I drank many beers that I really enjoyed over the past 12
months. Certain brews, such as Tippy Toboggan, a Roggenbier by Vintage Brewing here in Madison,
would make my list every year. It's just that tasty. I have sung its praises
here previously so, while I drank my fill this year, I excluded it from the
list. Looking back at the beers I drank from 2020, I see many that I've had in
years past. They're good so I return to them. I even had a Sierra Nevada Pale
Ale for the first time in ages.
New Glarus' Coffee Stout, one of, if not the, first of its
kind remained highly tasty in 2020 as did Rocky's Revenge from Tyranena which
is one of the first barrel aged beers I ever had and it remains a favorite. As
a lover of smoked beers, I have to say Karben4's smoked porter, Night Call, is
really great even if it is merely lightly smoked. I could go on in this vein
for a while. But I won't.
Before I get to the list, let me add a few random
observations:
1) The only Madison-area brewery that went out of business
this year (due to Covid) was Rockhound. (To my knowledge, anyway.) I'd been there only a few times but I enjoyed their hefeweizen and thought they had good
food. R.I.P.
2) Sprecher's Maibock and Oktoberfest stand out from those
of other Wisconsin breweries because they have wonderful bready flavors instead
of letting malt sweetness run amok. The new owners don't appear to have changed
things too much out there in Glendale but they have brewed an NEIPA and it looks
like they're continuing Sprecher's move towards being a beverage company as opposed
to a brewery.
3) Breweries in the northern half of Wisconsin get too
little coverage down here in the southern part of the state. While it's to be
expected that they don't dominate beer chatter in the 608, it nevertheless
sometimes feels like there are no indigenous breweries outside of the Milwaukee
and Madison areas. To be fair, some joints up nort have limited or no distribution
here. And I'm ambivalent about this. On one hand, I'd love to have some more boreal
beers available here on Madison shelves. On the other, it's nice to be
presented with something new and different when I travel north.
Now, on with the show.
I have both kinds of beer on my list: pale and dark. We will start
with the former.
On a summer trek to Chicago I picked up Helles by Dovetail
and Metropolitan, Windy City breweries both.
Two of our neighbors to the south each have a Helles that just
oozes melanoidin-y goodness. These are the best Helleses I've had from American
breweries and, if I didn't have to travel to buy them, they'd (mostly) obviate
the need for those Paulaner Lager purchases I make. But, pursuant to #3 above,
they do make for a nice treat when I go to Chicagoland.
Now onto the dark side.
I cannot honestly claim to know much about Czech beer
styles. And beyond a Bohemian or Czech-style pilsner, the Czech Republic, sadly,
doesn't seem to inspire American brewers the way Carmen Miranda's hats do. Reading Evan Rail's descriptions of Czech brews makes me
thirsty but those beers have been very much a mystery to me. This year,
however, I got to sample three different breweries' takes on Tmavé Pivo, or
Czech dark lager.
As a dark beer lover, this near cornucopia of piwos of a style
new to me was sheer delight.
These brews stood out, not only for their sheer deliciousness,
but also because they are rare or rarish styles. I certainly consumed other
beers that were very delicious, but I have chosen to observe some brevity for this post.
And so that's my list proper. However, I do want to mention
a couple runners up from smaller, lesser known breweries.
And then we have Saccharifice, a German Pilsner from Parched Eagle here in Madison. Brewmaster Jim Goronson has a small brewhouse in the
basement of the building he rents that must surely qualify as nano. Lacking the
space for extended lagering, Goronson still managed to produce a really good
pils with a light malt touch accented by the fruity flavors of Hüll Melon and
Mandarina Bavaria hops. The fruit taste is not overpowering and there's still
some bitterness to be had.
(My podcasting partner and I interviewed Jim and you can find that episode here.)
There are some of my highlights of 2020. 2021 begins soon and we shall see what it brings. I predict lots of alfresco quaffing welcome in the spring.
3 comments:
To the best of my knowledge, Metropolitan Brwg. is licensed in Wisconsin. I went to a 'Border War' brewfest on the lakefront in Kenosha, WI. one Saturday afternoon in August 2019 (remembered because it was the first brewfest I had travelled to by streetcar since one in San Francisco, CA. in January 2016, and amazingly, the Kenosha streetcar in service that day was the one painted for MUNI). Metropolitan Brwg. was served.
I deduce there is a Madison distributor of Metropolitan Brwg.'s beer (and you need to taste the C. Seipp historic beers). Get on their case. 8=)
They used to be distributed here but I haven't seen their beer on Madison shelves in ages. I don't know what happened.
The next time I visit the Metropolitan Brewing Taproom, which should be in a week or so, I will get on its case as to who is its Madison, WI. distibutor. 8=S
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