What's new in the land of Leinenkugel's

If you are curious, the The Capital Times has a story up today on the Jacob Leienenkugel Brewing Company, including an interview with Jake and Dick. Here's a brief summary-Miller has increased their expectations for the Leinie's, and we will continue to see distribution expanded to more states for select Leinenkugel beers. The latter is good news for people like myself who travel and enjoy having a little taste of home when on the road.

Revealing a mystery beer

I have two apologies. The first is for the lack of blogging this weekend. I was in the land of milk and Honey Weiss, and that tends to not be conducive to blogging. This particular weekend I spent some time setting up a new computer for the Mother Jib. Secondly, I apologize for teasing the Leinie's drinkers out there with the new 'mystery beer'. I was informed that I was being selfish by writing about the new Leinie's but withholding my information. I agree. Now that I've had a pint, I'll fill you all in.

The mystery Leinie's beer is called Leinenkugel's "Big Eddy" Imperial IPA. As I understand it, this beer was brewed in Milwaukee and it was limited to less than 150 barrels. It also can only be found in the Madison and Milwaukee markets. I tried it this afternoon with a friend at The Great Dane in the Hilldale area of Madison. I understand it can be found at The Angelic, Genna's, Wonder's Pub, The Echo Tap, The Ivory Room, Concourse Hotel, The Edgewater, Paul's Club, and Romans' Club. I'm sure there are other locations, but those are the ones I've seen mentioned.

The beer itself is unlike any Leinenkugel product you are going to drink. I had mine at the Great Dane, and it was fun just to watch it served. They used a pump style tapper to serve it, and the bartender held it behind the bar for several minutes while the head subsided. The 9.5% alcohol content "Big Eddy" is bitter on the front end and very strong with hops. It is a quite flavorful beer and my companion and I both enjoyed it, although we both admitted that it wasn't a beer we'd be drinking in great quantities. It is a little heavier that most Leinenkugel brews, and the alcohol content is quite a kick if you haven't eaten first.

Now that I've had it, I encouraged everyone else to give it a try. It won't be a favorite for a lot of beer drinkers, but for others it will be a welcome change to such beers as Apple Spice and Summer Shandy.

Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy

This new Leinenkugel's beer makes the northwoods boy in me bristle a little bit, but I'll probably give it a shot once it hits the shelves on April 1st.

Leinenkugel's has expanded summer seasonal Berry Weiss to year-round production and is introducing a new seasonal, Summer Shandy, modeled after European beers that are mixed with either lemonade or lemon-lime soda. "We're actually going to have real lemonade flavor in our beer," Leinenkugel says. "This is the first of this style I've seen from any American brewer. There are hard lemonades out there, but this will actually be beer with lemonade. We're excited about the possibilities and are putting together our marketing."

At least is has a German heritage and it is a beer and not a hard lemonade. I am not pleased with the continued frou-frouing of beer, though. And since they took away my Leinie's Northwoods, I'd much prefer to see a return of Leinie's Limited or perhaps even my favorite short lived Leinie's product, Leinie's Ice.

From The Land of Milk and Honey Weiss

Last Saturday I went out to capture some pictures of my hometown of Chippewa Falls, but events conspired against me a little. There was a harsh winter light on Saturday afternoon, and I didn't want to use it for the pictures I had in mind. I had some places in mind that would have made for great pictures in that type of light, but most of them required some walking, and the drinking I had done with my father the previous made me highly resistant to walks. So I give you two photos. One is a shot of the Leinenkugel Brewery, a staple for me. The other is of the "Rainbow Bridge" over Duncan Creek.

The Rainbow Bridge is a great subject in the fall when the leaves are at peak color, and it is also quite good early in winter before the creek freezes. I had to get this shot, though, because they are debating whether to repair or rip down this memorable bridge located just down the hill from where I spent my early childhood.