The Riverwest Brewery Syndicate (RBS) – which includes the five breweries in the neighborhood – will release another collaboration series beer this week at a launch party Thursday, May 18 at 6 p.m.
This latest brew is “The Syndicate Belgian IPA,” which mashes up classic Belgian brewing with modern craft IPAs.
The 7.3 percent ABV beer – brewed at Amorphic Beer – uses, according to Amorphic Beer, “a simple grist of Pilsner malt, yeast from a little mountain town in the Ardennes, has a moderate bitterness, and splashes with fruit flavors from the Belgian yeast and Citra/Amarillo dry hop. Our modern take on a classic from the past.”
The event will be held at Riverwest Pizza, 922 E. Wright St. and will feature the beer of tap and food from the host venue.
Representatives of each of the breweries – Lakefront Brewery, Company Brewing, Black Husky Brewing, Amorphic Beer and Gathering Place Brewing Company – will be on hand.
The breweries do collaboration beers several times a year, taking turns on production of the beer but with all five taking part in the brew day.
The finished beer is then released at a neighborhood venue.
In case you're keeping score, here are the collabs to date:
- Sticke Alt, brewed at Black Husky, August 2019
- Dulce de Leche Stout, brewed at Company, January 2020
- Landbier, brewed at Gathering Place, released at Lager & Friends, May 2020
- ESB, brewed at Lakefront, November 2022
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.