Indiana Beer News - September 28

This week in stuff to do (more at www.indianabeer.com/calendar.html)

• Thurs, Sept 29 - Fest of Fall Beers. Keg Liquors, Clarksville. 6-9pm. $0
• Sat, Oct 1 - BeerMBA Class. Carmel. 2-5:30pm
• Sat, Oct 1 - Thunderfoot release day. New Albanian. Today only. $15/22oz.
• Sat, Oct 1 - Taste of Germany. Rathskeller, Indy.
• Sat, Oct 1 - Oktoberfest, Upland, Bloomington. All day.
• Sat, Oct 1 - Bell's extravaganza. Dash-In, Ft. Wayne.
• Sat, Oct 1 - Cask Conditioned Crown Brown release. Crown Brewing, Crown Point.

The Beer Is Good blog is good. Andy's latest post is about last weekend's Brew at the Zoo in South Bend.

Here's the word on Uplands next sour - Sour Reserve. Coming out next month.

Bier Brewery and Taproom says "This Friday we are expecting to take delivery of some new equipment that will enable us to eventually double our production over the next few months"

Kahn's has Rochefort 10 in 6-packs for $6.49.

Crown Liquors is opening a new store in Noblesville. (US 32 & River Rd.) They hare having a Grand Opening on Oct 8th. 1-4pm with a party and prizes.

Reuters reports AB-InBev is looking to buy SABMiller for $80 billion. It'll probably cost almost that much to get the US, EU, and other anti-trust agencies to approve the deal.

"Greece has been one of the countries hardest hit by the beer recession. Annual per capita consumption fell to 36 liters from 41 liters from 2008 to 2010, while employment in the beer industry plunged 15 percent." NY Times article

Your mass of beer at the Oktoberfest will be only 75% full. article

Guinness Black Lager. It's coming.

Dash-In Bell's Event Update - Sept. 28

The Bell's beers that will be available this Saturday, October 1st, starting at 7p.m. for $10 for nine (9) 4oz. pours are:

Two Hearted, Best Brown, Oarsman, Oktoberfest, Expedition Stout, Quiannann Falls, Deb's Red, Hopsolution, and an Amber firkin.

Recap of the First Annual Brew Haven Craft Beer Festival (Trion Tavern) - Sept. 24

On August 6th, the First Annual Brew Haven Craft Beer Festival took place at Trion Tavern, in New Haven, IN.  The day was hot and humid, but it did not stop the 500 attendees from partaking in the many, many craft beers that were available for sampling along with many, many homebrewed beers from the Mad Anthony Serious Homebrewers club.

There were 500 tickets for sale for the festival and the festival was a sellout.  The lines at times for beer and food were long, but well worth the wait.  Thank goodness there were numerous fans inside the tent to try and keep people as cool as possible due to the amount of people inside the tent and the high humidity.  There were also tables outside of the tent and there was more beer and food inside the Trion Tavern for those that wanted/needed to take a break from the humid outdoor conditions.

All-in-all, this was a fun beer festival to attend with a lot of good beer, the attendees were having a good time sampling the wide variety of beers, and it was well organized.  I personally thank Greg and Adam for their hospitality and for their time and hard work that was put into making this their First Annual Brew Haven Craft Beer Festival a big success.

Mark your calendar for the 2nd Annual Brew Haven Craft Beer Festival to take place on Saturday, August 4, 2012.

Fort Wayne and Beyond Events - Sept. 22

Today at Dicky's Wild Hare beginning at 3:30p.m. they will be celebrating the addition of five more taps bringing their tap total to 15.  Come out and help celebrate and see what beers they have to offer.  (Must be 21 yrs. of age or older with valid photo ID to consume beer at this establishment)

Also today at 800 Degrees Wood Fired Oven Pizza they will tapping a keg of Bell's Oracle Dbl. IPA at 6p.m.  Also available will be Bell's Oberon and Octoberfest, Hair of the Dog Adam, and Boulevard Collaboration #2 White IPA.

Tomorrow, Friday, September 23rd, Cap n' Cork (Dupont Rd.) will be having a FREE beer tasting from 5p.m.-7p.m. featuring Oktoberfest beers from approximately 20 different breweries.  Come out and sample some of these beers and perhaps find a new beer to enjoy this Fall.  (Must be 21 yrs. of age or older with valid photo ID)

On Saturday, October 1st, Dash-In will be having a Bell's Extravaganza event featuring 8 specialty beers and one firkin as the Dash-In salutes Oktoberfest and the Fall season.  More details to come. 

On Saturday, October 8th, from 1p.m.-5p.m., Deer Park Irish Pub, will be having their 2nd Annual Deer Park Pub Craft Beer Festival.  The cost is $25 per person and this includes samples of dozens of craft beers from around the country as well as samples of homebrewed beers.  Food and music will also be available during the event.  Tickets can be purchased at Deer Park Irish Pub, Belmont Beverage stores, or at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/194080.  Get your tickets before this event sells out!! (Must be 21 yrs. of age or older with valid photo ID)

Here are some upcoming events at Crown Brewing in Crown Point, IN for those readers in that area or if any of our readers will be in the Crown Point, IN area:

  On October, 1st, they will be releasing their first Cask Conditioned Ale in celebration of Cask
  Ale Week -  Crown Brown Real Ale.

  On October 8th, the city of Crown Point and Crown Brewing will be having an Oktoberfest on Main Street from 3p.m.-11p.m.  There will be a beer garden, three bands, food vendors, games, contests, and kid friendly activities.  They also will be pouring beers from Sun King.

Indiana Beer News - September 21

The Beer is Good blog, based out of South Bend, is having a party at Fiddler's Hearth on November 5th. They're calling it The Beer is Good at Fiddler's Hearth Craft Brew party. In preparation TBiG and FH spent a day at Four Horsemen creating a beer for the event. The blog post doesn't  mention a name or style so it may be a surprise. Guess you'll have to be there to find out. That's neat.

A press release from Iechyd Da:

A microbrewery will fill an empty storefront on Main Street in Elkhart. Owners Chip and Summer Lewis have secured the building located at 317 N. Main as the future home of Iechyd Da (pronounced Yacky Dah) Brewing Company.  Renovations will begin soon and continue through the winter with a projected opening in April 2012.

 The Lewises are capitalizing on the growing popularity of craft beer by bringing locally produced, artisan ales and lagers to the City with a Heart. Once open to the public, Iechyd Da will offer 7-10 rotating house-brewed beers along with simple, fresh food choices. 

The pub will have seating for fifty and a new parking lot will be constructed next door to the building. When the decision was made to open a brewery, Owner/Brewer Chip Lewis had no doubt about where it should be located

“I was born and raised in Elkhart. I love living here and I hope to be part of the great things happening on Main Street. My goal is to help bring people downtown with a product that is unique to our pub and our town,” said Lewis.

Lewis is of Welsh descent and can trace his lineage to the first arrival in 1635. The brewery name—Iechyd Da—pays homage to his heritage and is a Welsh toast equivalent to saying “Cheers!” 

Beer brewed by Iechyd Da will not be available for sale to the public until April; however the Lewises will be offering samples at tasting events throughout Michiana in the coming months. Iechyd Da Brewing Company will be featured with other local breweries at the South Bend Brewfest on October 22nd at the Century Center in South Bend. Tickets are available at morriscenter.org.

Brewery progress may be followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iechyddabrew.

Headline: Bell's Brewery Inc. expects new 200-barrel brewhouse to begin operation in January (with video)

Really. Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. 

Foster’s announced that it will sell itself to SABMiller’s for $10.2 billion.

Here's a nice bunch of Oktoberfest pictures.

And a sad picture of Ninkasi Brewing's imploded grain silo. Hint: Open a vent at the top when taking malt out the bottom.

Police in Denver evacuate an apartment building due to the odor of a meth lab. Turns out to be a homebrew kit. article

The Search For The Great Pumpkin: Beer Edition Round 1

The best time of the year in Indiana, at least in my my mind, is the fall.  Growing up in California, there were little changes in weather from season to season.  I first moved to Indiana in the summer and when I experienced my first fall...I fell in love.  Fall in Indiana is an explosion of colors, crispness in the air, time for apples and most importantly: pumpkins.

I've had a few tastes of pumpkin ales in the past, but this year I decided I'd go all out and really start comparing different pumpkin and autumn ales. Mostly for the sake of my curiosity to see if a beer can embody the smell and taste of a pumpkin spice.

First Round:

 Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale

I literally felt like after one sip of this delicious concoction that I was sitting in the middle of a big pile of fall colored leaves eating a slice of pumpkin pie.  The pumpkiny and spice flavor hits you immediately and delivers sip after sip. It's a beer I could even drink warm.  I kid you not, everything about this ale -- color, scent, taste was all about the pumpkin.  I think drinking this ale first may have set me up for the ones that followed.

vs.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale 
In all fairness, the description of this ale says it has hints of pumpkin taste. I would say barely. The overall taste of the beer is pleasant, drinkable, slight golden and bubbly, but I wouldn't call it a pumpkin ale. Unlike Schlafly with a base of American Ale, Shipyard is a wheat ale. I'm not sure if the wheat base is what I'd pair with the pumpkin spices.

The winner of this round was definitely Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale. 

More Beers to taste include:
New Holland Brewing Company - Ichabod Pumpkin Ale
Tyranena - Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice
Buffalo Bills - Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Blue Moon - Pumpkin Ale

-- Also still tracking down some ales --  (P.S. if you have any suggestions, locations of, or general information.. please let me know ) 

In local news.. A little birdie (aka twitter) informed me Flat12 Bierwerks is going to be making a pumpkin ale as well. I wish more local breweries were making pumpkin beers.

A girl can always dream.

Anyways.. stay tuned for more rounds of Pumpkin Beer comparisons, Along with some autumn ales and Oktoberfest beers!

And even though it's not official til Friday -- Happy Fall everyone :)

Indiana Beer News - September 18

This week's doings in Indiana:

• Mon, Sept 19 - Oktoberfest tapping party. Granite City Ft. Wayne, Mishawaka, Indy. 4-6pm
• Thurs, Sept 22 -Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 6:30 boring speech. 7:30 Pub Quiz. Barley Island, Noblesville.
• Thurs, Sept 22 -  Northcoast PranQster tasting. Brockway Public House, Carmel. 5pm.
• Sat, Sept 24 - Valpo Brewfest. Valparaiso. 125 beers. 1-5pm. $40 
• Sat, Sept 24 - Brew Ha Ha. Evansville Museum of Art, History, and Science. 6-10pm. $25/$30. 
• Sat, Sept 24 - Herron-Morton Place Oktoberfest. 3-10pm. Indy. $5/$10
• Sun, Sept 24 - All Beers Considered Beer & cheese tasting. Cornerstone Center, Muncie. $20 to $30. 2-5pm

Found a new brewery-to-be. Iechyd Da Brewing Co. has just moved into their building at 317 N. Main St. in Elkhart. They'll be brewing by this winter. See their facebook page for details. You've probably already figured out Iechyd Da means Cheers in Welsh.


In addition to the European barley crop woes, the USDA says barley production is down 7% from 180 million bushels to 168 million bushels. Stock up now.

How many books about Indiana beer can you find on this shelf at the Barnes and Nobles?

Four Horsemen is open in South Bend

The newest brewery in Indiana is Four Horsemen in South Bend. We visited last weekend for a checkout and to grab a growler for a family reunion.

Details:
710 Fellows St. (North of Sample St. through the underpass).
574-387-5772

Open Thurs-Fri/; 4-8pm
Sat/; Noon-8pm
Sat of Notre Dame home games/; 9am-Noon
Sun: Noon-4pm

The door is not memorable but leads to a comfortable bar that can hold probably 40 people. Here they give away samples and sell pints and growlers. Chips and pretzels are available and food can be brought in or ordered from the Dew Drop Inn about a half-mile away.

In the back room, visible from the bar, the Mishawaka Brewing equipment from Elkhart has found a home under Stephen Foster's care. They also have a small SABCO system for test batches and extreme beers. The 4H range is going to get bigger and biggers.

 

Pale Ale:Brit style with plenty of earthy spice and a touch of noble hop skunk.

Irish Red: Dark. On the sweet side. Lingering diacytl.

Blonde: Nice and bright yet with a cream ale thick mouthfeel. Got 2 growlers of Blonde for the reunion.

12oz bottles have arrived and should be hitting the streets soon.

Ben and Sam Roule's Great Grandfather, Joseph delivered beer in downtown Chicago in 1919 and a picture of him is proudly displayed. Their Grandfather, Arthur, had a post-war beer distributorship in Michigan City and their father Robert owned Metro Beverages in South Bend. There's beer in those boys' blood. From their web site:

 "During the early 90's Sam and Ben Roule (Robert's sons) started working for the company as teenagers. They both started out sweeping floors, loading trucks, picking orders and delivering beer. Over the years both Sam and Ben worked summers during high school and college. Both graduated from Indiana University. Sam being the oldest was the first son to return to the business to become a full-time sales representative. Ben later graduated from IU and went to work in sales for an Indianapolis based distributor Monarch Beverage for 2 ½ years. After leaving Monarch Beverage Ben returned to Metro in 2003 to soon become Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Sam at that point being Vice President of the company.

In June of 2009 Metro Beverages sold to Indiana Beer. After the sale of the company Robert, Sam and Ben started to discuss the idea of starting a Micro-Brewery here in South Bend. There was one thing missing….. a Master Brewer! To the Roule's luck their accountant who is a craft beer enthusiast and friend of the family was having a few beers at Lone Peak Brewing Co. in Big Sky, Montana during a ski trip and mentioned their story and idea to the owner and Master Brewer of Lone Peak Brewing Co.. The owner of the brewery told the Roule's accountant (Paul) that he just recently had a well-qualified Master Brewer apply with him that he was not able to hire. The brewery owner gave the resume to Paul and he passed it on to the Roule's. Soon after the Roule's contacted Stephen Foster the Master Brewer and began talks about starting a Micro-Brewery.

Over the next couple months the Roule's got to know Stephen and about his tremendous pedigree in the brewing world. Oh and when I say world I mean he has traveled the world. He started his career by attending "The Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan School of Brewing at Weihenstephan Brewing Company in Germany (the oldest Brewery in the world). Over the following years he spent time working for SABMiller in South Africa, did some distilling for a Rum Company in the Dominican Republic, worked at Nimbus Brewing Company in Arizona and did some consulting work on start-up and existing brew pubs and micro-breweries in the US.

Stephen eventually moved to South Bend and started test batching beers on a small 15 gallon SABCO brewing system in Sam's pole barn. After test batching for a few months the Roule's and Stephen soon went full speed into the start-up of Four Horsemen Brewing Company in January of 2011."

 

Indiana Beer News - September 15

New Albanian says 22-oz bombers of Jaxon, Yakima and Tunnel Vision will hit Indiana real soon now.

Three Floyds - November 12^th is their 15th Anniversary party. 2500 tickets will be sold starting sometime to be announced. The XV beer will be a collaboration between 3F, Surly, Mikkeller, and Struise. "We are brewing Surly Darkness, Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Brunch, De Struise’s Black Albert, and our Dark Lord Imperial Stout. All these beers will be blended to create our XV beer for maximum ass kickery." Bottles of XV will be $30 each at the party.

Indy's upcoming Black Acre Brewing Co. gets ink at the Indy Star. article

Prohibition: Ken Burns 3-part documentary will air on your local PBS station probably Oct 2, 3, 4, at 8pm. The parts are titled A Nation of Drunkards, A Nation of Scofflaws, and A Nation of Hypocrites.

The UK is looking at raised taxes on beer of over 7.5%. Right now a 7.6% ABV pint has duty of 80 pence. Shen the new budget goes into effect that will be just over £1. It's a sliding scale so the average raise on barleywines and the like will be over £1. That's at the brewery, not at the pump. (Back to American English) A 6-pack of, say Fuller's Vintage Ale, Gales Prize Old Ale, an Imperial Russian Stout, or Traquair House Jacobite will cost an extra $5 over here.

Wheats from unexpected places. Weihenstephaner White Hoplosion. Amstel Wheat.

Top 10 Oktoberfests outside Germany including Zinzinnati and Ho Chi Minh City.

32 beer tattoos. That is all.

Want More to do this Week (9/12-9/17) - Go Beer!

A small addition to Bob's wonderful beer update :) & IndianaBeer.com's Calender  update -->

Tonight 9/12  -  Ale Emporium - Tapping @ 6pm - Bell's Brewery "Oracle" - DIPA
Tuesday 9/13 - Thr3e Wisemen Brewery  - Tapping @ 6pm - Strong Scotch Ale
Saturday 9/17 - Hoosier Hops and Harvest Festival - in Brown County
Saturday 9/17 - FalltoBeerFest - Beer Seller in Indianapolis.. (Castleton) from 4pm-5pm


We'd love to hear if you have more events or information on current beer festivities! :)

Indiana Beer News - September 12

This week in stuff to do. (see http://www.indianabeer.com/calendar.html for more).

• Today:  Sandkerwa begins at New Albanian's Public House. All beers Bavarian (including Bamberg). Continues for a couple of weeks.
• Tues, Sept 13 - Rocktoberfest tapping. Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy. 6-8pm. 
• Thurs, Sept 15 - Official Grand Opening of Triton Brewing. Lawrence.
• Fri, Sept 16 - Great Lakes Brew Fest. Racine, WI.
• Sat, Sept 17 - Fall Fest. Back Road, La Porte. w/ Ein Prosit band. 1-5pm. $20.

Brewers Art Supply has moved a couple of blocks to 1425 Wells St. in Fort Wayne. Francie and Joe have filled their new digs with grain, hops, etc. and out back is a pleasant, shaded courtyard for special events.

 Triton soft-opened last Saturday with Jon Lang's first batch of beer - a root beer - and a full set of guest taps. That day, Jon was in the back room brewing an American Wheat - the first beer that will hit the taps.

Figure 8 Brewing is in the early stages of moving to a 12,000 sq ft building on the south west corner of the Porter County courthouse square (Indiana & Washington Sts. in Valpo). They will devote 1,800 sq ft to a full restaurant and the back room to an expanded brewery with bottling.

Right now, F8 has Date Night with Jumbo Love on tap. Jumbo Love is their Black Barleywind (10%) and the Date Night name references the use of Medjool dates in the recipe.

 Figure 8's new place

 The county courthouse is reflected in the window

Crown Brewing is also expanding. Adding 2 more fermenters to the already-crowded brewhouse. Next year a separate brewery with a 15bbl system is in the plans. The new fermenters are part of a 7bbl extract system they bought at auction and the rest of those vessels are available for sale. Contact Tim Walsh.

We missed Tim Marshall's last brew at Rock Bottom Lombard/Yorktown, IL. (He named it "Good Riddance IPA"). Davin Bartosch is taking his place.

The  Bulldog Brewing Co in Whiting has the essential stainless steel in place and the furniture ready to become a full brewpub. It has a long bar and stool seating on one side and table seating for 30 on the other side. The back of the mash tun and boiler are in the front window. They have "We're hiring" signs in the window and might be opening this autumn.

 Future home of the Bulldog in Whiting

Sam and company have been working since last January on the back rooms at the extensive Shoreline building to make room for a 30 bbls system and bottling works. New walk-ins, a cask room (now with 23 barrels for next year's release with plans and space to double that in the future). There's still a lot of work to do so don't expect 12oz bottles until next spring.

Back Road is now open Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Chuck really should put that on their web site. My apologies for dropping in at crunch time.

Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy's Rocktoberfest tapping is Tues, Sept 13th. $1 of every Rocktoberfest sold goes to Miracle on Washington Street.

Oaken Barrel will be tapping their Oaktoberfest on Sept 17th.

We've lined up a couple more Hoosier Beer book signings to bother you with. Sept 22nd at Barley Island. Oct 12 at Shoreline.

Headline: Brewing Mecca: Wet your whistle in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan

The neo-prohibitionist Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking is back. Director and sole employee Lisa Hutcheson calls for more taxes, etc. article

Labor Day Beer Trek

This labor day was a little quieter than previous weeks with the beer festivities at least for me.


However... I was able to take part in a little trip down south to Bloomington to visit a couple of breweries.


First stop was at Upland Brewing Company . Most Hoosiers know of this company, since they have been one of Indiana's top micro brewers for the past 13 years.  This was my first time actually visiting the brew pub. I have had many samples of Upland during beer fests and at local bars but there is always something better about coming to the place where all it comes together.

I arrived to Upland a little before noon.. (hey.. it's always 5 o'clock somewhere).. and right of the bat ordered a sample set of all 7 drafts available along with the spinach and artichoke dip to help snack in between sampling. 


(I was slightly disappointed that they didn't have their Bad Elmer's Porter which is usually a year around beer on tap, but the selection available seemed to be a good variety.)


<-- From bottom to the right I went around the board..

My order of tasting was:
1. Double Dragonfly Imperial IPA
Despite the high IBU, this was very nice IPA. I could even see myself drinking more of it. Even with the floral notes in the aroma. 
2. Rad Red Amber Ale
3. Helios Pale Ale 
Both of these were drinkable but not distinctive enough for my taste. However, they are smooth enough for anyone to drink. 
4. Wheat Ale 
I liked that this was a Belgian Wit  instead of more of a weissbier. The orange peels that were added during brewing gave it a nice light citrusy taste, however I prefer a lemon flavor more with my witbeirs than orange, but overall a very nice brew. 
5. Oktoberfest
As the Amber Ale and Pale ale previously, the Oktoberfest was a smooth beer but didn't have me craving more. 
6. Nut Hugger Brown Ale 
Another festival tasted brew.. but in this line up stood out more given the carmelness of the malts. 
7. Mother's Milk Stout 
If you read my review of HBG5 then you know this is one was on top of my list from the beginning. 

After visiting Upland, I will say I had more of an appreciation for their beers, even the ones that are not my typical profile choices. I do suggest if you get a chance to visit their Bloomington Brew Pub or at least their tasting room in BroadRipple. You may be surprised as well.


 After Upland and the scenic tour of Brown County, the next brewery I visited has only been on the map for 2 years.  Big Woods Brewing Company literally sits in the heart of Brown County's crafts district.

 (which is a pain to find parking, but fun if you are on foot.) 

If you'd like More information on Big Woods can be found from Bob's blog from 2010: Big Woods Addition.

Sitting at Big Woods Brew Pub is by the honor's code, as in they don't have a hostess and you line up on the porch. It's a small brew pub, but it has a small friendly staff. After a brief wait, a table was free and I got to order their sample flight and an appetizer. 

Sample of  7

My samples from left to right where:

• Busted Knuckle Ale -- a hybrid ale.. with the color of a porter but the taste of an ale.
• Cat Tail Wheat -- an American Wheat, however had more weiss taste. The orange slice addition actually was a little too much. 
• Six Foot Blonde -- a soft blonde ale
• Possum Trot Pale -- followed by a soft pale ale
• Hare Trigger IPA -- this one was actually the "winner" of this round of sampling. a figuratively light IPA with only an IBU of 75. I preferred it above all the rest because it had more of a robust flavor than the other 6. 
• John's Red Ale -- an easy drinking red ale
• Tim's Big Woods Stout -- a light tasting stout. It seduced me by name, color and smell but left me hanging with no richness that I have come accustomed to with stouts. 

As you can see overall the beer was OK, but my expectations were set high with a name like Big Woods... I was hoping for Big Flavor. 


I would however go back to Big Woods Brewing Company because the pulled pork nachos were amazing.


Both breweries should definitely be on the map to try for yourself, mostly because no one know can tell you what you'll like.. you just have to go experience yourself.   I know that trying the IPAs from both places made me rethink my stance on hoppier beers, but I could have been under the influence of my Flat12 Bierworks shirt -- "Hopheaded Stepchild" 


In the end.. I want to say thank you Upland and Big Woods for the visit.. hope to see you again soon!

Indiana Beer News - September 6

Three Floyds' Region Riot is an 8.1% malt liquor complete with corn. Released before Labor Day.

Tonya Cornett gets ink in the Wall Street Journal. "Secrets of a Blue-Ribbon Brewmaster". large article

Twenty Tap, Kevin and Tracy Matalucci's pub at 54th & College is now open. Kevin, as you know, has been the brewer at the Broad Ripple Brewpub for 17 years, so expect 20 taps of good beer and first reports say the food is excellent. 

Butler Winery's annual hop sale is on. Here are the details.

Indiana Beer News - September 1

This weekend and beyond (includes next week because I'll be on the road in northern Indiana. Stop in at Mad Anthony's or Beer Geeks and say hi.

• Thurs, Sept 1 - Oktoberfest Tapping. Sun King. Indy 6-9pm
• Thurs, Sept 1 - Rhineland Kolsch tapping. Ram Fishers. 6:30. (also some 2009 Barrel-aged Buttface Amber)
• Fri, Sept 2 -  Opening of Triton Brewing. Lawrence. 3pm-10pm.
• Sat, Sept 3 - Kennywood Brewing Supply 2nd anniversary. Crown Point. 11:30am-7pm   
• Tues, Sept 6 - Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 6:30 boring speech. 7:30 Pub Quiz. Mad Anthony, Ft. Wayne. No charge
• Wed, Sept 7 - Tapping of Harvest Ale. Rock Bottom, 86th St. Indy. 6pm
• Wed, Sept 7 - Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 6:30 boring speech. 7:30 Pub Quiz. Beer Geeks Pub, Highland. No charge. 
• Thurs, Sept 8 -  Big Horn Oktoberfest tapping. Ram Downtown Indy. 6pm.
• Fri, Sept 9 -  Mad Anthony Octobeerfest Golf Outing. Ft. Wayne
• Sat, Sept 10 - Mad Anthony Octobeerfest. Ft. Wayne
• Sat, Sept 10 -  ZooBrew, South Bend. 7-10pm. $35
   Barley Island, Four Horsemen, Mad Anthony, Oaken Barrel, Three Floyds, Upland
• Sun, Sept 12 -  Sandkerwa begins at New Albanian's Public House, New Albany. All beers Bavarian (including Bamberg). Continues the rest of the month.

 

 

At the Taste of Kokomo, Half Moon and the Howard Co. Homebrew Club gave brewing lessons but Half Moon didn't win the ribs competition. article

Triton Brewing will open this Friday, Sept 2nd.

We found Snaps Steakhouse; 12 and Main in Jasper - worth a visit.Steaks, seafood, pasta, sandwiches and 8 taps including BBC, Bells, FFF, Schlafly, Stone. $2 pints on Tuesdays. They seem to have the largest mug club around - 3 walls are covered in engraved 25oz mugs and members get their filled for $1 more than a pint. The building is directly across the street from the the site of the Excelsior brewery (1849-1916) which osened it as the Queen City Saloon (below). Now it's owned by Kim Mitchell and Dave Englert - Zack Mitchell is the barman.

 

The Hoosier Beer book signing in Evansville had about 16 people and the OHVA crew won the pub quiz (below). In New Albany at a smaller, 6-person turnout Roger Baylor swept the quiz playing alone.

Roger reports Jesse Williams is now with Huber winery - as you remember, Jared Williamson is now with Schlafly. Don't get them confused.

Sara's Harmony Way is selling Harmonie Bier at her small antique shop / lunch place in New Harmony. It's Great Crescent's Replicale (Dark Lager). here are the details - The sign says "Indiana's 1st Beer".

The popular Upland tasting room in Indianapolis will be selling pints every day and has new hours: Sun-Thurs 4pm-10pm. Fri + Sat: Noon - Midnight

Re: last weekend's Midwest Brewers Festival in Plainfield, IL: " Overall, some 3,000 to 4,000 people braved the devastatingly perfect weather to walk along the river and try beer from nearly 60 brewers."

Guinness Black Lager to be launched nationally in September