Some 130 brewers are scheduled for the 2020 Isthmus Beer and Cheese Festival, where they will showcase a wide range of beers, from well-known flagships to rare one-offs brought out just for the festival. This year, trends at the taps include distinctively fruited beers, hazy hoppy New England IPAs, plenty of dark beers, and strong barrel-aged treats.
Here are some special brews not to miss.
Neon Nebula hazy double IPA is a new seasonal the brewery introduced a few weeks ago. It’s made with New Zealand Rakau hops and fermented with Kveik yeast, resulting in an IPA full of stone fruit and melon flavor.
Velvet Midnight is an imperial brown rarely found outside the brewery’s tasting room. Gluten-free, it’s made with crystal millet, which gives it chocolate notes. Deep spirit sweetness comes from a year of aging in J. Henry and Sons bourbon barrels.
Ice Fishin’ in the Dark is a riff off the brewery’s imperial schwarzbier, Fishin’ in the Dark. This version is infused with winter spices and finishes at 7.5 percent ABV.
This Superior, Wisconsin brewery is bringing back a beer that was a hit at last year’s fest: Aquavit Barrel-Aged Valhalla, a malt-driven Scotch ale aged in Vikre Distillery Voyageur Aquavit barrels. It’s malty, obviously, but also complex with toasted caramel and dark fruit flavors, along with barrel notes of citrus peel, cardamom and coconut.
This Greendale brewpub is offering a beer that’ll break up any palate fatigue from the festival’s bolder brews: Crocus Polish Lager. It’s a pale golden lager, lightly hopped — just enough for crisp bitterness and easy drinking.
608 Heavyweight is a Belgian dark strong aged in Four Roses barrels. It has bold dark fruit character with hints of plum, brown sugar and caramel, too. It finishes at 9.1 percent ABV.
The Madison geuzeria should be the talk of the fest with its Grapes of Aragon. This lambic-style beer features the Carignan grape that’s added to a blend of one-, two- and three-year-old spontaneous fermented beers. Tart cranberry flavor, subtle mulling spices and even an undertone of leather meld with the beer’s funk.
Look for brewmaster Jessica Jones’ dark weizenbock. There’s so much malt and yeast complexity in this delicious beer.
The 25th anniversary imperial scotch ale made to celebrate the brewpub’s quarter century has so much malty richness — it comes not only from the malts but also from a year of aging in Speyside scotch barrels.
Divine Herb is the first beer in a new series for this Baileys Harbor brewery. It’s an IPA made with Thai black tea, lactose, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and tamarind, then hopped with Citra and Lotus. They’re called “tea shakes.”
Think porter infused with roasted peanut butter and wild strawberry — Peanut Butter & Jelly Joe has intense nutty aroma and jelly-like sweetness. This small southwestern Wisconsin brewery hasn’t before offered this beer outside of its Hillsboro taproom.
For Fruit’s Sake, an imperial wheat ale, is aged in port wine barrels, then blended with cherries from Seaquist Orchards of Sister Bay. As of early January, this beer is still in fermentation — fingers crossed that it will be ready in time for the festival.
One for The Money, a New England IPA, had its hop bill tweaked with Mosaic and Simcoe hops to call more attention to tropical notes of grapefruit, mango and pineapple.
Looking for a beer slushie? Sticks & Stones is the latest from the Neenah brewery that has been making a name for itself with these thick, heavily fruited beers. Peach, apricot, cherry and almonds stand out here; the beer is then aged on cinnamon sticks.
A boldly flavored, deep amber ale barrel-aged with ginger, cloves and cinnamon, Winter Warmer finishes at 8 percent ABV.
Infused with cold brewed coffee from Milwaukee’s Anodyne, Snake Oil cold brew nitro stout is silky and rich with assertive coffee character.
Curry Crusher is a brown ale made with curry and coconut. It may sound unusual, but it’s malty and toasty.
Harpy American strong ale, a double amber ale with a big malty backbone and assertive pineiness from Chinook hops, features sour notes and a touch of spirit warmth, too.
Excessive Adjectives is a soured, whiskey barrel-aged Belgian dark strong.
A sweet dark chocolate ale, Pinochle porter features peanut butter aroma and flavor.
A special treat from this Bellaire, Michigan, brewer, The Liberator is a double IPA made with lemon and orange zest.
The Minneapolis-based brewery will pour a 10 percent ABV hazy double IPA called At the End of the Internet. It has lots of citrus from El Dorado, Simcoe and Citra hops.
Veneration is a Belgian quad with the sweetness of figs and molasses and a touch of spice after rye whiskey barrel aging. It’s big beer from this Sheboygan brewer, finishing at 13 percent ABV.
Milwaukee’s Third Space will be introducing its Frog Weiss to Madison. It’s a kettle sour made with fig, raspberry, orange and ginger (thus the name f-r-o-g).
Gose-rita-zilla is a gose is aged in tequila barrels. The brewery’s Kirby Nelson says when the used barrels arrived at the Verona brewery, they were not just wet, they still “sloshed” with tequila inside as the beer was added. That should make for some interesting sipping.
Brewed with roasted barley, oats, wheat and lactose, then kettle soured and fermented with tangerine puree, Candy is Dandy is modeled after Terry’s Milk Chocolate Orange Balls.
The Isthmus Beer and Cheese Festival will be held Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Alliant Energy Center. While general admission tickets are still available, they usually sell out by the day of the event.
