Robin Shepard
Delta Beer Lab has made "Pi" a cider-beer for Pi day on March 14. Try adding cinnamon sugar on the rim of the glass.
There’s more to March than St. Patrick’s Day. Coming first on the calendar, on March 14, is Pi Day, when we celebrate the mathematical constant pi (3.14 etc.). Not to be confined merely to eating pie on Pi Day, beer lovers can hit Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton and Monty’s Blue Plate Diner on Atwood Avenue for samples of Delta Beer Lab’s latest beer, called Π (pi), to accompany pie slices. Delta’s Π is a caramel apple pie cider-beer, part ale and part cider, with a little caramel syrup added for sweetness. Delta owner and brewmaster Pio Piotrowski made it especially for Pi Day. The beer finishes at 5.4 percent ABV and it sells for $18/4-pack and $9/glass in the Delta taproom. If you’re taking some home, try adding cinnamon-sugar to the rim of the glass (like salt for a margarita) and know that it pairs especially well with apple pie.
Karben4’s latest is a traditional dry Irish stout with an easy name to remember — Ireland. Ireland is medium-bodied with subtle chocolate sweetness and nice hop balance, It’s deep black color is very Guinness-like in appearance. Brewmaster Ryan Koga also added a little flaked barley to the grist for smooth texture. And at just 4.5 percent ABV, it is very sessionable. It’s available in Madison stores in four-packs ($11-$13/each). In Karben4’s tasting room, it will be available on a nitrogen tap to accentuate its silkiness.
Beer from Kenosha’s Public Craft Brewery Company has recently started turning up on Madison store shelves. Brewery owner Matt Geary says we can expect to see more of his beers this spring, as he has recently signed up with Brew City Distribution of Milwaukee. Public Craft’s flagship is an assertive IPA called Bits and Pieces that showcases Mosaic hops with their sharp bitterness, and also has a bready, malty backbone. So far it’s the best beer from this brewery that I’ve tasted.
A seasonal take on that IPA, out in time for Mardi Gras, is called Beads and Pieces, featuring a slight sweetness from German Mandarina Bavaria hops. Another hit from Public Craft is Low Vis, a big hazy IPA full of Sabro hops that lend huge orange sweetness — and a 8.1 percent ABV. And watch for the brewery’s Lakeshore Haze in March. It’s similar in hoppiness to Low Vis, just lower in strength at 5.5 percent ABV.
Public Craft opened in 2012 in downtown Kenosha. It recently moved to a new location not far from its original spot. The new space allows for a bigger brewing system and more regular canning runs, both of which make it possible to send beer to Madison.
Robin Shepard
The Grumpy Troll's Spetsnaz was recently awarded Grand Champion Stout at the United States Beer Tasting Championship.
Spetsnaz is a regular beer at the Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb, but it was just named Grand Champion among stouts at the Winter 2021-2022 United States Beer Tasting Championship. It has been around since the brewpub opened in the late 1990s, emerging from the homebrewing recipes of brewmaster Mark Knoebl, and has become one of the pub’s most award-winning beers. Spetsnaz has been called a sweet stout; however my most recent pint seemed more like a foreign export twist on the style, which is more robust than Guinness but not as aggressive in roastedness and strength as an imperial stout. Grumpy Troll’s approach is medium-bodied with roasted and toffee notes, with just enough hops to add subtle bitterness. It’s on tap at the Troll ($6/glass, $7/bottle, $12/howler).
