The Art Of Craft Brewing

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• For Craft Brewers, Old Tradition Inspires New Passion

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  Beer has been a mainstay in Wisconsin’s cultural heritage for centuries. These days, craft brewing is enjoying a resurgence of popularity as some beer enthusiasts and home brewers turn their hobby into full-scale operations.

  Ryan Koga, brewmaster and co-owner of Karben4 Brewery in Madison, said while major mainstream brewers deserve a lot of respect for the hard work it takes to maintain a large operation, there’s a lot that sets craft beer apart.

  “We don’t have the rules and regulations that other breweries really have to play by. We’re very much into discovery and creativity and seeing how far we can push the envelope,” Koga said, adding that craft beer also holds historical significance.

  Peter Gentry, owner and brewmaster at One Barrel Brewing Company in Madison, said craft brewing saw a dry spell for a long while. He said there were approximately 2,000 breweries in the country in the mid-1800s, but those breweries were eliminated entirely during Prohibition in the early part of the 20th Century. Between the 1980s and the 2000s, the number of craft breweries had finally surpassed the previous record number of breweries in the country.

  For craft brewers like Koga and Gentry, variety is the spice of life.

  “Beer is a statement of culture, of technology and history,” Koga said. “Craft beer is really just trying to call back to more traditional ways of making beer but also pushing that forward and trying to truly create innovative products and give customers an awesome experience.”