Kyle Nabilcy
When it comes to beer hype, nobody in Wisconsin is topping Milwaukee right now. Urban Harvest, Company Brewing, the arrival of Black Husky from the northern woodlands of Pembine — these breweries and more are generating a lot of buzz for Milwaukee, and it’s a buzz that’s reaching Madison’s ears. Last week, we had the chance to meet perhaps the hype-iest, buzziest of them all: Good City Brewing Company.
Two of the three co-founders of Good City were in attendance on Friday, Jan. 13, at the Malt House, where six of the young brewery’s beers were on tap. David Dupee and brewmaster Andy Jones mingled with the substantial crowd, while Malt House bartenders wheeled from end to end of the bar, fielding a steady stream of orders.
Dupee and Dan Katt cover the business and marketing end and Jones is the brewer. Good City’s website describes the brewery’s identity as “the next chapter of lasting friendships, a love of great beer, taking risks, and a commitment to seeking the good of Milwaukee.” It’s an unflinchingly emotional perspective on brewing, but one that isn’t out of place considering Milwaukee’s brewing history. All the mission statements and appeals to civic pride aren’t much more than heartwarming fluff, though, without good beer at the bottom line. Fortunately, the hype for Good City extends to what comes in the bottles, cans and tap lines.
I started at the illogical end of the logical progression, mostly because I didn’t want the geek bait to run dry too soon. That meant a pour of the Bourbon Barrel-Aged Density, an imperial stout that spent some time in Elijah Craig barrels, and was recently released in 22-ounce bottles at the Good City taproom. The body has good heft, the palate is smooth, and the barrel is pronounced. It’s quite a beer.
But what about when there’s no bourbon barrel safety net? Do the straightforward beers have what it takes? Risk and Reward, the brewery’s central IPA and imperial IPA duo, are perfectly charming and drinkable beers. Risk has the better aroma of the two, but Reward manages to be impressively drinkable at 8.5% alcohol by volume.
Lord Lyon is a Scotch ale that delivers sweet, peat-smoky darkness underneath a creamy head, which frankly made me think more of a milk stout than a typical Scotch ale. Despite wandering a bit from the style, Lord Lyon’s a pleasant sipper. The Pils, on the other hand, aims to be a refreshing pint, crisp and clean. The nose on this one carried a lot of fruity esters — think bananas or bubble gum — and it felt more astringent than crisp on the tongue. There are better directions to go in the Good City lineup.
My favorite, other than the exceptional Density, was Motto, a pale ale made with Mosaic hops. This beer took full advantage of all the various flavor sensations that make Mosaic such a popular hop strain: tropical fruit and a grassy character that alternately brought to mind weed and sour cream and onion chips, at my table. Clean flavor, a crisp cut at the end of the sip — this is a beer to seek out, which is good, since cans of Motto are forthcoming (a limited quantity, headed to Steve’s-Junction Road and City View Liquor).
The taps at Malt House started flowing at 4 p.m., and by 7:15 or so, the Density was indeed the first to kick. A half an hour or so later, Reward was gone too. The company motto, though, is “Seek the good,” and if you’re still seeking, Good City beer can be found on tap at the Brass Ring, Maduro, the Malt House and Alchemy. It’s our own little sliver of the beer scene Good City hopes to reinvigorate.
