Misc News – Nov 19

Roger Baylor tells us How I spent my Friday afternoon at the Statehouse. Click the pic to enlarge. Congratulations. Also ink about it in the News and Tribune.

Sun King gets ink at the Brewers Association web site.

Indy Tastes:

• Alcatraz Cherry Stout – Brewed with Skip DuVall. 200 lobs of Cherry puree make it a field of dreams beer. If you think it, cherry will come. It's subtle. It doesn't push past the roast and smoke character. Worth having 2.
• Rock Bottom Downtown Blitzen Ale – Winter White. Lots of honey malt with the wheat and candy sugar. Dark, murky tangerine. Easy drinking wit that finishes strong. Alcohol presence in background.
• Rock Bottom Downtown Harvest Mild – A dark British Mild with a low 3.6% ABV. Plenty of taste. I nominate it to go onto the hand pull before it disappears. Made with Rod and Jess. There will be 5 gal of this at the Hoosier Beer Geek's Tailgate for Nothing this Saturday.
• Rock Bottom Downtown Hefeweizen – Fine example. A bit thin but otherwise could be Schneiderweisse.
• Rock Bottom Downtown Vanilla Oatmeal Stout – Cask Ale on the Handpull – Vanilla! Enought to remind you that vanilla is a bitter essence, not a sweet taste. (Hint - The ice cream tastes sweet, the vanilla is there for balance). The long finish gives an extra flash of vanilla that is extraordinary.
• Rock Bottom North Blitzen Ale – A Belgian Abbey normal with a pleasant and distinct Belgian presence throughout. Cold, it is less than aggressive. Let it warm for the A+ experience.
• Rock Bottom North Naked Oat Stout – Roasty and bitter. Thick. 6.2%. You know the rest.
• Sun King El Gallo Negro – Black IPA with the balance of 80 IBU. Rye, oats. Dry. Full bitter throughout. (on tap at Deanos Vinos).

 

Coming to Rock Bottom North: Wit (about 3 weeks), Saison, Tripel (January). Liz is going to do these three with the same strain of Belgian yeast.

Coming to Rock Bottom Downtown Dec 10. Old Curmudgeon. An Imperial Red with 85 IBU.

Coming to Ram tonight: Barefoot Winter Wit. A Belgian Wit that has orange peel in the mash and will have a chamomile finish. 1054OG.

Rock Bottom Downtown has introduced a beer menu. Until recently the chalkboard served to describe the beers in a very few words. The menus now have fuller descriptions of the standards and replace the bar runner strips that are always wet and yucky. The wait staff is trained to point out the seasonals' page and the handpull. Good for them. But we do hope the chalkboard will be kept up to date since it's where we always look first.

We hear the new Crown Liquors in downtown Indy may open next week. It's at Ohio and Delaware. 638-3720. Update your rolodexes since it will be Mike Sprinkle's new home.

Back in 2007, Three Floyds brewed Admiral Lord Nelson, an 6.5% American ESB with Floydish Northwest citric pine hoppiness. Well, it's back and they seem to plan a bomber release. With appropriate artwork.

Bell's Eccentric Ale, 2008, will be out this winter sometime. It's a “Malt Beverage brewed with Birch Syrup, Honey, Maple Syrup, Juniper Berry, and Elderflower.” No popcorn, or malted milk balls like in 2006.

Jean-Pierre Van Roy has retired from the Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij but his son Jean is stepping into the same big footprints. (Jean's new Zwanze series of lambics put out a rhubarb lambic last year. This year he is using elderflowers.)

Here's a story about the FDA's caffeine letter and a list of breweries etc. who received it. Virtually all make stuff like Smirnoff Raw Tea Malt Beverage. Seems like this may not affect Coffee Stouts.

Got $5 and want to buy a piece of Pabst. BuyABeerCompany.com wants to crowdsource the $300M and you can get .00000166% for yourself.

Lesse, a 20% tip on a $5,000 bottle of wine is . . .  ====>>
And notice the time. 2:39pm. Some lunch.

Worthington White Shield is the longest-produced bottle-conditioned ale in Britain. Winner of many awards and owned by many companies through the years. Now owner Molson Coors is adding Worthington's Red Shield with Brambling Cross and Cascade hops. Next year we might even see production increased enough to cover most of the US.

This guy in Portland, OR, brews with "ham and cheese; Bac-O-Bits; peanut butter and chocolate; and Nutella. His CXI Pumpernickel Ale is the 11th anniversary Widmer/ Oregon Brew Crew Collaborator beer, and yes, pumpernickel bread is an ingredient."