Beer and Cheese Festival

Thoughts

Any time a festival is mentioned it immediately divides the listeners into one of two crowds: those who attended and those who did not. My goals with this post are to make those who did not attend want to give it a whirl next time the opportunity is presented  and to make those who did attend wish they had hung out with me. Ha.

But seriously, the Isthmus Beer & Cheese Festival is probably my favorite thing about Madison, aside from the people of course... and by people, I mean, my friends. This was the 5th year for the festival. It was my 3rd year to enjoy the greatness.

Here is the tale of this year's festival, through my eyes.

Planning

The day the tickets went on sale, I made sure to blast out several GroupMe's, Facebook posts and SnapChats. I wanted to make sure people knew that I was planning on returning to the Tundra. I was helped into a decision to upgrade my normal ticket to a PREMIUM variety... (Good call Patch and 13)

VIP

This would allow my group an extra hour to get the lay of the land before the hordes of others come swarming in. Also, if you know me, then you know I like the idea of VIP.

The festival was on Saturday, and I figured I should try to come up early. I convinced the #YoT crew #YoNJ' Crew that I would come up on Friday, but, with the help of Dunston, I would actually arrive Thursday night to surprise the birthday boy, Nigel.

Thursday

The drive up wasn't bad. I needed to hit St Louis around 4. So I loaded up Neytiri and rolled out around noon.

Perennial Artisan Ales

The brewmaster at Wiseacre, Davin, had given me some recommendations for breweries to hit on my trip. Perennial was my first stop. I had been informed that I would love this brewery. CORRECT. A whole slew of Belgian varieties. Perfect.

Beautiful tap row

As I walked in, I was greeted by the tap room manager. She walked me through the different offerings. I then was able to meet the co-founder, Phil. Hearing him talk about the place, I can understand why this brewery does well. I could sense his passion for making great beer. The tap room area was clean and sleek.

I made my decision to try a couple different beers.

Overall, my favorite was the Fête de Noël. The holiday spices and fruity flavours combined to make a beautiful beer.

Once I had finished my tastings, I packed up and headed back out, knowing that I still had some distance to cover.

Nigel's Birthday

Arriving in Madison, Dunston was able to pull some crafty wizardry to get Tony back to Buck & Badger. This could be my imagination, but walking in, I felt like Norm. It just felt good to be back with the crew. After a couple shot-ski's and some ones-that-got-away, I knew it would be a great weekend.

RageChill made it

Friday

Since everyone else had to go to work, I used Friday to explore a couple places that had been eluding me.

Ale Asylum

When I worked in Madison, I passed this place nearly every week, but I never got around to going in.

My buddy Brian was actually on his way out of town, so he stopped in an had a new cold one with me. This place was great. The food hit the spot, and the beer sampler was a good purchase.

My favorite beer was the Happy Ending. I have been on a Belgian kick lately.

I also thought the inside was beautiful.

I grabbed a hoody, and we headed to the airport.

My next stop had received some good reviews, so I needed to try it out.

The Malt House

My fearless softball captain met me, and we were able to take it all in. The place had a cool feel about it. A little dark, but that added for nice conversation. I enjoyed a Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot. It was a great beer. The full malty flavor was very well received. But seriously, who names these beers?

That night the crew and I headed to the Majestic theater to enjoy the patriotic tunes of Jon Pardi.

Classic Over the Shoulder shot

Dunston and CT

Partying with Pardi

After a good night, I was ready to head home and mentally prepare for the festival.

Saturday, the big day!

Pat and Mer arrived in Madison, and we were headed to the Alliant Center. We had to make up some lost time since traffic had delayed us.

But we were quick to hit up New Glarus.

This brewery just reminds me of the essence of Wisconsin. Cabin Fever and the Snowshoe were delicious.

My overall favorites were MobCraft Black Bretty, Lakefront Brewery's Big Easy Imperial Maibock, Pangaea Hell Hound Brown Ale, Rush River Nevermore, and Hinterland Maple Bock.

Hopefully those links work for y'all. Now all that said, the beers were great this year. Those were just the few that stood out. Obviously, another fun aspect is running into friends:

Volleyball ref, Jhen

Little Borjas!

Miss these girls

Last year, Christina and I did this and took a picture. We were asked to stop pretty quickly. So we decided to test event staff again... under 20 seconds. Good job.

Basically, if you see this guy wandering around, come on over.

We had to get a shot of the guys afterwards, because everyone was so scattered.

The festival was great this year. I really liked this article about it. I am a strong proponent of the IBaCF. I will be back next year as well.

After we left Alliant, we all had a fun time going to my old haunts in Madison.

As the weekend came to an end, I headed over to Chicago to see a couple more breweries.

Off Color Brewing

This is purely a production brewery, which is different from all the others I have visited.

Walking in we were greeted by John. I enjoyed a delicious Nitro version of Scurry. The deep rich flavor blew my taste buds away. The Nitro gave it a smooth finish. I was able to fully enjoy the honey and molasses. Solid beer. John is very passionate and dedicated to crafting some great beers.

After here, we head to fight through some Chicago traffic.

Haymarket Pub and Brewery

This place had an awesome street presence.

I truly wanted to check it out, even without a recommendation. After meeting Pete and his crew, we were able to enjoy some well-made beers and delicious food.

I loved the Lucy's Belgian Tripel. The flavour was rich and smooth.

The atmosphere was energetic and fun.

Next time you are in Chicago, do the right thing and drop by.

Summary

I had a great weekend. And even though the drive back was treacherous and long and tiring, it was very worth it. Thank you to Meredith, Pat, Dustin, Tony, Jeff, Caroline, Dolan, Kates, Elaina, Emily, Nigel, Sean, Brian, Jim, and anyone else I might be forgetting for an amazing time.

If you know of cool festival that I might enjoy, let me know. Post it in the comments.

I look forward to hearing from you.