Over the last 8 months, our brewery has transformed into a 19-tap brewery with (almost) weekly beer releases. The man making that possible is our Brewmaster Drew Morden.
Before Drew Morden began at AL. Ringling, only 5 beers were available on tap at a time. Morden figured out how to get all our taps flowing with beer, typically with at least 17 of our own. Using his professional brewing experience and scientific background, he is filling our brewery with fresh, creative beer recipes.
“I love being able to be creative at AL. Ringling and come up with new beer releases every week,” says Morden. “I haven’t made a beer that I don’t like, but my favorites I’ve made so far have beer Luawana Lady and Hot Summer Night.”
Luawana Lady is a Tangerine Brut IPA. “It’s called a Brut IPA because its dryness resembles a Brut champagne. I added tangerine to make it more balanced. It tastes like a beer-mosa. I also appreciate that it’s lower in calories than traditional craft beers and uses Azacca hops, which gives it notes of mango and papaya,” says Morden.
Hot Summer Night is an Imperial Black Currant Sour. “It was fun adding black currants to this recipe because it’s not a widely used berry. It’s tart and has a rich berry taste, so it was very juicy and flavorful. It weighed in at 7.1% ABV, which helped balanced the sweetness of the black currants,” says Morden.
Prior to his time at AL. Ringling Brewing Company, Morden spent 7 years at California craft brewery, Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co. He started as the Assistant Brewer, but quickly rose to Brewer, Head Brewer, and his final position as their Brewmaster.
Tioga-Sequoia found Morden as he has completed his Master Brewers Certificate at UC Davis. He had to wait on their waiting list for 2 years before he could begin this world-renowned brewing program. After completing his Honors Thesis on Brewing Science for Ball State University’s Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, he knew it was worth the wait.
Morden’s upcoming beer releases include:
–Next week: a Strawberry Sour
-Another version of Humbug New England IPA
-Fruitville Road Passion Orange Guava Hazy IPA: rerelease
-Bally Broad Cranberry Honey Wheat: rerelease
There are many craft breweries in Wisconsin, but where else are you going to find such fresh, exciting beer recipes? Drew Morden’s innovation in beer along with the rich history at AL. Ringling Brewing Co. is what makes this one of the top Wisconsin breweries.
