Third Annual Beer & Cheese Fest

This weekend was one of my favorite beer tastings, the Dairy State Beer & Cheese Festival at Kenosha's Brat Stop.  We went with a few fellow child-free folks and had a great time, as usual.

Here are the beers we tried:

Val:

• Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
• Bells Oberon Ale
• Furthermore Fatty Boombalatty
• Berghoff Heartland Hefeweizen
• Lakefront Riverwest Stein Amber
• Big Bay Wavehopper Koelsch
• Steven's Point Nude Beach
• Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
• Home brew: German Lager
• Home brew: Maple Wheat

Dave:

• Ale Asylum Hopalicious
• Napa Smith Organic IPA (he hated this one)
• Alaskan Brewing Alaskan Amber
• Great Lakes Holy Moses
• Furthermore Proper
• Tyranena Bitter Woman IPA
• JW Dundee Stout
• Gray's Oatmeal Stout
• Horny Goat Hopped Up 'n' Horny
• Lakefront IPA
• Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
• Lake Louie Mosquito Beach (tie for favorite)
• Lake Louie Warped Speed (tie for favorite)
• Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
• Home brew: Vanilla Oak Porter
• Home brew: (two other beers he can't remember - I guess it was a good day!)

My favorite was the Fatty Boombalatty, which our friend Kyle sagely commented "might have some citrus, but might not."  To me, it was very banana-y, which I love.  I was also very impressed with the vanilla porter (which kind of tasted like birthday cake to me).  The home brew room was kind of disappointing this year, or maybe I just wasn't trying the right stuff.

I'd list the cheeses we tried, but they were too numerous and I didn't write them down.  Suffice to say I tried all the cubed cheese, cheese curds, and spreadable cheese I could handle.  Oh, and Bellavitano had a table this year, and they gave me a huge pile of cheese chunks for our table, just because I asked.  (I love Wisconsin.)

One of the oddest things this year was that people kept commenting on how Dave and our friend Kyle look like they could be brothers.  As many of you know, Dave and I look pretty alike also, and at one point, a Kenosha native came up and asked to settle a bet:  "Are you triplets?"  Sigh...

Afterward, we tried to find some of the beers at Woodman's, but I couldn't find my favorite (the Fatty Boombalatty).  Apparently it is available elsewhere in Kenosha, so I will have to try again.  We also paid a visit to the Mars Cheese Castle, where we purchased some gouda and something else I can't remember right now.  Yay Wisconsin!