Upland unveils Tripel brew

Beer lovers across Bloomington will have a cause for celebration this Friday when Upland Brewing Co. unveils its Infinite Wisdom Tripel, the newest addition to a menu of rotating specialty and seasonal beers.

The tripel is a Belgian ale with hints of banana and citrus. The extra-long fermentation process gives the beer an especially high gravity and alcohol content.

“Tripels are typically very strong, heavy beers,” said Charles Stanley, Upland’s marketing operations manager. “But the Infinite Wisdom is actually fairly light in color with a light, crisp taste. You begin to taste the alcohol, but it is very deceptive and is really a very drinkable beer.”

Upland is hosting a release party 7 p.m. today that will showcase works by Norton Wisdom, a performance painter whose artwork adorns the labels of the new brew.

“He’s a longtime friend of the brewery,” said Angela Schnick, Upland’s restaurant manager. “We wanted something unique that would stand out. He’s also designed the artwork for our ... Dantalion Dark Wild Ale and Double Dragonfly Imperial IPA.”

Wisdom said he paints to live musical acts, hoping to capture the spontaneous essence of the moment and transform the atmosphere and energy of the performance onto  a visual medium.

“It’s really cool watching him,” Schnick said. “He’ll start with a blank canvas and just spontaneously add paint to it. The randomness really comes together to make some really unique and interesting paintings.”

“You can see why we’d want his work on our beer bottles,” she added.

Fans will have a chance to see Wisdom paint Saturday at Jake’s Nightclub on North Walnut Street as he performs to the sounds of Bloomington’s Zion Crossroads and Chicago’s Cornmeal.

“This will be an excellent chance for people to come watch this artist in action and check out two amazing bands,” Jake’s entertainment manager Jay Nelson said. “Cornmeal alone would be enough to make this a great night, but with (Wilson) now it’s going to be unforgettable.