylum, is to open in February.) The aforementioned Great Dane is now serving their Merry Isthmus Holiday Ale while on the west side of town J.T. Whitney's is offering Mad Badger Barley Wine.

On a related note: I mentioned earlier this year that Fauerbach beer is available again. The brewery was here in town and closed in 1966 or '67. And while the brewery did not re-open, the beer is being brewed under contract. (By Gray's.) While only their lager is available right now and only on tap, this will change in less than a week when they introduce their amber in bottles.