Beer fests are all about trying new brews. Many times, attendees are rewarded with pours from a few special barrels that brewers save for just these sorts of occasions. This year, a lot of these beers were aged in barrels of ever more diverse liquors.
Other breweries introduce new or pilot brews. Here are a few picks that will make special appearances at the Isthmus Beer and Cheese Festival, Jan. 19 at the Exhibition Hall at Alliant Energy Center. Some aren’t even listed on the program.
Ahnapee Brewing, Algoma
Cherry Wood is a unique twist on a Baltic porter, made with smoked malt. This limited release finds its way to Madison only via the Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest. It recently won a gold medal at the 2018 World Beer Championships.
A limited tapping of bourbon barrel-aged Sticky McDoogle will be a treat. This special malty beer only rarely turns up even in the brewery’s north-side taproom.
This Madison brewery has developed a reputation for making good beer that just happens to be gluten-free. Owner-brewmaster Trevor Easton will offer Velvet Midnight, a brown ale aged in J. Henry and Sons bourbon barrels. As rare as gluten-free beers are, barrel-aged gluten-free beers are even rarer.
Blackrocks Brewery, Marquette, Michigan
Look for this U.P. brewery’s 51K IPA, loaded with hoppy tropical notes of grapefruit and apricot.
The Brewing Projekt, Eau Claire
Owner-brewmaster Will Glass has been working on a beer-cider combination for more than three years. This unannounced pour is fermented with wild yeast and aged with Door County cherries.
Copper State Brewing Company, Green Bay
Copper State opened just last summer in Green Bay and is new to the fest. Look for Silent Canary, a double IPA with passion fruit and pineapple hoppiness. Copper State will also feature a chocolate coffee peanut butter porter served on nitrogen.
Einstök Ölgerð, Akureyri, Iceland
These beers come from just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle! Several of the brewery’s brands turned up recently in Madison’s larger craft beer stores. The fest will be a great opportunity to sample white ale, toasted porter and a wee heavy.
Owner-brewmaster Jessica Jones will offer comparison pours of a fresh double IPA next to a double IPA that’s been brewhouse-lagered for 10 weeks. Jones describes the contrast as “magical.”
Good City Brewing, Milwaukee
Audacity, a bold, strong Belgian quad, is distinguished by a blend of rum and port wine barrel-aging. This beer turned up locally just after Thanksgiving and has now become hard to find. The fest may be the last opportunity to sample this one until next fall.
Grumpy Troll Brew Pub, Mount Horeb
Brewmaster Mark Knoebl ages this rich imperial stout for 18 months in bourbon barrels from Kentucky’s Heaven Hill Distillery. Extremely limited; this batch was saved for the festival.
Earth Rider Brewery, Superior
This will be Madison’s first chance to sample Earth Rider’s flagship beers in its inaugural appearance here. Superior pale ale, Precious Material helles, Caribou Lake IPA, North Tower stout, and a rare cognac barrel-aged imperial stout will be on the board, plus a few more!
Expect a line for Bumbleberry Pie, a 2018 holiday beer that pays homage to a berry pie from Canada. Bumbleberry sold out at the Geuzeria, and with the exception of a few special tappings later this month around Madison, IBCF is one sure place to find it.
Hillsboro Brewing Company, Hillsboro
Diamond Dave’s IPL (India pale lager) is dry-hopped with Nugget and brewed only once a year.
Hop Haus Brewing Company, Verona
A few bomber bottles of Black on Black 2018 (a Black Friday-released beer) will turn up during the fest’s VIP session. It’s a bold imperial stout and a blend of bourbon barrel and red wine barrel-aging.
Chill out with Wisco Warmer, a brown ale that was aged for three months in Aquavit barrels.
Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee
The brewery will be bringing its Black Friday XXX, which combines 2015, 2016, and 2017 vintages. This is a very rare treat for VIP session attendees.
Octopi Brewing, Waunakee
Satisfy your beer sweet tooth with S’Mores, a stout filtered through a Randall (basically, an infuser) filled with marshmallows and chocolate.
Brewmaster Jim Goronson released his first rauchbier in December and held on to a small amount just for the fest. Rökig Öl is made with 20 percent German smoked malt for approachable campfire aroma.
Taste your way through the barrel-aging process by comparing base beers with their barrel-aged counterparts. One way to do this is with Rockhound’s Tumbled Boulders and T-Rex.
Rustic Road Brewing Company, Kenosha
A returning favorite from last year’s fest will be the brewery’s barrel-aged wee heavy.
Sunshine Brewing Company, Lake Mills
Another newbie to the fest. Owner-brewer Lane Smith plans to bring a Belgian dubbel spiced with cinnamon.
3 Sheeps Brewing Company, Sheboygan
The limited-release Wolf, a Russian imperial stout, will be tapped during the VIP session.
Brewmaster Scott Manning always has a few surprises he pulls from a cooler under the table. Look for his Maximilian imperial stout, aged in a tawny port wine barrel from Wollersheim Winery.
This new taphouse will open later this month on Madison’s east side. Its beers are spin-offs from Scott Manning and the Vintage Brewing brewhouse. Early tastes will feature a Vienna lager, a kveik (a historical Norwegian yeast beer style), West Coast IPA and Coconut Cheesecake sour.
Wisconsin Brewing Company, Verona
Sour fans ought to make a point of sampling Bubonic Saison, a dark saison fermented in oak barrels with wild yeast and bacteria. Brewmaster Kirby Nelson also will pour the latest beer from his pilot brewing system, a dark Czech lager called Flannel Pants.
Fans of New England IPAs can compare two takes on the brewery’s popular Pulp Culture. One is dry-hopped with Simcoe and Amarillo hops for fruity and piney accents; the other is dry-hopped with Enigma and El Dorado hops that lend both dank and tropical notes.
