Great Taste of the Midwest, Madison

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Who's going next weekend? I feel like a little kid who's going to disneyland. This will be my first major beer festival and I can't wait.

 

[DBbrewing]

Nope can't go to this one but I do have VIP tickets to the Great Lakes Brew Fest in Racine Wi. on Sept 19.
Great Lakes Brew Fest - The Premier Craft Beer Festival of the Midwest Racine, Wisconsin

 

[Mattbastard]

I'll be there man, hell or high water.

I've had my tickets since March.

 

[cactusgarrett]

It's my superbowl & christmas all rolled into one day - i'll be there with bells on. The one in Wisconsin Dells in October is pretty substantial, too.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I think I jinxed myself with these tickets. I was super excited to be going, then I wrecked my motorcycle saturday night. Now I'm so busted up, I'm not sure I'm going to make it. If I can get somebody to wheel me in, I'll be there.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I'll be there man, hell or high water.

I've had my tickets since March.

How, when tix didn't go onsale until May 3?

 

[Rottnme]

Going. 1st time and can't wait.

P.S. For those interested, I have it from a reliable source that many of the participating brewers from out of town will be stationed at local establishments in the Madison area on Friday night. So if you are going and want a different setting or not going and still want to sample some of the more rare out of town wares, Friday will be a good night to tour the local beer snob type establishments.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

This is correct. I'm going up friday night because of this. Staying through sunday.

 

[cactusgarrett]

For those interested, the programs have recently been posted. Looks like a good lineup this year, especially for the real ales!

 

[jacksonbrown]

I will be there! If you want more info on the Friday night pre-parties, programs, maps, etc, check out my blog, I've been posting updates all week.
Real important: Saturday will be hot (93 deg) and humid, so please, please, stay hydrated. Drink lots of water. We all want a happy, good, incident free time. Hooray Beer!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Real important: Saturday will be hot (93 deg) and humid, so please, please, stay hydrated. Drink lots of water. We all want a happy, good, incident free time. Hooray Beer!

Not usually something I like to hear about a brew fest. Drink plenty of water....boo. It is sound advice, just dissappointing.

 

[Grinder12000]

Make sure you guys check out the Minhaus stand for Lazy Mutt - it's awesome and a best kept secret.


BTW - temps will not be that hot and you are next to the lake - home 87 and humid!!

 

[kevin9167]

I think I jinxed myself with these tickets. I was super excited to be going, then I wrecked my motorcycle saturday night. Now I'm so busted up, I'm not sure I'm going to make it. If I can get somebody to wheel me in, I'll be there.

High side? Low side? Street or track?

I had a graceful low side 2 years ago. I only have a dime sized scar on my ankle to remember it by. It was an odd feeling, to be turning, then sliding on your butt, watching your motorcycle slide away in front of you...

 

[jacksonbrown]

I have too much time on my hands today, so I went through the booklette and picked out the brews I want to check out. Here's my list:

Real Ale:
Arcadia Brewing Co. - Sky High Rye (dry hopped with Summit hops), Hop Mouth (Bourbon Barrel Aged)
Bluegrass Brewing Co. - Chocolate Rye Porter
Surly Brewing Co. - Oak-Ag ed Bender

Regular Tents:
America's Brewing Co, #408 - Dirty Summer Blonde Choc Wheat
Arcadia Brewing Co, #405 - Sky High Rye
Barley John's Brewpub, #518 - Wild brunette, Rosies Old Ale
Blind Tiger Brewery, #411 - Smokey the Beer
Blue Cat brewpub, #410 - Coriander & Orange
Bluegrass Brewing Co, #316 - Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale
Boulevard Brewing Co, #306 - Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Courthouse Pub, #223 - Vienna 1516
Cumberland Brew, #417 - Kentucky Keister (Tap @ 1), Helter Celter
Dells Brewing Co, #503 - Roggenbier
Destihl Brew Works, #303 - Bourbon Barrel-Aged Belgian Double (Special Release @ 1:00)
Detroit Rivertown Brewing Co, #207 - Vanilla java Porter
Fitger's Brewhouse, #210 - Northern Waters Smoked Marzen, 20/20 IPA
Goose Island, #601 - Harvest Ale
Keweenaw Brewing Co, #620 - Widow Maker Black Ale
Kuhnhenn Brewing Co, #613 - Simcoe Silly, Creme Brulee Java Stout
Mikey Finn's Brewery, #402 - Fifth of Rye Ale
Pearl Street, #517 - Special Release Dankenstein @ 2:35
Rock Bottom, #313 - Belgian Rye IPA
Three Floyds, #624 - Alpha King Pale, Pride and Joy Mild, Barrel Aged Dark Lord
Titletown Brewing Co, #320 - Dark Helmet Scwartzbier

 

[novafire]

Make sure you guys check out the Minhaus stand for Lazy Mutt - it's awesome and a best kept secret.

Not if I drink it all first!

 

[jacksonbrown]

Make sure you guys check out the Minhaus stand for Lazy Mutt - it's awesome and a best kept secret.

This thread might disagree.

 

[Mattbastard]

How, when tix didn't go onsale until May 3?

I got an insider... Actually I just told him in March how many tix I'd need. Technically you're right though. :rockin:

 

[cactusgarrett]

Cool. I had an insider get me 8 tix last year when i got snubbed while being only 120 people deep in lthe ticket line. I really like how they structured the sale this year.

 

[jacksonbrown]

Yes, two tickets per person was an excellent change. People were still getting tickets at 1, 2 pm.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

High side? Low side? Street or track?

I had a graceful low side 2 years ago. I only have a dime sized scar on my ankle to remember it by. It was an odd feeling, to be turning, then sliding on your butt, watching your motorcycle slide away in front of you...

high side street. I really don't need a wheel chair. More of a joke to me.

Make sure you guys check out the Minhaus stand for Lazy Mutt - it's awesome and a best kept secret.


BTW - temps will not be that hot and you are next to the lake - home 87 and humid!!

I completely disagree. They sell this beer in every liquor store in Rockford. The first time I saw it, I was interested in the 8-pack. Figured it'd be cool to carry my homebrew around in. I ended up pawning the beers off on my bud light drinking friends. I couldn't stand the taste of it...but that's just my opinion.

 

[Mattbastard]

Yes, two tickets per person was an excellent change. People were still getting tickets at 1, 2 pm.

I didn't know they did this, what a great idea.

I remember seeing the line outside of Steve's on the west side a few years back, it was about a 1/4 mile long!

 

[jacksonbrown]

Yup. Steve's was actually the last place to sell out this year. Someone apparently just came in off the street and they offered them the last 2 tickets. Pretty cool considering what a hastle it was in the past. Plus we filled about 40% of the mail oders as opposed to 25% in the past, and MO demand was up 50%, so that's cool, too.

 

[Lordsoth]

Make sure you guys check out the Minhaus stand for Lazy Mutt - it's awesome and a best kept secret.


BTW - temps will not be that hot and you are next to the lake - home 87 and humid!!

Worst beer EVER! JMHO of course.

 

[Rottnme]

Why oh why....WHY did I let my friend talk me into leaving the real ale tent? They will be forced to pay for this!!!

Good time, good beer and good people. I did find one brewery that I know I will not revisit but other than that there were some very good offerings. Finding the Stone/jolly Pumpkin Collaboration was the hidden gem for me.

 

[jacksonbrown]

Good time this year. I went a little easy on myself due to the heat (I get nasty headaches when I drink in the sun), but still had a blast. Goose Island's Saison Clauseneii ("7% ABV; 2 separate strains of yeast used to brew this beer: Primary Belgian saison strain, Secondary Brettanomyces Clauseneii, aged for a year and hopped with loads of Amarillo hops at 4 times throughout brewing process") was the absolute hightlight of the festival for me. It was dry yet sweet, and the Amarillo additions gave it an amazing aroma and light flavor that was just spectacular. Their Harvest Ale was also a surprising delight.
There were a lot of disapointments, too, unfortunately. But that's why you dump and move on. Until next year.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Seems like some of the younger breweries had some significant misses - i can count on one hand the number of times i got an "amber", only to look at the glass & find a pilsner looking beer.

 

[Rottnme]

Seems like some of the younger breweries had some significant misses - i can count on one hand the number of times i got an "amber", only to look at the glass & find a pilsner looking beer.

Later in the day we got some missed pours but when we went back things were always quickly clarified. It happens I suppose when the folks pouring aren't always from the brewery itself. Heck my wife even ended up volunteering at Minhas for a while.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I fell in love with a few beers. I think I really only made one bad choice that I felt the need to dump. I was a little upset I didn't get to try as many real ales as I would have liked. That tent was packed. I was very impressed with the Hop Mouth aged in a bourbon barrel. Also, the Hoptimus was a fairly good IPA. Did anyone get a chance to try the Brain Freeze? Everytime I went by their tent, the machine was too hot and they couldn't get it to slush. I tryed it at normal temps and it was pretty good though.

 

[Mattbastard]

I also remember a couple notible brews.

Ale Asylum had an amber called Ambergeddon

and the Vienna at Metropolitan was spectacular.

Honestly, I was seeking out the more standard recipes to see just how good the easy ones were. The high test, one off, brews don't appeal to me all that much.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I also remember a couple notible brews.

Ale Asylum had an amber called Ambergeddon

and the Vienna at Metropolitan was spectacular.

Honestly, I was seeking out the more standard recipes to see just how good the easy ones were. The high test, one off, brews don't appeal to me all that much.

I try the one time recipes because I know I'll never be able to get them again. But you're right, the easier beers to brew are usually a test of the brewers quality. If he can't make a descent amber or pale, he shouldn't be brewing.