Wisconsin IPA Fest is back for its ninth installment, bringing more than 40 Badger State breweries together to vie for the title of the state’s best IPA.
The event, hosted as always by Third Space Brewing, 1505 W. St. Paul Ave., takes place Saturday, Aug. 2, from 2 until 5 p.m. Let’s toast to temperate weather for this largely outdoor extravaganza.
Attendees get unlimited sampling during the festival and can also vote for the People’s Choice Award. A panel of experts – brewers and industry folks – tastes and selects this year’s official IPA champ based on five finalists selected by BJCP-certified judges in a blind tasting held a few days earlier.
The winning brewery visits Third Space in advance of the following IPA Fest to create a collab brew available at the festival.
Last year’s winner was Component Brewing for its Simcoe Overflow and the People’s Choice went to Amorphic for its Sentient IPA 5.0.
This year's special beer is a 7 percent ABV West Coast-Style IPA with ingredients from IPA Fest sponsors: malt from Briess, yeast from Omega Yeast, hops from Yakima Chief Hops and packaged in cans from Craft Beverage Warehouse.
In addition to sampling beers from the various breweries – who will bring more than just IPAs to taste – there will be a Lager Lounge and Sour Station, which will each showcase unique beers from some of the participating breweries.
There will be food trucks – Off Shore, Roll MKE and Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds – a live DJ and more!
General admission, including a souvenir tasting glass, is $50, with a designated driver option with a variety of N/A options for just $20. A VIP ticket, which includes early admission (at 1 p.m.), access to a special VIP only area and additional VIP only beers, a meal voucher and a four-pack of the 2025 VIP collaboration brew with last year's winner, is $85.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
