What beer should I grab from Wisconsin?

[wobdee]

Western Wisconsin represent!

Unfortunately I don't think Lazy Monk distributes all the way down to Milwaukee, I think they're having a hard time even keeping up with demand here in Eau Claire. Though to the OP, if you see the Lazy Monk cans, and they have t he Biere de Garde, buy it, its fantastic.

Basically in Wisconsin, you would have to *try* and buy bad beer, of the Wisconsin breweries theres very few that make anything bad, at best there are a few that make "average" "meh" beers.

If you see stuff from South Shore such as their Coffee Mint Stout, buy lots of it. Its seriously fantastic

Ray's Wine and Spirits in Milwaukee, Bernie's Tap Room in Waukesha.

 

[JonM]

And if you're a coffee guy, grab a pound of Collectivo. The cafés are all over town.

 

[domdom]

Thanks for all the suggestions! hopefully i can find a few of these. last time i was only in milwaukee for a day playing a show. we were in a hurry and my only options that weren't BMC swill was spotted cow or new glarus's brown ale (a style i'm not a fan of).

 

[WI_Wino]

Oh yeah, I am looking at possibly culturing up some of the Berlinerweisse yeast. The label says it is bottled with "five proprietary yeast strains." I haven't even tried the beer yet, though. My wife says it isn't all that sour and that she likes my Berliner better.

Either way, proprietary yeast makes me interested in trying to use it in a homebrew. I only have two bottles left though, so it may take a few steps to get close to a homebrew sized pitch. And there's no telling what the balance between the 5 yeasts might end up being.

I'm guessing there is some lacto and maybe some wild, Wisconsin-native yeast in there. Could be cool.

Let us know if you have success in culturing from the NG Berliner Weisse. I know they pasteurize a lot of their beers but I'm not sure about this specific one.

 

[JonM]

I think NG's Berliner Weisse gets its tartness from Riesling must rather than from lacto, but I could be wrong - that could have been an old recipe.

 

[Jwash1705]

Lakefront fixed gear was one of my favorites and the tour was cool if you have time as others have stated. Best part being the Laverne and Shirley soundtrack on the bottling line

 

[signpost]

I think NG's Berliner Weisse gets its tartness from Riesling must rather than from lacto, but I could be wrong - that could have been an old recipe.

Ah, the side of the bottle does mention riesling, but I thought that might just be an addition rather than a replacement for the traditional sourness.

 

[domdom]

reporting back on what i got and tried in milwaukee. as i figured, time was short so my only option was a liquor store a couple blocks from my friends place.
What i tried:
I was at a bar for a show and got a try some stuff:
-NG totally naked:
-Fantasy factory IPA
-Ale Asylum demento
-NG road slush

brought back:
-NG spotted cow
-NG moon man
-NG berliner weisse
-NG scream iipa
-capitol brewing ghost ship white IPA
-surly bitter brewer
-horny goat laka laka pineapple heffeweisen

 

[JonM]

Well done! Nice selection. That Scream IIPA is especially fantastic.

 

[aryoung1980]

Capitol's white IPA was really good the last time I had it. I'm curious what you'll think about the Horny Goat. I haven't had any of their beers in three years or so. They used to be crap. Hopefully they've improved.

 

[Yooper]

reporting back on what i got and tried in milwaukee. as i figured, time was short so my only option was a liquor store a couple blocks from my friends place.
What i tried:
I was at a bar for a show and got a try some stuff:
-NG totally naked:
-Fantasy factory IPA
-Ale Asylum demento
-NG road slush

brought back:
-NG spotted cow
-NG moon man
-NG berliner weisse
-NG scream iipa
-capitol brewing ghost ship white IPA
-surly bitter brewer
-horny goat laka laka pineapple heffeweisen

I love Moon man, and Scream. Bitter brewer is ok (not as good as Furious or Abrasive), but Horny Goat is not my favorite at all. I do love the name, though!

Next time you're in Wisconsin, drive 4.5 hours north, and I will take you on a personal guided tours of the best places around. (One may be my house, but I'm not saying for sure).

 

[ImNoExpert]

Capitol's white IPA was really good the last time I had it.

I haven't had the white IPA, but the Red IPA is one of the best new beer offerings this (last?) year. 12 pack of cans in the fridge right now!

 

[aryoung1980]

I haven't had the white IPA, but the Red IPA is one of the best new beer offerings this (last?) year. 12 pack of cans in the fridge right now!

I bought a 12-pack of their pale ale sampler; three cans of 4 different pales. The Ghostship was my favorite. I don't think the red was one of them though.

 

[domdom]

the horny goat laka laka is good for what it is. it's a little sweet but not as over the top as a lot of fruit beers could be. I really love pineapple so i grabbed it on a whim.
my favorites: moon man, berliner weisse and ghost ship. ghost ship actually tastes like how i wanted this one amarillo heffeweisen i made to taste. also the first time i've seen canned craft beer in a 12 pack.
not so favorites: surley bitter brewer and scream ipa. bitter brewer was pretty thin malt wise and didn't have much between bittering hops and some faint aroma hops. scream ipa was okay, i'm just getting to the point where i think 75% of ipas taste kinda the same.