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It was a year of openings — breweries, pubs and taphouses. The Parched Eagle, a small brewery and taproom in the town of Westport, opened in April, and already owner and brewmaster Jim Goronson has set the standard for what nanobreweries can be. I’ve made almost monthly trips there since he opened and have had only great beers. House standards Parched Eagle Golden Ale and the double-dry-hopped Hop-Bearer IPA are both fine beers. However, it’s Grainne’s Special Bitter that was my favorite beer of 2015.
Grainne’s Special Bitter has a rich bready and biscuit background from Maris Otter malt that makes it a smooth drinking experience. It stands up well next to English stalwarts like Fuller’s ESB. This beer will be coming back in February; watch for it as part of a tap takeover at the Malt House on Feb. 5, when Goronson celebrates his birthday with Malt House owner Bill Rogers. They plan to serve it on a beer engine, which is sure to take this experience to another level of pure beer enjoyment.
My second favorite this year is Vintage Ale from the Great Dane Pub and Brewery. A vintage ale, as its name indicates, is sold by year. The Great Dane’s version is smooth and malty with a clean finish; it comes off lighter than you’d expect for a beer that has 9% ABV. It’s currently on tap and should remain so into January.
Other favorites from the year were two hoppy brews, Velveteen Habit from Ale Asylum (I was smitten with its blend of Cascade and Citra hops) and Magic Dragon from the Hop Haus in Verona (with a combo of Citra, Mosaic, Columbus and Equinox hops).
For winter, a recent brew that’s been on tap at Tyranena Brewing captured my attention: Maple Imperial Porter is an excellent winter warmer with its enticing sweetness from additions of Wisconsin maple syrup and bourbon-barrel aging. This beer has been on tap at a few bars around Madison, and a reserved batch is scheduled to be on tap at World of Beer in Middleton starting New Year’s Day.
Some rarities I enjoyed in 2015 included InAbsentia from Vintage Brewing, which brewmaster Scott Manning pulled out from a cooler during January’s Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest. This was a beer geek’s brew, made by combining a barley wine and a Belgian dubbel and aging it for six months in an absinthe barrel. The result offered layers of malt and spicy notes of licorice.
Witchcraft Imperial Stout from Brenner Brewing Company of Milwaukee was a very limited release beer, made with locally roasted coffee, buckwheat honey, molasses and nine different malts; then it’s aged for a half-year with vanilla beans in oak barrels. It was released around Halloween; watch for it in 2016.
Another robust brew was Organic Barrel-Aged Barley Wine from Lakefront Brewery, rich in malt with accents of oak and vanilla from rye whiskey barrels.
Linalool from Pearl Street Brewery of La Crosse is made from a unique strain of local hops, “Northern Discovery,” which was found growing wild on the Sun Prairie farm of Paul Stang. This was the first year the crop was large enough to sell to a brewery; still, the supply of the beer is limited to the winter months. Brewmaster Joe Katchever believes that the high concentration of linalool will allow this beer to age well, something that hoppy beers don’t typically do because hop flavors diminish quickly after brewing.
But you can’t drink a rarity every day. Commuter Kölsch from One Barrel has been on tap since the brewery opened. This year, owner Peter Gentry took this great light-bodied German style beer out of the nanobrewery setting and released it in six-packs. At 4.8% ABV, it’s ideal for kicking back and just enjoying — now, available anytime, anywhere.
