MobCraft Beer
MobCraft Beer won a silver medal in the coffee beer category for its Bat$sh!t Crazy.
"This is crazy, who would have thought we would win?" says MobCraft Beer founder Giotto Troia from the floor of the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The brewery's Batshit Crazy took silver medal honors as a coffee beer at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival. It was one of 116 entries in the category.
"Being one of our first beers in production and having a silver medal at one of the premiere beer tasting events is sending chills down my spine just thinking about it," says an elated Troia from the fest.
MobCraft is a young brewery established just over a year ago on Madison's east side that makes it beers in collaboration with House of Brews. Many of MobCraft's recipes are developed from suggestions offered through social media engagement. Batshit Crazy, one of two year-round releases from MobCraft, is a brown ale made with a special blend of beans from Madison-based Just Coffee Cooperative.
Capital Brewery in Middleton also brings home a medal, a gold for its Oktoberfest. The fall seasonal is already a highly decorated beer with a number of awards, including a bronze medal in the 2009 Great American Beer Festival, and most recently a gold in the 2013 World Beer Championships. It was also an Isthmus selection for a 2014 autumn six-pack.Overall, seven Wisconsin beers captured honors at the 2014 festival, which featured 5,700 entries made by over 1,300 breweries. It was the 33rd annual Great American Beer Festival, the largest gathering and competition of its type in the nation. It spans three days of ticketed events and tastings that are attended by more than 50,000 beer enthusiasts.
Wisconsin's seven medal-winning beers in 2014 are:
- Capital Brewery of Middleton
Gold, German-Style Marzen: Oktoberfest - Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company of Chippewa Falls
Bronze, German-Style Kölsch: Canoe Paddler - MillerCoors of Milwaukee
Gold, American-Style Lager or Light Lager: Miller Lite
(MillerCoors swept in this category, with silver going to Coors Light and bronze to Coors Banquet.) - MobCraft Beer of Madison
Silver, Coffee Beer: Batshit Crazy - Stevens Point Brewery of Stevens Point
Bronze, Pumpkin Beer: Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale - Stillmank Brewingof Green Bay
Bronze, Ordinary or Special Bitter: Wisco Disco - Titletown Brewing of Green Bay
Bronze, Munich-Style Helles: Stammtisch Lager
(In German, a Stammtisch is a regulars table.)
The Great American Beer Festival provides a complete list of winners (PDF). Next year's fest will be held in Denver over September 24-26.
