Dane Great Beer in Madison

I started my career as a summer intern during graduate school in 2006. That summer, I gave my husband Marc an earful about how my colleagues back in Chicago would offer condolences when they heard my client engagement was in Madison, Wisconsin. Clearly they did not know good beer (or about fried cheese curds, for that matter).

I saw beyond the pint sized town and cow décor in Madison and entered the city with big barley hopes of having intimate access to unique craft breweries and a college town brewery culture that was said to rival my personal standard of excellence -– Bloomington, Indiana’s Upland.

Day one in Madison showed its malty muscle as I waded through the ocean-sized sampler at the Great Dane. The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company opened one block off the state capitol square in November 1994 and became the first brewery to operate in the city of Madison after the closing of the Fauerbach Brewery in 1966.

When my sampler came, patrons glared, wondering if anyone else would be joining me and my large wooden paddle of brews. I had never seen such a bevy of brews in a beer platter, which decidedly dwarfed my table for one. That day I learned that at the Great Dane, you can order different numbers of samples and if you generically order The Sampler you will receive at least 10 beers! Be warned or be smitten. I was just happy that my sampler sophistication quotient had jumped a notch –- I’ll be ready next time!

Those first (many) sips of Madison’s Great Dane left enough of a finish for me to bring my husband, Marc back for a visit which we achieved as part of a thoughtful detour en route from a family wedding in Iowa last month. This time, The Sampler arrived without traces of shock or shame.

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Southern Tier Mokah Imperial Stout

I’m not the sort of person who skips to the end of a book when he can’t bear the suspense. And yet, here I am, hastily thumbing ahead.

Perhaps you remember my brief but torrid love affair with Choklat back on February 14th? That sweet, chocolaty stout from Southern Tier Brewing Company is part of the Blackwater Series of Imperial Stouts — and it set my chocolaty beer standard for many months to come. I knew the Blackwater Series boasted a creation called Jahva — a coffee stout brewed with Jamaican roasted coffee — but I simply never got around to grabbing a bottle. Instead, I picked up Mokah.

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What’s That Goop in my Beer?

Beer questions come to me through the “Contact” section of this website fairly frequently, and I always do my best to either provide the right answer or perhaps enlist an expert who can help.

Because one person’s question is likely on the mind of others, I’ve decided to start sharing those responses here on BeerADay.net.

As it happens, I received a great question about beer earlier today — so I’ve decided to make that question into the first installment of a feature I’m tentatively calling “Ask Andy”.

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Samurai Rice Ale

Great Divide Brewing Co. is responsible for the great YETI Imperial Stout I enjoyed a few weeks ago, and I have several of their beers waiting for me.

Tonight, the Samurai “Rice Ale” caught my attention and reeled me in.

What does Great Divide say about this beer? According to both the label and their website, they opine:

SAMURAI is an easy drinking, unfiltered ale that changes the status quo for unfiltered beers. The addition of rice gives Samurai a slightly fruity, crisp, refreshing and clean taste. This is definitely not your everyday unfiltered beer. 5.1% ABV

This makes it sound like a delicious take on Budweiser, but only tasting it will tell the tale.

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Woody Creek White

Dear readers, you’ve been so patient as I lament the sad state of what passes for wit beer among many breweries. Many of the Whites I’ve tasted have been boring — a hint of spice at best, or maybe the suggestion of orange peel.

Much like being trapped at a pun convention, will I be endlessly bombarded by unsatisfying Wit?

No, thankfully. Leave it to Flying Dog to quell my complaints.

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Last Consumed:

My wife and I usually select a Christmas Tree during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we were thrilled to discover the farm down the road from us is selling trees this year. She and I stopped by the farm while walking our Boston Terrier, Caesar, who helped us sniff out a good one. After my wife and I dithered over the best tree for several minutes, Caesar weighed in with his selection by lifting his leg on a plump Fraser Fir.

I hope that means he liked it.

The tree went up on my shoulder, I carried it home (drawing chuckles from several people driving by), and our Christmas season officially began. We’ve been listening to Christmas music, drinking hot chocolate, and generally sickening all humbugs spying through our windows.

So it should come as no surprise that I’ve selected the “Hoppy Christmas Ale” from Belgium’s Brewery De Ranke. The beer — Père Noël (imported by Shelton Brothers) — intimates the reason for Father Christmas’ jolly cheeks and rosy nose; the label depicts Santa embracing the frothy, 7% ABV Strong Pale Ale.

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