This
brief fall tour of Wisconsin festbiers brings me to Oktoberfest
Lager from Central Waters. What better way to follow up the post on
O-toberfest than to cover the brewery that helped to inspire the founding of
O’so. With Central Waters’ great 16-year history of brewing, the highlight arguably being their amazing barrel aged
beers, this is definitely a beer that I went into with high expectations.
Before
getting into the review however, let’s briefly touch upon the brewery’s
history. After spending two years
restoring an original Model-A Ford dealership, and converting the building into
a brewery, Mike Elwain and Jerome Ebel founded Central Waters Brewery in
Junction City, Wisconsin in 1998.
Scaling their homebrew recipes up to commercial production, Mike and
Jerome rolled out their original lineup, two of which are still available,
Ouisconsining Red Ale and Mudpuppy Porter.
In 2000, Central Waters released
their first of many award-winning beers, Kosmyk Charlie's Y2K Catastrophe Ale,
a 10% ABV Barleywine, which took Bronze at the 2000 World Beer Cup.
After a
few months running Central Waters, Mike and Jerome brought in Paul Graham to
act as the brewer, a move that turned out to be fortuitous. Three years after opening, the original duo sold
the brewery to Paul Graham and local home-brewer Clint Schultz. These two expanded the line up to include Lac
Du Bay India Pale Ale and Satin Solstice Imperial Stout. Following the change in management Central
Waters purchased a bottling line and started rolling out 6-packs. Unable to keep up with the spike in activity
the original brew kettle cracked, leading the duo to purchase a 15-barrel brew house
and two 30-barrel fermenters on the Central Waters five-year anniversary. In 2006, Clint Schultz left the brewery, with
his stake going to Anello Mollica, who brought his 24 years of brewing
experience to Central Waters.
Central Waters continued to expand,
moving into the current brewhouse in Amherst, Wisconsin in January of 2007, in
order to support demand. With
distribution in over 200 retail locations in Wisconsin, and 18 beers in the
current lineup, Central Waters has developed a strong presence in the region
and become one of the state’s best breweries.
Central Waters doesn’t just brew
great beer however; they are also one of the country’s most environmentally
sustainable breweries, taking a wide range of steps to minimize their
environmental footprint. The beer
industry isn’t known for being especially environmentally friendly, but its
great whenever a brewery takes concerted steps to make their product have as
small of a footprint as possible. To
that end, Central Waters sources bottles from the greenest manufacturer in the
county, uses post-consumer recycled cardboard for all packaging, and sources all
hops and barley from local farmers. The
brewery sources barley from Bries Malting in Chilton, WI and was one of the
founding breweries of the Midwest Hops and Barley Coop. Both moves are part of a larger aim to
support the local production of hops and barley.
While sourcing locally and sustainably
is one of the cornerstones to being environmentally sustainable and responsible;
the remainder is all about resource and energy usage, and Central Waters has
that covered with their 2 large solar arrays.
One is a solar thermal array that provides hot water to heat the 12,500
square foot brew house and to pre-heat water for brewing. The other solar array is a 20kW photo-voltaic
array that produces 20% of the brewery's total annual power. The tasting room likewise exhibits their
commitment to environmental sustainability with the bar in the sample room made
out of recycled materials.
The combined efforts have led to
Central Waters gaining entrance into the state of Wisconsin’s Green Tier
program, which recognizes businesses that are sound environmental stewards. They are also currently the only brewery in
the state that is a member of the state’s Green Master’s program. Representatives of the brewery also promote
sustainability by giving speeches and presentations at local and regional events
in addition to helping other members of the industry adopt environmentally
friendly practices. It’s always great to
see a business that not only cares about their own bottom line, but also the
health and wellbeing of their local economy and environment. That is really just one more in a long list
of many reasons why the craft beer industry is so great.
That was a
little lengthy, so let’s get back to the review. At Beeradvocate,
Central Waters Oktoberfest currently has a score of 80. Over at ratebeer,
it has a 49 overall with an 82 for style.
Again with the considerably lower rating on an Oktoberfest over at
ratebeer, at least for an overall score, it seems a bit strange.
They Say:
With an enticing, bready maltiness
characteristic of traditional Marzen-style lagers, Octoberfest is a radiant
amber-colored brew that finishes crisp and clean. Enjoy this fall seasonal as
summer turns to autumn and the colors of the Northwoods are ablaze.
I Say:
Central Waters Oktoberfest
pours a crystal clear light copper with a moderately thick small bubbled white
head that holds very good retention before fading to a hazy layer surrounded by
a thick collar at the edges of the glass. Biscuity malts with a hint of clover honey
come to the forefront in the aroma with faint toasted malts lingering in the background. Over all, the aroma is very bready with an
excellent malty sweetness and the right amount of toasted malt characteristics
to round it out.
A large
dose of bready malts abounds in the flavor profile and is balanced out with a
very well rounded, moderate level of hop bitterness. The bitterness serves to offset some of the
sweet malts and leads to a drying finish that feels like a more delicate
transition than the other beers reviewed in the Oktoberfest series so far. Medium bodied, with a moderate level of
carbonation, Central Waters Oktoberfest is most definitely hitting the fest
bier marks.
As with
the rest of their offerings, Central Waters Oktoberfest is a very well brewed
beer, and definitely a great Oktoberfest that you should consider
purchasing. The toasted malt aromas
aren’t as prevalent as some of the offerings from other breweries but they are
still present and add an extra dimension of complexity. The honey notes in the aroma also added
additional complexity to the aroma and served to foreshadow the sweet malts in
the flavor.
This is
really a great beer, and whether it is the Oktoberfest for you or not depends on how strong you want the toasted malt notes to be, this one sits at
the low end for the style.
Well,
that’s all for tonight! Check back soon
for another review!
Happy Drinking!