After a bout of fierce competition, the latest brew in the collaboration between Wisconsin Brewing Company and University of Wisconsin students will be ready to be served at Union South one month from now.

Student participants in the Campus Craft Brewery program recently came together to debut their recipes for the Wisconsin Brewing Company, and a panel of five judges determined the winning formula that would be used for S’Wheat Caroline, the second-ever beer in the program.

All six groups of students produced beer for a panel of judges to examine. The panel, consisting of representatives of various breweries and the Wisconsin Union, praised all six beers for their recipes — but the judges could only select one winner.

What’s on tap: Campus Craft Brewery collaboration to craft new summer wheat ale

The winning team consists of three students: Daniel Deveney, Jenna Fantle and Eric Kretsch. These three, in the eyes of the judges, were able to craft a recipe that fit the American Wheat Ale style of S’Wheat Caroline that Wisconsin Brewing Company was looking for, and as a result, will soon be able to add crafting a beer for an influential brewery to their résumés.

Traditionally, American Wheat Ales are light, in the four to five percent ABV range, 15-30 IBUs and typically made with American malt and hop varieties.

Their recipe consisted of white wheat, red wheat and brewer’s malts for the malts, as well as Amarillo and Chinook hops. When deciding on which ingredients to use for their recipe, they started with a simple approach — going with what they liked.

“When we first started talking about what we wanted in our beer, we talked about what styles of wheat beers we personally liked,” Kretsch said. “We came down to one that was nice and citrusy with a solid aroma, and one that was easily drinkable. We kind of just started talking to Kirby [Nelson, head brewer of Wisconsin Brewing Company] and [professor of food science] Jim Steele and found that was what they were looking for — so we knew we didn’t have to get too crazy with it.”

The team appreciated the help they received from Wisconsin Brewing Company, with members of their staff helping teach the students important lessons about the process, but also had praise for the professor in charge of their fermentation and brew lab class, Hans Zoerb.

Deveney and Kretsch both said they’ve had work in homebrewing before taking the course and were excited to be able to get more hands-on experience with the beer making process. While they now have an award-winning beer on their hands, that doesn’t mean they see crafting brews as a future career path.

“It feels great to be selected for this honor, and it really means a lot,” Deveney said. “But I’m not sure I see this as a career necessarily. I’ll always love homebrewing, though.”

Nelson said that as judges, they were looking for a beer that could be easily drinkable and enjoyable and still have that refreshing taste. As he puts it, they wanted “a great beer that you can see yourself sipping out on the Terrace on a beautiful summer day.”

Further describing the beer that won, Nelson said it was a “trendified” version of an American wheat ale, mainly associating this to the hops in the recipe. Deveney said this was exactly what they were going for in their process, looking to update the recipe with what is currently popular in the market.

There were many other unique and interesting recipes as well, with one featuring a small amount of honey to give it a unique taste, and many recipes included extra ingredients like coriander, orange peel and even green tea to try and set theirs apart from the rest.

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Carl Nolen, Wisconsin Brewing Company CEO, had nothing but positive things to say about the winners and the entire brew lab class, applauding everyone on another great contest, following last year’s competition for the best Red Ale.

“Everyone did such an amazing job, and just because we picked one doesn’t mean that all of these recipes were fantastic recipes,” Nolen said. “These students did some really great work.”

Beer-lovers in Madison will be able to check out the debut of S’Wheat Caroline April 29, as Wisconsin Brewing Company will be happily debuting the beer to the public at the Sett in Union South.