By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published Sep 10, 2019 at 9:31 AM

City Lights Brewing and Third Space Brewing have partnered on a collaboration brew that will be launched on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 4:30 p.m. to kick off Valley Week, which runs Sept. 21 through 28, an annual fall celebration that showcases the ever-changing and evolving Menomonee Valley.

The new, limited beer is a lager called Menomonee River Valley Urban Escape and it’s brewed with wild rice in honor of the fact that the valley was long a source of that grain for the native peoples.

In fact, the word "menominee" is derived from the Algonquin word for "rice."

A group including members of a dozen businesses in the Valley, as well as brewers Jimmy Gohsman of City Lights and Kevin Wright of Third Space, got together to discuss the idea for a beer and the the idea of using wild rice was hatched (pictured below).

It’s an ingredient neither brewery has tried in the past.

"It will be golden in color with a unique nutty flavor from the rice," says Third Space's Andy Gehl. "It’s hopped with Tettnang, a German noble variety. It will be herbal and floral with some spicy notes; 6 percent (ABV)."

Proceeds from the beer, which will be on tap at both breweries during Valley Week, will benefit Menomonee Valley Partners’ efforts in the Menomonee Valley.

"The transformation of the Menomonee River Valley is monumental and a testament to the collective efforts of many, many partners over the last two decades. It seems only fitting that we celebrate by toasting this milestone – with a commemorative beer made by two breweries who have been key to turning the Valley into an urban escape," said Corey Zetts, executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners, in a statement.

The neighborhood brew follows on the heels of a recent collaborative brewing effort by the four craft brewers in the Riverwest neighborhood. Details of that beer can be found here.

Here's to hoping every Milwaukee neighborhood gets a beer to call its own.

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

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.