This week, representatives from all six Ozaukee County craft breweries assembled at the new Inventors Brewpub in Port Washington to brew a collaboration beer, marking the first time in Wisconsin that all the breweries in a single county created a brew together.
One Town Over Rhubard Wheat Ale was created Thursday with a contribution from each of the breweries: Foxtown in Mequon; Inventors in Port Washington; Cedarburg's The Fermentorium and Rebellion; and Sahale Ale Works and Water Street Brewery in Grafton.
The wheat ale is made with rhubarb from Witte’s Vegetable Farm in Cedarburg and is lightly sweetened with honey from Ozaukee resident Perry Kallas’ Kallas Honey Farm.
The beer will be fermented with a special thiolized yeast strain that boosts the fruit character of the beer.
“No one has done a collaborative effort like this in the state, where they include every brewer in their county and with so many members,” says Sahale’s Matthew Hofmann.
The name of the beer – which will be released on draft only at all six breweries in mid-July – is, “in recognition that all of the breweries are pretty much one town over from each other,” says Foxtown’s Kyle Smith.
The breweries hatched the idea for the collab In mid-April.
“We have a great brewing culture and history in Ozaukee,” Hofmann says. “We may get overshadowed by the plethora of breweries around Milwaukee, but hopefully people in the surrounding area see that there is great beer worth going a little up the road to seek out.
“That is one mission of this beer, along with nurturing comradery with the other breweries in the county.”
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.
