Over 50 people attended what we are hoping will be the first annual Unhopped Iron Brewer Challenge in support of the UWM/Honor’s College Brew Garden Initiative. Judges Kathy Flanigan (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee), Eric Gutbrod (Draft & Vessel, Shorewood) and Andy Jones (Good City Brewing, Milwaukee) did a great job comparing and contrasting the six entries, not an easy task given the wide range of flavors represented.

First place was awarded to the Iron Age Elixir produced by Kevin Cullen (Neville Museum, Green Bay), whose name will be engraved on the UW-Milwaukee Unhopped Iron Brewer trophy, a silver-plated antique ewer produced by the Friedman Silver Company of Brooklyn, NY most likely commissioned by the US Navy for use as a water pitcher. It will be on display together with information about the event and the UW Milwaukee Fermentation Studies Certificate program in a case on the 2nd floor of Sabin Hall until next year’s competition. The People’s Choice award went to John Mesch (UWM Restaurant Operations) for his Sweet Dreams Gruit Ale. A close second was undergraduate Anthropology major Hannah Blija, a first-time brewer, with her grandfather’s Latvian Kvass recipe. Consider entering next year – watch this space for announcements of the rules for the next Unhopped Iron Brewer challenge!

A PDF providing the event schedule and information on all entries can be found at this link: Unhopped Iron Brewer Challenge – 2017