Pick 6 Standout: El Wisco
(What is a pick 6 poem? Click here to find out.)
Door County – Apricot Dude Ranch – 5% – Pale Wheat Ale
I’ve never been big on apricot beers and saisons. But Door County Brewing always manages to brew magic. With Dude Ranch, you get that stone fruit apricot flavor, with some herbal grassy wheat sweetness. Like other DCB beers, it has a nice layer of spice to it.
‘Apricot
sunset pale ale
a wheat spiced earthy dude ranch
roaming off the beaten Belgian
ale trail.’
Wisconsin Brewing Company – Red Arrow APA – 5% – Pale Ale
Juicy, with mango, pineapple notes. It has tropical floral hop flavor, with hints of malt sweetness.
‘Crimson
arrows fly full
American pale ale
revolutionize the old world
beer scene.’
Central Waters – Rift IPA – 6.5% – IPA
Dominant notes of piney and floral hops, an nice earthiness, and caramel malt sweetness. Hidden in there are some tropical and bitter orange fruit notes.
‘Sweet
hop sky water
dew flowers from heaven
sift into the rift of central
waters.’
O’so – Hop Debacle – 5.8% – IPA
NE IPAs are all the rage, huh? Well let’s try this Wisconsin interpretation. From what I tasted, it was a juicy fruit forward ipa. It’s as juicy as it looks, which is a bit like orange juice. It’s also filled with tropical flavors, like melon and mango with a mellow hop bitterness.
‘Fuzzy,
melon headed
morning really calls for
citrus sun orange juice, beer for break-
fast, yea?’
Lakefront – El Wisco – 4.1% – Lager
Beautiful beer. It’s crisp, sweet, and filled with a nice bite of spicy hops. And that’s all balanced with some malted sweet bread and caramel flavors.
‘Ole
El Wisco wond
-erful lager I
cherish this Mexican malty
treasure.’
Boulevard – The Calling – 8.5% – IIPA
Piney and earthy hops, with syrupy sweetness. You get some lingering flavor of tropical fruit and biscuit sweetness, before ending on more hoppy bitterness. Just a tiny amount of alcohol is tasteable though.
‘Sailing
in amber seas
soaring toward tropical
tastes, yearning for piney hops and
doubles.’