The Great Taste Caper 2018 - Day 3: Algonquin for "the good land"

Our itinerary for Day 3 had been under construction up until about two weeks prior to our departure. I really wanted to squeeze in Milwaukee, so we had to drop Chicago from the mix. Fine with me, as we'd been to Chicago about three times in the last decade, while I'd never been to Milwaukee and Brewslut hadn't been there in almost 10 years. So, we booked a room and it was set in stone. We were off to "the good land!" (You'll want to click on that link... trust me!)

Following a leisurely 100-mile drive into Milwaukee, WI, (complete with a bit of road construction), we landed at what was most certainly the impetus for including this historic beer city on our itinerary. Brewslut had first visited Lakefront Brewery during her inaugural trek to Great Taste with fellow Team D(r)INKers Deuane, Carolyn, and Dain. She had routinely mentioned the top-notch quality of the brewery tour there, citing it as insightful, educational, and also quite humorous. FUN FACT: Part of the brewery's bottling line is the same piece of equipment from the opening title sequence for the 70's hit TV sitcom, Laverne & Shirley. Following the tour, guests are encouraged to sing the lyrics to the song while two volunteers from the tour group place a rubber glove on one of the passing bottles (just like in the opening credits of the show). But more on the tour later.

Outside Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery.

As we walked up the inclined platform to the brewery entrance with a Tröegs 6-pack in hand, I was stopped by a greeter, who kindly informed me I wasn't allowed to bring in any outside beverages. Of course, I wasn't attempting to smuggle foreign beer into the brewery, but rather I was bringing a gift for the fine folks from one brewery ambassador to another. Once they figured it out, they rolled out the red carpet for us.

These Three Stooges sculptures used to be beer tanks.

Our first order of business? Beer, of course! When one reserves a spot on the Lakefront brewery tour, each person is given four wooden tokens to then acquire 5-ounce beer samples of his or her choice. In an amazing display of long-term memory retrieval, Brewslut recalled still having two tokens from her visit a decade ago, found them and took them with us on the trip. So we were afforded the luxury of FIVE samples instead of four. Nicely done, buddy! Since the tour wasn't starting for another 20 minutes or so, we had time to chat with some of the employees about beer, our travels, Tröegs, etc. I was surprised to learn that Lakefront had been in the beer business for 30 years! I knew they were considered one of the "old guard" when it came to craft beer, but that's pretty impressive. Conversely, I was startled when I discovered that they produce less than half the barrelage of Tröegs (around 45,000 bbl). After chatting for a bit, it was time to soak in the authentic German beer hall atmosphere of the tasting room. Here's a little peek:

Bavaria comes to Milwaukee at Lakefront.

Anyway, onto the beer. I started with a pour of Fuel Cafe, an organic coffee stout brewed with roasted malts and coffee from Milwaukee's renowned Fuel Cafe. I find it appropriate to start off the day with a coffee beer, and this one is on-point.

Pleeps and I shared beer tokens since he didn't get any.

Up next was a beer called Just Muck'n Around, a collaboration with a nearby small brewery called Eagle Park (coincidentally, our next stop on the list). Dubbed a "black NE-style hazy IPA," this may very well be the first of its kind. I'm not sure how a black beer can be "hazy," but whatever. Since most NE-style IPAs are know for aroma vs. bitterness, this one came across as a typical black IPA with a prominent roasty character and citrusy hop flavor with a hint of coffee and chocolate. Still, it was pretty enjoyable and I always appreciate experimentation in brewing.

By this time, the tour was about to start, so I grabbed a pour of Eastside Dark, Lakefront's most decorated beer with regard to various competition medals. Honoring the eclectic East Side of Milwaukee, this Bavarian dark lager blends three different specialty grains to create a rich, creamy schwarzbier that was quite enjoyable. It is also worth mentioning that folks are allowed to take beer with them while on the tour (a no-no at some other breweries). The other thing they allow on tours, unfortunately, is children. (At least Tröegs has that part right!) As luck would have it, there were three annoying ones on our tour, so we made sure to steer clear of them when we arrived at stopping points along the way. Our tour group was pretty large (around 40 people) so it wasn't an up-close-and-personal tour, but our tour guide was knowledgeable, funny, and loud when he needed to be.

Midway through the tour, we were able to get a beer refill at one of the conveniently located "pop-up" bars along the tour path. This was pretty sweet! I opted for Lakefront Pils, a traditional German-style pilsner that hit the spot, especially since it was a bit humid and stuffy during the tour. Although it didn't pop quite as much as the trifecta of PA pilsners I'm used to drinking, this is still a fine example of a style that often gets overlooked for its simplicity. However, everyone knows that it takes true grace to brew a world-class pilsner using just four ingredients and nothing to hide behind.

Lots of beer to choose from at Lakefront!

Speaking of lagers, my final pour was something called Beer in Progress - Mexican Lager #001. It seems to me that "Beer in Progress" is the name of a Scratch-esque Series of experimental beers from Lakefront. Seems a lot of larger breweries have these small-batch series now. This one is a refreshing take on the "island lager" a la Dos Equis with a bit more flavor. This one has a nice lemony character with an almost margarita-like flair.

After the tour, we chatted with the tour guide, and I grabbed some beer from the trunk to give to him. He mentioned he was a fan of pilsners, so I got him some Sunshine Pils. Sharing beer with fellow breweries always proves to be a good omen, and more often than not, breweries reciprocate with gifts of beer.

As our visit was winding down, we decided to join a guy I'd met briefly on the tour from York, PA. I heard him say, "Tröegs Scratch Beer" and my ears perked up. We high-fived and that was the end of it. Well, I saw him sitting at a table in the tasting room so I decided to join him and his friends. It was cool to run into someone from my next of the woods almost 800 miles away from home! While we chatted, our tour guide returned with a mixed 6-pack of Lakefront beers for us to take home. Now that's good beer karma!

Me doing the touristy thing at Lakefront.

Our tour also included a voucher for a free pint glass or $2 off merchandise in the gift shop. Since we have so many beer glasses, we opted for the keychain bottle openers, which were conveniently just $2 each. So they were free! You can never have too many of those. Well, actually yes you can, but at least they're good to have around when someone breaks out a random beer somewhere.

After an enjoyable visit to Lakefront, it was off to nearby Eagle Park Brewing, which was less than a mile away and just across the Milwaukee River. Founded by two brothers who also play in a band together, Eagle Park marries their passion for craft beer and music. Many of the brewery's beers are named after music references or song titles (Set List, Loop Station, From a Land Down Under, etc.). Inside, the space was open and bright with lots of natural light, blonde wood, and a cozy lounge area to which we were drawn immediately.

Outside Milwaukee's Eagle Park Brewing.

Since we had quite a bit of beer at Lakefront, we settled on a sampler flight of three beers to share. First up was Guava Wheat Wine. Another Wheat Wine... how 'bout that? Of course, I had to try it. This particular one was brewed with over 200 pounds of guava. Had the Eagle Park brothers been fans of the band Ween, perhaps they could have named this one Pure Guava. Speaking of music references, we also chose Pink Houses (likely named after the John Mellencamp hit), a black currant Berliner Weisse, as one of our three samplers. There was no way we were getting out of there without Brewslut trying the Berliner Weisse. Goon Juice, a hazy NE-style IPA hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Eureka, and Columbus rounded out the flight. The chalkboard was pretty IPA-heavy during our visit, but this one came highly recommended from both the bartender and a few patrons at the bar. This beer is loaded with aromas of bubble gum, tangerine, papaya, and a touch of pine. Goon Juice was definitely my favorite of the three, and an excellent example of a style that has been all over the map in my experiences. This piqued my curiosity, which led me to wanting to get another IPA before we left.

Pleeps has taken flight!

Pleased with all of the beers in our flight, we decided to get a full pour of Nelson Sauvin NEIPA to share. Besides, we were camped out on a couch over in the corner of the tasting room and digging the vibe. Brewed exclusively with one of my favorite hop varietals from the land of Jemaine and Bret, this tasty IPA boasts fruity notes akin to white grape with traces of tropical fruit and pepper around the edges. Although Nelson Sauvin hops are hard to beat, I have to give the nod to Goon Juice as my favorite beer we had at Eagle Park. An exemplary take on the NE IPA style, for sure.

Pleeps chillin' with his buddy Nelson.

We were beginning to get a hankering for an afternoon snack, and as it turns out Eagle Park has a little kitchen with a walk-up window to order food. With a small but varied menu featuring shared plates and sandwiches, we liked what we saw and decided to share the Chicken Tostadas. These tasty little Mexican-inspired treats feature chili-stewed chicken on a house tostada with crema, chimichurri, cotija, pickled jalapenos, radish, and corn nuts. These were delicious and added a little extra fuel in our tanks.

View from the couch at Eagle Park.

A quick 5-minute drive landed us at our next stop, Black Husky Brewing. With a name like Black Husky and its logo featuring, well, a black Husky, I was fairly certain this would be a dog-friendly brewery. Started in 2010 in a small log cabin nestled in the rural town of Pembine, Wisconsin, Black Husky takes its name from the sled dogs occupying the kennels on the land. Six years later, they moved operations to the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee, where they currently produce their beers and operate the taproom we visited. Yup, definitely dog-friendly!

Outside Black Husky's taproom.

The taproom definitely had a log cabin or ski lodge vibe with lots of bright, clean wood. We set up shop at the bar and ordered a pair of beers from the dozen or so offerings. The first one that leaped out to me was an IPA called Sprooce 2. Brewed with locally harvested spruce tips and weighing in at 106 IBUs, this aggressive DIPA reeked of fresh pine needles. Christmas tree in a glass, indeed. While I appreciated the execution, this was one intense beer that demolished my palate with its barrage of sappy sweetness and dry bitterness. I will say that it was probably the most pine-forward beer I've ever tried.

Brewslut opted for Vain, a Citra-hopped pale ale. At 7.2%, this definitely straddles the line between pale ale and IPA. This one fell squarely in the middle of the road for me. However, it could be due to the beating my tastebuds took from the Sprooce 2. Either way, it wasn't as memorable as Sprooce 2 and didn't entice us to stay for seconds.

Outside Third Space Brewing.

Our fourth brewery of the day was Third Space. This place is situated in an old factory and has a lot of character. There's brick as far as the eye can see. The outside courtyard serves as a beer garden of sorts, and customers can grab a beer inside and soak up some rays out in the open area. We opted to stay inside and chill. With only about 7 beers available, we reviewed the list and chose wisely. I really liked the sound of Java Blanca, a coffee cream ale, but it wasn't available on draft, only in cans. I rarely opt for can or bottle over draft when visiting breweries, but I made an exception this time. Brewslut went with Happy Place Citra, a Citra-hopped variation of its house pale ale, Happy Place. Both beers were solid, but we'd already decided that this was going to be a one-and-done stop. So we nursed our beers and enjoyed the atmosphere. There's just something about drinking in an abandoned factory or warehouse that appeals to me for some reason.

Beer selection at Third Space.

We were getting hungry again, so we bought a 1-pound bag of squeaky cheese curds to nosh on while we enjoyed our beers. I mean, we're in Wisconsin, right?! That's like going to Florida and not eating an orange, or not eating soupie when you're in Shamokin. We blazed through the bag of curds swiftly, and I made the mistake of reading the fat and caloric content on the back of the bag. It wasn't too terrible. However, then I saw the "serving size" was 1-ounce. We polished off the entire 12-ounce bag in one sitting, so once I did the math I could feel the cheese congealing in my gut and turning to fat. Oh well. It was worth it.

Just a logo on a brick wall, that's all.

As I was poking around the brewery and tasting room, I came across a few signs for beers that weren't on tap at the moment. One of them was called "Unbridled Enthusiasm," which immediately reminded me of a quote from Seinfeld. I asked the bartender about it, and she confirmed my assumption. Then I noticed a beer called "That's Gold" and realized that someone here must really like Seinfeld. "That's gold, Jerry! Gold!"

Pleeps was getting a little wobbly by now.

I kind of dig the name of this brewery, by the way. People have their first place (home) and second place (work). So a third space would kind of be a "happy place" or meeting place for friends. Simple but effective. Nicely chosen, folks! 

More logos painted on stuff.

We finished our beers (and cheese curds) and were off to our next brewery. After crossing the Menomonee River in two different places within two miles, we arrived at our final brewery of the day.

Outside MobCraft Brewery & Taproom.

As soon as I saw the tap list at MobCraft, I was pretty sure we'd be visiting again the next day. Boasting 20-odd taps of primarily IPAs, stouts, and sours, I was certain I wouldn't get through everything I wanted to try in one sitting. With every description I read, I thought, "That sounds awesome. I want that." Well, it turns out I wanted about 14 of the beers and realized pretty quickly that that wasn't going to happen. See?

Decisions... decisions... decisions...

So, let me walk you through my first flight of beers at MobCraft:

• Midnitro Dragon's Dream - chocolate oatmeal stout with blackberries served via nitro.
• Batshit Crazy - brown ale with coffee. Dee-licious!
• Hoppy Hoppy Pants Pants - dank, juicy DIPA featuring some far-out hops: Dr. Rudi, Jarrylo, Idaho 7, and Amarillo.
• Senor Bob - Imperial Cream Ale brewed with agave syrup and aged in tequila barrels.
• Existence Blackberry - blackberry sour ale.
• Squeezin' Juice - juicy, citrus-forward American IPA.

Tons of taps at MobCraft!

My favorite of the lot was probably Batshit Crazy, which says a lot because I tend to stray from brown ales. However, add coffee to pretty much any style and I'm sold! Overall, I was definitely digging the sours and dark beers here a bit more than the IPAs. I mean, everything was enjoyable, but I just felt that the other non-IPA offerings were a bit more interesting and flavorful. MobCraft is really doing lots of unusual styles and flavor combinations. They also love using fruit, which comes in handy when the person drinking the beer also loves fruit (i.e. me). 

We enjoyed our visit quite a bit, and it's clear that MobCraft is one of the more adventurous breweries in Milwaukee. Our bartender was super-friendly and talkative, and was happy to answer my dumb questions. I passed off some Nimble Giant to him just for being cool. Speaking of cool, it looks like Pleeps was out cold for the time being. I must have been a little loopy too because I can't for the life of me remember what's in the glass in the following picture. I guess I needed a nap too! Pleeps knows what I'm talking about...

Pleeps needed a quick power nap after that session!

Since we decided to return the following day to make a bigger dent in the tap selection, we were off to use our final token procured at Lakefront as a gift for taking the tour. New Glarus does this as well, whereby you take the token to a participating bar or restaurant and redeem a free beer (in this case, a free Lakefront beer). But first, we enjoyed a great impromptu meal at BelAir Cantina, which we stumbled upon while parking our car a block down from Stubby's (more on that in a moment). We each enjoyed a spicy pollo bowl consisting of pulled chicken, árbol sauce, citrus slaw, beans, rice, lettuce, crema, and salsa roja, plus a side of tortilla chips and salsa. This was some legit Mexican food pretty far from the border. Coming across some bangin' authentic Mexican cuisine in Wisconsin is like finding amazing Korean BBQ in South Dakota... or something like that. Either way, I'm glad we found this place!

BelAir Cantina serves up some bangin' Mexican food!

We ended our night at Stubby's Gastropub, one of the participating bars at which we could redeem our Lakefront token for a free beer. I figured we might as well cash it in. I mean, free beer, yo! I settled on Fixed Gear, a hoppy American Red Ale brewed with Chinook and Cascade hops. This one was quite floral and some sticky citrus and pine around the edges, and plenty of caramel malt sweetness to stand up to the heavy dry-hopping. It was also one that I hadn't tried while visiting Lakefront, so chalk up another Untappd check-in for me!

Pleeps is lookin' rejuvenated after his nap!

We still had a pretty ambitious half-day planned in Milwaukee for the following day, so we decided to head to the hotel and rest up. I'll leave you with this lovely view of the Milwaukee River as we walked from BelAir Cantina up to Stubby's. Stay tuned for Day 4 as we continue to make our way across Wisconsin into Minnesota. Until next time...