At Brewfest in July this summer, we found a couple of beers that I think I would really like to find and bring home.
Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company's Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. I really liked it. Their website (http://www.kentuckyale.com/beer/Pages/KentuckyBourbonBarrelAle.aspx) gives the following description, which I think is pretty accurate:
Award winning Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale is a unique sipping beer with the distinctive nose of a well-crafted bourbon. Our Kentucky Ale is aged for up to 6 weeks in freshly decanted bourbon barrels from some of Kentucky’s finest distilleries.
Subtle yet familiar flavors of vanilla and oak are imparted to this special ale as it rests in the charred barrels. Pleasantly smooth and robust, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale may also be served as an aperitif or after dinner drink.
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale won a silver medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival in the Barrel and Wood-Aged Category
A beer that I thought was good, but not something I'd drink often or much of, was Delafield Brewhaus's Mango Sunset Lager. It was a sweet beer, with a great smell and made with all real fruit. It was a seasonal summer lager, and got mentioned in BeerFM's review of BrewFest (http://www.beerfm.com/2011/08/milwaukee-brewfest-2011/)
I also learned that Potosi, WI (Nearish to Dubuque, IA and Galena, IL) has a brew pub, which I don't believe was on my bucket list of Wisconsin breweries and brewpubs - http://www.potosibrewery.com
While we were there we also met the BeerFM people and got some of their bumperstickers and magnets. It's definitely a site I plan to check out.
