Not all Madison-area brewers have their own breweries. Four smaller operations contract with other beermakers for production services.
Cross Plains Brewery
2109 Hickory St., Cross Plains, 798-3911
Produced by the Stevens Point Brewery
What's brewing: Esser's Best is a medium-bodied German-style beer, and Cross Plains Special is a light-golden pilsner.
Noteworthy: Next year the company celebrates its 145th anniversary, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of Prohibition's repeal.
Cross Plains Brewery is headquartered just a few blocks from the site of the original Cross Plains Brewery. George Esser founded that brewery in 1863 amid a bitter rivalry over land, water and building sites with the Leinenkugels - who went on to found their own brewery in Chippewa Falls.
The Esser family stopped brewing before Prohibition, but in 1995, Wayne Esser and son Larry, descendants of the company founder, brought back Esser's Best.
Last summer, the Essers received a call from the manager of the Marriott resort in Palm Springs, recalls Wayne. A guest, the manager said, "was coming in for two weeks and wanted two cases of Esser's Best, and didn't care how much it would cost."
Fauerbach Brewing Co.
1714 Camus Lane, Madison, 233-1793
Produced by Gray's Brewing Co., Janesville
What's brewing: Fauerbach Amber and Fauerbach Export.
Noteworthy:Owner Peter Fauerbach recently brought an original family recipe to the local Madison homebrewers and challenged them to help make a future beer. Watch for something special over the next year.
The Fauerbach Brewery began in 1868 when Peter Fauerbach took over the city's first brewery. (It was located at 651-663 Williamson St., now the site of the Fauerbach Condominiums.) The brewery continued making beer until 1966. Family descendents David, Neil and Peter Fauerbach revived the label in 2005.
Furthermore Beer
P.O. Box 776, Spring Green, 588-3300
Produced by Sand Creek Brewing Co., Black River Falls
What's brewing: Four styles, but the flagship beer is called Knot Stock, a pale ale made with cracked pepper.
Noteworthy: Furthermore's Fallen Apple, a cider concoction, is on tap for a mid-September release. The seasonal Fatty Boombalatty, a Belgian Wit, is finishing its summertime run.
To quote Shakespeare, "I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety." Co-owner Aran Madden has surely pondered these words as he delivers his wares to American Players Theatre, the summer Shakespeare theater in Spring Green where his sister, actress Colleen Madden, is a mainstay.
Madden and partner Chris Staples began producing Furthermore Proper, a classic English ale, last summer for APT. The duo just closed on property in Spring Green and plan to open their brewery there.
Hausmann Brewing Co.
Produced by Gray's Brewing Co., Janesville
What's brewing: Hausmann Pale Beer.
Noteworthy: In 2003, the UW Memorial Union asked Hausmann to create a beer to celebrate the Union's 75th anniversary. The beer, "Hausmann Pale," bears a label patterned after the original Hausmann logo, and is made with a recipe based on notes and records of the time.
Joseph Hausmann purchased Voigt's Capitol Steam Brewery in 1863. Hausmann's brewery spanned nearly two-thirds of the 300 block of State Street. By the 1880s, Hausmann was the largest brewery in Madison. To attract students, the brewery offered free sandwiches with its nickel beer. (There's no record of Hausmann throwing a Halloween party.) Fire destroyed the brewery in 1923. Fritz Hausmann, the great-great-grandson of the founder, revived the label.
BluCreek Brewing
2310 Daniels St., Suite 148, Madison, 204-0868
Produced by Sand Creek Brewing Co., Black River Falls
What's brewing: Wild Blueberry Ale, German Altbier, Honey Herbal Ale and Zen Green Tea IPA.
Noteworthy: BluCreek makes its IPA with a green tea, leaving it with a subtle tea aroma in the finish.
BluCreek sprang from a business-plan project devised by three UW-Madison students, Runi Hadiprajitno, Thomas Moffit and Monica Sentoso, in 2000. Blueberry Ale featuring Maine blueberries was originally developed for the Japanese market.
