The dream is done, long live the dreamer.
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| Cal snapped this shot of Farmer Dave and I at the first taproom weekend, five years ago, December, 2009. |
If you look to the right side of this beer blog, there is an alphabetical listing of tags, or labels, and each is followed by a number. A quick glance through them will show that among the breweries most celebrated here, Dave's BrewFarm ranks up at the top. When I publish this, it will be tag #51. (Only one other brewery beats that number, Town Hall, at 58, which is only about 4 miles away from me, rather than the 60 miles to the BrewFarm) and I've been writing about their beers for over 12 years).With this one, I'm not just writing about one of the latest beers from the BrewFarm that I'm trying out, I'm also giving a brief, personal history, as I mourn it's eventual passing.
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| Ever the individualist, always contrarian, Farmer Dave's version of a harvest beer is called Carrot Fest. This was taken last October; the beer was on tap again this weekend. |
I've known David Anderson for about ten years now, and I've known of his history in brewing, and of his ambitions of starting up his own brewery. For so long, in what we'll call the mid-oughts, whenever I saw Dave, I pelted him with more questions about how his dream was coming along, when would it happen, where, what beers, when, when, at last, when? (Keep in mind that this is long before the current bold burgeoning of breweries, where it seems like they're opening locally once a week.) This was casual encounters, bumping into him here and there, and in official capacities while he was briefly my salesrep for a distributor. Eventually he met and married Pam Dixon, and they devised the current incarnation of the BrewFarm (which was originally conceived almost 20 years ago as a brewpub in a northern suburb), and in late 2009, it finally opened to the public. I was excited to be there for the open house, and eagerly anticipated the bottled version of Matacabras and the canned lager, BrewFarm Select. (Early on, he had t-shirts and such with the original BrewFarm logo, as well as a beer designed for it, Cow Pie Stout, which hasn't returned as often as the other BrewFarm favorites.)
Here was the home to Dave's masterful brews, in a brewery taproom that occupies the building which also houses their living quarters (clearly separated), in rural Wisconsin, nestled near the tiniest town (Wilson, Wisconsin, population: 180.), with nothing else around it. A proud windmill flies heartily in the breeze, but there are no other landmarks nearby to pronounce it's presence. You really have to be looking for it, searching it out. And it was built by them from the ground up.
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| Here's Pam happily pouring while the folk band Holy Sheboygan, (from Somerset, though) plays away. |
The year 2010 found me enjoying those contract-brewed bottles and cans, and serving them at the Blue Nile, but not visiting the LaBrewTory, and instead jealously viewing evidence of my friends' visits via the modern-day wonder of FaceBook. It drove me nuts that Dave was continuing to create these beers you could only have on premise, and i wasn't there. I finally decided to make the time, and reached out to the right friends, and started taking that trip, usually on Sundays (the taproom has been open mostly on a bi-weekly basis, for four hours at a time, Saturdays and Sundays.)
Now, here's what's magical and untouchable about Dave's BrewFarm: it's Dave's plaything where he makes and serves his beers, his way, when and how he wants it. Should he be open every single week, seven days…or maybe more than weekends? No, he doesn't want to. But what if, why doesn't he, shouldn't he…? No, he doesn't want to. Isn't that what all of us should strive for, to create what we want, and live how we wish? It's a quixotic dream, and it's rich and beyond admirable. It's exactly what we all wish we could be.
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| Through a glass, wistfully. |
One of my first blog posts in early 2011 about the BrewFarm was when he first started selling growlers-to-go (and no, even though it was Wisconsin, you couldn't just bring in any growler, and he wouldn't fill it off of what was on tap, it was what he wanted to growler, and how much he wanted to growler, and in his chosen vessel, because that was the way he wanted to do it.) That was for the Rye Knot saison, which was on tap for today's visit. I did another post, declaring Matacabras to be my favorite beer of 2010, (an award I did not go on to grant on an annual basis)….
And over the next four years, I would try as many of his beers on tap at those visits, usually driven by good pal Jason B., and write about the ones I could take home in growlers. Sure, this is beer #51 on this blog, but how many more did I never get the chance to chronicle? Plenty, that's how many.
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| Looking at Dean through Big Red-colored glasses. |
I could say it again, though I've said it before: The BrewFarm is a very special place, it's never just about the beer, and it's not entirely about the people, but it's all that and so much more. The fact that you're there to enjoy the creations of this very singular mind is just one important portion of the BrewFarm experience, and the company you share is another large component, but I can't fill in all the others for you. That's something you have to do for yourself. I apologize if you feel that this is overblown hyperbole, but you don't know for real until you're there.
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| At what other brewery will you meet cute little ducky wuckies? |
Evidence of this is that in 2013, when good ol' Jason wasn't going on a BrewFarm weekend, I found other friends to take me out to the BrewFarm, and they took friends, too, and everyone had the same feeling. And they came back, with more friends, and they wanted to keep coming back. And they would say that I took them there, even though it wasn't my car, and I didn't do the driving.
And that's why I was shocked and saddened in early October, when I first heard that Dave and Pam wanted to sell it off and close this chapter of their lives. No, it can't be true! We love it, it can't die, it must remain forever! Shock, sadness, and, in time, resignation, acceptance, and understanding. It was their decision, for their reasons, and what was, will never be again. Someone will buy it, make their own decisions about the land and the equipment, and they'll create something new. That thing called Dave's BrewFarm will become a memory, and pass into legend, and we will not visit Wilson, Wisconsin like we once did. Dave and Pam will do other things than brew and pour us these beers, but they will remain our friends. Maybe we'll get a chance to drink new David Anderson beers, under a new name, somewhere, somewhen, but not in that room, under those lights, at those tables, with these friends.
Alas.
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| Another snapshot from that first snowy day that thirsty travelers entered the Labrewatory. |
And so, I jump back just a minute. When I was at the Blue Nile, I worked most Saturdays, and tried to take Sundays off, and that's when I was at the BrewFarm the most. When I left, and was to start at Northbound, I went to the BrewFarm on the Sunday before my first day there. Once at NB, I was always scheduled Saturdays and Sundays. A month passed and I finally requested a Sunday off in early June, visiting the BrewFarm with my sister Lynn. I kept working that schedule until leaving that job, and once I started at Harriet, they had me there every Sunday, and some Saturdays…it just never worked out, and I hated it! It's been five months since my last visit!
Today was my first opportunity to visit the BrewFarm since the news got out about the beginning of the end, and a good portion of my friends made a special effort to get together, bring the potluck, play the games, and goof around with great beer, brewed by our friend and humble brewing genius.
I went with Joe and Liz, this time and we arrived about two hours after they opened, and there were already a few beers gone from the printed list. A quick glance showed that there were three beers of the eight that I'd never had, and I decided not to do the "flight", or even the "Al flight",(that's half the beers, but twice the liquid in the glass) but go with full pours for a select few. And when it came to take-home growlers, there were three I'd not written about here yet…until I asked what was available. Alas, BrewFarm Funk 3 was already sold out! So I got some BrewFarm Funk 1 & 2 to share with friends, and 2 other beers to share my impression with you, here, and I start with…
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| Enjoying an Azaaca from a growler at home. |
Azacca Single Hop Lager. ABV 6.4% ABV. With a description I won't get to until later…
Appearance: crystal-clear, nearly crimson in coloring, slimmish off-white head.
Aroma: soft, malty, fruity.
Taste: It's in the mouth, and it's a fruity thing, it's a malty thing, and it's sweet, but balanced and beautiful. Bold, brilliant citrus-y notes and flavors. Forced to pick a style, I'd have to say amber lager, vienna lager or such. Dave's always been anti-style, but you have to stick it in somewhere. Really delicious, and expertly drinkable. Medium-bodied, and tasty as hell. Did I say that already?
It steers just away from sweetness, and never delivers any untoward bitterness, and is an utter model of balance. Farmer Dave strikes again.
Post-Script #1: I have a friend that I've invited to visit the BrewFarm who told me: "Don't they mostly do saisons and lagers? I don't like them!" And he's more the poorer, because what Dave does debunks your personal myths about those styles, and he makes better, more interesting beers than you ever thought you'd drink. And he does more than that, too. (And if you know me, you know I'm not pro-lager.)
Post-script #2: I talked about D.A.'s rugged individualism, his talent, his innate curiosity, and indomitable integrity, but how I wish I could make him do what I want him to do! Please, Farmer Dave, I want you to create a metropolitan craft brewery taproom and take these new kids to school! No one is doing anything like you, FD, and they're getting away with mediocrity, sometimes. We need brilliance in the big city, it can't be all kept away from us, among the cows.
And finally, what did Farmer Dave say about Azacca Single Hop Lager? "Pils, Cara Red and Caramel 20 malts, and hopped with three additions of Azacca hops. Fermented with lager yeast."
Sigh, the dream continues…a genius of Dave's level, off the field and in the city. Some day.
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