The passports have been delivered, the website is live, the promo spots have been running online for a little bit now. It’s just about time for Madison Craft Beer Week, that magical ten-day stretch when you can’t toss a bottle cap without hitting a tap takeover, beer dinner, or “May the Fourth” pun.
Thanks to the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, this year’s Madison Craft Beer Week starts just a little later than in previous years. With the two events spared from playing chicken (and area brewers not having to choose between attending one or the other), we get a handful of really exciting head-to-head brewery matchups.
Trixie’s Growlers to Go-Go hosts two of these contests. Milwaukee’s Good City Brewing hits tap lines alongside barrel maestros New Holland Brewing on Friday (May 4), while The Brewing Projekt and 3 Sheeps, two Wisconsin breweries on the rise, duke it out on Saturday (May 5). Later in the week, you can choose between boozy stouts and hoppy pales when Central Waters and Toppling Goliath take over at the Blue Moon (May 10). I’m particularly interested in the pairing of New Glarus and Une Annee at Alchemy (May 12), when both will pour their respective strawberry rhubarb sours, among others. It’s a confident chance to take by both breweries, and I can’t wait to taste them side by side.
Confidence and chance will be on display at the various raffles and other games going on, mostly on Thursday, May 10. At Jordan’s Big Ten Pub, a cheese raffle and '90s hip-hop bingo challenge will be accompanied by beers from Door County Brewing’s spinoff label, Hacienda, as well as Lift Bridge Brewing. An old-school paddle raffle at Karben4 will benefit Animal Rescue and Vet Support Services. A late-night sumo battle royal at Tavernaka will also pit 3 Sheeps against Hitachino Nest, and it sounds like there will be actual sumo challenges. Gird your loins. (No such precautions need be taken during the Wisconsin Brewing Company Mother’s Day meat raffle at the Tip Top Tavern on May 13.)
Not all Craft Beer Week meat is meant to be taken home and cooked! Some, like the barbecue chef Evan Dannells will be firing up at Merchant, will go quite well with Surly Brewing beers like Smoke and Darkness. You could have German schnitzel with old world beers from Schell at Stalzy’s if that’s more your speed. Or maybe you’re still burning off your 4/20 observance; in that case, maybe a mead and Doritos pairing flight with a screening of The World’s End at Bos Meadery will set you right. All three of these filling events take place mid-MCBW, on May 10.
Mead and Doritos is a novel pairing indeed; you can get experienced with some other new brewers in a more straightforward way, too. Oklahoma’s American Solera anchors Sour Saturday at the Blue Moon (May 12). Brasserie V hosts Hacienda Beer Company’s hazy IPAs and adjunct stouts (May 8). And at Working Draft, some of the best beer names in Madison are joined by a new American light lager called Above Ground Pool (May 12).
And lest you think Madison Craft Beer Week is all fun and games, why not make yourself a slightly better version of yourself with some intellectual, emotional, and karmic resonance? Raise some money for dogs at the Rigby — and tip some Potosi beers back with your own dog if you want (May 5)! Lakefront’s Cary Jaworski will make you a better beer drinker at his Sensory Beerology course at Craftsman Table and Tap (May 9). Hang out with your mom, for crying out loud; Funk Factory is hosting a Mother’s Day movie afternoon (May 13). Also at Funk Factory: Chicago Tribune beer writer Josh Noel’s first book tour event (May 10). He’ll sign copies of his book Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out and (maybe) talk about how his team shellacked me in last summer’s beer bet after his reading. El Grito will be there, too.
These are just one man’s picks for an interesting Madison Craft Beer Week, but reader, there are scores more. Head to madbeerweek.com and make your own to-do list, and I’ll see you out there.
