Robin Shepard
Beaver Dam hadn’t had a brewery since the Louis Ziegler Brewing Company closed in 1953. That changed in June, when Ooga Brewing Company, 301 S. Spring St., opened its doors.
Ooga, started by Beaver Dam businesspeople Jim and Ruth Metz, has been viewed both by the Metzes and the city as a driver of economic development in the city. Furthermore Ooga, built in a 1930s-era auto sales and repair shop, is “what we wanted in a community gathering place,” says Jim Metz.
Ooga’s brewer, Jeff Scanlan, is a well-known homebrewer from Sun Prairie; this is his first full-time commercial brewing gig. Scanlan founded the Sun Prairie Worthogs Homebrew Club in 2008. He got his start making beer when his parents gave him a homebrew kit for Christmas in 1992. “All I had was a book and a plastic pail,” says Scanlan. Now he has up to 10 beers on tap at Ooga.
Scanlan is assisted in the brewhouse by Sarah Ferree of Beaver Dam, who also manages the taproom. Ferree, a homebrewer herself, got her start about nine years ago. Her brother, Jeff Rosenmeier, now lives in England where, in 2005, he helped start the Lovibonds Brewery near London — one of the first nanobreweries in the U.K. She adopted the homebrewing equipment he left behind and soon picked up the hobby. Rosenmeier surprised Ferree recently with an unexpected visit home to Beaver Dam and the Ooga Brewing. He joined her and Scanlan in brewing an Oktoberfest lager that should be on tap in September. Ooga is planning an Oktoberfest at the brewery for the last weekend of September. (Watch the brewery’s Facebook page for details.)
Brewing at Ooga happens about two times per week. The house beer list so far has included:
Don’t Call Me Amber (5.5 percent ABV, 34 IBUs)
An early favorite of customers, this is a light-bodied copper-colored pale ale. It features Cascade (grapefruit), Loral (floral/herbal) and Galena (light citrus) hops.
Holla! (4.7 percent ABV, 14 IBUs)
A jalapeño cream ale that Scanlan makes by chopping 15 pounds of fresh peppers for a seven-barrel batch. It’s full of jalapeño aroma and flavor but surprisingly without lingering heat of the peppers.
Madpolecat (6.5 percent ABV, 43 IBUs)
An American porter with roasted chocolate maltines, it’s flavorful without being burnt or bitter from its dark malts. It was my favorite on a recent visit.
Old Hand (5.7 percent ABV, 44 IBUs)
Solid hop flavor from an American pale ale made with Mosaic, Amarillo, El Dorado and Centennial hops.
Perky Blonde (5.1 percent ABV, 34 IBUs)
This pale ale is made with whole coffee beans from Beaver Dam’s Nunatak Coffee Company. It is golden-colored with smooth coffee sweetness in the aroma and finish.
Rocket Slide (6.5 percent ABV, 57 IBUs)
This IPA, made with Centennial, Citra and Galena hops, is tropical and very approachable.
Weirdo In The Window (4.6 percent ABV, 12 IBUs)
A German weiss beer with notes of clove and banana.
The rotating tap list also features guest breweries, mostly from Wisconsin.
The building maintains some of its original character as an auto repair shop. Large glass garage doors open to the patio in nice weather. The outside space has picnic tables with umbrellas and doubles as a performance area for occasional live music. Ooga offers a limited food menu that includes large German pretzels, popcorn and pre-made pizzas from Leroy Meats of Horicon and Fox Lake. A few local restaurants are close by and carry-ins are encouraged.
Ooga Brewing is open 4-10 pm Mon.-Thurs., 11 am-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.