Last night I went to a networking meeting for Our Milwaukee, a group of locally-owned businesses that support “buying local” whenever possible.  Milwaukee has a fascinating group of local businesses, including Alterra and Stone Creek Coffee, Rishi Tea, Gearge Watts China and Gifts, Beans & Barley, Outpost,  Sprecher and Lakefront breweries, Stan’s Bootery and many more that are listed at:  www.ourmilwaukee.net.   The hit last night was a fabulous presentation of beautiful and tasty gourmet chocolates from Indulgence Chocolatiers owned by Julie Waterman (www.indulgencechocalatiers.com).  Visit the website and you’ll have a feast for the eyes.

If you have a locally owned business or know someone in Milwaukee who does, visit the Our Milwaukee site, www.ourmilwaukee.net, to learn more about this great group of locally owned entrepreneurial businesses.

Cheers,

Anne

p.s. Randy and I will be sampling Sprecher beers in Chicago this evening and tomorrow afternoon.  Visit us at Sam’s on Macey (Sat. 1-4), Armonetti’s on N. Western St (Sat 1-4), Warehouse Liquors (5-8 tonight), and Printers Row (5-8 tonight).

Jason Wilde kicks of the 2nd annual Football and Sprecher Beer mini-camp tomorrow evening at 6:00pm.  If anyone has the inside scoop, it’s Packers beat reporter and WKLH personality, Jason Wilde.  Cost: $15.  A portion of the proceeds goes to Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services.

Other Speakers: NFL and Big Ten Referee Bill Carollo (8/26), TBA (9/2), and Grilling expert Lucy Saunders (9/9).

Mini-Camp takes place at Sprecher Brewing Company, 701 W. Glendale Ave, Glendale, WI.

Learn more and pre-register at: www.sprecherbrewery.com.

Check out the Thursday Trivia Night at the Highland House,  12741 N. Port Washington Rd., Mequon, WI.   You may learn some fun facts you didn’t know; whether you can remember them is  the real challenge.

The 2009 U. S. Beer Open Championship results are in and Sprecher won 5 gold medals (Winter Brew, Oktoberfest, Black Bavarian, Mai Bock and Generation Porter), 2 Silver (Pipers Scotch Ale, Sprecher Light), 1 Bronze (Abbey Triple), and #2 Top Ten Brewing Company.  Check it out at: usopenbeer.com.

Join us at the brewery on Sunday when we’ll have one of our famous summer  tailgate parties.  Enjoy some grilled sausages and dogs, play some bung hole toss, take a tour, sip some great beer and soda, and enter to win prizes.  Doors open at 11am.  Sprecher Brewery is located at 701 W. Glendale Ave, Glendale, WI, just north of the city of Milwaukee.

Good News!  On March 25th, we’ll host the seminar Tasting Synergies, Dispelling Myths: Pairing Wisconsin Artisanal Cheese and Sprecher Beer, Spring version.  Join this knowledgeable and engaging group of presenters — Cheese Expert Sara Hill, Culinary Expert Lucy Saunders, and Brew Master/Beer Expert Randy Sprecher — as they take you on a gustatory journey via award-winning cheeses and beers.   For more details and to purchase tickets, go to www.sprecherbrewery.com.

Meanwhile, back at the Santa Margarita Ranch where Randy and I served a lot of beer and soda to the SLO-IFF (San Luis Obispo-International Film Festival) crowd…We had a great time.  Most of these Californians had never seen or tried our products and all were pleasantly surprised by the beers and sodas.

It was Tribute to the Stunt Cowboy night.  They showed films in a big old wooden barn, and guests got to ride a very old Disneyland express train.  Little did those passengers know the train would be robbed by cowboys on horseback as it chugged along the track.  Eqaually thrilling, two of the cowboys are brothers, Robert and David Carradine.  I don’t know much about Robert’s acting resume other than he was on Bonanza, but I’ve seen David in the Kung Fu television series, Yellow Pages adds and Kill Bill.  In person he looks exactly the same, should you have wondered.

The next morning we attended a screening of Mondovino,  a documentary about Robert Mondavi’s attempt to buy up many vineyards in France and elsewhere.   I enjoyed it, but you have to have patience for a slower-paced film.

Tonight we’re going to see the dogumentary Weiner Take All!

Cheers,

Anne

Friday March 6 begins the San Luis Obispo-International Film Festival.  Opening night main event = an evening with Malcolm McDowell (best known for Clockwork Orange), receipient of the King Vidor award.  Saturday afternoon Randy and I will serve Sprecher beverages at the Santa Margarita Ranch for the Tribute to Stunt Cowboys.

Join us Sunday morning at the Sycamore Springs Spa, where we’ll offer product tastings during the Mondovino Brunch, which also includes a screening of Mondovino.

And course we’ll be at the Surf Night after party on Friday March 13th.

If you’re near the area, think about visiting some of the festival events and films.  They’ve got an incredible line-up of films, programs, activities (e.g., U-Edit a Hollywood movie, Movie in a Day Marathon), and top names in the business, including John Waters who will give a talk  (perhaps on Good Bad Taste) and also be at the pre-show reception March 14th.

Did I mention there are a lot of really good films at this event?  Shorts, documentaries, competition films, classics.  Myself,  I have too many friends with dachshunds to miss the dogumentary, Wiener Takes All, about the “surprisingly cutthroat world of competitive wiener dogs, a world that boasts healthy dachshunds and rabid owners.”

The SLO-IFF runs March 6-15.  Check it out at slofilmfest.org.

More immediately — Marquette Men’s Bball has a big game against #3 Pitt tonight.  Go Marquette!

Happy Holiday Season to All!  Turkey day went well, although my turkey was done 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  Consequently, the dinner became another occasion when we realized that the food didn’t matter all that much.  We enjoyed some great beer though.  Recent batches of Black Bavarian have been excellent.  Randy declared his particular bottle worthy of an international gold medal.   We paired Black with a fabulous WI blue cheese, but I’m not sure of the name.  It also pairs well with Hooks Blue, another WI artisanal cheese.  Myself, I had Pipers Scotch Ale, which I think is a wonderful beer especially in the fall.

Another of my favorites — Dopple Bock.  Not too sweet, but with nice caramel malts.  A bit of burnt sugar taste intermingled with the soft roasted caramel flavors.  Tons of flavor and aromatics, especially if it’s not served too cold.  Tonight at the Mine Shaft restaurant in Hartford, WI, 22 N. Main St., Randy will tap a keg of Dopple Bock.  I’m not sure what time, exactly (6 or 7pm).  Join us for the fun.

Hey Everyone,

I’m kind of new at this so I’d appreciate if you cut me some slack during these first few posts.  For those of you who don’t know, Sprecher Brewery is located Glendale, WI, a suburb just north of Milwaukee.  Started in 1985 by Randy Sprecher (my husband), Sprecher is a microbrewery that makes award-winning beers and gourmet sodas.  Among others beer-related awards, we won the 2004 GABF Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year awards.

Many people know Sprecher Root Beer, more so  recently because the  NY Times ranked it  #1 of 25 tasted (6/25/08).   Not Bad.   If you want to see  the brewery, check out CBS Sunday morning on Sunday, November 23rd.  The show is doing a special segment on root beer and they filmed it on location.  Also on Sunday, November 23rd — for those of you in the Milwaukee area — check out Maltylicious, a presentation on craft beer I’m giving at Sugar Maple American Craft Beer bar in Bay View.  One caveat — it’s for women only!  Yep.  That’s right.  No boys allowed.  But it’s being held in the back room so guys, feel free to come to Sugar Maple and try some of their 60 craft beers while class is in session.  Sugar Maple is located at 441 N. Lincoln Ave.   If you haven’t been to our website and want to learn more about Sprecher,  stop by or visit www.sprecherbrewery.com.

Cheers,  Anne

p.s. I may not blog much on weekends but I’ll try my best.

« Older Posts