Ale Asylum

To understand the inspiration behind Desert Island Dissident, you must first understand the story of Hiroo Onoda.

In 1944, Onoda was sent to Lubang Island in the Japanese-occupied Philippines. His mission was to destroy the island's airstrip and the pier at its harbor ahead of the Allied invasion as well as to destroy any enemy planes or boats that attempted to land. His orders explicitly stated that under no circumstances was he to surrender.

For the next 30 years, Onoda led guerrilla warfare operations on the island, unaware or unbelieving that WWII had ended and the rest of the world had moved on.

Fast forward another three decades and half a world away to find two intrepid rebels making names for themselves in the brewing community out of a strip mall location on Madison's northeast side. Dean Coffey and Otto Dilba conjured up as many hoppy ales as they could to meet the city's demand. All the while, staff members jokingly compared Dean to Onoda as he refused to chase industry trends or succumb to whatever fresh new style was currently en vogue.

Thus, when we decided that it was time, after four long years, with some of the exact same equipment, and some of those same beloved staff members, in that same strip mall location, to inject some new life into our beer lineup while maintaining the backbone of the Ale Asylum brand, we knew the first person we had to call was Dean himself.

A steam beer was born.

This style, around since the 19th century, has never before emerged from the Ale Asylum tanks. But if you've ever had a steam beer elsewhere, just know that we're still playing by our own rules.

Want more details on the beer itself? You'll just have to stay tuned...