As I said it would probably be Monday before I got a new post up and look it is Monday. The group we went up with on Friday had a good day I believe. Our first beer stop once we left the QC was Galena Brewing in Galena, IL. This is a nice little brewpub in a very big tourist town. They have a good selection of beer as well as a good food menu.
I had two beers with my lunch. The first beer was a direct hop infused APA called Hop Rocket. It was light amber with a white head. Citrus hops predominate which pushes the malt to the background. Taste is much the same. Overall a good beer but not what I thought I was getting by the description of the beer. Next beer I ordered was a Hefeweizen, but the waitress misunderstood and I wound up with the IPA. This is a good beer as well again light amber with a nose of citrus hops, but the alcohol is more towards the front of this beer. It is a beer I could maybe have two of but no more due to the alcohol of the beer. We left Galena and next stop was Madison.
We arrived around 4:30pm in Madison just in time for rush hour, so we went to our hotels and then regrouped in about 20 minutes to hail a cab and head to downtown Madison for the pre-parties. First up was Great Dane, not necessarily a pre-party but always a good place to start an adventure in Madison. I had a couple of beers first Blackwatch Scotch Ale on Cask and then Verruckte Stadt German Pils. I really liked the Pils; it was probably one of the best beers I had that night.
A couple of the group headed out to try a secure a place at our next stop, but they only made it across the street to Madison's, I believe that is the name of the place, and found out there was free Goose Island on tap. So they texted us to let us know. By the time we made it inside and ordered our beers the free beer was gone, so my wife and I both paid $7 for a Goose Island beer, I had Pepe Nero and she had either Sophie or Matilda. I was very impressed with the Pepe Nero; it is a black Farm House Ale brewed with black peppercorns. It was a statement beer... very good.
Then we did make it to our next intended place, the Old Fashioned. Many in our group went for the namesake of the bar and ordered Old Fashions. I went for the special tappings from Red Eye Brewing, Dave's BrewFarm and Hinterland. Unfortunately I can not recall any of the beers, they were a few good ones, but I can not remember them. I did meet a cool gentleman selling his own beer books, Kevin Revonlinski. The main book he was pushing was The Wisconsin Beer Guide. The books looked cool but it was raining so I did not purchase one. Here is a website that links you so you can purchase the book http://www.pilsgrimage.com/.
We walked down the capital square to our next stop The Cooper Tavern, the brewery they were featuring was Lagunitas, I know a California beer at the Great Taste of the Midwest? I figured just go with it. The had both the IPA and Fusion VI on tap. We went inside to have some appetizers while enjoying our beers. While there I saw a friend and wound up having him introduce me to Ray Daniels. Ray was very nice to me and talked with me for a while. He even posed for a picture with me.
Our next stop was the Tipsy Cow and their featured beers were from Futhermore, Dark Horse and New Holland. Unfortunately I did not do a good job keeping track of the beers I had but they were good. Some of our group carried onto other places, but my wife and I called it a night and went back to the hotel room.
Next up my memories of Great Taste 2011.
QC Beerguy
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