New Glarus Spotted Cow

by Ethan Keller
(Milwaukee, WI)

New Glarus Spotted Cow beer. Mooo!

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What's the first thing you think of when you think of Wisconsin?

Okay, you probably think of that sloppy guy at Green Bay Packers home turf (the frozen tundra of Lambeau field), all loud and rowdy with what looks to be a cheese wedge on his head. Or perhaps you think of a can of Pabst or a bottle of Miller, both from my homebase, Brew City (also known as Milwaukee, WI).

What what happens when you put both together? A very large man crammed into a very small space? No seriously, I meant the cheese, or more to the point, the cow... Drunken cows? AHA! Now we're getting warmer... Continues below

Perhaps Wisconsin's most famous and all around best tasting microwbrew is New Glarus Spotted Cow]. I'm a musician and I've had the privilege of playing music at an Oktoberfest in New Glarus, WI.

It's a lovely town just southwest of the capitol (Madison) where the glacier refused to scour away the hills. What you have is a "miniature mountain" town. (Indeed, the Swiss settled there because it was a small, but warm, reminder of their native Alps).

New Glarus makes TONS of great beers, but New Glarus Spotted Cow is the one that most people know (like Magic Hat #9, or New Belgium's Fat Tire).

Spotted Cow is an awesomely smooth and slightly sweet ale with the most wonderfully non-bitter aftertaste. Golden and translucent, it is an unfiltered "farmhouse ale" in which you can slightly taste the yeast which gives the brew its cloudiness. Subtle hints of corn gives it that priceless "Up North" nostalgic flavor.

This is a beer that your uneducated Budweiser (or other cheap beer) drinking friends will immediately love. Indeed, the Spotted Cow has probably been the great devirginizing factor for many current microbrew lovers. Once you go Holstein, you never go back...

If you want to bring the Spotted Cow to a party, picnic, tailgate, or family reunion, all your friends and grandmothers will kiss you sloppily.

Comments for
New Glarus Spotted Cow

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Sep 12, 2010
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where to buy spooted cow beer in alaska
by: Anonymous

where do i purchase spooted cow beer in alaska

Mar 06, 2009
Rating

slurp
by: Mysterias

okay, maybe it isn't the rich beer with complex flavours that you love, mr anti spotted cow. What it is, is a delicious, light and friendly, easy to drink beer.
I think of it as a gateway microbrew. In wisconsin, where I bartend, many people try this as their very first microbrew and they love it. Then they try a different microbrew and their palatte developes. I love dark beer, but on a hot summer day, a spotted cow is so much more refreshing. Obviously not everyone likes the same things. Otherwise we would only have one beer.
I think the only thing better than this article, is the actual beer, spotted cow!

Jun 27, 2008
Rating

Spotted Cow = Delicious
by: team america

"Basically, Spotted Cow is swill."

Are you kidding me? Spotted Cow is amazing.

I would slap you in the mouth for such a comment.

Apr 29, 2008
Rating

too bad for REAL BEER DRINKER
by: Ethan

Sorry, but thats a lazy comment. I could have reviewed another New Glarus beer (others of which i do like better), but it is precisely the fact that it is the "overall" best and friendliest beer that New Glarus makes that you see it everywhere. Mr. Anti-Cow didn't give a description of HOW or WHY it tastes bad. His comment merely leaves the taste in the readers mouth that he has perhaps drank it too much, has gotten bored of it, and turns his nose up at it now. And why take it out on the establishments? Maybe he's looking for the even more incognito beers and taverns. This nose smells a whiff of pretension.

Sep 25, 2007
Rating

No! to Spotted Cow
by: REAL BEER DRINKER

OK, I'm sorry, but these two quotes are in direct opposition to each other:

"Perhaps Wisconsin's most famous and all around best tasting microwbrew is Spotted Cow from New Glarus Brewing Company."

"This is a beer that your uneducated Budweiser (or other cheap beer) drinking friends will immediately love."

The second quote is correct. It is a beer for people that want to drink microbrews, but don't really like good beer. Basically, Spotted Cow is swill.

I LOVE other New Glarus brews, and love the village and area of New Glarus, but almost every other microbrew in Wisconsin is better than Spotted Cow.

Please don't encourage any more bars to carry this horrid liquid, it drives me crazy when it is the ONLY microbrew on tap at an otherwise decent tavern.

Sep 24, 2007
Rating

The beer for me
by: Emily

I used to hate beer (I know, I know). Then I moved to Wisconsin and someone put a bottle of Spotted Cow into my hand. It was love at first sip and since then, it has led me to enjoy a variety of other brews as well. Consider it my gateway beer. I can't recommend it enough.

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