The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [107]
PHILOSOPHY
The Old Fashioned is Wisconsin, through and through. Their beer list—50 taps, 150 bottles—is stocked entirely by Wisconsin breweries, save one bottle of the oft-requested Grain Belt Premium from Minnesota—the sole “import.” Their food menu follows suit: everything is made from local ingredients or picked up directly from local purveyors. They don’t even have tomatoes when they’re off-season in the Badger State. When it comes time to order, go for the fried walleye sandwich, or perhaps something involving the official state food, cheese. “The batter-fried cheese curds are out of this world,” said waitress Jessica Carrier on a recent visit, “and I’m not just saying that. I have literally had a dream about the cheese curds.”
KEY BEER
Sprecher Black Bavarian Lager, an authentic, German-style black beer is a far more delicate brew than the hue would suggest (6% ABV).
BEST of the REST: WISCONSIN
TYRANENA BREWING CO.
1025 Owen St. • Lake Mills, WI 53551 • (920) 648-8699 • tyranena.com
A short drive from Madison leads to sleepy Lake Mills and the sleek Tyranena (pronounced tie-rah-nee-nah) brewery and taproom, opened in 1998. (The company is named for some mysterious rock formations at the edge of a nearby lake.) No one’s quite sure who or what’s behind their design, but no matter, the beer’s good and the owners have a beer garden, steady live music, and a sense of humor, that translates to can’t-miss events such as Sweater Vest Appreciation Night (really). There are free tours Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. and ten taps to sample (in addition to six-packaged beers, growlers, and specials). Chief Blackhawk Porter, named for the Sauk Indian chief who led the last armed conflict between Native Americans and Europeans east of the Mississippi, is a fulsome 5.5% ABV brew with notes of coffee, toffee, and chocolate.
The
NORTHEAST
W hile it’s true that the West has a lock on modern craft brewing history and has long been at its leading edge, the Northeast offers tastes of both America’s oldest, historical beer traditions, and its most delicious, innovative present tense all at once. From countryside breweries in rural Vermont and Appalachia making minor masterpieces to chic urban brewpubs in Boston and New York City, there’s a new craft beer tapestry to explore that is every bit as dense and diverse as the population itself.
Once a region rich with local and regional breweries, nearly all died off during Prohibition. The comeback, starting in the 1980s and following the lead of West Coast path-breakers, didn’t happen overnight. Thanks to their relative nearness to cosmopolitan Europe, cities like New York and Boston became hotbeds for pricey imports from England, Germany, and Holland starting in the 1970s. As innovative importers introduced Belgian ales and Eastern European Pilsners to choosey, sophisticated Northeasterners, their tastes for beer begin to wander. At the same time, ambitious British-style brewpubs and microbreweries began to thrive in the suburbs and even in rural towns. These weren’t kids in a model U.N. or hippies going back to the land, these were brewers challenging the status quo and marching their fresh creations steadily into the best bars, restaurants, and quarters of town, opening a lot of minds in the process. Today, a once scrappy 1980s startup is America’s largest craft brewery (Boston Beer Company). There’s even a tiny artisanal brewery on one Manhattan rooftop (Eataly’s La Birreria). No matter where you start or end up on a tour of the region, it’s a beer lover’s feast.
New York
TEN YEARS AGO, NEW YORK CITY WAS A CRAFT BEER BACKWATER.
There were a handful of bars with ambitious lists, sure, and some lovable eccentrics (like the original Blind Tiger Alehouse, a gloriously mildewed, Lilliputian tavern in the West Village). But it wasn’t enough. A handful of