Favorite Wisconsin Beer

[Indyking]

Can someone explain the obsession with Hopalicious to me?

I (and many of my friends) thought the stuff was great when it first came out but I think that they then changed the recipe. I remember it initially being hoppier particularly in the nose and the finish and I now find it bland and lifeless and won't drink it unless there are no other options.

By comparison, I and almost everyone I know that knows both the Hopo and the Amber have found that the Amberggedon is a much better hoppy beer. It has a nice hoppy nose, pronounced hop flavor that is extremely well balanced with malt flavor, and a great hop finish.

I live 5 minutes from the brewery, know the brewers and have asked them about this several times but they basically don't seem to care because it is their flagship and flies out the door as is. I just find this odd.

Really, hopalicious used to be better? Hard to believe...

I know people who come from all over the country on business and tried ale asylum... all them got the same opinion… there is nothing quite like their beers anywhere in the US... and as a disclaimer I do not work there nor do I have any affiliations with them.

What really surprises me in Madison is the lack of good choices for brewing supplies… Yes, there is wine and hop shop, which is OK, but for a region with such a huge tradition of craft beers, one would expect a lot more options.

 

[Rottnme]

Wine & hop shop and Brew & Grow are it in Madison. There is also Cannery Wine & Spirits in Sun Prairie which is far smaller but I will plug becasue that is where our homebrew club meets. Other than that Northern Brewer in Milwaukee is awesome and there are a couple other shops down there as well that I don't remember off the top of my head.

As a side note, I'm not sure what else you are really looking for. Other than NB every shop I have ever been in is about the same with Wine & Hop being slightly about average. The LHBS is a VERY specialty type shop catering to a very select group, knowing that one can't go into it expecting to find too much can they? My point...even a candy shop loses its luster to a kid if they go every day.

 

[BadgerHound]

I agree that they did change Hopalicious at some point. I had some a few months ago and it wasn't what I remembered it to be. I just thought it was me.

 

[Indyking]

Wine & hop shop and Brew & Grow are it in Madison. There is also Cannery Wine & Spirits in Sun Prairie which is far smaller but I will plug becasue that is where our homebrew club meets. Other than that Northern Brewer in Milwaukee is awesome and there are a couple other shops down there as well that I don't remember off the top of my head.

As a side note, I'm not sure what else you are really looking for. Other than NB every shop I have ever been in is about the same with Wine & Hop being slightly about average. The LHBS is a VERY specialty type shop catering to a very select group, knowing that one can't go into it expecting to find too much can they? My point...even a candy shop loses its luster to a kid if they go every day.

Well, I did not know about Brew & Grow... where is it?

What I'm looking for you actually answered in your post! I'm looking for something like the Northern Brewer in Milwaukee, which in your own words is awesome. So, they are not all quite the same, are they?

 

[knelson]

Can someone explain the obsession with Hopalicious to me?

I (and many of my friends) thought the stuff was great when it first came out but I think that they then changed the recipe. I remember it initially being hoppier particularly in the nose and the finish and I now find it bland and lifeless and won't drink it unless there are no other options.

I would have to second this. I had Hopalicious this summer in Madison and thought it was very bland and watery. It was on tap so this may have been a tap line issue. The only other times I have tried it have been in the bottle and I thought it was pretty decent. Just goes to show you how important clean tap lines are for first impressions.

 

[Hoppus_Poppatopolis]

I was in Milwaukee a couple weeks ago and one of the locals suggested the Spotted Cow. My thought was that it was a little...I don't know...insipid. Not Coors Light insipid mind you. It seemed like it would make a nice summer beer.
To be fair I tried it after drinking a nice hoppy pale ale (forget which one).
I might have to go back in the summer and give it another shot.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Well, I did not know about Brew & Grow... where is it?

I want to say Fitchburg, but to the best of my knowledge it's been closed for over a year, now.

 

[Rottnme]

Brew & Grow is in a strip office building at the intersection of Femrite and Agricultural drive on the back side of the building. This is on east side of Madison near the intersections of the beltline (Hwy 12/18) and Stoughton Rd. (Hwy 51), between Stoughton Rd. and the interstate. You can see it from the beltline as you drive by.

It's not as good as Wine & Hop but it's more convenient for me so I stop from time to time.

 

[JBmadtown]

I want to say Fitchburg, but to the best of my knowledge it's been closed for over a year, now.

Brew and Grow is in SE madison. It is east of 51 and just north of 18 in a building kind of in the middle of no where.

 

[bh10]

Point- 2012
New Glarus- Fat Squirrel, Moon Man, Stone Soup

 

[glenn514]

I am a native Wisconsinite with very fond hopes of returning to live in my home state within the coming year. Here are my favorite Wisconsin beers...now, realize that I've been out of the state since 1992.

Leinie's Red
New Glarus Fat Squirrel
Point Amber

One of my daughters lives in Monroe and she brought me a six-pack of some Central Waters brew. I drank it, but didn't care much for it. It seemed to have a metallic aftertaste.

glenn514

 

[MetallHed]

forgot New Glarus Road Slush

and Oscars Stout

 

[Indyking]

Well, I will have to agree with many here... I had the hopalicious at Ale Asylum just yesterday and I thought it was unimpressive... the Armageddon though, was great!

 

[logan3825]

I am not a big fan of Spotted Cow. I love Dancing Man Wheat. The only thing that would drag Wisconsin down overall is lack of hoppy beers and I think the Belgian styles are underrepresented. I hope at some point Dan lets Randy Thiel help make a few beers. Randy was the head brewmaster over at Ommegang when they started up.

Dancing Man Wheat
Moon Man
Stone Soup(not being made next year)

 

[Tagez]

Ale Asylum - Hopalicious
Ale Asylum - Ambergeddon
Tyranena - Bitter Woman
Tyranena - Hop Whore

 

[Bobby_M]

Seriously? All this New Glarus love without a single mention of Belgian Red, Raspberry Tart, and Enigma? Those are easily the best they make. You can get a frickin IPA anywhere.

 

[bh10]

I am not a big fan of Spotted Cow. I love Dancing Man Wheat. The only thing that would drag Wisconsin down overall is lack of hoppy beers and I think the Belgian styles are underrepresented. I hope at some point Dan lets Randy Thiel help make a few beers. Randy was the head brewmaster over at Ommegang when they started up.

Dancing Man Wheat
Moon Man
Stone Soup(not being made next year)

What?!?! Where did you here this from?

 

[dwarven_stout]

Seriously? All this New Glarus love without a single mention of Belgian Red, Raspberry Tart, and Enigma? Those are easily the best they make. You can get a frickin IPA anywhere.

Yup. +1 on the Enigma.

 

[steinsato]

I'm a pretty big fan of New Glarus Golden Ale. I have my parents hauling a 12 pack out to me for Christmas.

 

[logan3825]

What?!?! Where did you here this from?

Click on the sneak peak link. Stone Soup isn't on the list. I missed the vote this year. That is one of the cooler things that New Glarus does. Every year they have a vote on the beers for the next year with a list of all the beers they have ever made. Then they have a section where you can recommended a style and vote on the style you recommended and the styles others recommended.

Not a big fan of Belgian Red or Rasberry Tart. Wish I was a fan of the style because it is a fascinating style. Wife and I picked up the gift pack with a bottle of each and two New Glarus flute glasses.

I'm a pretty big fan of New Glarus Golden Ale. I have my parents hauling a 12 pack out to me for Christmas.

Wow, that is an expensive haul at $8 a bottle. Good stuff though. I had a bottle the first year and then a bottle of the same batch a year later. Much better after a year.

 

[Colin86]

The Belgian Red from New Glarus is just a little over the top for me...

I do agree the style is cool, but it is too sweet to for my tastes.

 

[azingsheim]

If you look at the 2011 schedule Road Slush or Crackd Wheat aren't on there either. I have a hard time believing there not brewing all these..

 

[logan3825]

They didn't do Crackd Wheat this year and they didn't do Road Slush in 2009. They have a slew of beers they don't make every year(at least 20). They have a vote every year(or at least the last two years) to see what people want. I am sure that plays some part in what they brew.

 

[azingsheim]

they did Cracked wheat for 2010, and I think Road Slush was new. I'd be bummed if they didn't do Stone Soup again. Its really one of their best.

 

[logan3825]

You are right, they did make Crackd wheat this year. Road Slush was brought back off of the Beers We Have Known and Loved list. We had it in 2008 but not 2009. It wasn't new this year. My wife was not happy they didn't make it last year. They shift beers in and out of their rotation based on demand. The best we can hope for is voting in late August for the return of Stone Soup in 2012. Snowshoe is coming back early next year.

 

[Stellrbrewr]

Fav brewery is Lakefront Brewery - Riverwest stein (probably my favorite everyday beer), IPA, Fuel Cafe

Also Like:
Capital brewery - amber and pale ale
Sprecher - black bavarian
Furthermore - 3 foot deep
Milwaukee Brewing Co. - Louies Demise
Delafield Brewhaus - delafield amber
Tyranena and Ale Asylum both have beers I like a lot, but nothin stands out with them.

 

[Big_Belgian]

I've come to really appreciate Central Waters in recent weeks. Their Satin Solstice Imperial Stout is excellent and the Happy Herron Pale Ale is a great every day beer - very well balanced beer. I'm looking forward to trying their other beers.