As I have mentioned in a couple of audio shows, I have a friend who is originally from Wisconsin. The last time they went there, I tossed them $20 and told them to bring me back what they could in the craft beer department from Wisconsin. They delivered twelve beers back to me. Instead of going in order of drinking the beverages, I’m going to concentrate on a single brewer with each article. Up first, Ale Asylum which is brewed and bottled in Madison.

Ambergeddon – The beer above was the first one I tried from this company because I’m all for amber beverages since I enjoy the malt. Ale Asylum believes traditional ambers will be extinct but I’m pretty sure that’s a gimmick coming from the name. If do want to replace traditional ambers with this style of beverage, they might want to work on the formula. They put entirely too much hops in this beverage. I can understand their thinking in that throwing in some additional hops will make it different but sometimes it doesn’t work and this is one of those times. The hops overwhelmed the malt which isn’t as prominent of a flavor to me when they’re alone. This beverage comes in at 6.8% ABV so it has some kick to it. Both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer are much happier with this selection than I was. It’s a year round selection so if you want to give it a try, have at it.

Bedlam! IPA – Of the three selections I had from Ale Asylum, this one was may favorite. After complaining about hops in the previous beer, it seems strange that I’d select the hoppiest beer as my favorite but this one mixed in the floral notes of citrusy hops along with Belgian yeast to come up with a terrifically different IPA. That is one of the reasons why I dig this company. They’re willing to try some different things but sometimes they’re not always a hit with even one individual. Didn’t like the first experiment on a beer type I enjoy, but loved the second one which is a beer type that is still new to me. They say the citrus comes from grapefruit & lime peel rind which helps cut through the heavier hops taste. The Belgian yeast gives it a tang that I haven’t had before but would welcome into other IPAs. This beer comes in at 7.5% ABV so it isn’t much heavier than Ambergeddon. Check out the reviews on BeerAdvocate and RateBeer if you’d like but we all agree this time. It’s a seasonal selection so it’s only available

Hopalicious – I either didn’t take a picture of this beer or I accidentally erased it. So it’s a good thing that I put a review into my Untappd app (difrango11 if you want to look me up) or else this beer would have been lost until my friends go back to Wisconsin. Unlike the other two beers, this one is not an experiment of mashing flavors together. This one is a straight up American Pale Ale. The other two descriptions were like a fresman English major writing but I think they nailed this beer on the head without going over board: “And we made it for the everyday hophead who wants bold, citrus hop flavor without crazy bitterness.” It’s heavy on the hops for a pale ale but it’s not overwhelming bitterness. It had a good taste to it which means it came in second place.

Good news on the beer front from yours truly who invested in Land-Grant Brewing a couple of years ago by way of Kickstarter. They have struggled with finding a location in which to house their equipment in. They had a contract last year that was yanked out from under them. It seems though that they’ve locked in a location in the Franklinton area of Columbus. I didn’t get to try their beer when they debuted them during the spring game in 2012 because I was in Atlanta getting ready to attend Jon Jones vs Rashad Evans. Here’s to hoping I have more #SippyTimeBeer to taste later this year. – Kevin