During a week-long visit to my girlfriend’s hometown in Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to experience a taste of the many marvels the state has to offer: eating several varieties of cheese (sometimes daily), checking out farms full of cows, watching how Trek bikes are made, scaring the piss out of myself dropping into a crazy waterslide (sorry to whoever went after me) at the self-proclaimed World’s Largest Waterpark and of course, drinking great beer. So, what better place is there to find a Beer of the Week than Wisconsin?
Precisely.
Milwaukee is a beer lover’s Mecca. Not only is PBR from Milwaukee, but all kinds of great microbreweries call Milwaukee and other cities throughout Wisconsin home. Born in the city of New Glarus, a town of just 2,300 a little drive south of Madison, is the New Glarus Brewing Company. Of the good beers this notably tasty brewery produces, Spotted Cow is probably the best known. It’s considered a farmhouse ale, often called saison, meaning that it is an old fashioned, naturally cloudy beer. Traditional in all aspects of the ale, this beer requires a warm fermentation and the real presence of yeast, and flaked barley and corn pack some great flavor. Unlike Coors, which I ripped on in a previous post, the corn in a farmhouse ale is not merely a cheap replacement for barley, but rather added to create the smooth finish distinctive to Spotted Cow and other similarly brewed beers.
New Glarus is a great brewing company with lots to offer, so the next time you find yourself passing through America’s Dairyland, be sure to save room in your suitcase full of cheese to fit a few Spotted Cows.
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