Beersconsin

There's a fairly big brewing tradition here in Wisconsin, in case you haven't heard (they even named their baseball team, Los Cerveceros, after said industry). Much of the history can be traced to German immigrants in the 19th century, who brought with them a hard work ethic, a strong knowledge about brewing, and lots of funny sounding names.

Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, Leinenkugels, Heilleman; these were the titans of the Wisconsin brewing industry. Some guy named Miller was in there along the way too, but anyways, I think you get the picture. Once refrigeration took off and distribution became possible, the breweries of Wisconsin helped keep the Midwestern states well lubricated for decades. But the party didn't last long, and corporate America and the birth of the American "lite lager" repaved the brewing industry in America into a advertising driven, calorie cutting, flavor annihilating beast. Only Miller was successfully able to catch this wave and ride it into becoming one of the nation's powerhouse breweries. Not that this was a good thing, but they did it none the less.

But from the dust of the once giant brewing industry in Wisconsin has arisen a new class of craft breweries. Though the craft brewing industry has been on the upswing nationwide since the 80s, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of Wisconsin brewed beers that are available in the Milwaukee area. It's almost like a Colorado of the Midwest, which makes me believe there's probably a connection between the beer giants Miller and Coors, and the microbrewery industries that sprung up around them the last few decades.

I've had a chance to sample some offerings from a couple of the different breweries in my few short months here, and what has quickly become a favorite of mine in Capital Brewery, based in the Madison area. You don't have to be a computer hacker to figure out that these guys know what they're doing, the awards listed on their website pretty much give it away. I'm not sure how widely available many of them are, but still an impressive list nonetheless. Oddly enough, what has been my favorite beer from them, the US Pale Ale, isn't even listed. But then again I'm a sucker for anything with cascade hops so what can I say. Now that it is officially fall, I just picked up some of their Oktoberfest, which has proven to be a solid offering as well.

The Capital Brewery is now officially on my to do list when I finally get to Madison (which is near the top of my to-go list). Luckily quite a bit of their selection is widely available around the Milwaukee area. They list distributors in Illinois, though I'm not sure how widely available they are around the Chicago metropolitan area. Beyond that, you can find their beers in the Twin Cities and that's about it. Apologies to all my readers outside of their distribution area, you'll just have to come visit Milwaukee now.

I'm not claiming that Capital is my favorite Wisconsin brewery, its much too early to make that decision, but I will say that so far they are leading the pack. There are quite a few votes for New Glarus, another Madison area based brewery, out there as well I'm sure. Leinie's will always be a favorite, but I think I'd put that in a category above the craft brewers in terms of size. And in Milwaukee, Lakefront Brewery has impressed me quite a bit for a brewery that's so poorly named (it's on the river!). Supposedly they make a good fish fry too so if you're heading to Milwaukee now you're Friday night is planned out for you.

Moving to a new city where you don't know anyone is always difficult, but when that city just happens to be in a land where beer is celebrated, appreciated, and more importantly drank by the truckload, it makes everything just a little easier.