Robin Shepard
shows a hand tapping a beer from a large wooden barrel marked Brett Apricot Wheat.
Full Mile has been barrel-aging a Belgian-style wheat beer with apricot puree for nine months and it is finally ready for release.
It’s the thrill of a lifetime, says Russ Klisch, owner of Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery. Klisch recently teamed up with one of Germany’s most well-known breweries Hofbräu München. “To go from homebrewing to collaborating with Hofbraü makes this one of the most significant moments in my brewery’s history.”
Lakefront’s head brewer Luther Paul traveled to Germany last summer to work out the recipe details with brewers at Hofbräu München. The result is a beer appropriately named Braü Buddies. The beer combines Bavarian and American ingredients; Klisch describes it as a “rustic German lager,” and says it approximates what a golden lager might have tasted like a hundred-some years ago.
If this is what golden lager was like in the late 1800s, I’m ready for time travel. Braü Buddies is a medium-bodied lager with smooth bready aroma and modest sweetness. It reminds me somewhat of a Maibock, just slightly lighter in alcohol at 5% ABV. Bitterness is toned down at 16 IBUs ($11/six-pack).
Finally! The Full Mile Beer Company and Kitchen is tapping its apricot Belgian sour that’s been aging in California Sauvignon Blanc oak barrels for nine months. Those barrels had been sitting in the Sun Prairie brewpub’s dining room, nestled in between tables, the fireplace, and large exterior facing windows. That location is important because it exposed the barrels to temperature fluctuations that let the wood expand and contract, imparting more barrel character into the beer.
Brewer Bill Morgan occasionally pulled samples for me while the beer aged so I could have a sense for how this beer was maturing. It is a wild, mixed-culture sour ale based on a strong version of a Belgian wheat beer. It has earthy, assertive, sharp acidity. The beer was fermented with apricot puree, which adds a subtle, sweet fruitiness that softens the tart acidity. This is a very approachable sour that is also complex; layers of flavors change as the beer warms, and a beer you want to sip to enjoy. Just beware of its 9% ABV. I recommend enjoying this beer in the spring sunshine on the brewpub’s patio.
UW-Madison students are behind an extra special batch of extra special bitter (ESB). An elective lab class for those 21 or older was offered for the spring semester by the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. The effort is part of UW-Madison’s Campus Craft Brewing Project that offers students applied experiences in fermentation principles involved in making food and beverages. In recent years, student brews have included Red Arrow pale ale, S'Wheat Caroline American wheat and Inaugural Red lager. Those beers made their way onto local shelves in partnership with Lake Louie and Wisconsin Brewing Company.
Earlier this year students brewed small trial batches that were evaluated by a panel of professional brewers. The winning entry was used as the basis for a scaled-up recipe, brewed by the students, at the DockHaus Brewery at Wisconsin Brewing Park in Oconomowoc with brewmaster Kirby Nelson.
Interest in the class was so high that the students had to write an essay to get in. About 30 applied with just 12 selected. Professor Brian Pfleger, who is also department chair, says the class “allows them to see not just technology but also how material selection and handling influence chemical processes.”
Pfleger says that some of the students may go on to specialize in jobs that require knowledge of fermentation, and some may even land in the food and beverage industry. Regardless, the experience broadens their understanding of how life science is part of chemical engineering.
This semester’s beer is called Smooth Criminal. It is similar to a sessionable British pub ale with biscuity Maris Otter malt and classic English Fuggels and East Kent Goldings hops, both known for earthy and herbal bitterness that balance out the sweetness of the grains. This is a smooth, easy drinking ESB that finishes at a modest 5.3% ABV. Look for it on tap in Wisconsin Brewing Company’s Verona taproom ($6/pint).
I admire Starkweather Brewing for offering a fresh Maibock in May. Too many breweries release their version of style so early that by May it is gone. Brewmaster Peter Schroder has this very nice seasonal on tap right now. It has a brilliant copper color, a firm malty backbone, and a crisp, dry, hoppy finish. It is a great example of the style, clean, with a nod to German malts with just enough hop presence for balance and a light bitter ending ($8/pint and $17/crowler). And there is more to admire — the brewery is donating $1/pint to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wisconsin. Brewery co-owners Tom and Nancy McVary have been long-time supporters of the youth mentoring programs in Madison.
