As one of Wisconsin’s premier Beer Festivals, it’s no wonder the Great Lakes Brew Fest is on it’s seventh year! And this year marks a special change in the GLBF. This year will feature two days of GLBF rather than one!

Friday kicks off the fest with a celebration of Milwaukee Beer Week and features only Wisconsin Brewers. 35 of them to be exact. With more than 100 brews and food available to purchase, it’ll be a beautiful time watching a fireworks display over Lake Michigan. After that you may want to get your Gatorade and sleep on cause Saturday features even more beer-y goodness.

More than 90 American craft brewers will be serving up more than 250 different beers, food available for purchase, and Reggae and Ska music to compliment this years’ theme: Dreadlocks -N- Hops.  Come in your dreadlocks and tie-dye to have a chance at winning a prize for being the best dressed! Saturday also features Homebrew Island, a special section of GLBF dedicated to homebrew clubs featuring their own concoctions.

A word to the wise though; tickets go fast. It’s been sold out the last 4 years running AND the hotels are booked solid months in advance. I’ve already saved mine; the Radisson within walking distance. A very short walking distance. I suggest you do the same!

For more information on this event visit the Great Lakes Brew Fest website.

The past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the event with a guest courtesy of the owner Joel whom I thank for the great time! As my friend and I drove there, a bit behind schedule, I contemplated the layout of this event. It was advertised that over 75 beers would be available to try, and despite how spacious the location is, I was unsure of how the logistics would work besides serving outside.

As we pulled up my question was immediately answered. Three tables were lined up outside with people serving beer. I took a glance at the table as we walked in to get our glasses and was content with what I saw. Nothing out of the ordinary opened made it seem like another fest that contained a decent selection of beer I’ve had plenty of times. That was until after we went through our first table which had offerings from Summit, Milwaukee Brewing Co, Left Hand, Big Sky, and Schelle.

After a short stop at an Abita table my mouth began watering at the sight of the next table; beers I haven’t had! Koenings, Chouffe, Dogfish Head Red & White, and some great beers to revisit; Stone Arrogant Bastard and Ruination IPA, DFH 60 and 90 Min. IPA, and Piraat among many others.

Other tables included beers from Laguniats (who had an awesome poster!), strategically placed by the bathroom line, Reaper Ale, Potosi, Upland, and Fish Tale Organic beer. The real kicker is that my favorite table during the whole event wasn’t even a beer table. It was Crispin’s Cider table. They had six different ciders, all of them all-natural with no added sugar. They were spectacular and it was great to try them after constantly seeing them in stores and wondering how good they could be.

I’d consider the event a success simply based on the camaraderie there from the Lagunitas and Crispin reps to a fellow BeerAdvocate member, to some of the store employees including the owner Joel. The beer samples just made it that much better, and all for $15!

My only suggestion would be to group beers with people a bit more familiar with them or bring in more reps with large varieties of their beers. Trying new things is nice, but to have someone able to explain the style or particular beer helps explorers looking for something different. This doesn’t mean none of the servers were knowledgeable, in fact the opposite; most of the servers were. I for one would be happy to volunteer to pour for people at the next event. All in all, the first Beer Fest brought out a lot of good beers for people to try before buying as well as explore new styles which I consider a great time anywhere.

The turnout seemed pretty good as it grew substantially by the time we left (about 2 hours early too!)  so let’s hope that next year is even bigger and better!

Cheers Joel, thanks for the good time and thanks to my friend Jason for taking the pictures!

-Andy

Overall it seemed to be a success considering it was the first time holding the event. This purely my opinion and maybe the bottom line would prove otherwise. Only time will tell if they decide to make it an annual event.

-Beerwolf

Wine Cellar of Wisconsin doesn’t only have wine! They also have a great selection of craft beer and BeerFM will be attending a sure-to-please event this Saturday; Wine Cellar of Wisconsin‘s Beer Fest!

Sat., June 19th, 3:00 – 7:00:  “BEER FEST” – $15.00/person (Club Members $10.00)

“Hop Heads everywhere, this one’s for you!! Milwaukee’s most exciting beer tasting of 2010, “BEER FEST” is a salute to craft brewers from around the world. Sample from over 75 brews, ranging from longtime favorites to completely new bottlings. Your $15.00 Admission includes unlimited samples (within the limits of responsible consumption, of course) and a FREE souvenir beer tasting glass. Explore the wonderful world of great beer, and celebrate Father’s Day weekend in true beer-lover style! NOTE: This event is limited to the first 125 registrants. Don’t miss out – call (262)754-9463 and sign up TODAY!!”

Check out the event on Facebook or on their website.

Come on out and join me for some good brews and conversation. I’ll be sampling the beer they’ve got to offer while browsing the nice selection of beer.

Wine Cellar of Wisconsin is located at:
Autumn Grove Plaza
12910 W. Bluemound Road
Elm Grove, WI  53122
(262)754-9463

-Andy

I can’t keep my mouth shut any longer. I don’t like to rant on BeerFM, but this needs to be said: Wisconsin beer drinkers; step up your effin’ game! We’re getting a bad name and I’m sick of it. It seems like the only tastings or events any of the “beer advocates” or “beer geeks” go to are huge to-do’s such as Great Taste of the Midwest and Great Lakes Beer Fest. There is fantastic camaraderie between beer geeks in other states. Where is that for Wisconsin?! BeerFM just hosted an awesome night at Silver Creek a few weeks ago to release their Imperial Mai-Bock, turnout based on invites was sad but we had a great time regardless. There’s the Summer Solstice Beer Festival in Glendale, WI that’s the first ALL WISCONSIN beer festival with over 200 beers paired with same-size samples of food from the Glendale area. 1 person I know is going. Or how about the Beer Fest at Wine Cellar of Wisconsin in Brookfield in a little over a week? I’m the only person I know going.

I’m sick and tired of looking on Beer Advocate’s Wisconsin Beer Calendar to see nothing posted in the events and what’s there, next-to no one is attending. Now, what’s even worse is that I hear rumors floating around about Stone pulling out of the Wisconsin market. That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back; the spark that fueled my rage. I draw the line when a fantastic brewery, for yet unconfirmed and undisclosed reasons, will (possibly) discontinue distributing to this great state.

How could this possibly be? Maybe it’s because they just moved into Illinois and have a much better market there? Or maybe they realized they make no money here because the Joe-Wisconsin-beer-drinkers are too busy drinking ONLY Bud, Miller, and Coors shit!

Come on people. If you advocate craft beer, a) don’t by macro; spend your hard-earned money on GOOD CRAFT BREWED beer, and b) when you know friends that claim to “love beer” and their response to, “what’s your favorite beer?” is “Miller Lite” you should be doing everything in your power to enlighten them to a world beyond the bullshit they call “beer”. I’m not saying these beers don’t have a place in the world, but they certainly shouldn’t command such a disgustingly large percent of  market when there are much, much better offerings available! Wisconsin is known as one of the “drunkest” states based on population and alcohol consumption, but sadly, it isn’t off the type of beer that should be consumed; craft beer. Instead, the majority of sales are from a style that’s a bastardization of what real beer is, only to make the process cheaper and pump out more of it.

When will the Wisconsin beer advocates join the good fight to slay this preconceived notion that everyone here only drinks Miller Lite and finally show people there are people here, in this great state, that love good beer for the flavor, not necessarily for the effect? And more importantly, fight to show other people what flavorful beer can be? Next time you’re out picking up beer, pick up some local beer like Lakefront. Pick up some New Glarus. Hell, pick up some Stone and show support for a great brewery that might not be distributed to this state after summer because we’re too busy drinking beer-flavored water.

-Andy

On a recent trip to Ray’s for a Milwaukee Beer Co. tasting I had the pleasure of meeting two fine Ray’s employees, Roy and John. I talked to them about BeerFM and what I do briefly while they listened without giving the cold shoulder. We continued to talk and they started talking about a new thing Ray’s is going to promote; monthly beer tastings and education in a remodeled room upstairs. John asked if I wanted to take a look at it. Uh, YES!

We went up through the back way to the room which was still under construction. Let me tell you, this room, probably about half way done, already looked fantastic! Warm cream color walls allowed the premium Alder wood to be accented. It had a great natural beauty and elegance that works very well with the layout and design as well as the function.

At one end of the horizontal room stood a small but well-equipped bar with room for a flat screen and speakers to be mounted on the wall behind it. The bulk of the area will be filled with seating for roughly 50 to 60 from what I remember. All of it rests nicely on a beautiful hardwood floor.

Right now the focus of the room will be on wine but the beer education looks promising! Once a month beer education events will be held to teach people about particular styles of beer and will include a tasting. The events will be at a small price-point to weed out individuals only interested in free beer, a good move I think.

Details have not been released yet; however, two beer events have been booked so far. I’m excited to see what the final outcome of the room is and how it will be utilized. To find out more, visit Ray’s on 8930 W. North Avenue in Wauwatosa, WI or on the web at http://www.rayswine.com/. Also “Like” them on facebook to receive constant news and updates from them here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Rays-Wine-and-Spirits/106623892700157?ref=ts.

-Andy

Founders Brewing Company releases their famous Kentucky Breakfast Stout once a year in March. It is an American Double/ Imperial stout that is brewed with a hint of coffee and vanilla then aged in oak bourbon barrels for over a year. For those familiar with their Breakfast Stout, this is an entirely different and stronger beast. This past March 13th I anxiously waited in line for my chance to acquire my share of Beer Advocate’s 7^th highest rated beer in the world. Founder’s doors would not open until 11am, yet I arrived bright and early around 8:00. To my surprise, there were already ten people standing in line! They greeted me as I got out of my car and asked where I was from. (At that time, I only lived ten minutes away). As I found out, the other ten were from all over the Midwest; Ohio, Illinois, and even a guy from Ontario Canada! To put it lightly, I was very impressed and surprised that despite the distance they traveled, they had arrived earlier than I who was only ten minutes away. As we stood to wait, the line began to progressively lengthen. By 9:30, the line wound around the corner of the brewery, I had no idea how long it got after that. It is safe to say that several hundred showed up ahead of time.

After much waiting, shivering, talking, laughing, and drinking we were finally let in and purchase our beer. I immediately went and threw my brand new KBS into my car and went back in for a beer or three. Let me tell you something, I consider myself lucky to have lived near Founders for almost a year, but I had never seen such an epic tap list as they had on that day. From memory, this was what they had:

Canadian Breakfast Stout
Kentucky Breakfast Stout ’08,’09,’10 vintages on regular tap as well as nitro-tap
Hand of Doom (Barrel Aged Double Trouble)
Double Trouble
Imperial Stout
Breakfast Stout
Porter
Black Biscuit
Backwoods Bastard
Oatmeal Stout
Nemesis

I sat inside from the cold and had a couple to enjoy and celebrate my first KBS purchase. The purchase line never died down for the length of time I was there, in fact, as I left the brewery well over an hour after my purchase, the line still wrapped around the building! It’s amazing what people are willing to do for great beer. I for one will be there year after year, patiently waiting in line for my yearly Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

Here is what I thought of this year’s release:

A+ / 4.95
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | drink: 4.5

12oz. bottle poured into a snifter. Bottled on 02/15/10.

(A)- Pours thick & as dark as the blackest night. Produced a frothy & large 3+ finger almost dark brown head with some good retention behind it. The head actually became a tan color as it finally settled to a light layer of froth on the surface. Left some legs of foam on the sides of the glass.

(S)- Dense aromas of coffee grounds, brown sugar, vanilla, molasses, dark chocolate, and light bits of wood. Rich & decadent. I could really smell this all day; a combination of all my most favorite smells rolled into one.

(T)- Exactly like the smell. Wonderful combo of coffee & chocolate with vanilla & brown sugar. Sweet, but not overly so. Finishes up dry & slightly bitter. Let this warm up to cellar temp.

(M)- Great carbonation level & balance. Sweet, yet dry & bitter to smooth it all out. Very impressed with how smooth this years is; great alcohol integration. There is a warmth to it going down, but in no way harsh or overpowering whatsoever. I am really surprised how smooth it is this fresh already!

(D)- Every time I have had this beer, it continually surprises me and amazes me at the same time. An amazing example of the style that never disappoints. Founders just knows how to do their stouts; KBS/CBS/BS are overall just fantastic & perhaps my most favorite lineup of beers.
This years release will not disappoint if you haven’t had it yet & are wondering the quality of the batch. In fact, it may just be better than last years. Simply a delight to drink & enjoy, I didn’t want it to end.

-Sweem

I’m excited to share with you that part of the change I mentioned about BeerFM is upon us.

I’d love for you to join me in welcoming two new writers to BeerFM; Beerwolf and Sweem.
My two friends Todd (Beerwolf) and Dan (Sweem) are just as, if not more ecstatic about beer as I am and will be joining the BeerFM team in updating news, writing tips and reviews, and helping me in expanding BeerFM.

We’ll be providing more content than ever before including:

-Writer bios,
-Full length articles,
-More tips,
-Frequent, up-to-date beer news,
-Beerfly reviews (locations such as breweries, beer bars, and beer stores)
-A (forthcoming) Homebrewing section with another author joining in!
-BeerFM sponsored beer events!
-Beer event calendar and reviews covering events,
-annnnd, a fresh, new website to showcase it all!

The podcasts will still be released and available for free on iTunes and BeerFM will still be on facebook and twitter!

And most importantly, all of this is coming to you absolutely FREE of charge and FREE of ads so keep your ears and eyes peeled for BeerFM, your source for beer news, tips, and reviews (and now much more)!

Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has just released a new beer called Fixed Gear and BeerFM is proud to be one of the first to review it! If you want to know what it’s about, take a listen to Andy’s review.

Also, BeerFM is proud to be co-hosting an event with Beer Buffalo Lodge (www.bblodge.info) at Sugar Maple in Milwaukee this Friday. There will be plenty of awesome beer complimented by even better brotherhood. For more info take a listen to the podcast!

Music: Tonic – Roses

Fixed Gear Review and Event News