Thirtsy Troll Fest

This weekend my wife and I along with a few friends went up to the Thirsty Troll Fest in Mt. Horeb, WI.  This is a small fest that we all really enjoy, because it is mainly all Wisconsin beers and only around a 1000 people attend this event.  It is well worth a look if you are thinking of attending a beer fest, but do not want to be overwhelmed.

The six of us headed out Saturday morning to arrive in time to claim our camping spot and set up our tents.  We had to make an unattended stop in Maquoketa, IA because I forgot the air pump for the air mattress.  So we arrived up at the campground, only a couple of miles from Mt. Horeb, and claimed a site and pitched our tents.  After completing that chore we drove over to Mt. Horeb for the day.



First stop the Grumpy Troll Brewpub http://www.thegrumpytroll.com/ at which we were surprised  and walked in and were seated at a table right away. We were trying to be quick about our meal since the fest opened in less than a hour, so we all decided on our beers as well as our meal.  Our waitress arrived and asked if we knew what we wanted to drink, we told her that we were ready to order our meals as well.  To which she made an odd statement, that she would do the drinks first and then go back around the table for our meal orders.  Which is exactly what she did, so with that all done she arrived shortly after with our beers. 

My wife and a couple of our friends ordered a Sunflower, a farmhouse ale made with local honey.  It was pale yellow with a good amount of haze and a decent white head.  Taste wise it did not have much more than a slightly honey taste to me.  It seemed to be to me an easy drinking beer in the one sip I had.  I ordered a Trappist Ale, that was based off of the winning entry to the Grumpy Troll Challenge.  I was overall a light refreshing beer with a good amount of spiciness and it hid the alcohol strength well, 7% ABV.  It was light amber, hazy and a thin off white head.  A nice beer but not a session beer.  The other two in our group ordered a Hoppa Loppa IPA, a northwest styled IPA, did not have a taste of it until I was at the fest and once I did, I liked the beer.  An amber hued beer with a good off white head, the hops are present in the aroma and taste as well. A finely crafted IPA.

So we left the Brewpub and drove over to the park at which the fest was held.  The actual fest grounds are the outfield section of a ball field, the more you think about it it makes sense.  Flat grassy area with limited access and fenced in.  We set up our chairs and start looking for beer.  My wife and I had several decent beers but nothing outstanding to start with.  My first noteworthy beer was from Vintage Brewing in Madison, WI, it was a Belgian quad called Deville.  It was a greatly balanced beer that checked in at 11% ABV, but was smooth and easy drinking.  I could of sat and had me a couple pints of this beer.  Another standout beer was from Corner Pub Brewpub a Bourbon Scotch Ale.  The balance between the brew and the bourbon was just about perfect.  The beer had a hint of smokiness and was full bodied enough to stand up to the bourbon flavors.  Also both my wife and I loved the Rush River Nevermore, it is a chocolate, oatmeal stout around 8% ABV.  It is dark, strong and delicious.  The chocolate is a nice contrast to the oatmeal smoothness.  Go find this beer!

As the day went on several of our group helped out our friends from Great River Brewery by allowing them to take some breaks from pouring beer and go out and taste some of the brewer's beers.  This was the first year for Great River to attend this event and they were a hit to say the least.  They brought with them 6 beers and I know from pouring the beers they went home with maybe the remnants of two or three beers.  They ran out of their Redband Stout, the bourbon stout and the limited quantity of Oktoberfest.  They also had a firkin of the Roller Dam Red dry hopped with simcone hops, which was very good.

This fest gives each fest goer a marble to vote for their favorite brewery.  Great River came in third in the voting, really awesome for attending the fest for the first time this year.  Scott and Dawn were very pleased to place in the top three.  Also they may have found a new market to expand into.  I can not count how many times as I was pouring beer for Great River I was asked where the beer could be purchased.  Unfortunately for the fest goers they have to drive a bit to either Dubuque or Galena.  So it was a great day for Great River.

At the end of the fest we gathered our stuff up and headed to a cool place: Aunt Mary's Hooterville Inn http://www.hootervilleinn.com/ for pizza and beer.  It is located in the town of Blue Mounds, WI and at night they have hand made pizza.  Also they usually have 6 good craft beers on tap, this weekend they had mainly Bell's beers.  The pizza was very good as well as the beer, plus the place was not crowded.  After eating our fill we took the short drive back to the campsite.  We continued the great day on into the night sharing stories and craft and homebrewed beer around a campfire.

Then this morning we woke up and went back to Aunt Mary's for breakfast, which is equally as good as the pizza.  Unfortunately after that was the drive home.  This was a very enjoyable weekend and I know I look forward to going to this fest again next year.  It is always the second Saturday of September so put it on your calendar.

QC Beerguy