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New Glarus Brewery Participates In National Craft Beer Event

'Beer Camp Across America' Facilitates Collaboration Between Major Craft Breweries

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New Glarus locally sources all of its ingredients, and sells exclusively within state lines. Photo: Matt Schilder (CC-BY).

New Glarus Brewery, one of the companies behind Wisconsin’s craft beer boom, was recently invited to participate in a national craft beer event.

Beer Camp Across America is a first-time, invitation-only event that brought together some of the most popular craft breweries in the country at the Sierra Nevada brewery in Chico, Calif.

New Glarus, a company that uses locally sourced ingredients and sells exclusively within state lines, was one of 12 breweries to attend.

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“Of late, craft brewers have started to work together to make what are called collaborative brews,” said Dan Carey, the brewmaster at New Glarus. “It’s a good way for everybody to sort of learn from each other. Everybody has their own individual experiences, and unfortunately a lot of things we do in the craft brewing industry are not in textbooks, so we’re kind of learning as we go.”

Beer Camp was a kind of laboratory for the breweries that attended. They each worked to come up with new, exclusive brews to be sold in a limited edition 12-pack. Carey said the name for the New Glarus beer — “There and Back” — was inspired by his long journey to Chico.

“It’s kind of a simple, straightforward beer,” said Carey. “When they asked me to do this, I thought there would be a 12-pack of out-there, adventurous beers. I thought it would be fun to be a little understated, which in some ways is a little cutting-edge in craft brewing nowadays.”

Craft beer is growing rapidly in Wisconsin. According to the Brewers Association, a national trade group, Wisconsin added nearly 20 new breweries between 2011 and 2013.

Bo Belanger, president of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild, said that hometown pride is at the heart of craft beer’s success.

“I always think of it this way: We’re going back in time where … part of the love every town had were its butcher, its baker and its brewer,” said Belanger. “I think there’s that little sense of pride of what a brewery brings and the artisanal, scientific approach that these guys take to their business.”

The Beer Camp Across America tour, with includes an opportunity to sample New Glarus’ There and Back, stops in Chicago on July 27.