The very old format of IndyBeer had this news for February, 2004.
2/15 - Mad Anthony's has been voted Fort Wayne's best neighborhood tavern by the readers of Watzup magazine.
2/13 - According to this article, beer doesn't dehydrate you and if you drink 8 pints of beer a day (6 if you're a woman) that's all the liquid you need.
2/13 - First the Hofbrauhaus set up a brewery in Newport, KY. Now St. Sebastian is coming from Belgium to open a brewery in Spring Hill, FL.
2/13 – Indy - Easley Winery will have Montmorency cherry juice from Door County, WI available in 3 to 4 weeks. These tart cherries are very good for making homemade wines, ciders, and beers. Price will be about $9 to $11 per gallon. To get some, you need to get on their list to be called when it comes in. Then you'll need to take a non-glass vessel downtown to pick it up within about 4 days. Yep, a pain in the rump, but they have more than 30 people signed up already - many for 5 gallons or more. Call Easley's at 317-636-4516.
Last night, Easley's hosted the Foam Blowers mead tasting and Ben Tackitt of Easley's shared his home-made dry Ethiopian Tej, a mead spiced with Gesho bark. Aren't you sorry you missed it? In actuality it was very good as was his sweet, spicy Braggot medieval mead/beer.
2/13 – Indy - Here's the Rathskeller's current lineup (in case you were wondering):
Ayinger Oktoberfest
Guinness
Oaken Barrel Razz Wheat
Rathskeller Amber (we think from Sprecher)
Reissdorf Kölsch
Spaten Optimator and Lager
Warsteiner Isenbeck and Pilsner
Weihenstephaner Hefe Weiss and Hefe Weiss Dunkel
Woodchuck Cider
2/13 – Indy - Alcatraz has 9 on tap nowadays. Omar's newest is a bold porter brewed with Adrian Ball. It has Munich, black, chocolate, and aromatic malts (920 lbs for 12 bbl). Hops are Goldings, Crystal, and Liberty. Really drinkable.
Coming up, a pilsner with Mt. Hood and US Goldings. Then a reformulated Red with Maris Otter and Munich malts. Early April will se an IPA that has been made with Sean Tucker. It also uses Maris Otter and Munich malts but with Simcoe and Cascade hops.
We all wish Omar well with his impending knee surgery.
2/13 – Indy - The Ram's seasonal is Marley's Stout. Thick, black with a brown lacey head. Burnt toasty notes with a thick mouthfeel. Really a tart taste. Roast, chocolate, kiln coffee, and crystal malsts are balanced by almost 40 IBU. It should be on Nitro for St. Paddy's day so Guinness drinkers will feel at home. BUT it is a very serious beer on CO2 the way it should be.
Mid March will see an 8% Scottish. Yep. It's the return of Wee Creature. Mid April, a Maibock.
March 16th the Ram will have a Brewer's Dinner. Details TBA.
2/13 - New Albany - RichO's has Turbo Hog and on the handpull this weekend (if you get there quick) Bell's Two Hearted Ale.
Bourbondaddy will be back in April.
2/12 – Indy - The Rock Bottom mug club will "meet" on Feb 18 to welcome Tim's Schwarz Hacker Black Lager. "A German style light bodied black lager with subtle roasted and chocolate malt notes and a spicy hop presence from German Hallertauer hops. Lagered very cold and cold-stored for over a month before serving for a smooth mellow flavor." It's free to join their mug club.
Coming up at Rock Bottom: a Dry Irish Stout. In late March: Fire Chief Irish Red Lager. May: American Wheat Ale. June: A Malt Liquor - yep, a strong malt-n-corn Colt 45 but even stronger. They will also host a Chef & Brewers Dinner - a 5-course meal paired with 5 house beers.
Hint: Upland, Lafayette, Barley Island, Mad Anthony, Three Floyds, Duneland, Broad Ripple, Back Road, Main Street, New Albanian are among the commercial brewers represented.
2/11 – Lafayette - At the Lafayette Brewing Company, the seasonals include Tippecanoe Common Ale - no not a California Common (steam beer) but a creamy American IPA - dull copper with massive grapefruit, pineapple, and citrus hops in both the aroma and taste. Also, Smokehouse Porter is on.
2/11 - Michigan City - Duneland Brewing's Stout on tap is excellent. It's a rich oatmeal style, dark, brown head, thick, malty, and clean. A new batch of their Wheat is just now on tap.
Duneland has a problem with the lines from the serving tanks to the taps and this causes their beers to gain some funky dactyl notes over time. Get Barb's fresh beers though and you'll be happy.
2/11 – Valparaiso - Aberdeen Brewing had a serious problem with their glycol chiller on New Years eve and have just started brewing again. Some beers will be sparse in the next month until stocks in their serving tanks get back up to normal levels. Right now, only the Golden Ale is gone.
At the Chicago Brewpub Shootout, Aberdeen won a medal for best food.
2/11 – Indiana - Short sips:
This year's Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine is at Kahn's and on tap at BW3 downtown. Chalkies also has a keg to put on later. Thirteen cases also can be found at the Liquor Stop in Highland for you Chicago readers.
Coming in March: Weihenstephan Korbinian dopple bock.
Scotty's and Chumley's in Lafayette (only) have Arrogant Bastard on tap. The Legends of Notre Dame will have it by this weekend.
Also coming up on the Legends taps, Rogue Mocha Porter, an offering from Barley Island, and Victory Hop Devil and Storm King!
Barley Island will bottle some of their Bourbon barrel-aged stout in 22oz bottles for local consumption. On their hand pull right now is a limited 10 gallon run of Spiced Ale with allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
We spotted 2 dusty 6-packs of CircleV Muddy Water brown on the shelf at the Trail Inn liquor store in Valparaiso. Not recommended.
The Fiddler's Hearth in downtown South Bend has Belhaven Scottish on a nitro tap. Creamy of course and very rare to find on tap. Also try their Scotch eggs and Des Trifle (white chocolate bread pudding).
3 Floyds may start construction on their brewpub next week (but they are really, really busy). It could conceivably open in May.
Look for 3 Floyds' Gumball Head in late April or early May. They are going to have it out in 22oz bottles also.
2/11 – Homebrew - The Foam Blowers of Indiana has an annual Heavy Hydrometer competition for Old Ales, Barlywines, etc. This year's winner, Paul Edwards is sharing his recipe for winning Old Rip Barleywine that he made in 2000. It's so good the same beer from the same batch won last year also.
Recipe for 5 gallons.
| Grain Bill M&F Pale Ale DWC Caramunich Munich malt 15.00 lbs 3.00 lbs 3.00 lbs Yeast: 10 grams Danstar London Ale dry yeast for primary 5 grams Lallemand EC-1118 champagne yeast added a few days after primary had begun. Bottled when fermentation was complete. OG: 1107 | Mash Schedule: Mashed at 153 deg F for 1 hour | Hop Schedule Centennial pellets Columbus pellets Mt Hood Plugs Cascade plugs 10.0% Alpha 15.0% Alpha 3.9% Alpha 5.0% Alpha 28 grams 56 grams 28 grams 28 grams 60 minutes 60 minutes 45 minutes 15 minutes |
2/11 – Indiana - We don't really do editorials but can't help express our outrage over two Indiana developments.
1) In Muncie, a new Chuck E. Cheese got a 2-way (beer and wine) license. They say "There is a segment of customers who like to have a glass of wine with their meal, but it's not the focus of our business." IndyBeer editorial: That's just wrong. They're justifying selling beer at kid's birthday parties. That in itself isn't necessarily wrong but they are implying their clientele are wine drinkers - and that's just duplicitous. article
2) An IPD cop had an accident and a BAC of .017 (50% over being drunk and 100% over being legally drunk). So now no city worker with a car who may be called in to work can't drink anything ever. That would seem to include supervisors at the DOT, DPW, etc. article
3) That same cop with the .017 BAC got a 10 day suspension. If it was you or me, it would have been a 1-year license suspension, a bunch of fines and court costs, and addiction classes. article
2/7 – Indy - The Oaken Barrel has a new English Session Ale (a British Mild) on tap. Brewer Ken Price says "OB Session Ale is light, refreshing and has significantly less carbs than most micro-brewed beers." But forget his Mich Ultra implied comparison. A British Mild isn't by any means a flavorless beer. Marris Otter malt and East Kent Goldings hops.
2/7 – Indy - BW3 downtown has some new, very interesting, items on tap.
- Bluegrass Barley Wine - on the hand pull.
- Chouffe N'Ice
- Rogue Mocha Porter
- Bells Consecrator Dopplebock - Red copper with a big tan head. Strong malty nose. Well balanced. Not as pushy as many dopples. Spaten Optimator is also on tap if you want to try them side by side.
Corsendonk Christmas Ale is still on by the way.
- Stone's Old Guardian barley wine will go on tap next week.
- And there's a new JW Lees Harvest Ale on the handpull. The keg Mike DeWeese has kept hidden away is finally out. The Lagavulin-oak-aged keg full of malt, hops, and other chewy liquid nutrients.
Last night, 14 guys from World Class Beverages, Merchant du Vin, Avery Brewing, and Scottish Newcastle had an informal 59-beer tasting of aged, strong beers. Some dated back to 1983. But the star of the show was Mike's Lagavulin-oak aged JW Lees Harvest Ale in a pitcher from the handpull. It's just that good.
2/5 – Indy - Chalkies list now includes Tenant's Scotch, 4 Bell's, Alpha King, Arcadia IPA & ESB. Marv has also added 33 Belgian bottles including multiple offerings from Trappistes Rochfort, Allagash, Oud, Unibroue, Chimay, and St Bernardus. Yes!
2/5 - Ft. Wayne - Coming up at Mad Anthony: a Steam beer is now fermenting. A Spring Bock will follow. The seasonals on tap now are:
- Apple Ale. 100+ Gallons of local apple cider were added to the wort. Plenty of apple but not cidery sharp and without an apple burp. Effervescent. Blue/yellow of a Berliner Weiss. They say a half-and-half with the Raspberry Ale is popular but I didn't try it.
- Snow Plowed Winter Ale (also at Auburn location). Dark copper. A classic strong ale - just look at the style guidelines A+ Stuff.
- Imperial IPA. Medium coper with little head. 9% ABV and 60+ IBU. Very little hop aroma but the first hit on the tongue brings white knuckles. It grows on you fast but sip it slowly. Take a bathroom break. Then come back for another first sip and delightfully shudder all over again. Chinook, Cascade, Willamette hops and dry hopped with Chinook. Not grapefruity.
- Unveiled today: Imperial Stout. The pre-release taste I had was so very black with a pure brown, long lasting head. Thick on the side of the glass. Nice mouthfeel. Subdued malts and very balanced. Minimal roasty grain without darker notes. 1092 OG. 8.7% ABV. 55 IBU from Fuggles and Chinook hops.
2/5 - Ft. Wayne - The latest rumor about the Oyster Bar comes from the bartender who says they are not selling the equipment and may look for another brewer someday.
They are out of the Luna Lager but have all the other regulars on tap including the yummy Oyster Stout - which "should last another 3 months". Good stuff. Black, thick, and Imperial Milk Stout.
On Sundays, 10oz mugs of beer are $1.
Scott's Groceries are supposed to have good beer selections and the one on South Ind 27 will have a Belmont's built across the parking lot. The one at State & St. Mary's is changing their movie rentals area into a wine and beer niche. We'll see if they stock many titles.
Besides Mad Anthony's, the only acceptable beer bar I found in Ft. Wayne is the Munchie's Emporium at 2910 Maplecrest Rd. 9 taps and 20 interesting bottles. $2 specials on Thues, Wed, and Fri.
HopBack Entire Stout. Brewed in one of England's most successful brewpubs in Salisbury. 4.5% ABV bottle conditioned. Very rich and toasty. Not really chocolaty but much of the same type of attitude.
1995 Sam Adams Triple Bock. Still strong with plum and raisin. Thick stuff. Will age 8 more years no doubt. Who were we to know at the time that it was a bargain? At about 4 servings per bottle, it still is at the Heorot. The aftertaste lasted right through a Kölsch and a later pizza.
2/5 – Muncie - Lagavulin sighting: Friendly Liquors in Muncie, Yorktown, and Chesterfield all have a bottle or two. The one in Muncie has a very big selection of beers (500+) in 10 cooler doors. It's neat that you can mix and match from any 6-pack in the cooler with individual bottles priced at 1/6th of the 6-pack price.
2/5 - Anheuser-Busch reports record sales and earning for the fourth quarter, 2003 - up 12+% from 2002. Worldwide, they sold 111,000,000 bbls of beer. article
2/5 – Bloomington - The IU Student Association elections have a group of people running based in large part on a call for a "wet" campus where alcohol would be allowed in dorms. They are calling themselves the Big Red ticket. article
2/5 - Courts are looking into a new Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM) anklet that tests the user's sweat every 30 minutes for alcohol. It can detect a blood alcohol level of .025%. It will be used for DUI and repeat alcohol offenders. A court in Ohio is charging offenders $12 a day to wear the $1,500 device plus a $100 deposit and a $75 installation fee, thus ensuring the court makes a profit from the equipment. This article says it's also being tested in Indiana.
2/5 - Speaking of courts. There are 2 class action suits claiming the beer (and malternative) industry has targeted under-21 drinkers.
One filed in Washington, DC, cites Coors promotions tied to PG-13 rated Scary Movie 3 as well as the cartoonish Captain Morgan character. It also names makers of Heineken, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Bacardi, Brown- Forman, and the Beer Institute of Washington, DC. article
The other was filed in California and asks for $4 billion. In this suit AB and SABMIller are the only defendants at this time. article
2/1 - Short sips from the March issue of All About Beer
- Coors has axed Hooper's Hooch. Back in the malternative days of 1998 it sold 81M bottles.
- Guinness makes Draught Stout for Ireland, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and the US at the St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin. For the rest of they world they make "Guinness 'essence' - a viscous, black malt extract - and ship it in MG Mini-sized plastic containers to Guinness breweries around the globe where it is made into Guinness Foreign Extra Stout."
- Charilie Papazian on 3 Floyds Dreadnaught: "WOWWWW! Hops in the aroma. Hops in the flavor and Hops in my head! I am in the September fields of Yakima! This is not a beer. It is an experience! If you like hops, you must seek this beer. Fluu flavored, full strength, full of hops and enchanting dreams. A palate-pleaser for hopheads. This is not a beer for wusses. Excuse me while I swallow."
- We may see 22 oz bottles of MacTarnahan's beers and and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
- Rogue's latest is an Imperial Pilsner at 8.8% ABV. It comes in 750ml swingtops.
- As if Sans Coulottes wasn't enough, now there's a Nude Beer with a peel-off label.
- Carbs come from grain and sugar. So does calories. You make beer lighter by either using less fermentables, watering it down, or using more aggressive yeast and then water it down. The later is the most often used.
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