There was a night almost a year ago that a friend and I went to Von Trier to chat and I was in one of my genetically-inherited indecisive moods when asked what beer I wanted. I told the bartender only that I liked dark beer and that he should “surprise” me. I’m sure this is the bane of service industry people everywhere, but I always make sure to guarantee my server that I won’t hold them personally responsible for their choice.

He brought a dark-looking ale in a tall glass and said, “This is Big Eddy from Leinenkugel’s. Enjoy.” My heart momentarily stopped beating. “HUH?” I’ve always been a huge fan of the Leinie family of beers, especially when stacked up against the big-boy domestic brewery choices. I had tried every flavor of Leinie’s known to man (at least in my beer-drinking lifetime) and had never heard of “Big Eddy” before. How did this stealth plane of a beer slip by my radar?

When I tasted it, I was floored. This particular beer was Big Eddy Imperial Pale Ale (IPA). It was as tastefully bitter an example of an IPA as I had ever tried, including many specialty craft brews. This beer, as I found out from the bartender, was brewed at Leinie’s 10th Street Brewery right here in Milwaukee. The sample batch was only available in select pubs and bars in the area and when it was gone, it was gone.

I so thoroughly enjoyed the robust, hoppy aroma and complex flavor of the beer (as well as the 9% alcohol-by-volume) that I went to the brewery with a couple of friends to sample some more of the brew. Props to the 10th Street brew master—he was tasked to create a niche beer for a test run to play opposite the mainstream Honey Weisses and Summer Wheat-type beers they mass produced both here and at the home brewery in Chippewa Falls. The result was Big Eddy IPA.

Sadly, Big Eddy ran its course as craft beer fans in town eventually consumed every last drop. Many long months were spent wondering when the next Big Eddy offering would rise from the ashes of the IPA brew tank. It happened a couple of months ago when Leinie’s officially started selling Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout. This one pours looking more like motor oil than beer and tastes like Leinie’s Creamy Dark on steroids. Similar to the IPA, it boasts very high alcohol content (around 9%) and tastes incredibly smooth. I haven’t found this one on tap locally, but it is generally available in a four-pack of bottles at certain liquor stores.

The same fate held true for the stout as it had for the IPA while stock diminished and eventually disappeared. I was again resigned to waiting, possibly in vain, for another Big Eddy creation. That was when I stumbled upon three—count them, THREE—four packs of Big Eddy at [gulp, I don’t want to give up the secret so I removed all the vowels] Wh_l_  F_ _ds on Thursday. I greedily pulled all three of them from the shelf like a child grabbing toys while sitting in a parent’s shopping cart. My, oh my, did that taste good last night—the perfect complement to the German skillet dish my sister-in-law made for dinner.

If you enjoy craft beers and ever get a chance to find Big Eddy on your store shelves, buy and enjoy. If not, please let me know so I can get them myself!