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Seventeen taps, one table, and a promise to try them all. We dropped into Tumbled Rock Brewing in Baraboo with fresh palates and open notebooks, then worked our way from malty staples to modern haze and a final flight full of sours, spice, and a green-tinged saison. What we found was a brewery that prizes balance over bluster—clean fermentations, distinct styles, and a steady hand even when the ingredients get playful.

We start with the comfort zone: an Irish red that nails caramel and toast without dragging, a brown ale with gentle roast, and a cream ale that surprises with subtle sweetness. From there we pivot to a Danish-inspired lager seasoned with chamomile, lemon, ginger, and coriander, showing restraint where spice often overwhelms. A coffee oatmeal stout leans approachable rather than intense, more café aroma than espresso shot. The mid-run curveballs include a Mexican lager hopped with Motueka that divides the panel, and a lighter-than-usual doppelbock that wins points for drinkability over density.

Hop fans get a full tour: a double IPA boasting 88 IBUs yet drinking smoother than the number suggests, a hazy collaboration that actually earns the word “crushable,” and a strawberry–kiwi–hibiscus hazy where the color promises fireworks but the palate stays balanced. We also explore an English IPA that delivers dryness and subtle marmalade and a hoppy blonde that reads sweeter and citrusy rather than overtly bitter. The finale pushes boundaries—a pink lemonade wheat with patio energy, a tart strawberry sour that puckers instead of panders, a jalapeño tamarind mango sour that harmonizes heat and acidity, a dill pickle sour that needs more brine, and a French saison whose rustic yeast character meets eye-catching color.

If you’re mapping a Wisconsin beer trip, Tumbled Rock is worth the stop: a tap list with range, a space where you can watch the brewhouse, and beers that stay distinct without getting noisy. Hit play to hear our candid ratings, favorite pours, and the moments that surprised us most, then tell us what you’d order first. Subscribe, share with a beer friend, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find the show.

Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.

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Five Bourbon County pours, one 20% curveball, and a table full of strong opinions. We line up the 2022 Goose Island Bourbon County variants—Original, Coffee, Biscotti, the 30th Anniversary Reserve with Knob Creek’s small-batch family, and the Two-Year Barleywine aged in Old Fitzgerald barrels—then bring out New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk D20 for a wild final act. Along the way, we talk about why some barrel-aged beers feel seamless while others come in hot, how char level and wood type shape flavor, and why great coffee stouts avoid that ashtray note.

You’ll hear how the Original sets a high bar with a blend of Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, and Buffalo Trace barrels. The Coffee variant shows what happens when clean Burundi beans meet a careful stout base—subtle sweetness, no grit. Biscotti divides the room with anise and almond that finish in bold licorice, a love-it-or-leave-it moment that makes pastry stout so fun to argue about. The 30th Reserve wins hearts with polish and balance across Knob Creek, Bookers, Basil Hayden, and Bakers barrels, earning a Beer of the Year nomination. Then the Old Fitzgerald barleywine brings velvety depth at 17% ABV, trading dryness for rich toffee and fig.

We close with Dragon’s Milk D20, a 20% stout that’s surprisingly drinkable but sharper than the Goose Island lineup—a fascinating study in extreme ABV and barrel character. If you’re searching for Bourbon County reviews, coffee stout recommendations, or Old Fitzgerald barleywine insights, this tasting hits the sweet spot: practical notes, clear scores, and real talk about who should seek these bottles out.

Subscribe, share with a beer friend, and tell us your pick for the winner. Got a barrel-aged gem we should try next? Drop us a note and we might feature it on a future show.

Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.

You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.

If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.

Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.