Having lived in Madison for almost three years now, I’m of the belief that the craft beer industry here is an undiscovered gold mine. Taps at the downtown bars are largely local and they rarely disappoint. These are the beers that inspired me to write for AmericanCraftBeer.com, and that keep me glued to Madison despite temperatures well below zero and snow piling up outside my door. It’s about time that I took a closer look at the breweries behind the beer. First up: a rapidly-growing favorite, Ale Asylum.

Ale Asylum was an obvious first choice because of their impressive, shiny new facility. I’ve been itching to check it out ever since construction began a year ago. I knew that expanding a brewery was no small task. What I didn’t know was that it may or may not require a fleet of semis, delayed medical attention, and risking heat stroke, among other things.

This spunky little brewery started out small in 2006, serving only the Madison area, and throwing around the word “inmates” in place of “customers.” With an IPA that puts others to shame, they quickly took off. In 2011, they finished out the year at 9,999 barrels – a clear sign that it was time to expand. The end of 2012 found Ale Asylum at a new location and it’s still growing – 12,045 barrels in total.

The new location boasts a warehouse big enough for the Packers to practice in and a bottling machine that made its way from Atlanta by way of eleven semis. The artwork in the tasting room includes a large mural painted by an eager customer, so eager that he delayed his wisdom teeth removal in order to finish in time for the grand opening. The planters outside were built from 100-year-old wood that the founders collected from an old barn on a stifling 100-degree Wisconsin summer day. These guys are dedicated.

Ninety percent of their sales still come from their infamous IPA, Hopalicious, which I must admit is my go-to beer when I’m at happy hour. You’ll find their beer in almost every establishment in Madison, as well as in 75% of the great state of Wisconsin. As for the rest of the country, “we want to be able to take care of our own backyard,” says Hathaway Dilba, one of the founding partners. Ale Asylum is a lesson in knowing your market. They’ve grown steadily in Madison and the surrounding area, and maybe that’s why they’re packed at 2 pm on a Monday. They love us, and we love them. Even though they call us inmates.