President of Beers: #33

Spotted Cow: New Glarus Brewing, New Glarus, Wisconsin

We're drinking the flagship craft beer from every state in the Union, counting down from 50-1, to find which is home to the President of Beers.

#33 Spotted Cow: New Glarus Brewing, New Glarus, Wisconsin

State: Badgers. Cheeseheads. The Cunninghams. That spin-off show about the two roomies who work at the Shotz brewery. That '80s Show. Scott Walker and Paul Ryan, but also three socialist mayors in Milwaukee (thanks Alice Cooper).

Brewery: New Glarus Brewing is an absurd success story. Started by husband and wife team of Deb and Dan Carey in the Germanic town of New Glarus in 1993. The Carey's had to sell their home in order to fund the brewery, now listed as the 19th largest craft brewery in the US last year…but they're now expanding into a 150,000 barrel brewery. And get this: not one drop of New Glarus is distributed out of state. That's badger love.

Beer: Billed as a Wisconsin Farmhouse Ale, it's exceptionally light and fruity and its likely the quotient of flaked Wisconsin corn damaged its standings among the Pacific Northwestern judges. This ain't no Oregon beer. It's the very best selling draft beer in the state of Wisconsin, five years running. Not a typo or oversight. In the state that Miller has always called home, the best selling draft isn't Miller Genuine Draft, nor Miller Lite, High Life, or even Milwaukee's Beast.

Difficulty of obtaining in Oregon: Difficult, as it's Wisconsin only.

Average Score 60.9

New Glarus has earned 28 medals at the Great American Beer Festival. The majority have been for their twin towers of fruit beers: Raspberry Tart and Wisconsin Belgian Red. The latter, which pours so vibrant a red it's a vampire's wet dream and is packed with more cherries than a Twihard convention, might be the most bootlegged beer in the country. Had it been the entry in this election, its chances of being the Prez or at least Veep would be as good—if not better—than Paul Ryan's.

Click on a state to read more President of Beers posts:

WWeek 2015

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