Winning Home Brew Reaches a Larger Audience at Mickey Finn's Brewery

The Besley's Home Brew Contest was created to shine a spotlight on the efforts of the Save Brainerd Project and help spread the word about better beers throughout Lake County. The 2nd annual competition was held during the Northshore Wine, Beer, Cigar and Food Festival last summer.

Now the winning beer is being brewed on a larger scale so it can be enjoyed by a wider audience at the Best of the Fest Event to be held on Wed. April 17th at Mickey Finn's in Libertyville.

Karl Hagglund, the winner of the 2012 Best of Fest Home Brew Competition, has been brewing his winning recipe, Quigley's Pale Ale, at Mickey Finn's, with the help of brewmaster Greg Brown, using hops grown by Hagglund himself.

“I’d never brewed a vat of beer this big,” he says. “I was worried because we didn’t have enough of the cluster and centennial hops from my yard for such a large batch. But we managed to supplement with commercial hops that matched mine, and it turned out quite well.”

Hagglund describes the brew as a malt-focused traditional English-style pale ale, also called a bitter because of the hops flavor. About 5 percent of the grain going into Hagglund’s brew was crystal malt, which lends a caramel note, with the bitter hops balancing the sweet, malty character.

Hagglund said, "Brewing at Finn’s was great. I’m also looking forward to the Best of the Fest event at Finn’s so that I can promote the home brewing experience with others. As they say, you need to follow your passion, and my passion is making great beer."   

If you would like to sample the Quigley's Pale Ale, an event is being held at the Amber Room at Mickey Finn's on Wed, April 17. The event will run from 6-9 p.m. The $25 ticket includes a glass of the winning brew, along with appetizers and live music. Chances will be available for a 50/50 raffle. Tickets can be purchased at Mickey Finn's or online at www.SaveBrainerd.org.