A craft for the Draft

Nine local breweries have come together to specially brew a beer that will match the excitement of Draft week in Green Bay.

“I love a ton about the city of Green Bay, but right up there at the top is the craft brewing culture that we have here within the community,” said Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich. “We’re not going to get a better opportunity or a bigger opportunity to share what’s best about Green Bay, so to be able to bring all of our breweries together in this collaborative effort… it’s a really exciting opportunity for us and we’re just thrilled they were interested in playing a part.”

That cooperative spirit is something those involved with Touchdown Downtown, a collaborative effort between the city of Green Bay and its downtown districts, hopes is evident to those who check out their events during the Draft.

“This entire effort of having events in the downtown area and brewing the beer together, it’s all about collaboration,” said Mary Rhode, vice president of marketing and communications at On Broadway, Inc. “I think it speaks so much to who we are and what we are here in Northeast Wisconsin. We really hope that the quarter of a million folks that are coming to town for the draft get to see that and appreciate that and really understand what we’re about here in Green Bay.”

“Being asked to do this collaboration, I think, was a no-brainer for all of the breweries, including Badger State,” said Jen Radloff, entertainment and events director at Badger State Brewing. “There’s such a sense of community and I think now it’s ramping up more than ever for the Draft. Having all of this exposure and so many people in town, it’s going to give all of us such a great opportunity to showcase who we are. While we all make our own different styles of beverages and we’re all in different areas, at the end of the day, our collective goal is community. How do we bring people together and how do we bring them together over a delicious beer?”

Over the last month, the nine breweries involved — Ahnapee Brewery, Badger State Brewing Company, Cocoon Brewing Company, Copper State Brewing Co., Hinterland, Noble Roots Brewing Company, Stillmank Brewing Co., Titletown Brewing Co. and Zambaldi Beer — have been working together to decide what their beer would be.

“There’s been whispers about it since summer…” Radloff said. “But we really didn’t hit the ground running until just the end of last month/beginning of this month and we solidified what the beer was going to be and what it was going to look like.”

“Doing a collaborative beer outside of one or two breweries does get a little more complicated…” Radloff said. “The collaborative partners usually come in on brew day itself and on canning day to help out in terms of ingredients, although that’s kind of where having nine breweries was the intricate part. We wanted everyone that is a part of this project to feel like their voices were heard, so our head brewer, Ryan, actually sent out surveys to all of the participating breweries to vote and pick out what we wanted this beer to taste like and what was going to embody the craft brewing industry in Green Bay but also be satiable to a larger crowd.”

The 8th Round Downtown Pale Ale will be a hoppy and refreshing hazy pale ale.

“With pale ales, you do add hops into the process, but it’s not an IPA,” Radloff said. “It tends to be a little more citrus-forward. We like to call them crushable — easy drinkers. They are a pretty comfortable ABV, so they’re not going to be too strong or potent. It’s something that you can definitely have one or two of while enjoying the music festival or sitting in one of our tap rooms.”

The experimental HBC 1019 hop was chosen along with Citra and Simcoe for a delicious blend of grapefruit, pine and peach flavors on top of a silky-smooth body.

Those interested in getting a taste of the 8th Round Downtown Pale Ale will be able to do so at Draft City Music Fest, part of Touchdown Downtown, or during the Draft at any of the nine participating breweries.

The brewing process for 8th Round Downtown Pale Ale officially kicked off this week at Badger State Brewing with canning expected to begin in the next four to five weeks.