[8/9 Update: Fest starts at 1pm today.  There is a real ale tent and an educational center tent as well as the typical beer tables featuring breweries mentioned below.  All information can be found in the link below.]

(Madison, WI) – We got the word out so fast on the brewery list earlier this week that we neglected to notice that a BEER list went up soon thereafter. Hopefully this short list of our top beer picks for Great Taste of the Midwest 2008 will find those who are attending the event today! Note that a few great breweries like Bell’s, Jolly Pumpkin, Dark Horse, etc. did not have beer lists up yet as of this week so they are excluded from this list. All we know is Bell’s will have Cask Two Hearted there. Full beer lists, beer descriptions, and table locations, etc. for this event can be found here at the official site. (If the file doesn’t download as a pdf, just manually change the file extension).

10. Short’s Brewing
Short’s will bring its top notch Anniversary Ale 2008: “A true blow-your-face-off double IPA to commemorate another year of small business survival in northern Michigan. Seven different varieties of hops in each of seven hop additions. Lots of hops, lots of Briess malts. 100 IBUs, 8.5%.”
Cup-A-Joe Coffee Creme Stout: “Robust stout with 3.5 pounds of Higher Grounds espresso and 7 pounds of lactose per barrel. The espresso is used in four different windows during the brewing process. Briess malts (Wisconsin!), Centennial hops, 20 IBUs, 5.6%.”

9. Town Hall Brewery
This beer sounds delicious… Kentucky Dessert: “Imperial Stout aged in Jim Beam wood and finished on a bed of high quality Belgian dark chocolate. 9.3%.” The brewery will also bring Mango Mama, a mango-accented Masala Mama. And is Warrior Double Dry the same as Warrior Double IPA? The latter has received positive reviews as well.

8. Rock Bottom Chicago
Other Rock Bottom cities might be sharing the same table(s) but we particularly liked what the Chicago location was bringing: its #1-ranked Redline Imperial Bourbon Stout, its Bourbon Barrel-aged Barley Wine, and a mysterious new beer in its Clare’s series. The World Beer Cup Gold Champion Dry-hopped Stout can’t be too bad either.

7. Central Waters Brewing
The first of three Wisconsin breweries on our list, Central Waters is pulling out all the stops for this fest bringing most of its top-ranked beers. Bourbon Barrel Stout: The brewery’s most sought after beer – our imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels for six months.” It will be on nitro as well. Kosmyk Charlie’s Y2K Catastrophe Ale 2007 is the brewery’s award winning barleywine. They have 10 other beers as well, enough for a beernews.org story in itself.

6. Goose Island Brewing
Bourbon County Stout will be a late fall release in bottle but you can get a sneak peek at the fest. Imperial IPA will be on hand and this one has been aged in oak (is that the case for the regular release as well?). They’ve got six other beers on the list as well as some “surprises.”

5. Barley John’s Brew Pub
From nearby Minnesota. One of the world’s top 50 beers and one that few have had the opportunity to taste…Dark Knight Returns: Limited Quantity (stop by our booth for tapping time!) This is the secondtime we have brewed this beer and the first time this batch has been tasted by the public! Double fermented porter aged in a second use Bourbon Barrel. Huge whiskey and coffee notes with a warming alcohol finish. 13.5% abv / ~60 IBU’s [aged 9 months in Bourbon barrels.]” Raspberry Rosie’s Old Ale is also one of the best in the style: “Limited Quantity (check for tapping time!) We blended our Barrel Aged triple fermented Rosies with a “liqueur” made from fresh raspberries fermented with wild yeast. Only 16 gal. of this wonderful beer ever made – and we served half of it on our Anniversary. Dominant raspberry and warm alcohol in the nose with a sweet and almost Port wine flavor to savor. 15% / ~50 IBUs [base batch of Rosies aged 2 years in top shelf Bourbon barrels.]”

4. Flossmoor Station Brewery
Flossmoor Station will bring Wooden Hell: “Sheol Barleywine 2005 laid down in a Bourbon barrel for around a year or so. 9%.” Joining it is Sarge: “Imperial coffee chocolate stout aged for 16 months in a Woodford Reserve barrel.” For those who are into organic brewing, Woody in the Woods is a Belgian-style IPA aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrels for eight months. They’re also bringing 10, their 2006 anniversary beer which has been aging in bourbon barrels for a while and a Kreik.

3. Tyranena Brewing
The top Wisconsin brewery on the list. Hailing from good ole Lake Mills, Tyranena will bring a bunch of beers in its Brewers Gone Wild! lineup: Devil Over a Barrel, Dirty Old Man, and Scurvy IPA. They have some more potent unlisted variations of the BGW that will be part of the mix as well. We’re guessing and hoping for the sake of fest goers that the Who’s Your Daddy Bourbon-Aged Imperial Porter will be in that group.

2. Three Floyds Brewing
These guys are bringing over a dozen labels led by none other than the heavenly Dark Lord Imperial Stout. If you missed Dark Lord Day, you will also get a shot at trying the Vanilla Bean Dark Lord and Hvedegoop, the collborative wheat wine brewed with Denmark’s Mikkeller. Don’t forget to try the new Blackheart English IPA either. I had it last night and the hop flavor is killer. UK hops are criminally underrated.

1. Surly Brewing
Surly will feature some fresh and very young Darkness 2008 at the fest. This beer, one of the best in the world, is known for its hoppiness so we guess that aspect of the beer could be stronger than ever before considering how young these kegs will be (it will be released in late October). They’ll also have Surly Smoke 2007, Surly Bourbon-aged One, and both Furious (the brewery’s hit IPA) and a barrel-aged version of it. Surly Hell, a new draft-only Munich Helles-style lager will be debuted at the event today.