Beer tasting

I attended a beer tasting this past Saturday. A bartender at the local pub was doing a fund raiser for a local athletic association. Fund raising and beer is something that I can relate to. Plus for a price of just $25, I could sample roughly 100 beers.

Giddy up!!!

The thing started at 5:30 and would go on to 9. The location was the gymnasium of one of the local churches. I had mentioned a beer tasting taking place at a church and heard many a chuckle from people that don't live in Milwaukee. Heck, I just thought it was as normal as a church holding a fish fry.

We walked in and were immediately greeted by a spunky little cute girl in a black dress. Oh, and a wheel barrow full of beer.

This was the grand prize of the night. Entry gave you one ticket while you could purchase more for $5 a pop. Yes, of course I bough more. Sadly enough I wasn't the winner.

But I did have a good time drinking beer and did walk out with something good in a silent auction. A Schafly shirt, Sierra Nevada hat, 2 bottles of Capital Brewing's Blonde Dopplebock, 2 Capital Supper Club glasses, and a bunch of key chains. Oh, I forgot the New Belgium Fat Tire sticker and a slew of temporary tattoos.

There were a number of good beers I had during the night. I wanted to try as many different beers as I could. The goal was to try new breweries while getting in some of my favorites.

Hands down, my favorite of the night was from a brewery in Illinois called Wild Onion.

Their Summer Wit was fantastic. Easily my favorite beer of the night. They had some other solid offerings in the Jack Stout and the Paddy Pale Ale. I have a Hop Slayer in the fridge which I just my pop open tonight to fend off the heat.

Other beers I can think of that impressed me were the Central Waters Mud Puppy Porter, Southern Tier Gemini, and the Reissdorf Kolsch. At least those are the ones I can recall without going to Pintly. Breweries enjoyed included Boulevard, New Glarus, Smutty Nose, Left Hand, Pyramid, Esser, Oskar Blues, Magic Hat, Sprecher, and Flying Dog.

They also had some Jeremiah Weed product and Crispin cider. Both were nice alternatives to beer when I needed to cleanse the palate.

Now I think I'll go try that Hop Slayer.