Wisco Disco
Stillmank Brewing Co.

 

 

neat to have what appears to be a flagship type beer be an esb in this day and age, and granted this one is pretty robust, but you dont see this sort of thing too often anymore. gone are the days. ive never seen one of these done with lactose that i can recall, and im not sure its necessary in a beer that would probably already present as sweet, and the residual sugar here really slows this down for me, although i guess some people might like it as a counterpoint to the higher than average hop dose this has, an odd take on the style overall, but i like something unique in a style space like this. this does have a slight cheapness to it, as it warms especially, metallic at the end and a little monotone on the grain, although to its credit it does retain some english identity as far as the malt goes. that is not so much the case with the yeast to me, and there is a pennies thing to the ferment on the back end, it also seems perhaps slightly incomplete in its work. i do like a beer that seems designed for pounding to have as much character as this does, i think the hop bitterness is a welcome addition, and overall this is a little confused and confusing but also enjoyable to drink on, even if more than one would feel like a lot due to the sugar. best enjoyed at lambeau in december!

 

 

Got in a trade with GreenBayBA. 12 ounce can into pint glass, canned on 6/27/2018. Pours slightly hazy deep copper color with a small dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of nuttiness, plum, pear, red apple, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good complexity of bready malts and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of nuttiness, plum, pear, red apple, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread crust, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, light fruits, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness and complexity of bready malts and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Light-medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.1%. Overall this is a very nice ESB. All around nice robustness and complexity of bready malts and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mildly bitter/drying finish. Very soft mouthfeel from the lactose and mellow carbonation. Very clean and rich malts; restrained fruity yeast and balancing earthy hops. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example.

 

Excellent copper body; decent carbonation yet virtually no head. Mixed aroma of apricot and caramel; chewing tobacco; nuts. Brown sugar sweetness with the taste; nuts; some hop bitterness. Medium body; rather watery on the palate; syrupy residual sugar feel.

No head and a rather flat mouthfeel makes this a so-so beer offering.

 

 

 

I had this at a bar in green bay, wi. drank from a 160z can so I didn't get a good look at it. It smells hoppy and fruity but the taste isn't overwhelming of either, it's a nice balance.

Picked up a single 16 oz can as part of a build-your-own-six-pack at the Stein's Liquor in town. No canning code that I can see. Poured right from the fridge into a nonic pint glass.

L: Pours a slightly ruddy warm amber color with about an inch of off-white head that dissipates pretty quickly to a ring and film that leaves very little lacing on the glass. Slightly cloudy, with moderate visible carbonation present.

S: Hate to say it, but this one smells similar to many adjuncts out there: there's that characteristic stewed corn sweetness with a bit of a butterscotch quality in the mix. There is a caramel malt presence, as well as a touch of earthy hop notes.

T: Caramel and bready malts right out of the gates. On the heels of this is some earthy and cracked pepper hop presence. Almost immediately, I'm struck by that somewhat off sweetness that many adjuncts falls victim to: a kind of stewed corn and buttery sweetness. Now, this one claims to incorporate milk sugar, which could be the source of some of this sweetness. However, the whole thing doesn't come off as well as they must have intended. There's some astringency and a bit of a metallic quality that surfaces in the middle. The back end provides more of that earthy and peppery quality, with more of that corn/milk/butter sweetness.

F: On that border between light and medium-bodied. This one has some good creaminess--perhaps a bit high on the level of carbonation, actually--as well as a prominent astringency in the middle and back. Not much true bitter to speak of, however.

O: I wanted to like this beer (and it certainly could have been an old/bad can), but it wound up tasting a lot like a Minhas "craft" offering: adjuncts and diacetyl-like flavors were distracting throughout the taste. I wouldn't recommend this one: there are better Green Bay area beers to seek out.