IndianaBeer

Upland's Midwest Sour Wild Funk Fest

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:57:00 +0000

Upland Brewing organized the second annual Sour Wild Funk Fest, the Midwest’s premier wild ale festival, on Saturday, May 11, at Developer Town in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis. Approximately twenty breweries were represented including many Hoosier breweries, brewers from Ohio, from Illinois, from Michigan and some national powerhouses like New Belgium and Sam Adams. This years attenance was reported to be up substantially from last year but the crowd never felt like a 'throng.' Here's our take from the two of us who attended:

from Jake: .....

When I first heard about Upland’s Sour Beer Fest last year, I had already been interested in sours for about a year, and been enjoying being able to get a hold of some good sours from around the country and occasionally the world. I loved last year’s festival. With such a small number of tickets compared to the microbrewers festival in Opti park the lines are much shorter and you get to try more beer!

This year I was lucky enough to snag a pair of VIP tickets, which apparently sold out in minutes. I enjoyed the VIP lecture style presentation from Caleb Staton, Upland’s Head Brewer. The presentation consisted of an overview sour brewing process, but the most interesting part in my opinion was Upland’s specific techniques. It is impressive how much trouble Upland goes through to create their spectacular sours. The list includes a vigorous cleaning each of their 141 barrels, a modified mash tun (capable of a turbid mash typical for Flemish style sours), as well as a 24 Hectoliter Foudre. The fruited lambics only use real fruit, no extracts, and none of their sours are artificially sweetened like the occasional Belgian brewery. Caleb is nobly focused on the exceptionally high quality of their sour program. The VIP portion ended with a sampling of Sour Reserve Batch #2, Raspberry Lambic (2011), and Cherry Lambic (2010).

The festival began and those of us in the VIP walked right in, while all the general admission ticket holders had to submit to getting the horrible re-entry stamp of a brown mustache. Anyway, on to the beers. As expected all of the Upland Sours were spectacular, including Sour Reserve Batch #1, and Batch #3, and a few Fruit Lambics I was able to try. Sun King’s All Brett Wee Mac was particularly tasty with some great characteristics from the different strains of brett used. Next up for me was Black Acre, a young brewery that had a tasty Raisin Sour, while their other option may have been lacking a little bit of complexity. Flat 12’s offerings were strong as always, and it was great seeing some of the other classic Indiana breweries, Barley Island, Mad Anthony embracing the sour tradition/trend. Some people may believe there are new trends in craft beer, which we’ll talk about later this week, but this beer fest shows me that there is still a growing audience for the complex traditional Belgian sour beers and the new American sours that are pushing the limits of what beer can be. I loved this festival again this year, and hope to see you at it next year.

Crowd shot and Mad Anthony description

Black Acre and Flat 12 descriptions

from Greg.....

This is likely the true craft beer lovers' fest. Brewers and staff alike commented that this is one of their favorite events because attendees like to chat about beers, spend time at each table, and sip rather than slam. The attendance proved there are plenty of beer lovers who appreciate tart beer.

Perhaps the most interesting samplings were from Destihl brewery of Normal and Champaign, Illinois. Their 5,000 square foot beer cellar contains over 300 oak barrels, both California wine barrels and bourbon barrels. In addition, they have imported French foudres, large oak casks for storage. They follow a traditional Belgian sour aging process of exposing the fermented beer in casks and barrels to the open air to pick up wild yeast. the Destihl four-and-a-half year old framboise was complex and impressively light at the same time. Their Saint Dekerra plain lambic had been barrel aging nearly two years and delivered a nice vanilla and wonderful sour notes. While Destihl brews or has brewed over 60 beers since opening in 2007, and have a wide variety of beer styles, clearly their focus on barrel aging is providing truly interesting and tasty results.

New Belgium Brewery has a fondness for this festival and provided a "Peach Felix Love" ale on tap that was aged first in the barrels used for their LaFolie and then in peach whiskey barrels. As one participant noted this provided the wonderful type of tartness that gives you a tug at the back and side of the tongue while delivering great flavor. This was one of those beers you could never get elsewhere unless you travel to New Belgium in Colorado and know the brewers.

I was particularly pleased that the beer I had agreed to help pour, Bloomington Brewing Company Cranberry Saison, was so well accepted and so many people made it to the end table of the fest specifically asking for this ale brewed with French Saison yeast and finished with fresh and concentrated cranberries! This was a delightful sample from the saison I've much appreciated before gaining very nice fruit flavor! Several noted beer judges came by because they had heard this one-off beer, not even available at the brew pub, was so good.

Steve of Crown Brewing (Home of the Crown Beer fest this next weekend from 2-6 on Sat., May 18) of Crown Point, IN, poured a Cherry Dunkel Weizen Bock, that gave a nice hint of cherry in the unusual setting of a dunkel weizen. This blending of cherry, banana esters, and spice was quite a nice delight!

SunKing's Stupid Sexy Flanders (did you see that episode of the Simpson's?) was a very nice base oud bruin with wild yeast, brettanomyces, and lacto!

Thirsty Dog from Dayton poured Cerasus Dog Flanders Red that was very smooth and a grest treat. As hard as I tried to recall the exact brewing process which on Saturday I recounted to others, alas, my notes started to fade - but I enjoyed this brew!

Another very interesting beer was Jon's Triton Pink Ribbon Saison, obviously a saison but with pink and white peppercorns delivering a nice but not overpowering spice.

If you wanted a beer lighter in alcohol, Bell's Oarsman is a very refreshing and full-of-flavor tart sessionable beer at 4% abv.

Thanks to Global Beer Network importers for serving Petrus pale, Petrus Oud Bruin, and Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour. These Belgian beers (in bottles) give fest attendees a barometer for what these styles taste like when brewed in Belgium.

And thanks to Avery for shipping in bottles of Odio Equum which is brewed with red raspberries and aged in cabernet sauvignon barrels. Another beer I would not have wanted to miss!

Upland did not have much Dantillion, but a lucky few got a taste just as Starlight distributors from Southern Indiana also broke out a bottle of Cantillion from Brussels -- but alas I was not in the right spot to taste and report which Cantillion.

The list could go on and on but we tried to show some restraint. Truly this is an event for those of us who appreciate tart and tasty ales!

Cheers, from Jake and GregKitz

Pics with Katie (and Mark in the background) from Destihl,
Mark from BBC, and Andrew from Upland

Upcoming Fort Wayne Beer Events - May 13

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Modesitt) — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:37:00 +0000

Join in the fun on Friday, May 17th, for Cap n' Cork's 3rd Annual Craft Beer Tasting. Below are the details for this event:

Beoir Go Leoir:

Beoir Go Leoir (which is Gaelic for "lots of beer" and is pronounced "beer galore") is coming up on May 18. Tickets are limited, so get them now at the pub or at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/343870. Also, Jason Dow from Bell's Brewery, will bring a firkin of Kalamazoo Stout. If you purchase a VIP ticket, you will also get to enjoy a couple of very special cellared beers: Barrel Aged Old Rasputin, 14th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout by North Coast Brewing, and a Red Horizon ale brewed with sake yeast by Norway's famous Nøgne Ø Brewing Company. If you are a true beer lover, don't miss your chance to sample these tasty beers!

JK's is closing the street in front of the pub with a huge tent, 40+ breweries represented and over 100 beers to sample. Ticket prices are: General Admission is $40 in advance ($50 on the day of the event) and includes your very own signature tasting glass that's yours to take with you after the event. VIP admission is $65 ($75 on the day of the event) and includes a lanyard with a JK signature tasting glass and a T-shirt as well as a private hour to enjoy our appetizers and get a jump start on sampling the beers.

JK's will also have food trucks from Affine and Bravas. Check out their websites

http://www.affinefoodtruck.com and http://www.bravasfood.com

Please note that this is a 21+ event. The list of breweries from JK's Facebook page are as follows:

Founders, Tyranena, Breckenridge, Ace, Left Hand, Lexington KY, Mendocino, New Albanian, People’s, Sixpoint, Stone, Bell’s, Southern Tier, North Coast Brewing, Victory, Dark Horse, Schlafly, Upland, Ommegang, Triton, Flat 12, Brooklyn, Sun King, Chouffe, Crispin, Strongbow, Fox Barrel, Red’s, Angry Orchard, Green Bush, New Belgium, Sam Adams, Rogue, Boulevard, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, Mount Pleasant, Cutters, Guinness, Magners, Harp, and Smithwicks.

Come out to these two events, try some tasty beers, and most importantly, drink responsibly. Also, be sure to bring your Government-issued photo ID.

Please check out the Calendar section on indianabeer.com for upcoming beer events!!

Summer Beer Festival Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Compton) — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:23:00 +0000

Interested in attending a beer festival in the next four months? We’ve assembled a list of options to help you determine the best use of your beer sampling dollar. If you can’t decide on the best option, why not try them all? Then send me your autograph.

2nd Annual Sour + Wild + Funk Fest

Saturday, May 11th 1-5pm

Developer Town

5255 Winthrop Ave, Indianapolis, IN

Tickets: VIP $60 (sold out), General Admission $45, Designated Driver $20

Featuring more than 50 styles of sour and wild ales, the second annual Sour + Wild + Funk Fest promises to be another unique celebration of this emerging trend in craft beer. The beers served as this event are paired with foods designed to accentuate their unique flavors. VIP tickets are sold out, but general admission were still available at the time of this posting. To get a better feel for the event, check out IndianaBeer guest writer Andrew Korty’s review.

American Beer Classic

Saturday, May 11th Session I 12-4pm (11am VIP admission), Session II 6-10pm (5pm VIP admission)

Soldier Field

1410 S. Museum Campus Drive, Chicago, IL

Tickets: VIP $110 (Session I sold out), General Admission $55 (Session I sold out), Designated Driver $30

The inaugural American Beer Classic is a major regional event that showcases hundreds of diverse brewers for beer lovers on the grass of Chicago’s Soldier Field. The event covers two separate sessions over the course of Saturday, May 11th and includes live music and educational sessions. VIP tickets include complementary tours of the Visitor’s Locker Rooms, the Skyline Suites, and the Colonnades. Attendees will also have the opportunity to vote in the People’s Choice competition to determine the favorite beer of the festival. Note: General Admission tickets increase to $60 after May 6th.

Crown Beer Fest

Saturday, May 18th 2-6pm (1pm VIP admission)

Lake County Fairgrounds

889 S. Court St, Crown Point, IN

Tickets: VIP $59 (sold out), General Admission $35, Designated Driver $5

Formerly known as Illiana Mayfest, this NW Indiana festival is expanding this year to offer over 120 different beers from 30 different breweries. Enjoy the day at the Lake Country Fairgrounds with a brewery list featuring Crown Brewing, Cutters Brewing, Flat 12 Bierwerks, Fountain Square Brewing Co, People's Brewing Co, Bier Brewery, Brickstone, B. Nektar, Destihl, Four Horsemen, Icheya Da Brewing, and more! VIP tickets are sold out, so get your General Admission passes while you still can.

Beoir Go Leoir (Gaelic for lots of beer)

Saturday, May 18th 2-6pm (1pm VIP admission)

JK O’Donnell’s Irish Ale House

Wayne Street between Harrison & Calhoun in downtown Fort Wayne, IN

Tickets: VIP $65, General Admission $40

JK O’Donnell’s Irish Ale House is proud to present their first beer festival! Featured breweries include Sierra Nevada, Flat 12, Sun King, Breckenridge, Left Hand, Lexington Brew Co., New Albanian, Stone, Bell's, Brooklyn, Boulevard, Schlafly, New Holland, New Belgium, Sam Adams, Barley Island, Upland, Dark Horse, People's, Mendocino Brewing Co, Ace Cider, as well as assorted Belgian Beers. Food will be available in JK O’Donnell’s and from local food trucks Bravas & Affine. The VIP package includes one hour early admission, t-shirt, and appetizers. Note: All ticket prices increase $10 on the day of event.

History on Tap

Friday, May 31st 6:30-10:30pm (6pm VIP admission)

Conner Prairie

13400 Allisonville Road, Fishers, IN

Tickets: VIP $35 (sold out), General Admission $25, Designated Driver $10

Set around Conner Prairie, History on Tap features 10 central Indiana breweries, along with New Day Meadery. There is a panel discussion on Brewer Innovation along with a brewing demonstration from Tuxedo Park Brewers. Imagine an adult version of Conner Prairie at night. Great beers, great chances to talk to the brewers, and learn more about craft beer. For a limited time, you can get 20% off with the discount code “HORIZONFRIEND”. VIP tickets are already sold out, but you can still get Early Bird General Admission tickets until May 20th. Tickets increase $10 after that date.

Keg Liquors Fest of Ale

Saturday, June 1st 3-7pm

St. Anthony’s of Padua

320 North Sherwood Ave, Clarksville, IN

Tickets: $25 (Designated Drivers free)

The 8th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale is a charity beer festival to help raise funds for the WHAS Crusade for Children. The event features 40+ Breweries, 3 Beer Distributors, 5 Fine Wine Distributors, over 150 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity silent auction and raffle and more! The 2012 event raised over $9200 for the Crusade for Children, so head out and help them make this year even better.

Jungle Jim's International Beer Fest

Friday, June 14th 7-10pm and Saturday, June 15th 7-10pm

Oscar Event Center at Jungle Jim’s International Market

5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield, OH

Tickets: Friday Session $40, Saturday Session $45, Designated Driver $15

So you’ve probably already gone out of your way to visit Jungle Jim’s just north of Cincinnati to stock up on bottled treasures from the likes of Alesmith, Great Lakes, Green Flash, Lagunitas, Oskar Blues, and Troegs. Why not combine your next Ohio beer run with a festival? Jungle Jim’s Beer Fest will offer 350 beers from 100 different breweries. There will be brew masters available for conversatin’ and some special firkin and rare beer offerings. A complementary picnic style meal is included with the price of every ticket. If you enjoy a good cigar with your beer, Jungle Jim’s cigar expert will be selling a selection of their world class cigars that you can take out on the terrace with your beer sample.

Brew Bracket Pale Ales

Saturday, June 15th 3pm (VIP Brewer Q&A at 2pm)

Indiana State Fairgrounds (Expo Hall)

1202 E 38th St, Indianapolis, IN

Tickets: VIP $45, Participant $35, Designated Driver $5

March Madness style voting, blind taste testing, raffle prizes, good beer, all for a good cause. Brew Bracket brings the Pale Ale style to the next version of their game. Sixteen breweries in a showdown for the best beer, all determined by your votes! Back at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, this event is 4 hours of fun and trying new inventive brews. A VIP session has been added that gets participants in an hour early for a special sampling and Q&A session with Brew Bracket multi-winning brewer Andrew Castner of the RAM along with Barley Island. For a better idea of what to expect, Indiana Beer visited December’s AMBERgeddon Brew Bracket event. A portion of the proceeds benefit People for Urban Progress.

Fishers on Tap

Saturday, June 15th 5-8pm (4pm VIP entry)

Town of Fishers Municipal Grounds – Outdoor Amphitheater

1 Municipal Drive, Fishers, IN

Tickets: VIP $60, General Admission $40, Designated Drive $10

The second annual Fishers on Tap is presented by The Rotary Club of Fishers. The Rotary Club is promising 15-20 local breweries, live music from Dear Abby and the Bad Advice and Soul Street, and cuisine from select food trucks. Tickets are limited to 200 VIP and 800 General Admission. VIP ticket holders receive early entry to the festival and food pairings with local eateries and select breweries. All proceeds from the event will be distributed back to the local community to those in need through local service agencies.

18th Annual Brew-Ha-Ha

Saturday, June 22nd 3-7pm

Phoenix Theater

North Park Ave between Massachusetts and St. Clair in downtown Indianapolis, IN

Tickets: General Admission $30, Designated Driver $10

Indy’s original microbrew festival returns for its 18th year of benefiting the Phoenix Theater. North Park Avenue will be blocked off to traffic between Mass Ave. and East St. Clair St. and the festival will provide a summer outdoor block party. The festival already has 18 confirmed breweries and wineries and should eventually have over 25, making this one of the best festival deals of the summer. Confirmed breweries include Bell’s, Bloomington Brewing, Brugge Brasserie, Flat 12, Fountain Square, New Albanian, The RAM, Rock Bottom, Upland, and many more! Live entertainment is provided, and food from local vendors will be available. Note: General Admission tickets increase to $35 day of event.

Indiana Microbrewers Festival

Saturday, July 20th

Optimist Park and Indianapolis Art Center

E. 67th St and Ferguson (Broad Ripple), Indianapolis, IN

Tickets: TBA

This has not been officially announced, but we have it on pretty good authority the 18th annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival will return to the Optimist Park and Indianapolis Art Center grounds on July 20th. If you’ve never attended, this is Indiana’s largest outdoor festival where you can sample the greatest variety of beer (don’t try them all!). The recent expansion to the Indianapolis Art Center grounds offers the chance to find a little shade and makes it easier to move around then most festivals of this size. Some pictures and a quick recap of last year’s festival are available here. That event featured over 300 beers from 64 breweries, can it be topped this year?

16th Annual Michigan Summer Beer Festival

Friday, July 26th 5-9pm and Saturday, July 27th 1-6pm

Riverside Park

6 West Cross Street, Ypsilanti, MI

Tickets: Friday Admission $30, Saturday Admission $35, Designated Driver $5

It’s a bit of a drive, but what better reason is there to head up to Michigan in July? Put on by the Michigan Brewers Guild, the Summer Beer Festival boasts over 600 different beers from more than 65 Michigan craft breweries. That number is not an exaggeration – Dark Horse Brewing alone offered 51 different beers last year. Try the Friday session if your schedule is flexible, the lines can get a little intense on Saturday. For more details, check out Nathan’s review of last year’s event. Tickets went on sale May 1st and will go quickly, so make your plans now!

GnawBrew - Art, Music and Beer Festival

Saturday, July 27th noon-midnight

eXplore Brown County/Valley Branch Paintball Retreat

2620 Valley Branch Rd, Nashville, IN

Tickets: $15 General Admission

Set in the rustic hills of Brown County, GnawBrew combines breweries with artists and musicians for a fun filled, yet family friendly event. This year’s participating breweries include Big Woods, Hawcreek Brewing, HWY50 Brew House, Powerhouse, and Zwanzigz. Festival gates will open at 11am with music starting at noon. Beer samples will be served all day and well into the evening and complimentary primitive tent camping is being provided after the event by eXplore Brown County to encourage alcohol safety. So bring a tent and stay the night!

Brew Haven

Saturday, August 3rd 2-6pm (1pm VIP entry)

Main Street, Downtown New Haven, IN

Tickets: $60 VIP, $35 General Admission, $5 Designated Driver

Northeast Indiana’s premiere craft beer festival promises to be even bigger and better this year with 3 tents and a 20-tap semi trailer. The price of admission includes samples from 50+ breweries, local and regional homebrewers, bottled water, and a meal! The VIP package also includes one hour early entry, commemorative t-shirt, and a special gift. Designated drivers also get a meal along with unlimited soft drinks. Check out Cindy’s recap of last year’s event. Tickets go on sale May 31st and Trion Tavern will celebrate with a Ticket Release Party featuring special tappings and pricing. Note: VIP and General Admission ticket prices increase $10 day of event.

Festiv-Ale

Saturday, August 24th

Victory Field

501 W Maryland St, Indianapolis, IN

Tickets: $75 VIP, $55 General Admission

Looking to attend Victory Field for an adults-only event? The Festiv-Ale is a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation featuring 30 Indy restaurants, 100 beers, and 100 wines. The VIP reception will include an educational tasting.

Beers Across the Wabash

Saturday, August 24th 12-4pm

John Myers Pedestrian Bridge

Downtown Lafayette

Tickets: TBA

Details were very limited at publishing time, but it appears that August 24th will bring us the 2nd Annual Beers Across the Wabash on the John Myers Pedestrian Bridge overlooking the Wabash River between Lafayette and West Lafayette. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for further details. Until then, you can get an idea of what to expect from Jason’s review of last year’s inaugural event.

That covers everything we can confirm at the time of publishing. There will certainly be a number of other festivals that will emerge throughout the season for your beer drinking pleasure. Thanks for reading and remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates. Stay safe and enjoy the festivals!

Daredevil Doubles Down to meet Demand

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Sat, 04 May 2013 18:09:00 +0000

Daredevil Brewing of Shelbyville, has fueled great success in about four months with their ongoing Lift Off IPA, their Muse Belgian Golden Ale, and more recently their Rip Cord Double IPA. With over 100 locations and 150 taps primarily in greater central Indiana and a few in Southern Indiana, demand is strong enough that they are doubling capacity, to allow fans to get twice the brew. Lift Off will continue to be the flagship beer as an extremely balanced and yet hop-forward IPA. When opening in January they promised Lift Off plus at least one seasonal. Daredevil Muse satisfied the desire of many for a slightly sweet, slightly spicy, Belgian Golden Strong that delivers huge flavor while going down smooth. When they gave the world Rip Cord this satisfied a craving for intense hops in a wallop of a beer that remains balanced with malt underpinning. We recently encountered a successful local chef/owner downing a Rip Cord as his 'shift beer' at the end of an evening in the kitchen. As the Daredevil crew likes to say, "aggressively fun beers."

Yes, new beers are coming! By the end of May expect Rip Cord to circulate off tap slowly being replaced by another hop forward brew! That beer includes German malt and is being brewed as this blog is being posted! And Belgian beer lovers will find another Belgian style beer available by mid-June! In order to guarantee that at least 3 beers will always be available via regional taps Daredevil's new tanks have shipped and not only will the brewery be able to crank out more beer, they have more flexibility in keeping a given style around to satisfy demand.

Daredevil has focus! Daredevil Brewing carefully plans their beer styles like major national brewers, allowing fans to find a particular beer over and over for awhile, fresh and on tap. Rather than divert their attention with bottling or self-distribution Daredevil is focused on brewing consistent styles. We find their increased sales coming from consistent consumption; certain locations have reported that Daredevil beers are among their top-selling pours. Don't look for growlers or a tasting room! Michael, Bill, and Shane want to have beer near you; check for locations throughout greater Central & Southern Indiana http://www.daredevilbeer.com/#locations Look for a steady flow with a nice variety of both hoppy and Belgian style beer to continue from Daredevil.

Meanwhile we see other major brewers expanding distribution. While SunKing of Indianapolis has become one of Indiana's top three breweries by selling almost exclusively within a 100 mile radius of Indy, this Spring they announced distribution agreements with Indiana Beverage Company for Northern Indiana and North Vernon Beverage for Southern Indiana. SunKing also plans to double their already huge production facility by Spring 2014.

Flat12 Bierwerks of Indianapolis expanded distribution all the way to Nashville, TN this Spring as they jump over space to a city that had fewer local brewers than Indy. Flat12 found they have been well received at beer fests in Nashville.

More great beer!

Cheers,

Greg Kitz

Indiana NHC First Round Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Compton) — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:14:00 +0000

The first round winners in the National Homebrew Competition (NHC) are now posted and we can pass along congratulations to some Indiana homebrewers! The NHC is the largest known homebrew competition with entrants participating in one of 11 different regional judging sites. The top three entrants per style category (assuming an assigned scored of 30 points or more for that entry) at each regional advance to compete for medals in the National Finals to be judged at the National Homebrewers Conference in Philadelphia. Simply advancing through a regional can be very challenging as some categories reach 60+ entries. After surviving a difficult registration process this year, the following Hoosiers persevered and are moving on to the finals:

Nathan Compton (Indianapolis)	1st place Porter, 2nd place Amber Hybrid Beer, 2nd place Belgian and French Ale
Chris Higgins (Elkhart)	1st place Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
Andrew Korty (Indianapolis)	1st place Light Lager
Rob Meinzer (Zionsville)	2nd place European Amber Lager
Jairo Nunes (New Palestine)	3rd place Belgian Strong Ale
Tim Palmer (Fishers)	3rd place European Amber Lager, 3rd place German Wheat and Rye Beer
Bill Staashelm (Indianapolis)	2nd place English Brown Ale
Tom Wallbank (Zionsville)	1st place Pilsner

Best of luck to everyone in this year’s finals! Last year, Indiana took home an impressive six medals from the National Finals that included awards for current competitors Rob Meinzer, Bill Staashelm, and Tom Wallbank. Let’s see if we can bring home a few more this year!

Cheers, Nathan

2013 Dark Lord Day

noreply@blogger.com (Wilk) — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:56:00 +0000

My negativity for Three Floyd's was abandoned Saturday, April 27. The combination of the company, the beer, the weather, and the overall atmosphere made this one of the best beer events I have ever attended.

Three Floyd's expanded the festival grounds this year, working with the Town of Munster and their neighbors to essentially double the size of space for attendees. The brewpub was closed, but there were plenty of tables available with food and beer, especially with Dark Lord being poured from the tap for those willing to pay $10 for a 10 ounce cup. Yes, I was one of those people.

Two entrances allowed for traffic to be spread about and the ability of beer buyers to break away from the general admission pack during their allotted time made the flow of patrons work wonderfully. The one drawback was the Dark Lord bottle allotment went from four to three, but price was the same.

The name on the ticket philosophy seemed to have worked, but I will readily admit there was a loophole that was easily exploited. I was the guest of a group A buyer and he was my guest as a group B buyer. I did walk away with six bottles of Dark Lord, but I also sold three for face value for a guest who was unable to attend.

Personally, my friends and I had a great plan and it worked to perfection. We arrived on the scene at 5:00am and was blessed with a relatively close parking spot. We set up our grill and tables and cracked open a Founder's CBS at 5:15 to celebrate the day. At that point, there were already 40-50 people lined up at the north entrance camped out and enjoying their brews.

Our position was right in the pathway for everyone parking at Centennial Park and walking to the festival. Let me tell you, bacon is amazing leverage that early in the morning. We garnered a lot of attention from passersby with our tailgate and we were afforded the opportunity to meet people from across this great country and try beers we would never have the ability to buy.

Aside from the much loved April 27 sunburn, one sorry sap of a soul that maliciously stole our 2013 Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord, and some choice words from the love of my life about dedicating 16 hours of my weekend for beer, Dark Lord Day 2013 has made me look forward to Dark Lord Day 2014.

Indiana Beer News: Upland Opens Carmel Tap/Restaurant; BBC Indiana gives to charity

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:47:00 +0000

April 27, Upland Brewing opens their new Carmel, IN, tap room. This beautiful restaurant has a menu similar to the one in Bloomington, with rustic-modern decor and ten taps (2 more than in Bloomington). Yes, they will fill your Upland growler! The current beer selection includes Wheat, Dragonfly IPA, Double Dragonfly (95, 80ibu), Helios Pale, Bad Elmer's Porter, Rad Red Amber, Komodo Dragon black IPA, Vinyl Tap Rye pale, Champagne Velvet, and Ard Ri Imperial Red (9A%, 77ibu).

Menu items include locally sourced pretzels, 3 unique pizzas, burgers inluding the Fischers Farm Buffalo Burger (get it with Bad Elmer's sauce, bacon and cheese!), Smoking Goose Bratwurst and the killer "Mac and Cheese" plus other interesting sandwiches and entrees.

The back bar is constructed from beautiful aged barnwood via a barn from California. The remainder of the restaurant had a modern vibe with cool lighting. Total seating is about 170 with 50% inside and 50% on the outside patio.

This afternoon expect a string band and expect a bicycle parade from the Upland College Ave. location to come up the Monon trail and arrive around 3:00ish! Expect a wait!

Expect a relaxed cool vibe with solid food and beer (wine, too). Watch the cool growler fill device work. And expect a relaxed staff. As General Manager Jose Travez says, "we are the land of the misfit toys." If you loved it in Bloomington, you'll love it in Carmel.

from the road................................. the bar......................................... some of the Upland Brew Crew

Bloomington Brewing announced the availabilty of Vision Weiss. Vision Weiss is a spring and summer seasonal ale available April to October. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of every pint are donated to the Cardinal Stage Company in Bloomington. “Each year we use proceeds from our sales of Vision Weiss to support a worthwhile local campaign, but particularly one like this that supports a vision for an even better community and invests in a way that will pay dividends for the next generation.” explained company co-founder Jeff Mease.

Miscellaneous:
We've recently enjoyed both the Bourbon Barrel Aged Wee Mac and the 777 Triple from SunKing! Strong beers for our strong palate.

Flat12 will introduce special beers for Cinco de Mayo: Bleeding Heart(burn) IPA, & Taco Beer

and be on the lookout for Founder's KBS or Kentucky Breakfast Stout; we got our taste this past week and it was as wonderful as our annual anticipation. Based on our visit to Twenty Tap in Broad Ripple this week it appears they may be tapping this delight on May 3, at 5:30

And our visit to Union Brewing revealed a tasty "From Lynchburg with Love" English Mild that spent two weeks in the Jack barrel and served up just right on the hand pull!

Cheers!
GregKitz

In Anticipation of Dark Lord Day

noreply@blogger.com (Wilk) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:49:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the big day. The weather forecast currently is looking infinitely better than the rain and cold that plagued last year's event. Three Floyd's has published some more up to date information on darklordday.com.

This is all good and well, but the information provided really does not lend any further insight to those who may be new to the event and even seasoned veterans. I even asked a lawyer to review the post and decipher the meaning behind the words but he also was dumbfounded.

Do not cross railroad tracks except at a designated crossing. This is always sound advice and FFF throws it out there from the start. I believe this is the result of patrons parking in the residential area behind the brewery and just climbing up and over the embankment. A nice warning, but one that may go unnoticed.

The festival grounds are not well defined. FFF tells patrons the way to line up and enter, but not conveying where the gates will be other than with directional language (for example, line up at the north, the line for sales is on the west, etc.). If you are unfamiliar with the area it would be worthwhile to use your favorite GPS mapping program and review your compass use.

Parking is also up in the air. Centennial Park across Calumet Avenue made $3,700 last year with patrons parking their cars and hiking over. Always a viable option. My understanding from the help of beeradvocate.com discussion threads is that FFF will have Indiana Ave completely closed off. Not sure if that's true, but until I have my scout finish his drive-by I will keep this as purely speculative.

Finally, congratulations to Mike Cate who scored himself the 15 year anniversary Three Floyd's Baller Stout with this submitted story:

Craziest thing I ever did for a beer? Not sure if I would define it as crazy but it was definitely unlikely...

I'm a big St.Louis Cardinals fan and love going to Milwaukee a few times a year to catch Cards/Brewers games. The fans up there are a blast to be around. Truly professional drinkers. And what makes it even better is that they're drinking delicious New Glarus, Lakefront and Central Waters beers. Can't beat that! Anyways. I went to Brewers Opening Day last year against the Cards and befriended several people in my row. Shot the shit about beer, homebrewing and baseball. I was living the life.

Turns out this old man who can barely get around is a huuuuge beer fan. As in he goes to all the big beer festivals across the county (Hunaphu Day in Tampa, KBS release, GABF, etc..). We got to talking about Dark Lord and he said that's the one he's never had (tickets selling out so quickly and all). I told him I go virtually every year and could help him out next time I'm up. He liked the sound of that.

To make a long story short, his son called me a few months back out of the blue and said his dad wanted me to go ice fishing with the 2 of them. I guess his dad wasn't doing real good and held trying a Dark Lord pretty high on his bucket list. So after a few days of trying to explain to my wife the unlikely scenario of driving up to Wisconsin to go ice fishing with an old man and his son whom I met 9 months before (and only hung out with for the duration of a 6-0 Brewers victory), I went up and had a blast. I went ahead and brought all the vintages of Dark Lord I had, shared some beers, caught some fish and had a good time.

I didn't leave empty-handed either. The old man gave me several vintages of Surly Darkness which I've always wanted to try (but the trading pricetag is always too unreasonable) as well as a Goose Island King Henry.

TAP at TAF: Craft Beer Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Cook) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Anyone here appreciate art? How about contributing to a good cause? And for the kicker, does anyone reading this occasionally, frequently, or constantly (ok, that may be a stretch) enjoy a tasty craft beer from time to time? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions then I see no reason for anyone to miss out on this year’s Tippecanoe Arts Federation event, TAP at TAF: Craft Brew Fest, on Saturday, May 4^th from 2-6pm in downtown Lafayette.

TAP at TAF is a fundraising event that highlights some of Indiana’s finest craft breweries. Executive Director of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, Tetia Lee, explained to me the need for craft breweries to be recognized as artisanal in nature and the TAP event is an ideal way to celebrate and thank our local brewmasters.

As of this posting, attending breweries include Lafayette’s own, People’s and Lafayette Brewing, along with Big Dawg, Half Moon, Triton, Flat12, Sun King, Cutter’s, and Power House Brewing.

Additionally, local Bar Barry Liquors locations will be stocking their shelves with many of the selections that you’ll be sampling as a means of perpetuating this celebration of cerveza, this salute to suds, this festival of foam, this ballyhoo for brewski, this…ok, you get the picture.

So dig up the measly $25 ($35 if you want the VIP treatment) and help support the Tippecanoe Arts Federation in recognizing the fine work and continued success of our local craft brewers.

Cheers!

Jason C.

Hey! Why haven’t you purchased your ticket online yet? What’s stopping you? Ah I see, you’re feeling a slight tinge of guilt about spending a few hours sampling some of Indiana’s fine craft beers. Well it just so happens that I have a solution that may help to alleviate those troublesome thoughts. Come join yours truly in helping to beautify Lafayette by volunteering with TreeLafayette from 9am to Noon prior to attending the TAP at TAF tasting. There’s nothing quite like giving back to the community by planting some trees followed by attending a fundraiser chock full of delicious Indiana craft beer. Hope to see you at both events!

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival 2013 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Compton) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:34:00 +0000

Earlier, Bigger, Better! Well, the last one is really for you to decide, but it’s safe to say the number of people with an educated opinion skyrocketed this year. The 3rd Annual Bloomington Craft Beer Festival moved to April this year and introduced a full slate of lead-up events during the first Bloomington Craft Beer Week. IndianaBeer was well represented at the event and we now present a collection of the thoughts and beer picks from each reporter:

From Greg………….

When I reflect on The Bloomington Craft Brew Festival I think of the term “community” of craft brewing. A community of brewers, brewery crews, and craft brew lovers all came together on the sunny Spring day Saturday, for a celebration of brew. From the wonderful historic venue of the Woolery Mill with historic rafters and, when empty echoing of craftsmanship, this fest brought out craft food, special music, craft beer and even some unique attire.

This year there were more attendees than last year, more breweries, plenty of porta-potties, and an enhanced fest layout (in my opinion). While a light breeze wafted through the structure and sunlight filtered through, the attendees seemed well behaved and happy. On the positive while VIPs got early access and free frisbees (of recycled material) everybody had access to most of the same beers, which is a criticism of some out-of-state beer festivals. Sure a few beers might have tapped out before some of the regular admission folks entered but the BCBF is set up to allow access to good beer for all, not exclusive VIP access to the most rare beers. There were plenty of firkin beers all day, and some of the brewers did not pour some special beers until later during the festival. After all, while VIPs tend to be craft beer lovers who look for the rare pour, this festival (fortunately) did not seem to attract a crowd that just wants as much free beer as possible.

Congratulations to Brewers of Indiana Guild, to Ted and to Lee, for the great layout that kept the crowds moving with the largest brewers anchoring the corners. Congrats to Nathan for the sustainability effort. Thanks to the crowd and to the brew crews who were there to enjoy.

The community of craft was thriving and we saw great discussions of beer, of brewing, of yeast, of hops, of beer trades, and we heard of brewers who have taken time to help other brewers with their systems. This is not some ‘trade show’ where everyone thinks their product is better than another. This is the craft community where we see brew crews sharing and commenting… often offering encouragement. We are all proud of our craft beer and we are all proud to sip, talk and reflect.

So…. about the beer….

I have personal comments plus I reached out to a few folks I know, from a Master-level beer judge to I.U. students who are very into craft beer.

Evil Czech Brewing, Culver, IN – I made this a destination stop when saw Stalin’s Darkside, barrel aged imperial stout at 10.5% and 69 IBU. It did not disappoint. Full flavored and complex. They were proud of their Lucky Dog APA, more of a session pale at 5.2% and very drinkable.

Bloomington Brewing Company, Bloomington, IN – 6%, 12 IBU Wine Barrel Aged Ruby Bloom amber. Who would have guessed that one of my home-town favorites would taste so delicious with the richness of wood and wine? Sandy Cockerham, Master BJCP beer judge passed along, “I absolutely loved the wine barrel aged Ruby Bloom Amber ale! Simply awesome.”

SunKing, Barrel Aged Maibock, 8.3%, 24 IBU, and you just know I had to get to the SunKing booth at 6:30 for a sample of this. I like Maibock and I pleasantly discovered that the barrel aging added depth and complexity without too much sweetness. Less hop notes but balance.

Flat12, Indianapolis, IN – Pinko, and though I’d had a sample this week, I wanted another of this Pappy barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout, 10.3%, 86 IBU. The complexity of this beer is the deep, complex flavor laboring in the hops for balance

Enough with the barrel….. how about intriguing? Different?

Broad Ripple Brewing, (Do I need to say, in Broad Ripple?) – Strange Broux Brew takes coffee brewed by Strange Brew Greenwood, that is brewed exclusively for Papa Roux restaurant (you know, the place that gave the kid who was walking miles to get a restaurant job, a job there; but I digress), and brewed this coffee called Louisiana Swamp water, into an Oatmeal stout with 5.5%, 27 IBU. Love the story, love the brew, or broux, or…. Whatever, just enjoy!

Broad Ripple gets another nod for Bubble Gum lager – So this is considered a flaw when you don’t intend it, but they just must have said, “let’s do this.” And who can argue with the Pope of the Indy beer scene, owner John Hill. Very interesting, John, and I wanted to blow a bubble.

Brugge Brasserie, Broad Ripple – Getting Figgy with It, Imperial Belgian Porter brewed with Black Mission figs, Caradamom, and mace – that’s dried fibrous exterior of nutmeg (oh, you knew that). 12% Whoa! Complex, love the deep fruit. One of the female I.U. students I queried listed this as a favorite and noted the deep taste of fig coming through.

Brugge Brasserie, Broad Ripple – Ted Miller, owner/brewer had this beer available earlier in the week and I had to have another sample! Released after 1 year in a barrel (here I go again) sour… nice light ‘off the hook’ funk, in a golden color beer that comes in at about 5%.

Zwanzigz, Columbus, IN – Ghost Pepper Imperial Stout, a beer I had with excellent brewer Mike initially, had again at Winterfest, and not only made a point of getting a sample, I took a bar-owner friend over to have it. Not a burn your mouth off, but a nice wonderful, flavorful “I love the flavor” stout.

Upland, Bloomington/Indy – Gilgamesh. Flanders Red, addition of flaked maize, fruity Belgian yeast, some wild micros, slight bourbon barrel aging produces this 10.5% beverage. Thanks to Upland (Jackson, Andrew) for sharing. Actually the very first beer I tasted for this fest! When I complemented Upland Head Brewer Caleb Staton on the excellent production of sours he was nonchalant and humble.

Caleb poured me Upland’s Teddy Bear Kisses, Oatmeal Stout with chocolate, pale, and roasted malts adding organic dark chocolate coming in at 11.5% and 80 IBUs for complexity.

Upland had the new 15th anniversary Champagne Velvet at this event and while we've already written about it I agree with Master judge Sandy who, "...found it pleasantly grainy and crisp." A clean pre-prohibition celebration of historic Indiana beer.

And for the newer and further away….

Bare Hands Brewing, Granger, IN --- located in an off-the–beaten path industrial park (wait, that works for a Northern Indiana brewer with a 3 in their name) and deciding to come at the last minute, this brewery got acclaim at Winterfest and was the one brewery singled out by one I.U. student who has become immersed in craft beer. To quote him, “Their Pineapple Pale, Imperial Coffee Stout, and Rice IPA, accomplished the two things I get most excited about when tasting a beer I've never tried. All three were surprisingly original/unique tastes to me, but more importantly, all three were damn good.” I stopped by for the ThaiPA as one of the more unusual beers I’d tried before and had to have again. I then agreed the Rice IPA was a close second in the unusual and hoppy category.

Haw Creek, Hope, IN – 4 Founders Wheat satisfy the craving for discovering one of our newer Indiana brewers. This is a solid wheat beer for a place that opened in the Fall. Nice people; we’ll have to visit!

Daredevil Brewery, Shelbyville,IN -- Rip Cord IPA, this delivers a massive amount of American hops with a very solid malt underpinning. This builds very nicely on the Daredevil family reputation!

Big Dawg Brew Haus, Richmond, IN – Thistle Sitter Smoked Scotch Ale. I love the style, I love the smoke.

Big Dawg… Shroyer’s English Bitter is an award winning British style session beer that I could drink a lot of.

Iechyd Da (say Yacky Dah) Brewing, Ekhart, IN – Kiss Me I’m Stout, wheat stout. I love the brewery name (cheers or “good health” in Welsh), I love the fact that this is a female-owned brew pub, I love the beer name, I love the fact that this is organic ingredients. Then I love the nice spice of the wheat grains underlying a serious stout! 6%

Figure Eight, Valparaiso -- Pimp Slap Imperial Pilsner, at 9%, 63 IBU, interesting malt character, our brewer buddy Mike Lahti was about to explain it to me when he got a call so I’ll just say interesting and worthy.

And finally…

It seems everyone should have had to walk past Flat12’s booth (Flat12 Brewing, Indy) for the science of brewing lesson which allowed comparison of two beers with different yeast strains and four beers with different hops to aid sensory perception! In the white lab coats and serving these experimental beers they really stood out.

We appreciate all who came out, all who gave me their opinions, and all who made this year BCBF a big success, who added to the great community that is craft beer.

Greg Kitz

From Jake………….

While I didn’t get to try all the beers I wanted to, I did get to try quite a few great beers. After trying ZwanzigZ Brewing’s Ghost Pepper Imperial Stout at Winterfest, I knew I needed to get another sample. This great beer comes in at 8.8% abv with a moderately strong spicy character that blends with the full flavor of the stout to make it a must try at beerfests. I was told they have yet to put this on at the brewpub so there aren’t a lot of places to try this one.

Another Imperial Stout makes my top list with Evil Czech Brewing’s Stalin’s Darkside. This 10.5% beast is aged in bourbon barrels. Flavorful doesn’t quite describe this sweet alcoholic, but not overly hot, velvety beer. If you are in the Culver, IN area, a little west of 31 between Kokomo and South Bend, this 7BBL brewhouse is a must try.

From the firkin table I was able to try many tasty samples. New Albanian Brewing’s Eastern Front caught my eye. My first question was what the he!! is a Russian Imperial Pilsner, but with it being New Albanian it was of course a fantastic brew blending the two theories behind the styles. Next up at the firkin tent were two Flat 12 Hello My Name Is French Oak & American Oak. These two amber beers aged with the different oaks really help highlight the differences that each one can offer.

Continuing on with Flat 12 at their table, I tried all four experimental hop beers. I’ve heard some of the Great Fermentations employees raving about these hops, and they are quite good. I got a citrus orange/grapefruit from one that I particularly remember enjoying. Next up at were the experimental yeast beers, one had a very nice belgian banana ester character while the other was certainly more of an American style yeast. I also finished off the day with 12 Penny a Scottish 60 style beer which is really quite good, for a session beer. I have some thoughts on session beers, but there is no time for that now so stay tuned in the future for a discourse on this new trend.

Lastly I was able to try Daredevil Brewing’s Rip Cord double IPA, which has lived up to their high expectations and is a classic example of a double IPA. I didn’t make it to very many out of state breweries, but I made it a point to try DESTIHL Brewery’s Antiquity Rye Wine. This rye wine was almost as spicy as the ghost pepper imperial stout, albeit in a different way.

I saw the idea of an Indiana beerfest being exclusive to Indiana breweries being discussed on twitter. I really like this idea and I think it is quite obvious that the Indiana breweries could support this. We will see how this idea develops, but adding another beerfest to the Brewers of Indiana Guild’s calendar sounds like a great idea to me.

From Jason C………….

My list of craft beer events attended isn’t terribly impressive. My general tendency is to just attend the same ones from year to year and not stray very far from my native habitat. Being a first time attendee of the Bloomington Craft Beer Fest, I’ll state for the record that my range for attending beer events has now expanded.

Fantastic selection of breweries and eateries, scenic & unique setting, and good organization are a few of the key factors that made this event a must attend for me in future years. While the number of attendees caused a bit of gridlock at times, it really didn’t seem to stifle one’s ability to get your next beer in a timely manner. Only drawback (at least in the opinion of this blogger) was the insufficient number of restroom facilities that nearly caused yours truly to break out into my best James Brown dance moves at one point. Hey, nothings perfect, but overall I’d highly recommend attending this event in 2014.

And now for the beer. Of the different breweries that I managed to make it to, the ones that either newly or continued to impress me are: Bare Hands, Big Dawg, Crown, Figure Eight, Flat 12, Iechyd Da, New Albanian, and People’s. As for individual beers, I list the following:

· Iechyd Da - Gumption Double Amber (calling this one my favorite of the day)

· Flat 12/People’s - Hoosier Brown Rye (close 2nd)

· Bare Hands - Double Thai PA & 574 Pineapple Pale

· Crown Brewing - Baklava Java Porter

· Against the Grain - Citra Ass Down American IPA

· New Albanian - Black & Bluegrass Spiced Belgian

· Big Woods - Imperial Red (unsure about a name for this one, it was getting late)

So there you have it, general observations, opinions, and preferences from my first Bloomington Craft Beer Fest. Had a great time, drank some great beer and managed not to wet myself so I’d say it was a successful day. Cheers Bloomington!

Jason C.

From Kathleen………….

The question on my mind yesterday was - why go to a beer festival? What is it really all about? Between the 35 in state breweries and the 15 out of state, the majority of the beer offered there is offered any time in their tap rooms, in local bars, or in local liquor store bottles.

Some breweries do take festivals to the next level and make special beers, or save up highlights from the brewing seasons to bring out and share with those hardcore fans who pay the $50/$40 ticket to come out and spend 3/4 hours talking, drinking and having a good time.

That is what craft beer festivals are for me, is trying those special beers, finding a new brewery who just opened and trying their product, talking with the brewers and or generally just having a good time.

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival on its third running was all that for me and more.

I actually went to the first Bloomington Craft Beer Festival. It was right before I joined IndianaBeer.com. The turn out I believe then was only 1,000 people. Held outside of the Woolery Mill. It was never crowded, real easy to talk and hang out and the tables. I even ended up taking Ted Miller back to Brugge due to a ride fall out. I believe it was where I fell in love with Brugge's Harvey, a blackberry infused sour ale.

This year I brought a friend I'm trying to help grow into trying new beers. It was fun to see him try new beers and what his thoughts were on some of my favorites.

In the past I usually do a big run down of beers that I tried and the ones I really liked. This time I'm only going to mention a few of my beer tasting highlights but show much of the story that was the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival with pictures. Hopefully it shows you readers what a good time can be had.

Onto my highlights -

Traveler's Beer Co - Tenacious Traveler Shandy - An unusual brew, but nice and light. I particularly liked the ginger flavor. It reminded me of Scratch Truck's Ginger Lemonade.

Bier Brewery - Trippelle - Yes, this is a fairly regular offering by Bier, and I may be biased, but it is damn good.

Cutter's Brewing Co - General Brown's Sour - I was excited because I had recently tried New Belgium's La Folie, and it was my first sour brown ale ever. This one was very nice and light. I think it could've been a little more sour.

Brugge Brasserie - Gettin' Figgy With It - I love the play of flavors here. It isn't strong, I feel it is well blended and warming.

Three Pints BrewPub - Cherry / Blackberry Wheat - I'll come out and say it, if I'm going to Plainfield for beer, I'm going to Black Swan, I've just never been impressed with Three Pints, until.. this beer got me. I like the little bit of cherry and blackberry sweetness with the wheat. I like that it was freshly infused with a Randall the Enamel Animal :) I may have to pop in and try more at Three Pints.

Zwangzigs - Ghost Pepper Infused Imperial Stout. I don't need to gush about this beer. I did it at Winterfest I'm just going to say.. I'd buy many many many bottles of this and save it, if they actually bottled it.

Besides the beer, I thought the location was great but may need to expand next year. Having in April was a great idea. To give the readers another point of view, I asked my writer friend, John Kennedy, for his insight. Bloomington Craft Beer Festival was his second beerfest:

"I enjoyed myself and got to try lots of great beers, including the Ghost Pepper infused Imperial Stout from Zwanzigz. There were plenty of people offering Scottish Ales, which is my favorite style. I loved the Floyd's Folly Scottish Ale from Cutter's Brewing Co. I also enjoyed Dog Day from 450 North Brewing Co, which was a good, heavy beer. The band was a little loud, which took away from being able to talk to the brewers and others about the wonderful beer."

Thanks again to B.I.G., the Breweries and Brewers, Nathan for his environmental task force!, and all the volunteers.

Big thanks to those who let me take their pictures!

- Cheers!

Kathleen

From Nathan………….

As the staff member in charge of our recycling and composting programs, I’m the freak who spent more time digging through the trash than tasting beer on this April afternoon. Oddly enough, I did turn into a raccoon the next day==>

Anywho, I can tell you that after about 1300 people attended the event in 2012, the festival committee was dreaming big and wondering if we could possibly draw 2000 this year. When word started circulating that we were approaching sellout status, there was a great deal of excitement and quite possibly a bit of panic. After the dust settled our early estimate puts this year’s crowd in the range of 2600-2800 (no estimate on the number of fake moustaches, but let’s just set it at “too many”). Anytime you double the size of an event and people generally seem to leave happy, I have to call it a good day.

The holding area that allowed attendees to work through the ticket process prior to opening time was brilliant and ensured that nobody had to lose valuable festival time trying to get through the line. The restroom situation left something to be desired, but this is already on the planning committee’s radar which is a good sign for future improvement. Kudos to the crowd who were very patient, courteous, and in the right mindset to have good time from my observation.

Note for attendees: Any (preferably constructive) feedback you have on what you liked and what we need to improve would be welcome in the comments below. I can relay your thoughts to the planning committee when we hold our wrap-up meeting.

Since I tried a limited number of beers and did not have the chance to take notes, this section will be brief. The single beer that stands out in my mind was the Flat 12/People’s collaborative Hoosier Brown Rye. Three Floyds Toxic Revolution Stout and Iechyd Da Gumption Imperial Red would also be in the mix.

I do want to offer another word of thanks to the Brewers of Indiana Guild and the festival committee for their support of this year’s environmental initiatives. Special thanks to Salt Creek Cycles for sponsoring the valet bicycle parking and Jeff Mease/Bloomington Brewing Company for accepting our compost at Loesch Farm!

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival, a success

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:29:00 +0000

The BCBF ended up a sell-out event on a beautiful Spring day with a nicely laid out brewer and exhibit area. Thirty-six Indiana brewers shared along with another fifteen out-of-state brewers. The floor plan this year seemed to help traffic flow and reduce lines. Some of the larger breweries were spread out away from each other much like anchor stores in a shopping mall are distanced to draw crowds back and forth. The fact that I.U. students are in town undoubtedly helped increase the crowds but plenty of other beer fans were evident in attendance. The crowd seemed orderly and though short lines formed there was never an impression that it was difficult to get to a particular beer.

The weather was really wonderful with high of 55 degrees and this venue allows breezes to flow and sunlight to filter through. More attendees and more breweries than last year added to much success. The beers started flowing for those with VIP passes at 3:00 and ended at 7PM.

We'll give an applause here to indianabeer.com's Nathan Compton who organized the recycling and sustainability options with recycle bins available and food waste going to compost rather than garbage. Of course it takes cooperation of the attendees and while some people may not have had the hang of proper disposal it was great that many pitched in and we trust this effort will spread to many events.

We also noted ample restrooms (well, porta potties) so the lines weren't too long. There were several food vendors. And in addition to breweries World Class Beer, wholesaler, brought some very nice high-end bombers.

Congratulations to all of the brewers who brought their brews and for the fine variety of beer this year. Thanks to the Brewers of Indiana Guild and Terry Durkin local coordinator for a super Bloomington Craft Beer week that brought many craft beers around town all week.

Our crew is busy assembling their story into one gigantic piece that will go up soon. So 'stay tuned.' And Kathleen was our designated photographer and has lots of pictures to go up. Meanwhile, check out some pics on our Facebook page here

We'll see you back here soon for a full review!

What to drink at the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:41:00 +0000

Brewers promise many one-of-a-kind beers for the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival. This week in Bloomington provided an opportunity to preview beers from many breweries and get a hint at what is coming to the Craft Beer Festival (Saturday, 3:00PM VIP, 4:00PM General Adm.) Many bars across Bloomington have featured primarily craft beer.

How to know what beers are being served? check out the web site, download the handy APP for iPhone or Android at beerfest.io

Interesting beers tried this week:

Flat12 Big Black Dog (Barrel aged) Stout (7% abv). a rich complex stout that delivers layers of light vanilla, slight sweetness, some chocolate, and toast; a brew I had more than once this week. Brewer Rob Caputo of Flat12 told me they will bring all specialty beers! Flat12 will share 4 experimentally hopped beers, 2 yeast experimentation beers, 3 barrel aged beers at least!

Bloomington Brewing Ole Floyd's Vanilla Belgian Strong Ale (8.9% abv) medium body strong ale with lots of vanilla, some caramel, sweetness with subtle warmth

Cutters Vanilla Bean Empire Stout (firkin) (10%) big bodied smooth stout with vanilla nose and some vanilla flavor plus a deep, almost bitter finish.

Brugge Peony American Sour (5%) smooth, not puckering simple complexity and nicely sour golden in color

Bier Brewery Sessie (4.8%) light golden, light spice notes with Belgian character in a session beer

Daredevil Brewing Rip Cord Double IPA (9% abv) golden colored with abundance of American floral hops, notes of citrus, while remaining balanced with malt support

Upland Champagne Velvet 15th Anniversary beer. smooth light golden beer with a hint of corn sweetness as a nod to pre-prohibition and once Indiana's major brand + Double Dragon Fly (oh, and we are betting on some SOURS )

And looking out for:
Crown Baklava Java porter,

Evil Czech Stalin's Dark Side barrel aged stout

New Albanian Colab. Naughty Girl Belgian blonde at 69 ibu

People's Hoosier Brown rye their brown is so solid, this version must be good

This is just a hint

Our Nathan Compton provides a full PREVIEW of the CRAFT BEER FEST here including brewery list

Here is a pic of the brewers Ted Miller (Brugge), Rob Caputo (Flat12), Clay Robinson (SunKing), and Justin Miller (Black Acre) thinking about a question asked by panel moderator and brewer Jeff Mease (Bloomington BC)

Saturday, 4/13, 4-7 Bloomington Beer Festival Our Man Nathan is with Brewers of Indiana Guild and will have an inside story

After Party: The Tap; SunKing and Flat12 pins

another after party at Nick's English Hut focus on Upland beers

Atlas Bar, Cutters tap take-over with Pale, Half-court IPA, Floyd's Folly Scottish

Remember, if visiting Bloomington pay a visit to local Bloomington Brewing Company @Lennie's and to local Upland Brewing Company Brew pubs!

See you there!

Greg Kitz

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Compton) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:25:00 +0000

This Saturday marks the 3rd Annual Bloomington Craft Beer Fest held at the Woolery Mill (2200 West Tapp Road) in Bloomington from 4-7pm. This will actually be my first experience at the festival, but I served on the planning committee this year (more on that later) and we have a great festival coming your way! Advanced ticket sales are on a record pace this year, but there is still time to get your $50 VIP, $35 General Admission, or $10 Designated Driver ticket here. Keep in mind that online ticket sales will end about 24 hours before the event. Advance tickets are also available at Bloomington Brewing Company, Big Woods Brewing, Upland Brewing, Bloomington Kilroy’s locations, Bloomingfoods, The Tap, Dunnkirk, and Big Red Liquors (downtown location only). Subject to availability, there will be ticket sales of $45 General Admission tickets and $10 Designated Driver tickets (no VIP) at the gate. VIP tickets get you early entry at 3pm and a special gift.

The first thing everyone wants to know is which breweries will be participating. We are expecting an increase from 39 breweries in 2012 to over 50 this year! A few more additions are likely, but confirmed breweries at the time of this posting include:

450 North

ACE Premium Ciders

Against the Grain

Barley Island

Bier Brewery

Big Woods

Bloomington Brewing

Bluegrass Brewing

Boston Beer (maker of Sam Adams)

Broad Ripple Brewing

Brugge Brasserie

Country Boy

Crown Brewing

Cutters

Daredevil

Falls City

Figure 8

Finch’s Brewing

Flat 12

Fountain Square

Four Horsemen

Great Crescent

Half Moon

Hawcreek Brewing

Iechyd Da

Lafayette Brewing

Left Hand

Mad Anthony

Mendocino

New Albanian

New Belgium

North Coast

Oliver Winery (serving meads)

People’s Brewing

Power House Brewing

Rivertown

Rock Bottom (Downtown Indianapolis)

Schlafly

Sixpoint

Sun King

Thr3e Wise Men

Three Floyds

Three Pints

Tin Man

Traveler Beer Company

Turoni’s Main Street

Two Brothers

Upland Brewing

ZwanzigZ

In addition to the breweries attending, additional offerings will be poured by Indiana distributor World Class Beer. There will also be a table for special Firkin offerings from an assortment of breweries. Indiana homebrew clubs will again be on hand to pour some of the finest amateur offerings from the Hoosier State. Want to expand your horizons? Check out Oliver Winery for samples of their meads!

Beyond the beer, attendees will be treated to live music from Bloomington’s 220 Breakers and Asheville, NC’s Secret B-Sides courtesy of Bloomington’s own Lowdown Sounds. In addition, you can expect some unique games and activities not seen at past festivals. These are still being finalized as I write this, so mum’s the word on details for now. Food will be available from multiple vendors, and your favorite Designated Driver will have access to a special area with free sodas and other perks. For those who have not been out to Woolery Mill, this event is open air but contained under a roofed structure that offers some protection from inclement weather. So fear not, dress warm, and come enjoy the day with us.

Now that the entertainment is out of the way, I’d like to highlight a few additional aspects of this year’s festival. My role on the planning committee was focused on incorporating aspects of sustainability in planning and operations. Some of you have likely visited events like the Great American Beer Festival or Michigan Brewers Guild festivals and noticed a strong commitment to environmental concerns. I’m very pleased to have witnessed and participated in these ideals being embraced by the Brewers of Indiana Guild. Thanks to support from the planning committee, Lee Smith of the Brewers Guild, and some key sponsors; the following initiatives will be a part of this year’s festival:

You can bike to the festival and park like a VIP! A free, secure bicycle parking area will be offered right in front of the festival entrance. Your bicycle will be safely stored and monitored by staff while you enjoy the festival and have safe transportation home. Big thanks to Salt Creek Cycles of Bloomington for sponsoring the bicycle parking.

We will be collecting and recycling all plastic, aluminum, glass, paper, and cardboard materials from the event. Attendees can help by looking for the conveniently located “recycling center” banners and disposing of these materials in the proper bin.

To minimize food service waste, our food vendors will be utilizing compostable materials. You can dispose of your plates, silverware, etc. along with your food scraps in specially marked “Compost” bins. Compostable materials will be delivered and composted at the historic Loesch Farm west of Bloomington. Loesch Farm is part of the One World Enterprises group that includes Bloomington Brewing Company. Big thanks to Jeff Mease of One World/Bloomington Brewing for his support of this initiative!

In addition to one hour early entrance, VIP ticket holders will receive a mini frisbee gift that is made in America from recycled tires.

It’s important to note that attendees play a critical role in making initiatives like these successful. You can help by placing recyclable and compostable materials in their proper bins. If you’re unsure of where to place something, please ask one of the friendly volunteers on staff. Most of all, just come out and share in another wonderful Indiana craft beer festival!

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News: Craft Beer Week in Bloomington

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 15:28:00 +0000

From "meet the brewers" to many special tappings at locations all over Bloomington (IN), THIS is the start of Craft Beer Week in Indiana. The culmination is The Beer Festival on Saturday, April 13, 4:00 admission, 3:00 VIP entry details here.

Highlights of the Week's Events:

Lennie's, home of BBC, has beer inspired menu items all week starting 4/7.
Scotty's offers $8 growler fills of Thr3e Wise Men Indiana beer all week (except Sunday)
Grazie Restaurant Cutters taps of pale, IPA, Scottish

Tuesday, April 9,
Yogi's Bloomington fills all 55 TAPS with ONLY Indiana Craft Beer all week. Tuesday Beer School, features FLAT12 Van Pogue (Vanilla Porter), Nunmoere Black and Half Cycle IPA.

The Tap Beer Bar Bloomington, hosts a PRO-BREWER PANEL featuring Indiana brewers Clay Robinson from SunKing, Ted Miller from Brugge, Rob Caputo from Flat12,+ Justin Miller from Black Acre and moderated by Jeff Mease of Bloomington Brewing Co. 6:30 with special beers from each.

Wednesday, April 10,
Bloomington Brewing Company features a Beer Pairing dinner with CIA trained Chef David Tallent, at Restaurant Tallent call for details 812-330-9801

Girls' Pint Out meets at The Tap Bloomington + fund-raiser in the Back Room for Habitat for Humanity.

Tap take-overs at famous Nick's English Hut;$3 local pints 7p-10p daily in the Hoosier room Cutters 4/10, BBC 4/11, Flat 12 & People's including their COLLABORATION beer (Hoosier Brown Rye) 4/12, Upland 4/13.

Max's Place, Triton Taps

Malibu Grill, $1 off featured Upland and BBC beers

Thursday, 4/11,
the Bishop bar, Lecture by anthropologist and former Upland brewer Ed Hermann, 6:00

The Tap features Upland's 15th Anniversary Label, historic Champagne Velvet + other local beer

The Owlery Bar, Fountain Square tap take-over

Nick's English Hut, meet brewers Floyd and Nick 7-10 with 6 beers bringing 2013 Vision Weiss 1st keg

Friday, 4/12,
tap take-overs continue at most local beer bars,

Lift-Off & Muse from Daredevil and meet the Daredevil brewers at The Farm Restaurant, Root Cellar bar 6-9

New Albanian & Bloomington Brewing tap-takeover at The Tap Beer Bar includes NA Elector, Black&Bluegrass, Naughty Girl Belg. Blonde, RyeBarrel IPA, BBC RyePA, Biere-de-Mars, Vanilla Floyd, Aristotle dry-hopped IPA

Yogi's taps firkin of Cutters Floyds Folly & of Empire Stout

Alley Bar, Falls City releases Wheat + taps or Pale, Black IPA + Upland ArdRi draught

Max's Place, Flat12 Tap-take-over

Upland releases Rye IPA with Vinyl Party

Saturday, 4/13, 4-7 Bloomington Beer Festival Our Man Nathan is with Brewers of Indiana Guild and will have an inside story

After Party: The Tap; SunKing and Flat12 pins

another after party at Nick's English Hut focus on Upland beers

Atlas Bar, Cutters tap take-over with Pale, Half-court IPA, Floyd's Folly Scottish

local beer flowing at all B'ton Craft Beer Bars

Remember, if visiting Bloomington pay a visit to local Bloomington Brewing Company @Lennie's and to local Upland Brewing Company Brew pubs!

Here are some shots from yesterday's (April 6) arrival of Upland's 15th Anniversary beer, Champagne Velvet, recreation of pre-prohibition lager arriving in Terre Haute, IN, for tapping. Terre Haute was home to the brewery that brewed this once well-known label. our story here

Shown are Marilyn Wheeler wearing her Uncle Jim O'Connell's shirt which he wore distributing the orginal Champagne Velvet, Arrival of the beer in Terre Haute via beer wagon, Upland Owner Doug Dahoff celebrating the arrival, the first pour of CV at The Copper Bar

The first step in the repeal of the 18th Amendment was the signing of the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 23, 1933. The law made the sale of low-alcohol beer (below 4% alochol by volume, 3.2% by weight) legal once again and took effect on April 7, 1933. In 2009 a group of beer lovers, with the support of the Brewers Assn., took to social media to drum up support for celebrating a National Beer Day on April 7.

Happy Beer Day.

Prost,

Greg Kitz

IndianaBeer Group Tasting and Reviews – Brown Ales

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Compton) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:09:00 +0000

Brown ale is one of the oldest known English beer styles, with mentions in literature extending back to the 16th century. With the rise of porters and stouts in the early 1700s, the term “brown ale” became more of a generic description for the spectrum of darker beers than its own distinct style. Greater distinction among styles evolved in the early 1800s as porters and stouts adopted usage of the new black patent malt. The brown ale style was fairly obscure before a resurgence in the early 20th century behind brands like Mann’s Brown Ale, Whitbread Double Brown, and Newcastle Brown Ale. As American craft brewing grew in the 1980s, commercial examples of brown ales began to emerge as distinctly American versions. Pete’s Wicked Ale was created by Pete Slosberg to be darker and hoppier than British examples. Many American examples have followed this path with the use of American hop varieties, while some like Goose Island Hex Nut Brown attempted to maintain a close connection with contemporary English examples.

To compare some of the options in today’s market of brown ales, we conducted a blind tasting of offerings ranging from local to nationally distributed craft breweries. Beers were procured from Barley Island, Brooklyn, Dark Horse, Dogfish Head, and People’s and served in a random order to our tasting panel. The identity of each beer was not revealed until after the panelists had submitted their individual rankings. Joining me on the panel for this session were Jake Keefer, Ryan Mills, and Bob Pennington. Here is a summary of each beer sampled, with the brewery’s description followed by the panel’s tasting comments.

Beer #1: Dark Horse Brewing Boffo Brown Ale – The Boffo Brown Ale is on the “full body” scale pushing the envelope of what an American Brown Ale is to most people. The beer has a very deep/dark color of brown with a nice creamy tan head. The mouthfeel of the beer is very soft and is very drinkable. Flavors of malt, caramel, toffee, and a mild earthy nutty finish allow this beer to be paired with hearty food and sips of bourbon. 6.5% ABV

Bob: I found this to have a minimal head on pouring. The color is coppery brown. There was a pronounce caramel sweet flavor. The mouth feel was slight with a bit of dryness. There was a bit of a nutty flavor. This was very enjoyable. I would buy this beer.
Bob’s Rank: 2

Jake: This beer was pretty tasty with a moderate hop aroma and a decent roastiness that combines with the bitterness of the hops quite nicely. There was a richness to this beer, from the toffee character, that really put this amongst the best sampled. The hop flavor might have been a little bit lacking, for my tastes, and it was just missing that something special to make it my #1 choice. That said, Boffo Brown was technically superb and therefore it earned spot #2 in my rankings.
Jake’s Rank: 2

Nathan: Big initial impression of toffee and caramel in the nose that fades a bit to reveal some chocolate malt. The hop aroma on this one is very low. Light brown color with poor head retention from the bottle. Wonderful malt flavor that showcases the dominant toffee and caramel from the aroma with hints of chocolate and roast followed by a bit of earthy hop flavor. There is a bit of alcohol warming in the finish with a medium level of lingering bitterness. Lacking some of the hop character I like in a Brown Ale, but the malt flavor was a standout and made for a really nice drinking beer.
Nathan’s Rank: 3

Ryan: Boffo Brown wasn’t what I initially expected from a Brown Ale, but I have to say that it was one of my favorites of the panel, not because it was a great American Brown ale but because it exhibited a number of qualities I like in beer. The style that I felt it most closely resembled was a small English Barleywine. While there was the presence of toffee and caramel, the hops and roast flavors (usually found in brown ales) were lacking. The beer was dominated by the aroma and flavor of dried fruit such as plums and raisins and the slight oxidized sherry character that comes with alcohol and age.
Ryan’s Rank: 2

Beer #2: Brooklyn Brown Ale - This is the award-winning original American brown ale, first brewed as a holiday specialty, and now one of our most popular beers year-round. A blend of six malts, some of them roasted, give this beer its deep russet-brown color and complex malt flavor, fruity, smooth and rich, with a caramel, chocolate and coffee background. Generous late hopping brings forward a nice hop aroma to complete the picture. Brooklyn Brown Ale is full-flavored but retains a smoothness and easy drinkability that has made it one of the most popular dark beers in the Northeast. 30 IBU 5.6% ABV

Bob: This beer also presented a thin head on pour. The color is a clear, dark copper brown. I found a very light hop flavor with a slight astringency or dryness. The mouth feel was good with perceptible carbonation. This beer had a rather odd component to the aroma and flavor.
Bob’s Rank: 5

Jake: Here was a pretty creamy beer which I enjoyed, but was quite low on flavor. It had almost no hop flavor or aroma, with some light, very light, caramely notes. There was a bitterness that wasn’t hop or malt derived, after discussing it with the other members of the panel we concluded it was likely a medicinal off flavor, odd for such a large brewery.
Jake’s Rank: 5

Nathan: Nice caramel malt in the aroma, but there is also a noticeable green apple character. Medium/dark brown in color with medium carbonation. The flavor features more of the English-style nutty malt character with very low hop aroma and flavor. There is something lingering here that distracts from the beer. I perceived some green apple in the flavor in addition to the medicinal phenols noted by others.
Nathan’s Rank: 5

Ryan: I am sure my peers have chronicled the shortcomings of this beer, but from my experience with other Brooklyn beers, I believe this was an unfortunate batch. Behind the noticeable medicinal and bubblegum phenols were rich undertones of nuttiness and toffee. Those flavors lingered on the palette through the finish with the help of a body that was medium to full.
Ryan’s Rank: 5

Beer #3: Barley Island Dirty Helen Brown Ale - A medium-bodied Brown ale with moderate hop bitterness that has a unique slightly nutty flavor in the finish. Dry-hopped to enhance the hop aroma. Dirty Helen was a famous tavern owner in Milwaukee. She was known for her dirty mouth, cussing out any customer that ordered a brand of scotch or whiskey that she did not carry. 25 IBU 5.2% ABV

Bob: Slightly more carbonated than the previous two beers. Slightly more pronounced hop in this one. Drinking this was pleasant experience in general. Maybe a bit thin in the malts. I would buy this beer.
Bob’s Rank: 4

Jake: A low roast character pairs with an aggressive american hopping to really dry out my palate. I got a lemony character from the hops which was really interesting, but probably not the best choice for a brown ale. This was a good beer, but a little unbalanced.
Jake’s Rank: 3

Nathan: Here are the hops! This one has a dominant floral/citrus hop character with a distinct lemon note. The hop flavor is also nicely showcased in the flavor, followed by a chocolate malt note, and a nice drying finish with medium bitterness. Very enjoyable beer – a little more supporting malt character would put this over the top.
Nathan’s Rank: 2

Ryan: Dirty Helen turned out to be my favorite, not only because it offered some of the flavors and aromas I enjoy most, but it most closely described an American Brown Ale in my mind. The nose brought about strong lemony citrus notes with a subdued malt profile. The clean citrus hop character was strengthened by a slight woodsy flavor, also derived from hops. While this beer may not have exhibited a strong caramel, toffee, and roast malt presence, the hop flavors and aromas matched those levels seen in most American Ales. The bright flavors and thin to medium body, makes this beer ideal for warmer weather.
Ryan’s Rank: 1

Beer #4: People’s Brewing Mr. Brown - American Style Brown Ale… “That’s Mr. Brown to you!” We used a lot of base malt and four different dark malts in this beer resulting in a complex malt character and a warming alcohol flavor. This is a great cold weather beer, warming and smooth to take away the chill. We balanced it with Kent Goldings hops. 47 IBU 7% ABV

Bob: This is the darkest beer so far. It has a thin head. Nice malt flavor with maybe a bit of bread and roast flavors. The aroma was a good malt hop balance. I felt that this beer had a nice overall character that may be from the water. I seemed to pick up some mineral/salt flavors.
Bob’s Rank: 1

Jake: Mr. Brown’s nose was very carmely and toffee with almost no hop character. A quite high hop bitterness with almost no flavor to help round it out. A roast character was present but moderately low. I didn’t seem to be a fan of the specific hops used in this brew. (The coffee version of this beer, either Hearthstone Brown or Bavarian Brown, is spectacular. It is available at Hearthstone Coffee shop in Fishers.)
Jake’s Rank: 4

Nathan: Bready and roasty malt character combined with a lemon/earthy hop character in the aroma. Very dark brown, nearing porter territory in color. The malt character is dominated by bready, roasty notes with a hint of tobacco; the toffee and caramel perceived in other examples is not as prevalent here. The balance in flavors is nicely done. This is a really difficult one for me to rank. It’s a good beer and offers more complexity than the other examples so far, but that perversely works against the drinkability for me. Which makes me sound boring. But you probably already knew that.
Nathan’s Rank: 4

Ryan: People’s brown had the flavors I anticipate in Brown Ales. However, I felt none of those flavors were particularly strong, and therefore, led to a nuanced tasting experience. The opaque black beer had a light aroma with noticeable notes of toffee and citrus. I was able to identify numerous flavors such as raisins, roasted malt, toffee, and nuttiness. Hops were not forgotten. Apparent hop bitterness was complimented and perpetuated by the roast, and it extended long after the finish.
Ryan’s Rank: 3

Beer #5: Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale - A cross between a Scotch Ale, an India Pale Ale and an American Brown, Indian Brown Ale is well-hopped and malty at the same time. The beer has characteristics of each style that inspired it: the color of an American Brown, the caramel notes of a Scotch Ale, and the hopping regimen of an India Pale Ale. We dry-hop the Indian Brown Ale in a similar fashion to our 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IPA. This beer is brewed with Aromatic barley and organic brown sugar. 50 IBU 7.2% ABV

Bob: This is a very dark brown beer with a moderate level of carbonation on the first pour. This was the best hopped of the lot with a good balance of malts. The malts were very sweet with a touch of raisin and mild undercurrent of roast. The second pour was of a different bottling and was not consistent with the first bottle. Rated 3 largely because of the batch mixtures.
Bob’s Rank: 3

Jake: A moderately low hop flavor combines to round out the moderate bitterness offered by the hops. Some nice roast character, combines with the toffee sweetness and a dark fruit character to offer a quite complex and interesting brew. The second bottle we sampled of this was infected, but only made it better! My previous statements were based on the first bottle, which was my personal favorite. A #1 spot for this, unavailable in Indiana, beer.
Jake’s Rank: 1

Nathan: Another example that leans toward the dark brown side of the color scale with heavy roasted malts in the aroma. This beer has a complex nutty and roasty malt character nicely balanced with citrus hop character. Toffee and chocolate notes come through with medium bitterness in the finish. There is a lot going on here, but it’s well balanced and easy to go back for more. Might not be quite as easy drinking as beers 1 and 3, but the total package inches this to the top of my list in a close call.
Nathan’s Rank: 1

Ryan: The first bottle of Dogfish Head’s India Brown exhibited an initial aroma of coffee that gave way to a bready and toffee nose. The flavor was typified by subtle roasted coffee notes along with dried fruit. The hops were relatively low and piney, woodsy, and lemony in nature. The hop bitterness was low to medium. As for the second bottle, I was more than happy to finish it, since it had an obvious infection of acetic acid, which made for a wonderful sour ale, exhibiting the vinegar flavor of a Flanders Red (my favorite style). Despite the inconsistency, I continue to look forward to trying Dogfish Head’s offerings when I can find them outside of this state.
Ryan’s Rank: 4

And the results are in…….

As you can see in the individual ratings, it was a difficult decision among our top four beers. That may sound like lip service, but the total scores for each beer will illustrate just how close this one was. We used a model where the lowest number of points would win (a 1st place vote = 1 point, a 2nd place vote = 2 points, etc). After tallying up the scores, our collective ranking determined the final order (drum roll please):

Fifth Place: Brooklyn Brown Ale (20 points)

Fourth Place: People’s Brewing Mr. Brown (12 points)

Third Place: Barley Island Dirty Helen Brown Ale (10 points)

First Place (tie): Dark Horse Boffo Brown and Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale (9 points)

One interesting aspect of this tasting was the quality control issues of the national brands. We had two bottles of beer for each example, with the second available for reinforcements after our initial analysis. I’d like to try the Brooklyn Brown again, because both bottles of it had noticeable off-flavors that were probably an anomaly but knocked it out of contention in this tasting. The second bottle of Dogfish Head Indian Brown had a wild yeast contamination that turned it into a surprisingly good sour ale. Reactions to that were mixed as some members of the panel may have knocked it down a bit, while Jake and I gave the benefit of the doubt and scored it based on our notes from the first bottle.

I sought out Dogfish Head Indian Brown as a member of our lineup because it’s the first beer that really hooked me on this style. But you may already be aware that obtaining it takes a little effort for Indiana residents these days (ie. driving across state lines). Barring that type of effort, you still have some great options. If you prefer your beers a bit on the maltier side, our panel would endorse picking up some Dark Horse Boffo Brown Ale. If you’d prefer a hoppier version, grab the Barley Island Dirty Helen. Of course, it’s also worth noting that People’s Mr. Brown earned the coveted top pick of our hostess Poppi Rocketts. It’s well worth a try if you’re looking for something with a little more complexity.

Big thanks to Bob, Jake, and Ryan for serving on the panel and a bigger thanks to you for reading this far. These events are a lot of fun, and we just may offer up some additional guest spots to readers in the future. Be sure to follow us on Facebook to be informed when the next opportunity rolls around.

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:42:00 +0000

Big Indiana Craft beer events THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED HERE

This weekend, Saturday, April 6, is the introduction of Upland's Champagne Velvet in Terre Haute, IN, click here for full story with a horse-drawn wagon delivering the beer to three locations starting at 3:00 (Sonka's Irish pub) and ending at M. Mogger's at about 6:00 PM.

Daredevil Brewing announces its newest seasonal: Rip Cord Double IPA is a 9.0 percent ABV, 90 IBU, 5.8 SRM limited seasonal release that represents one of our interpretations of the American Double IPA style. It will be available on draft throughout the Daredevil distribution footprint of central and southern Indiana beginning Monday, April 8th.

Next week also kicks off Indiana Craft Beer week in Bloomington, culminating in the BIG Craft Beer Fest at the Woolery Mill on April 13 at 4:00, VIPs at 3:00, tickets online More information here

Tuesday, April 9, Yogi's Bloomington fills all 55 TAPS with ONLY Indiana Craft Beer. No yellow fizzy beer for the REST OF THE WEEK! Yogi's Tuesday Beer School, features FLAT12 Van Pogue (Vanilla Porter), Nunmoere Black and Half Cycle IPA.

Tuesday, April 9, The Tap Beer Bar Bloomington, hosts a PRO-BREWER PANEL featuring Indiana brewers. Current list includes Clay Robinson from SunKing, Ted Miller from Brugge, Rob Caputo from Flat12,+ Justin Miller from Black Acre. 6:30.

Wednesday, April 10, Bloomington Brewing Company features a Beer Pairing dinner with CIA trained Chef David Tallent, at Restaurant Tallent call for details 812-330-9801

Wednesday, April 10, Girls' Pint Out meets at The Tap Bloomington

Wednesday, April 10, Tap take-overs start at famous Nick's English Hut; 7p-10p daily in the Hoosier room Cutters 4/10, BBC 4/11, Flat 12 & People's including their COLLABORATION beer (Hoosier Brown Rye) 4/12, Upland 4/13.

and Wed. 4/10, Max's Place has 2-3 local taps

And Wed. 4/10, the Bishop, $3 local pints

Thursday, 4/11, The Tap features Upland's 15th Anniversary Label, historic Champagne Velvet + other local beer
+ The Owlery Bar, Fountain Square tap take-over

Friday, 4/12, tap take-overs continue at most local beer bars, remember 55+ at Yogi's
+ Lift-Off & Muse from Daredevil on Tap and meet the Daredevil brewers at The Farm Restaurant, Root Cellar bar 6-9
+ New Albanian & Bloomington Brewing tap-takeover at The Tap

Saturday, 4/13, 4-7 Bloomington Beer Festival Our Man Nathan is with Brewers of Indiana Guild and will be updating us end of this week! Stay tuned to indianabeer.com for details!

Saturday, 4/13, After Party: The Tap; another after party at Nick's English Hut; local beer flowing at all B'ton Craft Beer Bars

Remember, if visiting Bloomington pay a visit to local Bloomington Brewing Company @Lennie's and to local Upland Brewing Company Brew pubs!

Basket Case Brewing opened a month ago in Jasper, Indiana. Featuring Busta Nut Brown Ale, Revolution Pale ale, Nirvana IPA, and more to come. Check them out on Facebook

My Journey through Stone Vertical Epic Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Wilk) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:08:00 +0000

From a personal perspective, I discovered craft beer fairly late in the game. It took several treks to a favorite establishment to broaden my palate and fully enjoy all that micro brewers had to offer. As such, I stumbled upon Stone Brewing and their Vertical Epic Ales well beyond the start of their adventure.

Stone is not known for modesty. If you buy any of their beers you can see their ego printed directly on the label. They are more brazen than my current champion Three Floyd's but their beer definitely can hold up to their claims.

For more detailed information from the brewery themselves, feel free to visit their own telling of Vertical Epic. My own experience is limited as I was not able to get the full series.

I first obtained Vertical Epic in a rare beer sale at Wise Guys Liquors in Merrillville, IN. They held a lottery for rare beers with Founder's CBS being the prized get. These Vertical Epics from Stone Brewing were actually just filler. I walked away from this sale with a 2006 and a 2008 and a journey to discover others. At the time of this sale (2011) and up to the point eBay decided to stop selling alcohol related collectibles, a bottle of 2002 Vertical Epic, the first year of brewing (brewed on 02/02/02), was selling for $2,000. I obtained 07/07/07 and 10/10/10 fairly cheap from eBay, 11/11/11 from the aforementioned Wise Guys Liquors, and a friend bought 12/12/12 when it was released. Thanks to Bob O. of IndianaBeer, I got 03/03/03 because I asked nicely.

My goal was to take my 03, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12 and ring in the New Year with friends. I apparently need a new group of friends because no one was drinking craft beer that night but me. This was definitely problematic because all of these beers are in bombers and have a fairly high alcohol content. But, without further ado, here we go.

03/03/03 - 9% ABV
Tasting notes from Stone:

Appearance - Brown, slightly hazy with sediment, creamy head
Aroma - Dried fruit, malt, bread, wheat, bananas, spice, coriander, grains of paradise, toffee, mild oxidation
Taste - Really malty, molasses and caramel, hints of coriander, trace of grains of paradise, candy sweetness, some sherry-aged notes, tart wheat, some oxidation
Palate - Creamy, smooth, lingering bitterness, finishes dry, medium-full body, good carbonation
Overall - Showing a little more oxidation, aged nicely and drinks well

Wilk's Take: I defer to my IndianaBeer brethren to dissect what that means, because to me, I don't understand any of it. I've never tasted grains of paradise and couldn't begin to know where that begins. Bananas? Wheat? Toffee? That's a stretch. Just think sweet and you're there. Who am I to argue with the brewers about how they reflected on their ale? No one of any consequence for sure. The only thing I can offer to this ale is that it reminded me exclusively of barleywine and it was a great way to start the evening's festivities.

06/06/06 - 8.66% ABV
Tasting notes from Stone:

Appearance - Dark mahogany, tan foam, nice clarity
Aroma - Roasted chocolate, complex dark malt, phenolic yeast notes, smoke, pepper, spice, light cocoa, caramel
Taste - Christmas spices, molasses, slightly smoky, phenols, cocoa and dark fruit
Palate - Crisp, creamy, medium body, good carbonation, a little sweet
Overall - One-dimensional, pronounced yeast characters

Wilk's Take: My personal experience has always led me to believe that if chocolate is on the nose in the beginning, it will be there throughout. Roasty notes were to be expected so I was glad they were there. This was a perfect beer for the season, which begs the question why it was brewed in June? This beer could compete with Great Lakes Christmas Ale. It would lose, but it could compete. As you can see, two bombers in with both registering around 9% ABV. I was starting to feel it in my knees.

07/07/07 - 8.4% ABV
Tasting notes from Stone:

Appearance - Deep gold, some hazing, subtle carbonation
Aroma - Ginger, lavender, jasmine, cardamom, strong fruit, citrus peel
Taste - Ginger, very floral, some citrus, a little botanically bitter, sweet, spices, hint of yeast
Palate - Dry, bitter, some creaminess, smooth
Overall - Aged nicely, spices are more dialed in and well-blended, great summer beer

Wilk's Take: The overall comment was spot on, this was a great summer beer being consumed on December 31. Not the first time I've had an off season beer. It was a refreshing twist in the chapter after finishing off the 06/06/06. The floral scents dominated every drink in your nose but did not diminish the flavor of the spices on your tongue.

That was all I could take that night. I had to stop because there was no way I could continue on this path alone. I am finishing the series this week and will write a follow up next week.

Beers, Cheers, and Sneers – March 24th

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan Compton) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:50:00 +0000

Welcome to spring! March 25th is the official release date for Bell’s Oberon, which is either the worst or greatest timing ever depending on your perspective. So after you’ve dug out from a foot of snow, here are the official release party locations for Monday morning/night (see Bell’s event page for Indiana for additional events later in the week):

Bloomington	Yogi's Bar and Grill	6-8pm
Bloomington	The Tap	8pm
Elkhart	Sauk Trail on 17 Smokehouse & Grille	5pm
Fort Wayne	Dicky's Wild Hare	5pm
Granger	Tilted Kilt	5pm
Indianapolis	Mousetrap Bar	midnight Sunday
Indianapolis	The Aristocrat Pub	5-9pm
Indianapolis	Mass Ave. Pub	5pm
Mishawaka	Buffalo Wild Wings	5pm
Mishawaka	The Gallery Sports Pub	6pm
Muncie	The Heorot	midnight Sunday
Plymouth	Pizza Bill's	5pm
South Bend	O'Rourke's Public House	midnight Sunday
South Bend	Brothers Bar and Grill	5:30pm

Oskar Blues Brewery is reportedly in talks with distributors for expansion into the Indiana market with a target launch of late spring/early summer. If you’re not familiar with Oskar Blues, they specialize in big, hoppy craft beer in a can. That probably sounds unremarkable at this point, but they were one of the pioneers in challenging the notion that canned beer had to be cheap in both price and flavor. My first experience with the brewery occurred when stopping off at a Colorado liquor store before the 2006 Great American Beer Festival. I hesitated with the clerk recommended Dale’s Pale Ale as a great local choice for a thirsty traveler. Good beer in a can? Inconceivable! But that choice led to a habit of stashing cans of Dale’s Pale, Old Chub, Ten Fidy, and (my personal favorite) Gordon in airline luggage during subsequent trips within their distribution network. Now Oskar Blues is canvassing our region with recent launches in the Ohio, Chicago, and Michigan markets. Who will be next? I’m looking at you Lagunitas.

Fountain Square Brewing is back with another Peep Show event and Miss Poppi was not invited to perform. No, Fountain Square’s version of a Peep Show commissions local engineering talent to design gadgets capable of shooting full-sized Peeps. Kind of like a Punkin Chunkin event for people with real lives. Which is a great approach if you enjoy a good sausage fest. I kid…I kid…it will be a lot of fun. The event takes place on Friday, March 29th at 7:00. Visit the Fountain Square registration page to claim your spot in the competition.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a bill that legalizes homebrewing in Mississippi, which is nice since an estimated 2200 citizens are doing it anyway. Mississippi now becomes the 49th state to allow homebrewing, and we’re proud to say this is one area where Indiana was a bit ahead of the curve. What about the 50th state? Well, a homebrewing bill in Alabama was removed from the special order calendar when politicians decided to be politicians and ground business to a halt due to other disagreements. Which means Mobile County prosecutor Keith Blackwood is still a criminal for posting his homebrewing exploits on Twitter. C’mon Keith – illicit affairs and laundering campaign contributions might be standard operation procedure, but keep your Berliner Weisse out of the public domain!

Some news on beer and rock and roll. Iron Maiden will partner with Robinson’s Brewery to create Trooper, a 4.7% ABV premium British ale with Bobec, Golding, and Cascade hops. Maiden fans searching for a Belgian Golden Strong will still have to settle for the slightly less-Satanic 668 Neighbor of the Beast from New England Brewing.

I don’t often have a good excuse to link one of my favorite internet haunts in this column, but the fine folks at punknews.org picked up on the collaboration between Three Floyds and thrash metal band Municipal Waste. The new Toxic Revolution ale is a massive Oatmeal Stout perfect for winter shred sessions. And being a new beer from Three Floyds, it’s probably also perfect for the hallowed Viking quest of online beer trading.

Tip of the cap to People’s Brewing of Lafayette for their participation in a project to conserve the important ecosystem of Mulvey Pond in Tippecanoe County. The land was purchased by NICHES Land Trust and several local businesses, including People’s, are assisting with tree planting and the construction of a visitor platform. The platform will offer views of local and migratory waterfowl including snow geese and sandhill cranes.

Some timely new statistics are in from the Brewers Association following our recent piece on craft beer growth. For the full year of 2012, craft brewers achieved a 15 percent increase in sales volume and a 17 percent increase in dollar growth. These numbers balance out pretty well with an 18 percent increase in the number of U.S. operating breweries. The numbers for 2013 should be pretty interesting as the Association expects new breweries to open at an even higher rate.

As the power struggle between craft brewers and big brewers rages on, a grocer in Chicago scores one for the little guy. Garden Gourmet Market is working on a deal to obtain a liquor license in the mostly dry East Village. The catch? Garden Gourmet could only sell beer produced by craft brewers. While the results look pretty good, selling the idea that Garden Gourmet’s customers are professionals who aren’t interested in hard liquor or “40s” might not help the stereotype of craft beer as an elitist pursuit. On the opposite end of the spectrum, MillerCoors struck back with an exclusive agreement for product placement in all original TNT and TBS shows. There should probably be a joke here, but I can’t name a single original series on either of those networks. And the Ommegang Brewery already claimed Game of Thrones, so maybe we should score two for the little guy in this case.

The coveted Best Beard of Craft Beer award went to Chili of Stone Brewing. Never mind the fact that Chili isn't even a brewer (he is Stone’s groundskeeper and gardener), I suppose going by the single moniker Chili earns you some bonus cool points. I can only assume the guy to the right would be a serious contender if his choice in beer were improved.

Cheers and Hoppy Easter, Nathan

Great Lakes Brewing Company

noreply@blogger.com (Kathleen Slauzis) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:49:00 +0000

About two weeks ago I decided to pop over to Cleveland to cross off an item from my lifetime bucket list, visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Like so many other beer lovers, before I went on my trip, I searched for nearby local breweries and came across Great Lakes Brewing Company. Ohio's First Craft Brewery, and coming up on it's 25th anniversary, I thought it'd be the best place to visit for dinner on my first night in Cleveland.

Great Lakes Brewery at Night

Great Lakes BrewPub

Getting in late on a Friday, I wasn't able to tour the brewery itself, but across the street there is a Great Lakes Brewing Co gift shop and pub with multiple level dining rooms and dark English style pub/bar in the basement. The whole brewpub is general is dark wood paneled, dimly light, the majority of the glow is from the fermenters in the middle of the dining room keeping the guests company.

I have only had one beer from Great Lakes Brew Co before. It was the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter that I found a bottle of at a party store in Cincinnati, so I decided to order a flight to sample them all. 12 - 3oz samples of the entire line available.

Drink responsibly - I will say, some of the poor beers were left in the glass

This is the beer left to right from above. The two in the front were the Midwest Lager on the left and the Ohio City Oatmeal Stout on the right.

Along with the flight I had a cup of clam chowder and the ribs that had a Edmund Fitzgerald Porter BBQ sauce. Some of the beers went great with this combination, some not so good. But let's get into the beer!
Below is my run down thoughts, beers and yes, I even ranked them afterwards.

Midwest Lager - Made with Mosaic hops - which are known for their blend of floral, tropical, fruity characteristics. This started out creamy and smooth like a regular lager and finished with a profile more related to an IPA. It was good in an interesting way.

Ohio City Oatmeal Stout - Named after the local area that the brewery is located in Cleveland, this oatmeal stout had a slight dry, roasted chocolately taste.

Starting from the right side and going back (Yes, I should've gone from light to dark, but I rinsed with water)
Cream Ale - This ale had no aroma, very light in color. Drinkable and smooth. A very easy beer to pair with anything, went especially well with the clam chowder. I think of cream ales as a sit on the porch, drinking lots of beer kind of beer.
Alberta Clipper - A winter porter brewed with belgian chocolate and raspberries. I was really looking forward to this beer. I was hoping it'd be good enough to be after dinner "dessert", but the flavors were really mild. It was a bit of chocolate and a tiny taste of the tart raspberries.

The Wright Pils

The Wright Pils - I was impressed. This was very clean and crisp. Finished a a little dry, but was definitely an instant hit with me.
Conway's Irish Ale - A mix of smooth and bitter, which confused my tongue because I was expecting more smooth. Where the pilsner before hand was a hit, this irish ale wasn't.
Alchemy Hour Double IPA - I could smell and taste quite clearly the nugget hops in this this IPA. It was very interesting because as the beer went in my mouth it seemed to blossom in flavor. Some sips were a little overpowering at the end than others, but overall it was very well rounded.

From the left to the right (I kind of feel like I'm in the middle of a line dance song right now)
Edmund Fitzgerald Porter - This beer paired with the ribs that had the beer infused in the BBQ sauce wasn't a good choice. Made a porter actually taste bitter. Alone though, it was a very nice, roasted robust porter. Which reminded me of IB's most recent Robust Porter blind reviews (did you see what I just did there)
Commodore Perry IPA - The description claimed this beer had more of a fruity taste, but really it had more of a floral hop profile. Unlike the Alchemy which blossomed and was wonderful, the Commodore Perry IPA was a little flat.
Burning River Pale Ale - This ale was smooth, creamy. Still held a cascade hop flavor. It reminded me slightly of Goose Island's Matilda.
Eliot Ness Amber Lager - This one was perfect with the ribs plus malty and creamy. (if you couldn't tell, I once I got to this beer which was my 11th beer, I was running out of words. )
Dormunder Gold Lager - Light, smoother. No sneaky bitterness a little more heavier than the Eliot Ness, but very drinkable and would order many more of these.

My overall rating of the flight was:
1. The Wright Pils
2. Eliot Ness Amber Lager
3. Dormunder Gold Lager
4. Midwest Lager
5. Alchemy Hour Double IPA
6. Burning River Pale Ale
7. Ohio City Oatmeal Stout
8. Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
9. Cream Ale
10. Alberta Clipper
11. Conway's Irish Ale
12. Commodore Perry IPA

It was a lot of fun to taste, and eat and try the round up again. I did finish up the glass of The Wright Pils. Thanks to the gift shop next door I was able to take home a mix 6 pack with 2 Wright Pils, 2 Eliot Ness Amber Lagers, 1 Dormunder Gold Lager and 1 Alchemy Hour Double IPA along with getting somethings to add to my collection.

If you are in Cleveland, I definitely stop by. There is another brewery near by called Market Square brewery and a bar called Bier Markt that has at least 12 Belgian styles on tap year around. Oh, and also the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a good place to go as well.

Unfortunately Great Lakes Brewing Co beer is only distributed in parts of Northern Indiana, maybe one day it'll be found all over, but Ohio isn't too far to pop over and pick up some or head up north!

Thanks for reading,

Cheers!
Kathleen

25 years ago, Brooklyn Brewery started; a guide to Brooklyn beers

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:17:00 +0000

When most of us think of Brooklyn Beer, we think of Brooklyn lager. Yet as we celebrate their 25th anniversary, there is so much nore. The Brooklyn Lager is the iconic beer that neighbors Steve Hindy and Tom Potter brewed to open Brooklyn Brewery in 1988. While Brooklyn Lager was contract brewed at first, they originally commissioned a 4th-generation German brewmaster for the recipe and facmous Milton Glaser (the "I love New York" logo) for their label. By 1994, BrewMaster Garret Oliver joined the mix. If Garret had not already created enough notoriety, in 2003 he published The BrewMaster's Table . On March 20, Brooklyn will celebrate their Twenty-Fifth Anniversary!

Many of us don't explore Brooklyn's craft beer often. But there are wonderful options beyond Brooklyn lager!

Brooklyn Pennant, a nod to the Brooklyn Dodgers, is a nice English pale ale, with a balance of malt and hops. Do not compare this to an American pale, think of an almost bready and yeasty Maris Otter start with a hop notes at the end from 4 hops. One of their regular perennials.

Brooklyn Blast which we find on tap now. At 9% ABV this beer gives you 9 hops for a"blast" of complex hop flavor. This one could be a sleeper because we taste the complex citrus, spicy, even some resin tones without packing a big hot punch.

Moving to the seasonals:
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - I love this winter/spring beer. Absolutely opaque, black, that starts with chocolate and finishes like dark toast! at 9% this warms on the cold Brookly or Indiana (or Irish) night! As of this writing I can still find 4-packs around and I most recently had it on tap again.

Brooklyn Monster Ale. The Monster is 10% abv. Evaluation of this beer is linked with the age. The ale is brewed with 3 mashes of heirloom British malt but includes Willamette, Cascade, and American Fuggle hops. My most recent sample on tap was fresher with copper color, warming and some light breadiness, a taste of the alcohol, and some caramel. Brooklyn ages this beer for 4 months but evaluations of older bottles and posted tasting notes of vintage kegs reveals this beer becomes somewhat more complex with age.

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace: This beer may be most unique because it allows almost no classification. Focusing on a combination of the Sorachi Ace hops developed in Japan (now from Wash. state) with Belgian yeast this makes a most unusual farmhouse ale. It provides lemongrass, a little lemon citrus, and a bubbly delight.

Brooklyn Local 1 I can drink this over and over.... A "Belgian style" bottle fermented beer with German malt plus cane sugar. High carbonation, medium body, sweetness with just a hint of hop IBU at the end and the Belgian quality that some call "bubble gum" Great as a beer to relax with and savor.

And beers we can't get, maybe ever again, but leave me desiring more future specialty releases!
Brewemasters Reserve beers are draft only, seasonal usually one-time introductions:

Brooklyn Gold Standard Export. This was a 2012 release in kegs and thanks to both Andrew of Brooklyn and Nathan of The Tap for finding a rare keg. This unfiltered kellerbier with floor-malted Bohemian barley has the New Glarus yeast strain (yep, not a collaboration except for NG giving Brooklyn some yeast) and German hops. Garret claims this should remind us of a beir-garten, and it certainly went that way for me! Prost!

Brooklyn Fiat Lux ("let there be light"). I am afraid to say wit, because it is "wit inspired" NOT a wit. Starting with Madsen White winter wheat, German perle hops, lime peel, corriander and 'magic' gave this beer a wonderful summer tasted and of my specialty samplings of about 10 Brooklyn beers over 2 days, this is one of my top 2 favorites. I'll be looking to see what the Brewers follow this with in 2013!

Okay, my favorite.
Brooklyn Black Ops! I LOVE bourbon barrel stouts. Each year this one varies just a bit. the most recent was 10.7% A Russian Imperial stout only 1000 cases are released each year. Bottle fermented with Champagne yeast and aged abot 4 months in the wood this complex beer has big bourbon aroma with vanilla and oak leading to chocolate plus dark fruit and finishing almost like sweet coffee. This is a beer that I would rather sip than write about. I discovered with Garret's help that this beer can warm to room temperature and deliver a wonderful complex flavor! Likely because of the yeast this finishes a bit light compared to most RIS and has just a tad less body than most.

Happy Anniversary to Steve Hindy, Tom Potter, Garrett Oliver and Brooklyn Beer. May I be able to drink your beer for 25 more years!

Cheers!

Greg Kitz

special thanks to Andrew Maxon of Brooklyn Brewing and to Garrett Oliver himself for sharing!

Another Dark Lord Day?

noreply@blogger.com (Wilk) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:57:00 +0000

Oh yeah, I volunteered for it. I didn't volunteer, I set up my laptop right next to my desktop and loaded the ticket site for Dark Lord Day on both at approximately 11:45am Central Daylight Time. I frantically hit refresh on both as the minutes approached: 11:56, refresh; 11:57, refresh; 11:59, refresh. 12:00, here we go!

The Facebook brigade was in full force today. First, Three Floyd's didn't post the ticket sales link in their status until 11:57am. Honestly, if you were on Facebook waiting for that to appear you were not going to secure tickets. The bevy of comments that ensued spanned from, "I got mine" to "FTS!" But this is what Three Floyd's does, this is what it has been doing as of late.

At 12:49pm the Facebook status indicated tickets finally sold out. Of course, after I secured a pair on the laptop I tried for a pair on the desktop and not a single group had a ticket available. This was at 12:03pm. Server problems? Sure. However, if you didn't time that refresh just right, you were screwed.

The ticket sales medium that Three Floyd's has chosen does have issues, but I can't think of a fairer process, especially now that they are trying to affix the purchaser's name to the ticket and will be checking identifications at the door. But the major flaw in this year's ticket sales was the missing Group A.

Upon entering the screen to buy tickets, any chance at selecting Group A was gone. I know there are people who bought these tickets online, but the option was never presented to me. I really didn't think of it at the time because the brewery does a very good job treating their ownership and VIPs so I just assumed that these tickets were reserved for them.

The ticket distribution system is set up like you're going to see a concert. I complain a lot about Three Floyd's, but in this regard there is no suitable alternative. If you insulate yourself and just sell tickets to the local patrons you isolate your brand and it might not have become the global phenomenon that it is. But if you open the availability to the masses, the surest way is selling the tickets like any band performing in concert. Here's your chance, good luck! So you've been to 9 DLDs in a row but now your screwed. Get over yourself. Heaven forbid you share in your good fortune for nine years and let someone else try a beer that is one of the best in the country.

The one downfall is admittance onto the grounds. Although I was lucky to get Group B tickets, I know I will be resting on the pavement in the early A.M. that morning because getting into the brewpub is half the battle. All ticket holders are welcome at 10am, regardless of group. Last year I had Group A and by the time we made it into the festivities and in line to purchase the beer, we had a half hour left in our buying window. So this year, more of the same.

I am a seasoned veteran by now and am prepared for all Dark Lord Day entails. My friends secured their tickets with little hassle as well so it should make for a good post in the future. I promise I'll try to be more positive this time around.

If you are reading this, please leave a comment. I want to know the most outrageous thing you've done for a beer (could be dollars spent, distance traveled, etc.). You must leave a comment with your full first and last name with a valid email address. The week before DLD (April 21st) I will consult with IndianaBeer staff and we will pick a winner. The winner will receive their choice of Baller Stout, 2012 Dark Lord, or 2013 Dark Lord. I know they might not be the rarest beers, but they are the ones I have at my disposal.

Upland on April 6th brings to life famous Indiana Champagne Velvet beer

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:35:00 +0000

A beer brand that was once one of the more prominent brands in the United States will literally roll down the streets of its former hometown on April 6th, as a horse-drawn beer wagon delivers Upland's Champagne Velvet, the beer with the Million Dollar flavor, to 3 notable Terre Haute pubs as Upland Brewing starts the celebration of its 15th anniversary. Just fifteen years ago Upland Brewing came to life in a small brick building near downtown Bloomington, Indiana. Yet, 109 years before the establishment of Upland, the seed of one of the nation's great early beers was born as The Terre Haute Brewing company was formed in a brick building near downtown Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1900, before prohibition, Terre Haute Brewing was one of the largest breweries in the U.S. By 1901 to 1904 they had Champagne Velvet Brand which was eventually distributed in 48 states. (citing our own Bob Ostander, in the book "Hoosier Beer") Indeed, Champagne Velvet, or CV as it is known by old-timers, was Indiana's biggest and best known beer for years.

The accomplishments: Upland Brewing President, Doug Dayhoff, told us they wanted a major beer introduction for the brewery's 15th anniversary and they were quite pleased to add the Champagne Velvet label to Upland. “We’re heading into our 15th year of operation on the heels of a massive brewery expansion, and the next few years are going to be very exciting,” said Upland's Dayhoff. “We think the best way to celebrate the success that so many local breweries are having is by paying tribute to the most successful beer in Indiana’s history.” Quite a year it is for Upland with the revival of Champagne Velvet, a new Tap Room coming online in Carmel, IN, major expansion into Ohio and beyond, and continuing the other brewing tradition Upland has adopted as a major brewer of sours with Kiwi and Persimmon being released soon, yet this Spring.

The beer: I had a chance to taste test batches of Champagne Velvet in January and then sample a bit from the fermenter just recently. With a nod to its past at 30% corn grain the beer will be bright and modern and has been taste-tested with bartenders and consumers. This German-inspired lager uses traditional German yeast strains and Tettnang hops but will be light on the bitterness. There was a brief revival of the brand more than 10 years back by a Terre Haute entrepreneur who claims to have found a recipe from the assistant brewmaster from 1901, yet that recipe was not a complete brewing mashbill and ingredients have changed in over 100 years. The Upland Brewing Crew including Peter Batule, VP of Brewing operations, Patrick Lynch, Brewer and Matt Wisley, Asst. Brewer, went to work perfecting just the right brew to bring back the label but with an appeal to today's beer drinker.

The arrival: The horse-drawn beer wagon will first stop at Sonka Irish Pub,1366 Wabash Ave, in Terre Haute about 3:00 PM on April 6. The parade then continues to The Copper Bar, 810 Wabash Ave, which itself originates from 1895. After the tappings at these establishments the beer wagon rolls to Mogger's Restaurant, 908 Poplar St, which was a German immigrant's brewery from 1848-1868, the pub of a Mattias Mogger. The arrival of Upland's Champagne Velvet is set for about 6PM at Mogger's where evening festivities will continue. The new Upland Champagne Velvet will be available for some sampling as early at April 1, at limited locations but after April 6 will roll out to bars, restaurants and liquor stores in kegs and 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles.

Here's to a great run for the revival of the Champagne Velvet beer and Happy Anniversary to Upland Brewing!

GregKitz

thanks to Doug Dayhoff, Patrick Lynch, Matt Wisley, Jackson Heiss and Andrea Lutz, all of Upland

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Keefer) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 01:26:00 +0000

Why you should consider (or reconsider) going to Dark Lord Day 2013

This year Three Floyds have made a lot of changes to their annual event marking the release of their famed Russian Imperial Stout Dark Lord. I have not been able to make it to one of these events yet, mostly due to the demand for tickets being astronomical the past few years. The tickets are released on St. Patrick’s day every year online. This year they go on sale at 1 pm EST (12 pm CST) Sunday March 17th. However its the changes to the tickets that are going to, in my opinion, improve the festival. There is a limit of 2 tickets per transaction online, however the most important part is the fact that the tickets will be printed with the name of the purchaser. It will be, and has been for the last few years at least, against the rules of the event to resell or trade the tickets. However this hasn’t stopped many people in the past from selling the, previously $15, for upwards of $100. On the Dark Lord website Three Floyds has specifically said that anyone with a ticket must have a valid government issued ID that corresponds to the name on the ticket to be granted access to the event. Also Three Floyds has increased the number of sales sessions from 3 last year to 5 this year. I am certainly going to attempt to get tickets this Sunday, and good luck to all you out there who are going to try to get some too. Below I’ve listed some of the rules from the Dark Lord website.

Tickets are non-transferable (no resale or trading)
Valid state or federal ID or valid passport of the original purchaser of the tickets required
No children or pets (strictly 21 and over)
No coolers (although beer trading/sampling is allowed)
Tickets are $30 per ticket (limit of 2 tickets per person)
The event is cash only (there is an ATM on site)
There will be food vendors, as well as live music
Dark Lord day is April 27th from 11am - 11pm EST (10am -10pm CST)

Group A 11am - 1pm EST (10am - 12pm CST)
Group B 1pm - 3pm EST (12pm - 2pm CST)
Group C 3pm - 5pm EST (2pm - 4pm CST)
Group D 5pm - 7pm EST (4pm - 6pm CST)
Group E 7pm - 9pm EST (6pm – 8pm CST)

Dribs and Drams

noreply@blogger.com (Bob Ostrander) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:22:00 +0000

Newsy Stuff

Dark Lord tickets (Apr. 27) go on sale this Sunday at noon. $30. No coolers, no trading, no lawn chairs, no selling your ticket.

Brew Bracket on April 27 (6-9pm) in Indy will feature Belgians link

ZwanzigZ Pizza in Columbus are bottling. IPA and Honey Wheat now in glass. link

Kevin Cox of Muncie / Heorot / has won runner-up in Wynkoop’s Beerdrinker of the Year competition. link

Diegeo (Guinness) told the British Institute of Innkeeping they couldn’t give a trophy to BrewDog. link

New Breweries

Jason and Elizabeth Lacny and Colin and Kimberly Oswald have asked the town council of Winfield (east of Crown Point) for the okey dokey to set up a brewery and tap room. link

Indiana City Brewing Co. gets some ink about their Home Brewing Co. ancestry. link

Publicity stuff

Bloomington Brewery at the Courier Press. link

Sun King held a tasting in Fort Wayne. link

Flat 12 at Star Press. link

Misc. Stuff

Picture of The Beer with the Million Dollar Flavor from Michigan.

Groups in CA, NJ, PA and more have class-actioned A-B for watering down their beer. "A-B (Anheuser-Busch) never intends for the malt beverage to possess the amount of alcohol that is stated on the label. As a result, AB's customers are overcharged for watered-down beer and AB is unjustly enriched by the additional volume it can sell" A-B says they must be testing errant cans. link – link

A long, dull, look at the alcohol industry in 1931 (that’s during Prohibition). link

Beer Flavor Wheel link

WSJ says beer is cheaper than water in the Czech Republic. They sell twice per capita than the U.S. link

Planetary Brewing orbits onto the Greenwood, IN, beer scene: big name, nano-brewery

noreply@blogger.com (GregK) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:17:00 +0000

There's a new brew in town!

The first flow of beer from the Planet... ah, er, Planetary Brewing flowed at 4:00 PM, Friday, March 8, 2013, in a small almost off-the-beaten-path space (like a galaxy far, far away!) but actually just minutes from Oaken Barrel Brewery in Greenwood, IN. This new nano-brewery (yep, very small) rises from the dreams of a home brewer with previous business experience (sound familiar). Andrew Groves was a home brewer who had friends really enjoy his beers! So what does a brewer do when friends want more of your beer? You dream of better equipment, bigger production, and growlers of beer. Andrew, who had already worked with his father to grow a small business, had such a dream. Planetary Brewing with new stainless steal brewing equipment, a tap room, and opening for growler fills is the result! Open Fridays 4-8, Saturdays 12-6

The first brews available are a Creme Ale ($10 growler/$6 bullet), a Stout* ($12 growler/$7 bullet), and Dunkelweizen ($12 growler/$7 bullet). Growler fills only! No Pints, no food, just beer to go. Note how these three likely complement a Greenwood beer run.... Oaken Barrel can fill you up with their famous wit, or SuperFly IPA while you get over to Planetary for one of these different styles.

UPDATE We visited on Saturday for samples of the actual commercial beer. The Stout is a deep chocolate oatmeal stout with a lot of body and deep, dark flavor. The cream ale is deeper and richer than most of those in this style.

As these rotate off tap the next three will be (not necessarily coming in this order) a pale, a brown ale, and a honey wheat. Eventually, Andrew plans to add a porter, an amber, an IPA, even a triple, dubbel, and Belgian dark strong based on home brew recipes. By the way your first empty growler will cost $6
but he is prepared if you bring your own he can paste a sticker on it. Empty 32 oz bullets cost you $4.

My first introduction to this venture was through Planetary's Admiral of Planetary Explorations (um...I'd call this a beer ambassador) Doug Goins, who is a fixture in the Greenwood beer world as long-time bartender at Shallo's, home of hundreds of beers.
I had some of Andrew's beers from homebrew batches and the ones I tried were very solid beers, the ones his friends like drinking. For those who like more technical information brew batches are about 62 gallons but fermenation and holding capacity is much more. Rough calculations are that at the start customers can expect about 700 pints per week.

To find Planetary (my GPS takes me to the wrong place) use Greenwood's Main street. If exiting off I-65, head West, 1.2 miles to Polk Street. From Central Greenwood head East, over the railroad tracks to Polk Street. Turn South. Look for the sign that says 500 South Polk Street! Turn East and the third door on the right has the Planetary sign above it. Limited parking either on the street or across from the brewery in a small lot of a neighboring building. (see photos)

The street sign where you turn, the stainless,
and the growlers

Cheers.... see you there! Greg Kitz