Milwaukee is pretty much a typical Midwestern city, a once industry-heavy, gritty metropolis that’s beginning to see somewhat of a rennaisance in the post-industrial age. It’s larger than a lot of people think and, as everyone knows, was the epicenter of the U.S. brewing industry for most of the 20th century. Schlitz, Pabst, Blatz, these were national—if not worldwide—brands back before Bud Light and Heineken were synonomous with what a lot of people call beer nowadays. And, of course, all that’s gone now. The breweries are long gone or converted into condos, and the names are just brands owned by other companies. All that’s left of Brew City, U.S.A. is the Miller plant.

Oh, yeah, and some new, and not-so-new, craft breweries, some of whom are making damn good beer. One of those breweries is Milwaukee Brewing Co., the packaging wing of the Milwaukee Ale House, and the maker of tonight’s featured brew, their “Timed Release Series” IPA.

Nice looking pour: bronze and slightly cloudy, topped by a thick, sticky head of soft white bubbles. A yummy waft of citrus and pine floats off the top of the glass, and yeasty malt tickles the nose hairs on deep sniffs. The malt comes out to the fore as the beer warms, eventually overpowering the hop aromas.

A thick dose of bready, caramelly malt opens the festivities on the palate, brought to a rough halt by sharp, somewhat abrasive bitterness. The stickiness of the malt plays a tug of war with the brashness of the hops throughout the session instead of serving to complement each other. The finish is relatively long for an IPA but still rasped by the hops, until toward the end of the glass the malt finally wins over as the beer warms.

This one’s an assertive and still—for the most part—balanced IPA. Although not nuanced or multi-dimensional enough to shout above the din of the IPA mob, it’s a solid, drinkable India Pale Ale, and another brick in the rebuilding of Milwaukee into Brew City, U.S.A.

Reviewed by Eddie Glick on July 26, 2011.

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