Sweet Creamy Milk Stout

  

If candy were a beer

“If candy were a beer, this would be it,” says Wisconsin Brewing Company’s cellar manager, James Kramer. Kramer helped create the Verona brewery’s newest beer, a sweet, creamy milk stout called Boom Run.

What is it? Boom Run from Wisconsin Brewing Company

Style: The oatmeal stout is dark, medium- to full-bodied, with a smooth silky sweetness. Some roastedness may be evident in the background and finish. The use of oats can add a nutty, grainy or earthy flavor, in addition to body. The oatmeal stout is generally sweeter than the dry Irish stout.

Background: Boom Run emerged from the relationship between the Wisconsin Brewing Company and UW-Madison’s Campus Craft Brewery. For the past couple of years, Kramer has been working with students in the Fermentation Sciences Program to create special beers. The early version of this oatmeal stout was a class project during the 2019 spring semester. Kramer refined it on Wisconsin Brewing’s pilot system and eventually ramped up the recipe to a full-scale commercial batch late last fall.

Boom Run features a lot of chocolate maltiness. At its core is a debittered dark malt called Blackprinz, known for offering less of the harsh burnt tones than in highly roasted malts. It also has lactose and oats for additional body. “This beer is all about sweetness. I wanted it to be smooth and easy-going. It’s intended to be approachable,” says Kramer. Hops are of little consequence here; there’s a small amount of East Kent Golding for some balance. It’s the sweet chocolate flavors that remain the star in Boom Run.

Before coming to Wisconsin Brewing, Kramer worked for nine years at the Great Dane Pub and Brewery, three as a brewer at its Hilldale location. Kramer says he couldn’t help but draw inspiration from the brewpub’s John Stoner’s oatmeal stout.

The beer’s name, Boom Run, is a historical reference to Wisconsin’s timber industry. When logs were floated down rivers to sawmills, the boom was the barrier placed in a river designed to contain the floating logs; loggers would run across them in competition to see who could be the fastest. It’s still an event at the annual Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward.

Boom Run finishes at 5.5 percent ABV. It’s sold in six-packs of 12-ounce cans for around $10. In the brewery it sells for $5/glass and $14/growler (refill).

Tasting notes:
Aroma: Fruity. Light bready chocolate maltiness.
Appearance: Dark black body with bronze highlights. A medium, bubbly tan head.
Texture: Medium-bodied, with lots of softness.
Taste: Smooth, rich, chocolate maltiness.
Finish/Aftertaste: The chocolate and light toffee notes continue, yet this beer finishes remarkable clean and fast.

Glassware: The Willi Becher will gently gather the notes of roasted chocolate malt under the nose while calling attention to the beer’s stark black color.

Pairs well with: fried fish as in a classic Wisconsin fish fry, or the creamy texture and nutty notes of a Gruyere.

The Verdict: This is a pleasant, easy drinking stout with deep milk chocolate sweetness. It’s full of flavor and velvety soft. The debittered black malts and lactose give it a candy-like quality, while not becoming too sticky or cloying. At a modest 5.6 percent ABV, it challenges the notion that dark beers must be strong. This stout is very approachable. This will be a great addition to Wisconsin Brewing’s year-round lineup.

BY ROBIN SHEPARD

Original Article