Because even Good City Brewing, 2108 N. Farwell Ave., can somehow get even better, the Milwaukee craft brewer on Thursday announced that it’s launching a new small-batch innovation beer series called Indigo.
The line of beers is spearheaded by Good City’s Innovation Brewer Brendan Williamson (pictured below), who was formerly head brewer at Hacienda Beer Co., a few blocks north on Farwell Avenue on Milwaukee’s East Side.
At the start, Indigo will release a new brew every other week, with the first beers being a variety of New England-style IPAs.
The first indigo brew, Eternal Dawn – a 8.3 percent double dry-hopped Double IPA brewed with Mosaic Cryo, Sabro, and Sultana hops – will be unveiled on Saturday, Oct. 17.
It will be available on tap at Good City’s East Side and Downtown taprooms and there will be very limited 16-ounce four-packs to go. Good Citizen loyalty program members will be able to buy the beer on the same day it’s packaged, Friday, Oct. 16.
The label for Eternal Dawn is the work of local linoleum block print artist Julia Mielke (pictured below), who will design labels for all the Indigo beers.
“The indigo series reflects our commitment to innovation as a brewery,” says Good City’s co-founder and CEO Dan Katt. “We figured if COVID was going to punch us in the mouth, we might as well have some fun and innovate our way through these uncertain times.”
Although the Indigo beers are produced at Good City's East Side brewery, the company's Downtown pilot system at the Deer District, called “The Lab,” brews R&D beers in small batches that result in just a few kegs that are typically available on tap on Fridays at both taprooms. The supplies of these breweries rarely make it past the weekend of release, says Good City’s co-founder David Dupee.
The same weekend that Eternal Dawn is released, another, as-yet-undetermined brew from The Lab as well as its Audacity Belgian Quad, available for the first time 16-ounce four-packs.
Although the first few Indigo releases will be IPAs, the series will explore other styles, too.
“We want to be intentional about inviting as many people as possible into our creative process,” says Dupee. “Beer should be fun and collaborative and it’s been cool to engage our customers and get feedback as we continue our quest to make excellent and interesting beer for all of us to enjoy.”
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.
