Robin Shepard
It’s weeks before morel mushrooms start appearing in Wisconsin. But in a way, they’re already turning up in local liquor stores, by way of Ahnapee Brewing. The small northeast Wisconsin brewery just started bringing its beer to Madison in the past week. Among its first beers is Fun Guy, an English brown ale made with mushrooms.
What is it? Fun Guy from Ahnapee Brewery of Algoma.
Style: English Brown ales are copper to dark brown, medium-bodied beers. They offer mild maltiness with caramel, biscuity and sometimes toasted qualities and commonly range from 4.2 to 6.0 percent ABV. Style aficionados distinguish between the northern English brown with its light nutty accents and the southern English version that’s a little darker and sweeter. Fun Guy’s background beer falls more into the northern style.
Background: The Ahnapee Brewery gets its name from the Ahnapee River that flows through Algoma and into Lake Michigan. Algoma is about 30 minutes east of Green Bay. Head brewer and current owner Nick Calaway helped start the brewery in 2013, in a former Carnival Guernsey Dairy building north of Algoma. He also ran the taproom in Algoma, out of a former two-stall garage. In 2015, the brewhouse was expanded from a 100-gallon system to 15-barrel batches. The brewery was initially owned by the Von Stiehl Winery of Algoma until Calaway purchased it in 2017.
Ahnapee beers have made it to Madison for the Isthmus Beer and Cheese Festival since 2016, but haven’t been available on a regular basis until now. A few weeks ago, Calaway started making regular trips from Algoma to get accounts established here. “We’re excited to be in Madison and part of its craft beer community,” he says.
Fun Guy was introduced by the brewery in 2014 with the name “Mush.” The beer is made with five types of dried mushroom, all of which grow in Wisconsin (morels, porcini, lobster, oyster and boletes). Calaway purchases the mushrooms from a local food provider and grinds them together for consistency before adding them to the brew kettle. Mushrooms add an earthiness that blends with bready English malts and the grassy-herbal notes of Fuggle hops. “There are people who say I’m not going to touch it,” says Calaway. However, the beer has been getting a warm reception in Madison, “more than any other place. I think that the beer appeals to drinkers with a little more refined palate and who look for something new,” he adds. The beer has even drawn national attention from Draft Magazine.
Ahnapee’s initial beers in Madison are Fun Guy, Little Soldier amber ale and Two Stall chocolate milk stout. Other styles will follow soon. Among those to watch for will be in the limited releases in the brewery’s Hobo Series. PD Hobo, a peanut butter imperial stout, is expected to be in the local market by early May.
Fun Guy finishes at 5 percent ABV. It sells in six-packs for around $9.
Tasting notes:
- Aroma: Light earthiness with a faint hint of mushrooms.
- Appearance: Dark bronze-almost black color. A medium, soft, brown head.
- Texture: Medium-bodied and bubbly.
- Taste: Medium maltiness with light roasted chocolate and caramel character.
- Finish/Aftertaste: A light musty earthiness in the background
Glassware: If you want to acknowledge the underlying English brown style at the base of this beer, go with the English nonic glass. However, if you really want to pick up the light earthy notes of the mushrooms, you’ll need a glass with an inward taper to focus the aroma under the nose.
Pairs well with: mild cheeses like Gouda and Havarti. However, make sure you sip this beer on its own to detect the subtle earthiness of the mushrooms.
The Verdict: Fun Guy is aptly named, because it really is a fun beer. Yes, beers made with mushrooms are a novelty; however, the English brown that’s at the core of this one is worthy on its own. Calaway, a former cook, understands that mushrooms can be an accent, without needing to be mushroom soup. The English brown ale has light caramel and chocolate maltiness. The mushrooms play nicely with the malty, bready qualities, while remaining subtle in aroma and flavor. In other words, drinkers need to concentrate to find them. To notice them more, try serving the beer a little warmer than refrigerator temperatures (45-50 degrees F).
