One of the coolest beer festivals in town has been Lager & Friends, organized by Gathering Place, and now celebrating six years.
This year's event, which is focused on Wisconsin lagers, takes place Saturday, June 22, from noon to 4 p.m. and tickets are $45. It's being held at Gathering Place Brewing, 811 E. Vienna Ave., in Riverwest.
Lager & Friends, as you might expect, celebrates lager beer in its many forms. A list of participating breweries, just released, is here.
Each year, Gathering Place also does a collab brew for the event with one of the participating breweries. This year's partner is Evanston-based Sketchbook, with which Gathering Place is making 84.8 Lager, a 5.4 percent ABV brew that Gathering Place brewer Matt Cisz calls, "a beachy lager."
The name is a play on the mileage separating the two breweries.
Cisz says 84.8 is a light-colored lager with mainly Pilsner malt and flaked corn (but with a bit of Goldpils Vienna, American Honey and Carapils malts).
The beer, currently in the tank, was brewed with Cascade, Idaho 7 and Wisconsin-grown Mackinac hops, but will be dry-hopped with Pacifica and Azacca.
"The pan is to have a nice crisp lager with beachy vibes."
You can read more about the beer in this blog from Briess Malt.
The ticket price gets you unlimited samples of more than 40 lagers from around the country; free brats, hot dogs (plant-based options available) and Bavarian pretzels; a commemorative glass; a sticker; and a coupon for 20 percent off a purchase in participating brewery taprooms.
A $55 lager lover ticket also includes a 16-ounce four-pack of the collab brew.
A $15 designated driver option is the same as the regular ticket but replaces the beer with soft drinks.
Get your tickets online here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
