Wisconsin State Journal from Madison, Wisconsin • D6

D6 Sunday, March 21, 2021 WiSconSin State Journal 00 1 There are many options in Madison to help spring break feel special without having to leave the area. A few ideas: Destination Madison, online at visitmadison.com, touts 25 spe- cial packages at 19 area hotels running through April 12. Vis- itors can book a hotel room and also get a private banquet room to view a kid-friendly movie on the big screen, or reserve a deluxe suite stocked with board games. More grown-up hotel options, such as spa indulgences and dinner-hotel packages, are also available. has been perhaps the best performance campaign as far as traffic to our said Desti- nation Madison communications director Rob Gard.

The organiza- tion also launched a Madi- campaign last December and will keep it running indefinitely, he said. still heavily pushing that because until we see tourists returning in significant numbers, we have to support these he said. Need to swim? Along with hotel pools included with some of the Minica- tion packages, Swim West Swim School is offering camps and even pool rentals where a household or of up to six can reserve a portion of an indoor swimming pool for their use. Details are at www. swimwest.com.

New at home If not ready to venture out with the kids yet, Madison School and Community Recre- ation offers plenty of free activ- ities to enrich your spring break week at home. The free video series available at the MSCR website at mscr.org, offers 30 art projects you can do at home. Out- door includes a free series of nature- and adventure-based videos plus instruction sheets so that families can get ideas for their own explorations outdoors. Loads of free exercise videos are also available free at the site, and for $5 registered families can join a series that in- cludes a recipe, shopping list and instructional video to bake some- thing delicious. a way to stay active, or engage in something that peo- ple might not otherwise said Mary Roth, MSCR operations manager.

MSCR is soon open- ing registration for its spring programs, too, she notes and those will include low-cost pro- grams for youth and adults both online and in-person, with indoor and outdoor options. The MSCR Spring Program Guide is now on- line at mscr.org. The Madison Mu- seum also offers more than 150 art and enrichment activities on its at video series. Find the links at madisonchil- drensmuseum.org. Explore a new park Madison and Dane County parks have experienced an ex- plosion of usage during the pan- demic.

Spring break offers the chance to try out a park never visited before. Explore the options (and latest information on park conditions) at www.cityof- madison.com/parks/ and www. danecountyparks.com/. Or try a socially distanced day trip to one of exceptional state parks. Ideas, locations and infor- mation on the required vehicle sticker for state park admission is online at dnr.wisconsin.gov/ Trails at the Aldo Leopold Na- ture Center, 330 Femrite Drive, are also open every day from dawn till dusk.

Admission is free. ALNC also offers nature videos at its website, aldoleopoldnaturecen- ter.org. Art for the soul The splendid, free-admission Chazen Museum of Art at 800 University Ave. is open by res- ervation. Sign up for a time slot at chazen.wisc.edu.

Afterwards, take a short stroll to the shore of Lake Mendota on the UW-Madi- son campus to enjoy the vista beautiful in any season. The vibrant Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in the heart of Downtown at 227 State St. has reopened with afternoon hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ad- mission is free; check for updates and safety protocols at mmoca. org.

Consider camp (carefully) The Middleton sports center KEVA has been running youth camps since last summer, and is offering active day camps through the spring break weeks of March 22-26 and March 29-April 2. your typical camp day, with lots of ranging from dodgeball and soccer to balloon tennis, said assistant camp di- rector Kasey Kuchar. The facil- ity is doing has trained its coaches on sani- tation procedures and enforces mask-wearing at all times, he said. Games have been modified to allow for social distancing. It seems that families are start- ing to feel more comfortable with venturing out, said Kuchar, but, obviously being very care- Break From D1 CONCOURSE HOTEL the Madison concourse hotel and club is offering hotel packages this spring that include a chance to watch a kid-friendly movie on a big screen in a private banquet room.

AMBER ARNOLD PHOTOS, STATE JOURNAL Above: the public can enjoy the outdoor nature trails at the aldo leopold nature center every day from dawn to dusk, even though the indoor spaces at 330 Femrite drive are currently closed to the public. Left: austin Wegner, 8, left, of Verona, takes a golf lesson as his dad, Michael, uses the golf suite next to him at Vitense Golfland. unlike many other industries, the golf industry has thrived during the pandemic, said Vitense owner Joel Weitz. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL the chazen Museum of art is open by reservation on tuesday-Friday afternoons. admission is free, but visitors should reserve a time slot online at chazen.wisc.edu.

SUNDAY BEST hile I pride myself in having my fingers on the pulse of the beer world, I must admit shower beers very much in the zeitgeist right now do much for me. Most proponents of a cold one during a hot shower point to one of two uses: a pre-outing warmup or a post-workout cooldown. I guess I get what the rush is for shower beers. I like showers and I like beers. I like to take my time with each of them, most of the time.

And it has been a long time since I felt like I wanted to increase my alcohol intake before a night out saying nothing of how long it has been since a night out. While I am not one, there are many devotees of shower beers, and a recent Twitter solicitation for Wisconsin shower beer suggestions revealed a definite for these whistle-wetters. As m750 noted, be in a can, risk glass with a slippery hand. the same level of refreshment you seek post lawn mow on a hot day. Crisp, and gone in the span of a 10 minute hot shower.

I lean to- wards a lighter pale Some of the more popular suggestions: PBR, Third Space Happy Place, Miller High Life, Point Special. New Glarus came up a lot, mostly for Moon Man, but also the apropos Totally Naked. Gotta love the puns. There are even beers called Shower Beer nearly a dozen of them, according to Untappd, including one from the ex- cellent Vennture Brew Co. in Milwaukee.

(The photos accompanying check-ins to Shower Beers often are wet and wild.) The latest shower beer, though, is ac- tually a Shower Bier, and perhaps the most important beer yet from Young Blood Beer Co. This nearly year-old brewery has made a name trading in hazy hops, fruity sours and a few really well done farmhouse ales and saisons. Head brewer Kyle Gregorash has made very few of these beers multi- ple times so far; the variety and constant movement by has been a core tenet of Young identity. Shower Bier, though, was born out of a desire to offer a rock in that fast-moving river both to retailers and less explor- atory drinkers. While this German-style helles lager quite be billed as a year-round beer, it will be brewed about once a month, Young Andrew Tader said.

That might be enough to keep it on shelves more or less constantly and is a far cry from the one-and-dones that make up the majority of Young portfolio. Tader noted he could see it being a popular option for parents visiting the King Street taproom with their UW-Madison student kids due to its flavor profile a bit of a departure from most of Young beers in that light, easy and drinkable. You know, a shower beer. pull back the curtain, check the temperature and lather up. Shower Bier Style: Helles, a lager that is German for Brewed by: Young Blood Beer, 112 King St.

What like: The Chicago-brewed Dovetail Helles Lager has become my go-to helles and one of my go-to beers, period since its arrival in Wisconsin over the summer. Shower Bier skews a bit more bitter than portrait of balance. Where, how much: Young cans are found across the Madison area these days, and Shower Bier will occupy a new, lower price tier for the brewery about per four-pack of 16-ounce cans. (My four-pack was provided as a pre-release sample by Young Blood.) also $6 a pint at the taproom, and quite nice on draft on the streetside patio. Booze factor: The 5.2% ABV allows for a clear mind even if you shower quickly.

Up close: If you consume Shower Bier outside the shower and use a glass, as I always recommend find it pours the palest of golds with a lovely aroma of orange marmalade on white toast. The bready malt note continues in the flavor, joined by a pleasant but fleeting herbal note from the Mandarina Bavaria hops. That gives way to a finish that some would call crisp and some would call assertively bitter in a lager context, not an IPA context. a flourish that provides some momentum toward the next sip and reminds you that, hey, this is a brewery that has traded on big flavors its whole young life. Even its nice easy beer has some chutzpah.

Bottom line: 4 stars (out of 5) Got a beer like the Beer Baron to pop the cap on? contact chris drosner at or follow him on twitter BEER BARON Try cleansing your palate with a Shower Bier CHRIS DROSNER, FOR THE STATE JOURNAL Shower Bier is a new helles lager from young Blood Beer. CHRIS DROSNER.