Great Dane Pub & Brewery, Madison, WI

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bwarbiany
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Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:49 pm
Location: Mission Viejo, CA

Great Dane Pub & Brewery, Madison, WI

Post by bwarbiany »

Out on travel again, and saw this place was fairly highly rated on beeradvocate. Stopped in for a few beers and dinner on my way to the hotel.

Food: Ordered their mushroom/tomato bisque, which was excellent. Tasty with a hint of nice spice to it. For an entree, I ordered the prime rib wrap with fries. The wrap was so-so, but the fries were pretty darn good.

Beers:
HopJack Pale Ale (served on cask): Overall, a nice APA with a prominent hop aroma (Cascades, likely) and a good smooth malt presence and smoothness typical of a cask ale. My complaint would be that it seemed a bit too bitter for an APA, with a serious lingering bitterness that was beyond style. Still a pretty good beer, just a bit out of style due to the high bitterness.

Texas IPA (served on cask): A very smooth IPA, particularly smooth due to the cask service. Had a restrained malt profile and a nice hop flavor/aroma, but seemed a bit lacking on the bitterness (in contrast to the APA above). Overall, also a very nice beer, and one I could probably drain quite a few pints. May be a little light on bitterness for the style, but very good nonetheless.

Black Earth Porter (also served on cask): Aggressive roast character and hops for a porter, but again a very tasty beer. I'm not familiar enough with the style to determine whether it was out of style, but it was a very nice drinkable porter. Definitely recommended.

Ned's Red Ale (2 oz taster, not on cask): Something was seriously wrong with this beer. From the aroma (my palate isn't as developed as those of you who are judges) it seemed almost like butterscotch. There was definitely something in there that should not have been in a red ale. I told the bartender to let the brewer know about it, but my impression is that the bartender was blowing me off and ignored my suggestion. I'm not sure what went wrong, but this tasted completely incorrect for any sort of a red ale.
Brad
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