MobCraft Beer brings back Stout Fest on Saturday, Dec .9 at 11 a.m. at the Walker’s Point taproom, 505 S. St.
As always, the sixth annual event, will also mark the arrival of new Padishah Imperial Barrel-Aged Stout releases.
The event is free and open to all.
Padishah loosely translates from the Persian word for “master king,” according to MobCraft, and this year’s “king” of MobCraft barrel-aged beer and its variants all clock in at 11 percent ABV.
The variants this year – all of which were aged for at least 10 months – are Jim Beam bourbon barrel, Waterford Stillhouse bourbon barrel, Great Lakes Distillery apple brandy barrel and Padishah Exxtra, which was aged two years in bourbon barrels.
“At the start of fall, we start brewing our annual stout, Padishah, for the following year,” says the brewery’s Director of Barrel Operations, Adam Thomas. “We source barrels from our friends at Great Lakes as well as a Barrel Broker who always has a good variety of oak.
“After filling barrels around October, they are aged over the course of the next year or longer to be blended, packaged and served at Stout Fest. This year’s exciting variant blend is Padishah Exxtra, which has spent two years in bourbon barrels.”
These will all be on draft at Stout Fest, but also in a 12-ounce mixed four-pack cans with Padishah, Jim Beam bourbon barrel, Great Lakes Distillery Apple Brandy Barrel and Waterford Stillhouse bourbon barrel variants for $25.
Regular Padishah four-packs will be $20 and both types will go on sale at 11 a.m.
There are 31 draft lines in the taproom and they’ll be packed full of stouts, porters and barrel-aged beers, including previous year Padishah variants, anniversary stouts and more.
A few lines will be reserved for lighter-colored and easy-drinking beers, too.
There will be contests – including an ugly sweater contest, beer trivia and more – plus games and and more.
Stout-inspired food and pizzas will be available, and the patio will be open, with heaters as necessary.
"Stout Fest has become a festival known for not only the awesome dark beers, but the fun variety of games and contests that we host in the brewery throughout the day” says Event & Programming Manager Elise Strupp.
“Stout Trivia has become a favorite over the years, and last year we offered Beer Tasting Trivia for the first time. We are excited to bring Beer Tasting Trivia back; it is $5 per person to play and includes four samples of MobCraft stouts. Test your palette and see if you can identify this year's stouts!”
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.
