Leinenkugel's is just one of several beers available at the Taste of Whitewater this weekend.

Eat, drink and be merry: Beer

By: Brandon Gorman

Posted: 9/10/08

Keeping it local is the idea behind the beer tent as seven local Wisconsin breweries will be featured at the second annual Taste of Whitewater this weekend at Cravath Lakefront Park. Alongside Wisconsin favorites, Miller and Leinenkugel's, will be several smaller microbreweries including Capital Brewery from Middleton, Gray's Brewing Company from Janesville, New Glarus Brewing Company from New Glarus, Sprecher Brewing Company from Milwaukee and Tyranena Brewing Company from Lake Mills.

Microbreweries differ from larger brewers like Miller, Budweiser and others due to the quantity of beer produced. To be considered a microbrewery, the establishment must produce less than 15,000 barrels of beer annually. In beer production, one barrel is equivalent to 31 gallons. The first was established in Sonoma, California in 1976 and many followed soon after. Today there are more than 1,600 microbreweries across the United States.

Middleton's Capital Brewery produces as many as 16 different beers annually and Capital's Island Wheat and Oktoberfest will be available at the event. First opened in 1984, Capital Brewery has won numerous beer awards and has previously been named the number one brewery in the United States and named seventh best in the world.

Nearby Gray's Brewing Company from Janesville has been in the beer making business since 1856. Their philosophy? To create beer and soft drinks based on the "simple principle of making the very best tasting ales and soft drinks possible," according to Gray's company profile. With more than 150 years of experience in the business, Gray's Oatmeal Stout and Honey Ale will be available on tap.

Famous across Wisconsin for their Spotted Cow beer, New Glarus Brewing Company is the proud product of Daniel and Deb Carey. Made with 100 percent natural ingredients, New Glarus' beers have helped the brewery win several prestigious beer awards including being named one of the top ten breweries in the world. Along with Spotted Cow, the aptly named Fat Squirrel will also be available at the 'Taste.' Deb Carey, a Wisconsin native, was the first woman to own and operate a brewery when she created the company in 1993.

Known not only for its beer, but also its premium root beer, Orange Dream and cream sodas, Milwaukee's Sprecher Brewing Company has been making craft beers since 1985. Created by California native and former Pabst Brewery employee Randal Sprecher, the brewery has more than a dozen year-round, seasonal and limited release beers available. Sprecher's Black Bavarian, which has flavors of caramel, chocolate and coffee, will be offered.

"In a place between Madison and Milwaukee, history and legend meet," is the motto of Tyranena (pronounced tie-rah-nee-nah) Brewing Company based in Lake Mills. Founded in 1998, the brewery makes six year-round beers and four seasonal beers, each with a unique story behind them. Featured at the Taste of Whitewater will be Bitter Woman, a Wisconsin adaptation of an Indian Pale Ale according to the brewery. "Very fruity and intensely bitter," the beer is based on Lake Mills' very own "Aunt Cal," who rumor has it once was the love interest of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Whether looking for a mainstay like an ice cold Miller Lite or venturing out and trying something adventurous like Sprecher's Black Bavarian, the beer tent at the Taste of Whitewater offers a wide variety of brews to please any beer lovers palate.