Breaking News - Great Taste of the Midwest: Sweet Time in Madison
September 8, 2000 -- Illinois brew guru Brian Gustafson tells the tale of this year's Great Taste
The 14th annual Great Taste of the Midwest, held this past August 12th at Olin-Turville Park in Madison went flawlessly - as usual. The day was perfect (well, almost perfect - but the rain did not start until after all the 6000-odd happy beer drinkers and brewers had tucked it in for the afternoon.)
Festival goers had a chance to sample over 400 different beers from 100 different breweries and brewpubs from nine states for five glorious hours. The crowd was well behaved and beer savvy. Food was provided by Glass Nickel Pizza Company and Jingles. Beers fans with a good fastball could dunk the brewer. Many brewery related exhibits were scattered about the park. And the band played on - and on, and ON. I've never heard a tall skinny guy wail on a tuba like that before! As it has been every year before, the GTMW was the total beer festival - the best one in the nation, many would say.
Lots of new faces this year - Emmett's, Fox Bay, and Columbia bay from Illinois, Bellows, Lake Louie, Log Jam, Pearl Street, Stout Brothers, and Tyranena from Wisconsin. Lots of familiar faces were there as well - Kalamazoo Brewing and the feeding frenzy, Leinie's and autographs, Huber and Hans, Flossmoor and Bourbon-conditioned, well everything, John Kainz and the Wild Onionettes, and many more.
Favorite beers this year? Here they are in no particular order: Schell's Fire Brick Lager, James Page Burly Brown, Lafayette Black Angus Oatmeal Stout, Glen Ellyn Honey Apricot, Founder's Hill Santa's Little Helper, Lake Louie Warped Speed, Delafield's Millennium Tripel and Kiwi Lime Soda, Central Waters Mud Puppy, all the meads from White Winter, everything on tap from Capital, Flossmoor, Great Dane, New Glarus, Two Brothers, Goose Island, Three Floyd's, all the great stuff in the world's largest beer bottles from Larry Bell, and Yellow Belly from Minnesota Brewing (I was threatened with bodily harm if I did not include this.) Fest-goers were treated to a boot shaped tasting glass this year, but if they lost it had to wear a sticker that said "Boot Loser."
Mark your calendars for August 11th, 2001, when this great festival will be back again. Tickets go on sales May 1st.
For a selection of Brian's photos from the Great Taste, go to http://www.book-teria.com/MADISON/mad1.htm
There are 3 pages of nice pix. Enjoy!
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