Our first entry comes from the Point Brewery and is their Spring Bock. I grant you it doesn't fee like spring right now, but this'll give you something to look forward to when you see the word "spring" plastered across your drink.
The folks at Falls Brewing apparently have a new flavor on the horizon, Hot Tail English Style Pale Ale. Not sure when it's going to be available. To accompany the pulchritudinous figure on the label comes this description:
Falls Hot Tail Ale would be respected on the streets of 19th century England. Maybe. Traditional in all respects. The warm copper color is the result of our use of pale malted barley, with small additions of caramel and biscuit malt. Falls Pale uses lower hopping rates than the American West Coast cousin to the English Pale. The result is what we consider a more widely accepted beverage. Only English hops are acceptable. A creamy tan, long lasting head rests atop. A great brew to drink while watching the Badgers trounce Ohio State. Also great with a burger and fries.
From Tyranena Brewery's brewmaster Rob Larson comes this news:
Currently aging the Devil Made Me Do It! Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter with coffee beans from Sumatra (Indonesia really, but Sumatra sound cooler to me as I am a big fan of the game Risk) and Costa Rica roasted by an old friend over at Berres Brothers Coffee in Watertown. Planning on bottling next week.
Tis the season for Sand Creek's Pioneer Oderbolz Bock.
Out east in Milwaukee at Lakefront, they are readying for Mardi Gras with their Big Easy Beer, a blonde doppelbock. No Snake Chaser this year, I guess.
Also on the shores of Lake Michigan is Sprecher Brewing and they are (or shall be shortly) offering their Irish Stout in anticipation of of St. Patrick's Day.
Down in Janesville at Gray's, they are no doubt readying their Irish Ale.
From the venerable Leinenkugel's comes their spring seasonal, Big Butt Doppelbock.
From up north at the Viking Brewery, we have a trio of brews. January saw the releases of Mørketid, a Schwarz beer, and Invader, which is a Dopplebock and is the brewmaster's favorite style of beer. Next month, which is but a day away, will see the return of J.S. Bock, a Helles bock and is perfect for Lent.
The last update is from New Glarus brewing. There are some pictures of their expansion available at their webpage. Things look to be coming along nicely. February brings the next installment of Dan Carey's Unplugged series and this time around it's Belgian Quadruple:
Inspired by the Trappist brewers of Belgium, our heavyweight Quadruple tips the O.G. scales at 25 degrees P. Master Brewer, Daniel Carey, sourced the Brett yeast that boldly frames this refined and complex strong ale. First coddled in our Oak lager tanks and then slowly matured in bourbon barrels. This is a bold beer that sips like a refined cordial of nutmeg, dried cherries and vanilla.
It'll be like Christmas all over again.
A couple notes for folks looking to buy brews in Madison. Firstly, my usual source for Viking beers, Star Liquor has been having a hard time in recent months stocking their product. I have found that both Woodman's West and Jenifer Street Market both carry several Viking varieties. In fact, Jenifer Street Market recently finished some remodeling and now have a walk-in beer cooler and Wisconsin brews are exceptionally well-represented. By this I mean that the more micro microbreweries from the central and northern parts of the state get a lot of shelf space. In addition to Viking, Falls is there plus South Shore Brewery. And it's not just 1 or 2 beers by these breweries, but rather every flavor the distributor could get his or her hands on. A truly wonderful selection.
I'd also like to note that Woodman's West carries a large selection of products from White Winter Winery up in Iron River, not too far from South Shore Brewery. Woodman's has the dry, sweet, & black meads, all of their melomels, and the cyser. No bracket/braggot, unfortunately.
Finally, I recently tried a new brew:
Holzfass-Bier's Appenzeller is a Swiss beer and apparently has been available here in the States for less than a year. It is aged in oak barrels for a few months and this comes out in the flavor. It is very mild, almost flat, and so I was disappointed. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't anything to go to Switzerland for either. Next foreign beer I'll be sampling comes from Finland. Stay tuned.
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