Todd Hubler / Select images courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.
The seventh annual Isthmus Beer and Cheese Festival will be held Jan. 16 at the Alliant Energy Center. “It’s Wisconsin’s two best assets, beer and cheese, in one spot,” says MobCraft Beer founder Henry Schwartz.
The fest is a showcase for more than 400 beers from over 100 breweries. While some festival-goers will doubtless experiment with pairing certain cheeses with specific styles of beer, more will get excited about tasting the latest, sometimes strangest, new beers.
Here are some special beers, including one-offs and trial batches (some so limited they don’t make the fest’s program), to seek out.
Ale Asylum will offer a taste of its rare 2015 Dissent. This Belgian-style imperial is a bold stout fermented with Belgian yeast and aged for a full year.
Bent Kettle Brewing, new to the festival, will unveil a Bier de Garde called Disregarde and a black IPA called Night Sweat. The latter is made with chipotle peppers for added heat and molasses for a rich body.
Greenview Alt has made a very limited amount of a rum-barrel-aged version of its Rustic Badger farmhouse ale. This big-bodied, sweet beer is, like all of Greenview’s brews, gluten-free.
Hillsboro Brewing Company is a small brewpub in southwest Wisconsin that’s been making beer since 2012; finding any of its beers in Madison is a rare but special delight. It’s bringing four beers to the fest: Hillsboro Pale Ale, Snappy IPA, Leaping Lemur Cream Ale and its flagship dark ale called Joe Beer.
House of Brews debuted its first lager in December. Look for Jailhouse Bock on the brewery’s festival taps.
Hop Haus will feature regular pub favorites along with more limited brews like Plaid Panther Scotch Ale, Lazy Sunday Belgian Dark Strong and Magic Dragon.
Karben4 plans to bring Lady Luck Irish Red, aged in California Cabernet barrels.
Lakefront Brewery will be serving 2015 Black Friday Imperial Stout, aged in bourbon barrels. Other than running into it at only a handful of festivals, to get this beer you’d have to stand in very long lines during its limited release every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
MobCraft Beer will debut its newest sour beer called Oud Yahhh.
Oliphant Brewing from Somerset, Wis., was among the brewery darlings at last year’s fest. This year, look for its Hulk lager made with a single malt and a single hop.
Red Eye Brewing from Wausau is always a hit with its eclectic, extreme beers. This year’s list includes Hot Mess Version 1.1, a watermelon malt liquor.
Sprecher Brewing will offer its Belgian quadruple XII, which has been rarely seen in Madison.
Stillmank Brewing will offer the first taste of a new blonde ale called Tailgater. Also, grab a hit of its Perky Porter, a rich milk chocolate coffee porter that should be quite tasty with a scoop of ice cream from either Sassy Cow Creamery or Calliope Ice Cream.
3 Sheeps Brewing is bringing its rye stout, Cashmere Hammer, on a nitrogen tap. This should be an excellent pairing with the smoked butterkäse from Decatur Dairy of Brodhead.
Vintage Brewing always pulls out a growler of something rare. This year brewmaster Scott Manning is bringing a brettanomyces- and lactobacillus-soured creation called Winter Wilder-Land that's been aged in a wine barrel. Manning describes it as part sahti, part winter warmer.
Wisconsin Brewing limited releases include Orelia, a strong Belgian ale that’s dry-hopped with Amarillo hops, and Dark Something, a hybridized doppelbock made with candi sugar and dry-hopped with East Kent Goldings.
While the premium session has been sold out since mid-November, tickets ($50) remain available for general session at isthmusbeercheese.com.
Blessed are the cheesemakers
Pacing yourself with snacking interludes during the festival is not only beneficial to your overall well-being, it’s tasty. Over 70 cheeses from more than 20 cheesemakers will be available to sample.
Make a note to try Martha’s Pimento of Milwaukee. Martha’s makes the south’s spreadable favorite with artisanal Wisconsin cheeses. Roth Cheese will be in from Monroe with a special variety called Outside Wall, along with its lovable Buttermilk Blue, among others. Check out Cedar Grove’s Donatello, a nutty aged sheep’s milk cheese, and its hot sriracha cheese, along with the ever-popular squeaky curds.
Hook’s will be part of a “Beer and Cheese School” presented by Metcalfe’s Market and Goose Island Beer.
It’s not just cheese, though. “Stuff Your Face Hole” will bring its flavored pretzels, including Banana Foster and Cake Batter versions. The Looking Glass Bakery will have samples of its banana hefeweizen chocolate cheesecake. Chef K. Clark will bring her popular beer jellies, as well as chili hot chow chow. (My advice: Buy a jar of this to take home to add to sandwiches, stews, soups or just about anything, to give it extra zip.) What else does the fest have? Chocolates, bread, honey, smoked salmon, sausage and popcorn.
And should you want more than samples, food vendors Freeman Brothers Barbecue, Jakarta Cafe, Melted, Slide, the Rigby and Banzo will be selling more substantial lunches in the food court area.
