Brew City Stories Episode 1: Sprecher Brewing
Beyond their core family of Belgian beers, Sprecher Brewery recently released a limited edition Belgian variation that was tasty enough to be our first Brew City Stories Beer Spotlight.
Brew City Stories: Sprecher Brewing
Beer Spotlight:
“Twelve Dragons” Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Quad 14% ABV | 33 IBU
Belgian Quad aged in Bourbon barrels for 18 months. Offered in brown flip-top one-liter bottles.
In the mid-80’s, a California “beach kid” living in Milwaukee left his Brewing Operations gig at Pabst Brewery to embark on the journey of opening his own craft brewery. That brewery became the first craft brewery to open in Milwaukee since prohibition: Sprecher Brewing Company. That ambitious, Californian, craft beer aficionado is none other than Randy Sprecher.
Luckily for Milwaukee, venturing home to California and opening his brewery on the West Coast was a bit outside his budget. Instead, Randy opted to open Sprecher Brewing in the Walker’s Point district of Milwaukee in 1985, later moving the brewery to its current Glendale location in 1993.
As Milwaukee’s current craft beer boom unfolds, Randy and his crew of brewers continue to crank out original recipes from the 80’s along with new IPA’s, Stouts, Scotch Ales and, of course, plenty of variations of German beers. Having lived in Bavaria before working at Pabst, German-style beers inspired many of Randy’s early recipes.
If you haven’t had a chance to run through the family of beers Sprecher brews, the perfect place to taste the full gamut is at the Glendale brewery’s indoor beer garden. You will likely come to the same conclusion as the SipMilwaukee boys: “Sprecher produces some of the best, most flavorful Belgian beers available in today’s busy craft beer market.”
Beyond their core family of Belgian beers, Sprecher Brewery recently released a limited edition Belgian variation that was tasty enough to be our first Brew City Stories Beer Spotlight: the “Twelve Dragons” Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Quad.
Sprecher aged an already insanely bold Quad for 18 months in oak bourbon barrels, treating Milwaukee craft beer fans to a bouquet of dark fruits, including plums and berries, finished off with a classic, bold oak flavor.
Although Sprecher was the first craft brewery in Brew City since prohibition, Milwaukee millennials often perceive Sprecher as the root beer soda that fueled their childhood. Only in the last few years has that generation of now passionate craft beer fans begun to explore the army of Sprecher beers that have been hiding under their noses the entire time.
About Brew City Stories:
This is the first collaboration of “Brew City Stories”, a storytelling collaboration between Edible Milwaukee and SipMilwaukee focusing on the stories behind Milwaukee’s beer scene. Watch the video version of this Brew City Stories segment on Edible Milwaukee’s Facebook page.
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