After a pandemic hiatus, Dead Bird Brewing and Hop & Barrel revive distribution in Madison. – Isthmus

Dead Bird Brewing Company of Milwaukee and the Hop & Barrel Brewing Company of Hudson hunkered down during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on taproom customers and fine-tuning recipes. But now both beer makers are amping up their distribution and returning to Madison stores. 

Dead Bird Brewing got its start in Madison in 2015. In 2017 it moved to Milwaukee and made beer with the help of MobCraft (also a former Madison brewery), before opening a brewpub. It’s now producing beer with its own five-barrel brewing system.

Dead Bird beers currently on Madison shelves include: Where is Squirrel? brown ale, Gotdambier kölsch, Zuschlagen Vienna lager, Pamplemousse grapefruit pale ale and Cripes Sake! American amber ale. All are sold in 16-ounce cans ($15/four-pack). Cripes Sake! and Pamplemousse have been around since the brewery began and are well worth revisiting. The Vienna lager comes off more like a helles with its light golden color, mild malty sweetness, and unique fruity burst in its finish, while the brown ale is an easy drinking English nut brown. 

Hop & Barrel started in 2018 and made a strong initial showing in Madison with beers like Space Force (double IPA) Crooked Grin (IPA), Lactose Panda (milk stout), and Minnesconsin (helles lager). Madison has seen little from the brewery for the past four years, but head brewer Kenny Clay says its beers should become more available in October.

Fans of Space Force may notice some subtle changes from the beer’s original hop bill; it now includes tropical Saphir hops along with the fruity white wine character of Mandarina Bavaria hops. Most of Hop & Barrel’s beers are sold in 12-ounce cans ($10/six-pack).

Also look for Lunar Wolf, a hazy double IPA with orange and tangerine hoppiness and a warm juicy finish at 9% ABV ($9/four-pack), and an Oktoberfest Märzen lager that is malt-forward, well-balanced, clean, and finishes at 6% ABV ($11/six-pack). 

On the bolder side of the brewery’s offerings is Paul & Babe’s Breakfast Ale made with blueberries, coffee and maple syrup ($12/four-packs). It is strong at 7.5% ABV with rich sweetness. It’s a little too sweet for me, but if you’re looking for a beer to pour on a stack of pancakes, this may be the answer.

The brewery is also diversifying its portfolio with sodas. Over the summer Hop & Barrel tested Butter Beer, a cream soda with huge butterscotch sweetness. It should start appearing on Madison shelves this month ($10/six-pack). Clay says the brewery intends to release a 4% ABV version of Butter Beer, a blend with hard seltzer, by late fall.