So late Saturday morning we made our way to Bayshore Town Center, the site of the 2011 Summer Solstice Beer Lover's Fest http://www.welcometoglendale.com/popup-feature.php. We arrived plenty early so we could scope out our spot to place our chairs. With that done we decided to scope out the area and start planning our day. The festival grounds were on a couple of streets that run through the shopping area and was connected in the middle by a grass commons with a band shell on it. The event was only Wisconsin breweries along with food from various restaurants and vendors. Each of the breweries had one of their beers paired with a special food offering. This made the event unique among the beer fests we have attended.
There were many very good beers at the fest and some were outstanding. Included it that was a wonderful Imperial Stout aged in a bourbon barrel from Delafield Brewhaus. In talking with the brewer we found out he does a beer once a year in bourbon barrels and then has it on tap from Thanksgiving until New Years or when ever it runs out. He has a three beer rotation that he goes through. Also we learned a little more about his Mango Lager, he does truly use 100 % mangoes but it is a clarified juice that he adds to his beer. Also he will not disclose much else because as he said " Brewers have to have some secrets."
We greatly enjoyed our time at the event and would probably consider going back again. What we loved besides the beer and food was that this event was relaxed and except for a hour or so it was not crowded. So please do not tell anyone about this event, because we want the event to stay small.
We went back to the hotel freshened up a bit and then headed to a couple fun places in downtown Milwaukee. First place was the Milwaukee Brat House http://www.milwaukeebrathouse.com/ . Their slogan was what that caught our attention, A Professional Drinking Establishment for Beer Barons, Boot Leggers and Patriots. As advertised they have brats and served them multiple ways. As well they have the usual bar food of burgers and sandwiches. Being in Milwaukee they do have a good selection of beers, but not great. They place is a fun tourist type bar and I would recommend it for the brats. Our waitress did a great job putting up with us and definitely deserved her tip.
Next stop we went only a few feet to our next place the Old German Beer Hall http://www.oldgermanbeerhall.com/. This is a cool place that serves mainly Hofbrau beers in liters and half liters. We sat at the bar and ordered our beers and we all went with half liters as it was a long day of beer. It was enjoyable until I was a witness to a man in lederhosen abuse some of my cards I placed out in the restroom. The funny part is when I told my wife and our friends what happened, the wife of the couple we were with asked for some cards and passed them out to various people and she made sure to give one the the man that abused the cards. So we had the last laugh on him. We finished our beers and then grabbed a taxi back to the hotel. The cabbie was very cool; he played an impromptu game of cash cab with us and that made the ride back more enjoyable.
Once we were back at the hotel we went and used our drink coupons, that we received due to a mess up by the hotel staff as a bit of a make good. While we were there I started talking to three men that turned out to be the brewers at South Shore Brewery http://www.southshorebrewery.com/brewery.html. One was the head brewer Bo, all three were very nice to us and they did not seemed to be bothered by me. It was a cool opportunity to talk with them. So if you are up in Ashland, WI make sure to stop there and enjoy their beer.
It was an awesome day and remeber that this fest is just our little secret, so do not tell any one about the fest.
QC Beerguy.
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