The eighth annual Wisconsin IPA Fest comes to Third Space Brewing, 1505 W. St. Paul Ave., in the Menomonee Valley, on Saturday, Aug. 3.
The event runs from 2 until 5 p.m. and it’s a great way to try dozens of IPAs from more than 40 Wisconsin craft breweries. The participating brews also face a judging panel, which selects a winner each year.
Breweries can bring up to four beers for sampling but can only enter one in the competition.
Then, the festival winner makes a collab brew at Third Space for the following year’s event. Milwaukee's Hacienda Beer Co. took the top prize last year and thus collaborated on this year's beer.
"Our Hacienda Collab is a West Coast Style IPA at 6.6 percent ABV," says Third Space Brand Manager Lizzie Katt. "It features Briess malt, yeast from Omega Yeast, and hops from Hopsteiner."
You can buy the beer at the event (VIPs get a free four-pack with their ticket).
Tots on the Street, Pico's Tacos, Rot's Hots and Pig Tailz food trucks will be there, along with DJ Rick Ehlert from Sound by Design and lots of fun – including a make your own T-shirt station with new colors and designs – plus the chance to meet fellow hopheads and rub elbows with brewers from breweries across the state.
General admission tickets are $55 and include a sampling glass and unlimited sampling. VIPs get that plus an hour of early sampling, a lunch ticket, a private bar with special VIP brews plus that four-pack for $85.
A designated driver ticket ($20) gets admission and free non-alcoholic beverages.
The judges’ pick and the winner of the People’s Choice award, as selected by you, will be announced at 4 p.m.
Here is the list of participating breweries:
For more information, visit thirdspacebrewing.com.
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.
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 be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
