I met a few fellow beer fans from Chicago this last weekend, and one of the topics of conversation was Solemn Oath’s brief period of distribution in Wisconsin. My position is that Wisconsin’s a tough market to satisfy; one of my Illinois compatriots alleged that Wisconsin beer drinkers already know what they like, and what isn’t on that list doesn’t sell.
Those are maybe two sides of the same coin, but it’s worth noting that we held this conversation in the New Glarus Brewing Company’s beer garden. New Glarus, the brewery that has a lock on the hearts and minds of Wisconsinites and visitors alike. New Glarus, whose Spotted Cow might not be the most complicated beer, but is almost certainly the one to occupy the fourth tap handle (after the big three of Miller, Budweiser and Coors) at any small Wisconsin bar.
But in the spirit of continuing that weekend beer garden conversation, I’ll pose this question: What’s Wisconsin’s fifth tap handle? Let’s say it has to be a Wisconsin beer. Yes, PBR and Leinenkugel count. And we want this fifth handle to represent Wisconsin somehow.
I’m not sure that PBR does that anymore. It has become a totem of something else, as its coolness has expanded and surpassed any other measure, be it geographic heritage or that union-made label.
Leinie carries a Wisconsin quality, but what beer would be chosen as most emblematic? Summer Shandy? Honey Weiss? I’d pick Leinie’s Original in spite of the popularity of Summer Shandy, because both the old-school can and the logo say Wisconsin.
Central Wisconsin represents primarily with Stevens Point, Central Waters and O’so, but I could really only make a case for Point Special Lager as being so quintessential to the Wisconsin beer scene that it could be the fifth handle. Big O and Night Rain from O’so are close. Central Waters has many solid beers, and Satin Solitude is a candidate, although I don’t think it’s as crowd-embraced as Night Rain.
Over in Milwaukee, Lakefront’s Riverwest Stein is almost inarguably a core Wisconsin beer, but if you’re noticing a trend: hello, lagers. That’s definitely a trend representative of Wisconsin’s beer heritage, but is it representative of beer in modern-day Wisconsin? What about a fun beer that doesn’t cleave quite so closely to the old German beer purity law? Milwaukee Brewing’s O-Gii imperial tea witbier is a favorite of mine.
I’m going to close with Madison beers, though, because I can. Madison breweries produce two beers that are very “of this era” in American brewing. They’re not just popular, but good. They’re hoppy. They have wild label art. They are Karben4’s Fantasy Factory and Ale Asylum’s Hopalicious.
Hops are the name of the game right now. They may not be so forever, whether due to market fatigue, crop shortage or increased cost, but they’re the thing du jour. Fantasy Factory uses a lot of tropically lush Citra hops (the darling of darlings in the hop world), while Hopalicious dials in a tactical assault of citrusy, spicy Cascade hops. Though I’m a big fan of Fantasy Factory’s trippy, nerdbait label, it's still young. It doesn't have as long a resume.
For that reason, I hereby name Ale Asylum’s 365-day-a-year Hopalicious as my selection for Wisconsin’s unofficial fifth tap handle. It’s almost omnipresent already, and Wisconsin knows what it likes.
Do you like a beer that I didn’t give enough credit to? Leave a comment below, or get my attention on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #twocentpint.
[Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the availability of Fantasy Factory. It is a year-round beer for Karben4.]
