Waukesha-based Raised Grain Brewing Co. took home a gold medal in the Imperial Red Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival for its Paradocs Red Imperial IPA.
Raised Grain opened its public tap room in September 2015. The brewery was founded by four partners including Dr. Scott Kelley, a dermatopathologist with Quest Diagnostics, and Dr. James Gosset, an internist with Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, Nick Reistad, a former professional cyclist and former entrepreneur Kevin Brandenburg.
According to the brewery’s website, the Paradocs beer was developed after Kelley, a Scot, and Gosset, a Belgian, were arguing over which country made the better beer. The two then homebrewers set out to create a beer that combined both countries’ strengths and Paradocs Red was the result.
A total of three Wisconsin breweries won awards at the event, held last week in Boulder, Colorado. Vintage Brewing Co. won silver in American-style Amber/Red Ale for its Better off Red and Greenview Brewing’s Copperhead won silver in gluten-free beer. Vintage and Greenview are both based in Madison.
The state’s three medals are a drop off from recent years. Wisconsin breweries have averaged more than seven medals a year since 2010, including 10 in 2012.
Several other medals did have ties to Wisconsin’s largest brewer, MillerCoors. Coors Banquet won silver in American-style lager and Coors Light took home bronze in American-style light lager. Blue Moon Brewing Co. won silver in the fruit wheat beer category for its mango wheat beer and Texas-based Revolver Brewing won gold in the other strong beer category for its Anodyne Wheat Wine. Both Blue Moon and Revolver are part of Tenth and Blake Beer Co., the craft and important division of MillerCoors, which also owns Chippewa Falls-based Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co.
