19 Aug 30 Years Later, Great Taste of the Midwest Continues to Set the Standard
By Jennifer Stojanovich & Noah Amstadter for Indiana On Tap
Celebrating its 30th on Saturday, August 13, the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, Wisconsin did not disappoint. Oh, and Indiana was in the house.
It should come as no surprise how a festival that features almost 200 breweries and five hours of unlimited sampling never seems to let down any of the 6,000 ticket holders. Whether you like lagers, ales, ciders, meads…or whether you prefer sours or stouts, wheats or wacky combinations of flavors, Great Taste has more than enough options for everyone.
Breweries large and small travel from all over the midwest for this event. Where else can you have the latest from Sam Adams (as they remind you in the program, from Cincinnati), or the latest crowdsourced fan creation from Mob Craft (who you may have seen on ABC’s Shark Tank)? Every brewery brings its A game. The attendees seem to try, too. Some come in with plans and checklists. Me? I threw that out the window years ago. I don’t really try to find the special timed tappings from the most popular breweries. I have the opinion of “why wait in that line when I can try tons things I’ve never had before?” Sure whales like Three Floyds Dwarven Power Bottom Dark Lord made an appearance, and I love a good Indiana beer, but where else can I try a beer called Smokin’ Gramma from Biloba Brewing in Brookfield, Wisconsin? Most breweries show up with plenty of swag and perhaps some t-shirts for sale. Others have a theme and a large setup. Bell’s had camping motif this year. New Holland brought their big shiny old RV, this year was full of Game of Thrones costumed employees and a large metal dragon that puffed smoke.
The Great Taste is run entirely by the volunteers of the Madison Homebrewers and Tasting Guild. Last year they donated $30,000 of fest proceeds to community organizations around Madison. Everything runs very smoothly each year. The Guild has their system down to a science. Everything from the ticket process at the beginning of May, down to the fact that arriving at 12:50 had me setting up my chair at 1:10 amongst a crowd of thousands, show just how well this works. It might seem a bit old school in the age of Brown Paper Tickets and Eventbrite, but all Great Taste tickets are obtained by getting in lines on the first Sunday in May, or via a mail-in lottery. It is one of the best run systems though, no website crashes involved. Even transportation is thoroughly planned. Free shuttles are provided from about a dozen locations around town. Cabs are $1 after the fest. They also allow no parking at the festival. I’ve never seen another festival take so seriously preventing its ticket holders from driving while ensuring everyone has a way to get back where they started safely.
Great Taste really is a weekend affair. Sure, you could just attend the fest, but if you did you would be missing all of the happenings that go on around town. Friday is full of events, too many to attend, that start at 10 am and don’t stop until the bars close for the night. Numerous breweries from near and far and all around the midwest have tap takeovers around town. These events are known to have long lines around the block for certain rare offerings, like Goose Island’s Bourbon County beers and Central Waters Ardea Insignis. Indiana favorite Three Floyds takes over The Argus, and this year featured its sours but of course also included Zombie Dust on tap. Maduro two doors down is a cigar bar that for as long as I have been going to Great Taste has hosted Bell’s. The Bell’s event features barrel aged rarities along side crown favorites like Oberon. Needless to say few attendees arrive bright eyed and bushy tailed for the 1 pm festival the next day. Industry folks and their guests are invited to a small gathering at the Children’s Museum, that this year once again featured Indiana’s own Tin Man and Shoreline.
Thirteen Indiana breweries were part of Great Taste this year. I never have time to make it to all of them, unfortunately. This year I loved the Rhu the Barbarian from People’s and Beast of Busco from Brugge. Upland, known for their diverse favorites, did not disappoint with the new Hopsynth and old favorite Oak Aged Teddy Bear Kisses. Reliable Shoreline’s Sum Nug was a favorite also. Indiana is always well represented. We even met a festival goer who lives not too far from us who has been going for 25 years. Sure, I’d love to see more Indiana breweries so everyone can see the great things our state has to offer, but the assortment isn’t too bad. Having old favorites like Broad Ripple Brewpub along with recent festival additions like Sun King and Triton shows the wide range we have. Most attending Indiana breweries are concentrated from the Indianapolis area, I hope one day more are invited from throughout the state.
I would love to see more Indiana people, repping their Indiana On Tap or local Indiana brewery t-shirts at the fest in future. Feel free to join me in line in Madison around 1:30-2am next year on the first Sunday in May to get tickets!
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