Wandering Monsters Brewing Co.

Dear Replicator, I am looking for advice on replicating Bossie from Wandering Monsters out of Cincinnati, Ohio. From what I can tell, it appears to be an homage to New Glarus’ classic Spotted Cow. Would love some tips for brewing something so drinkable and unique. Thanks!
David Norelli
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

For Zac Boehnke, Head Brewer of Wandering Monsters Brewing Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, the road to becoming a brewmaster was paved through dedication. After many years of homebrewing and a stint as a brewery sales representative in Kentucky, Boehnke was able to make the leap into brewing professionally. Several years and many brews later, he wandered into the opportunity of co-founding Wandering Monsters, which opened in the summer of 2023.

Along the way, Boehnke’s philosophy has evolved from imitation to innovation. “Early on, I would try to make beer the right way — the way someone else was already doing it — in order to give myself a base of knowledge,” he says. “Now, every beer is a challenge to make it better and more unique to our brewery.” 

This desire for continuous improvement has helped shape Wandering Monsters’ evolving lineup, which balances adventurous new brews with familiar, reliable mainstays.

The brewery itself has adopted smart strategies for a changing industry. Boehnke notes that they’ve embraced the fact that their target demographic is aging and starting families. “We opened a family-friendly space and catered towards them,” he says. “The craft beer consumer is getting older and having kids, as are we.” Wandering Monsters thus offers a large public space, with a private party room and unique entertainment offerings, like duckpin bowling lanes.

When it comes to personal taste, Wandering Monsters is proudly a “haze-bro” brewery. “To me, you can never have too many hazies on a draft board,” Boehnke says. The style, after all, was one that helped the founders bond with each other early in their careers. However, Boehnke’s palate has drifted more and more over the years toward the lighter side of beer. “The beers I tend to gravitate the most to these days are lighter, cleaner, and more drinkable: Pilsner, helles, pale ales, etc.”

While the brewery works hard on refining many styles, like small-batch stouts — including a chocolate stout that has earned Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup medals — it’s a light farmhouse-adjacent ale called Bossie that has truly captured the hearts of its customers.

The story of Bossie, which the brewery describes as a “Wisconsin Ale,” began three months before the brewery even opened. The founders took a trip to Wisconsin, visited New Glarus Brewing, and like others who make the trek to New Glarus, were deeply impressed. Jason Brewer, the aptly-named Co-Founder of Wandering Monsters, was convinced that their own lineup needed to include an homage to New Glarus’ iconic Spotted Cow.

“Jason spent the next six months begging me to make an homage to Spotted Cow,” Boehnke says. After its initial release, Bossie was an immediate hit with their customers, and Boehnke reports that it “has barely left our draft board ever since.”

A “bossie,” or “boss cow,” is the dominant female cow who leads the herd, setting the pace and direction for the rest of the group. Wandering Monsters’ Bossie, just like the New Glarus beer that inspired it, is a unique blend of styles: A farmhouse ale on the lighter side, with crisp, sweet, and refreshing elements that might even bring to mind a cream ale or blonde ale. Bossie lacks the very dry finish of a saison, as well as the high carbonation and pronounced peppery/spicy yeast character that farmhouse ales are known for. Indeed, Bossie is not even fermented with a farmhouse yeast strain at all, but instead employs a carefully-managed fermentation using Kölsch yeast.

So how does one ultimately classify such a beer? New Glarus simply calls Spotted Cow a farmhouse ale, in spite of its unique characteristics, a classification that Boehnke didn’t find particularly fitting for their tribute. Their solution was to coin a new term: “Wisconsin Ale” — a subtle, respectful nod to the beer’s influence that avoided having to force it into a specific, traditional style box.

When developing Bossie, Boehnke didn’t spend months brewing test batches to develop the beer through trial and error. Instead, he approached it like a true Replicator. “I pieced together research from different clone recipes, articles, and early interviews with Dan Carey (Co-Founder and Head Brewer of New Glarus),” Boehnke explains. Knowing they weren’t aiming for an exact copy, he focused instead on building a recipe that was similar but distinct, finding his own key to its character.

“I built a recipe that seemed close, and made sure to use Kölsch yeast,” Boehnke says. “In my eyes, it’s the key ingredient that provides the character separating it from other light beers.”

For homebrewers hoping to replicate this delightfully drinkable beer, Boehnke offers three key pieces of advice. “Add a bit of protein in your grist for a touch of haze in the final product,” he says. He also recommends homebrewers make sure their water profile is balanced with a ratio of 1:1 chloride-to-sulfate. And finally, don’t neglect a healthy fermentation, as the quality of the yeast will be key to the beer’s success. “Always keep your yeast happy,” Boehnke says.