Milwaukee’s growler landscape was mostly dormant in January 2014. Few locations other than breweries were filling 64-oz. vessels with fresh beer for patrons to carry off-premise. And while it seems that little grows in the dead of winter around here, by the time we made it through June, craft beer sales were up nationally by 18 percent. When the ground thawed, Milwaukee’s growler scene pretty much more than doubled, with Ray’s Growler Gallery coming online in June, followed by Draft & Vessel and The Malt Shoppe to round out the year and join the Riverwest Filling Station and Whole Foods.
Consumer interest in craft beer has increased commensurately with the number of craft breweries in America, which now total over 3,000 with 2,000 more in planning. It’s a record-shattering number, plowing past the high watermark of 2,269 set in the 1880s. (The Brewers Association has Wisconsin ranking 10th in the number of craft breweries with 90.)
Standing out from the crowd—and on the shelf—has never been more critical for a brewery. Just as you have choices in what beer you buy and where you buy it from, you also have options in where you get your growler filled.
Growler fill stations may differentiate themselves in any number of ways, such as pricing, products, selection and location. One local growler business has taken differentiation to a whole new level: exclusivity. Not only in the whales it has secured for tap takeover events (KBS or BCS, anyone?), but also in beers that flow exclusively from its taps.
Ray’s Growler Gallery has five beers that it can pour from any one of its eight taps. These five beers are brewed specifically for Ray’s by some of the most recognized names in Wisconsin’s craft beer scene: Hinterland, Karben4, Central Waters and O’so. This past month, Ray’s released its second exclusive beer from O’so—Golden RAY of Sunshine—an 11% ABV bourbon barrel-aged Belgian strong sour ale.
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Tasting Notes
A ray hits the nose with a bright, tannic blast, and then as you peel back the sour curtain, you're delving in nuanced layers of bourbon, white oak, pomegranate kernels, rhubarb, raspberry absinthe, juniper berries and white lavender. It's a sniffer, but the sipper demands its payment. Here goes: The bourbon comes out more prominently in the flavor, escorted by wet, charred oak and a hint of rye-soaked pumpernickel party crackers. Darker tannins get to work, creating a chalky dryness of sour black cherry dust as the Pinot-like grape recesses past the palate, shedding its skin on the way. A hint of brandy manhattans with an unripened bing cherry bobbing along comes to mind, as the bourbon barrel continues to assert its presence. Rhubarb jumps onto the tart red fruit pile. A warming in the throat signals the high ABV and parallels cordials in the finish.
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