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