If you can't make it but still want to help, you can go to http://www.imbcr.org/ to donate.
Showing posts with label Beer Geeks Pub. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beer Geeks Pub. Show all posts
Beer Geeks special keg tapping
"Terrapin Beer Co. from Athens, GA, will be on tap in Indiana one day only, Friday October 28th at Beer Geeks Pub in a collaboration with the Shmaltz Brewing Company. Reunion Ale '11 is a Dark Ale brewed with cocoa nibs from Olive and Sinclair in Nashville, vanilla, and chili peppers. This beer has been brewed to benefit the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. Besides the Reunion, Beer Geeks will have a bunch of great craft and import beer flowing from their other 19 handles. Maybe even a surprise or two. Not into beer? Ciders, Mead and Gourmet Sodas are on their menu as well. We'll be selling t-shirts as well as hand-signed copies of Shmaltz Brewing Founder Jeremy Cowan's book, Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah, which, like the Reunion Ale, proceeds will go to the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. So bring some friends, hang out, try some great beer and support a great cause."
If you can't make it but still want to help, you can go to http://www.imbcr.org/ to donate.
If you can't make it but still want to help, you can go to http://www.imbcr.org/ to donate.
"Get Him to the Geek"
Jason Owens has spent four years trying to open the bar where he wanted to go have a drink. His efforts have paid off as Beer Geeks has just celebrated its first year in business proving that others in the region also want to go to his bar and have a drink. Of course striking the craft beer iron while it is hot didn't hurt either.
Not Your Typical Dive Bar
Well, from appearances, it is exactly your typical dive bar. Sandwiched between a pizza joint and a burrito place, the unassuming facade of Beer Geeks isn't inviting the masses from the outside with bright, flashy lights and a wall of picture windows letting you peer at the patrons inside. There is one iron gated porthole that lets in absolutely the bare minimum of natural light. At 3pm when the door opens you have to adjust your eyes to take in the darkness, tempered only by the glow of fluorescent.
"I wanted that dark bar, downtown Chicago feel: low ceilings, dark and intimate. I wanted a dive bar with a purpose," Jason explains to me. "I got some of my ideas from Bone Dry, the booths, tables and chairs. And I always had the idea for the leather couches. First thing I did when I got in here was get the carpet." The carpet, the exact color escapes me now, only contributes to the dark atmosphere. In contrast to all of it are the white ceiling tiles that even the whitest guy could jump and hit."This is the kind of bar I hung out in Chicago. I always wanted to open a place where I wanted to go drink." And that's the prevailing theme with Jason. He fell in love with the Chicago Blues scene and offers Tuesday Bluesday. Local bands and musicians come play on Saturday nights to add to that intimate bar setting. It's everything you might expect to find in downtown Chicago.
The Craft Beer Phenomenon
"Bone Dry had been rotating craft beers before the movement ever became huge. It was just something different than your Millers or Buds. You will never find those here."
My journey into craft beer started at Beer Geeks with a bottle of Hoppin' Frog's BORIS. As I was chatting with Jason I was slowly sipping on a snifter of Hoppin' Frog's DORIS, completing my circle so to speak. Recently, Wise Guys Liquors advertised a rare beer sale with one of those bottles being DORIS, which I had already had!
"It's all about the relationship with the distributors. I take care of them, they take care of me. If there is one barrel left in the state, they give me a call and say, 'Hey, there's one barrel left and we're bringing it to you.'"
That's a great position to be in. When you are tapping kegs from all over the states it pays to grab the barrels that might not be available anywhere else in Indiana. Now I'm sure the folks in Indianapolis get a large selection as well thanks to distributors down south. But the rotating selection up here separates Beer Geeks from even the breweries that can trade their own beer for another's.
"Every time you come to Beer Geeks it is like a brand new bar. Yesterday we had 'Old Blarney' but today it's gone. I'm about to go put on 'Zombie Dust.'"
And away he went, back into his labyrinth of kegs and lines and swapped out one for another. As he was cleaning the line of the 'Old Blarney' pouring it into a pitcher he offered a taste of an 'Old Blarney,' 'Zombie Dust' mix. I passed but the other patrons at the bar were more than happy to try.
That's how it has to go here. There is no set day and time for beer rotation. If a keg is empty, Jason wastes no tap space and grabs another brew. It makes Beer Geeks a year round brewfest.
And the clientele certainly helps lend that feel too. When I was there chatting with Jason there were maybe a dozen people in the place. Although I was the one pressing him for answers, every patron was waiting to hear the story behind the bar. At times, the topic changed from Beer Geeks simply to beer. There is no more enjoyable experience than drinking a great beer and talking about great beer with people who share the passion.
The Palate Requires There Be NO SMOKING
The town of Highland does not have a smoking ordinance.
"Totally my decision," Jason says.
"So this wasn't because you were serving craft beer?"
"No, but I know how much that means to craft beer drinkers."
It certainly is an added benefit to walk into Beer Geeks and not be engulfed in a haze of secondhand smoke. Most of us know that to truly enjoy a craft beer you have to invoke all five senses and that can be a little difficult when all you smell is nicotine addiction and all you taste is stale air. But it all goes back to Jason's concept of the bar he wants to drink in.
This is also a good thing for the beer selection. It all comes down to his palate. He alone selects the beer and sometimes, on a rare occasion, he may let a distributor talk him into a beer without actually tasting it. As far as I can tell, this has backfired only one time.
"One time I got a keg of Pink Killer Beer. It was grapefruit infused. Probably the worst beer I've had in my life. I went through the keg in three days. The girls really loved it."
Word of Mouth
"I advertised one time. I ran a weekly Friday ad for a month in the Times advertising a Blues event. Oh, and one time I sent stickers or coasters to a brewfest and nobody had any idea the place existed."
I cheerfully retorted, "But you have about 3,000 friends on Facebook."
"Yeah, but half of them are from Brazil. You know how Facebook is, people see 'beer' and they just go crazy. One girl 'liked' one of my keg tapping's yesterday. I did that in September! I hope she wasn't expecting to come in here and order it."
Jason takes the time to announce every new beer on tap and he's pretty good about staying up to date. Between Facebook (Beer Geeks), Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/beergeekspub and his own website, http://www.beergeekspub.com/, you can always stay up to date on what's going on.
I asked him how much sleep he's lost in his first year of business.
"I haven't lost any sleep. Sure it keeps me busy, between [the three aforementioned media], bar tending, working another job (yes, he works another job), and running the business I certainly have been busy. But I have a lot of help."
The Future
Beer Geeks, with little to no publicity or fanfare, is slowly becoming a staple in the craft beer scene here in Northwest Indiana. Although the vast majority of the public may be unaware of its existence, the fans of craft beer flock quite frequently to enjoy a pint, tulip, or snifter of the newest ale to arrive on the scene. It even manages to attract a few hipsters thanks to the offering of PBR ($3 tall boys only).
When I asked Jason about the future of Beer Geeks he offered me a surprising response:
"I want to open a blues bar."
North West Indiana Report
Took a trip up north. Here's what we found.
- Mr. Brown is back with chocolate, black, and caramalt and Columbus and Cluster hops. 7%, 47 IBU, and a full mouth feel.
- The Procrastonator Double Helles Bock uses Pilsner malt and Pearl Hops at 36 IBU to give a sweetish 7.2% strong beer that may become a staple or the grounds for a lighter true Helles Bock down the line.
- Aberrant Amber is a nice dinner Amber with a touch of spice from Amarillo and Centennial. 5.5%, 48 IBU.
Kennywood Brewing Supply in Crown Point was closed as we went through town. Got a shot of the interior at least.
- Belgian Triple – Soft peach color. 9.1%. Little aroma, somewhat sweet, neutral and very to style.
- Milk Chocolate Stout – Thick, plenty of carbonation, very drinkable, lots of chocolate coming through from the 20 pounds added to the boil. 7.1%. A+
- Winter Warlock. Reddish cherry. Small malt aroma. At 7.1% a pleasant knickerdropper with no flaws. Uses maple syrup and honey along with spices in the brew kettle.
- The Ostemoller (AKA Osti) – Smoked Helles Lager with 5.1% and 28 IBU. Substantial Rauchness comes in late. More smoke than Spezial and less bacon than Schlenkera. A+
- The Creeper Dopplebock. 9% and 23 IBU. Jet black with a tan head, looking like a Stout, Porter, Black IPA, or a Mild and the Creamy marshmallow, chocolate malt, and nut notes really confuse the Dopplebock designation.
- Also on tap: Alpha King, Robert the Bruce, Pride & Joy, Gumballhead, Dreadnaught, Arctic Panzer Wolf IPA, Sand Pebbles Strong American Brown, Owd Engwish Barley Whine, Aotearoa New Zealand hopped Amber, Hell's Black Inteligencer Oatmeal Stout.
The new Beer Geeks Pub in Highland was the next stop. It's at 3030 45th St. in a shopping center. 20 taps, 1 handpull. Non-smoking. A comfortable roadhouse feel, knowledgeable staff, detailed beer menu, and a cardigan clientele make this a new favorite local for the area. The beer pictures on the walls were drawn by July Barrera.
Figure 8 Brewing was also closed as we went through. The Ro Shampo at Beer Geeks sill suffice. It has 6 malts to make an Imperial Red Ale at 7.5%. Not a Rad Red or other ultra-hoppy Summit brew, rather, it is quaffable and sneaky.
- Kolsh Syrah Syrah is bright golden and served quite cold in a wine glass. Fiting since it has been barrel aged in a wine barrel. A distinct wine (not cider) punch to the palatte.
- 5th Anniversary Wet Hop – Good but not a freshness bomb anymore.
- Beltaine – As always, liquid Scottish. A favorite.
- Discombobulation – Barley wine aged on Bourbon barrels. True BW with a touch of oakey vanilla. Strong and ready to drink. Worthy. A+
- Lost Sailor Imperial Stout aged in a Bourbon barrel. Noticeable Imperial Stoutness. Not noticeable barrel.
- Seven Red – Red Rye with 4 types of rye, such as Crystal Red, and 3 other malts.
Sam is putting in 2 30bbl fermenters and a 30bbl conditioning tank in the back room to join the phalanx of oak barrels.
These barrels have produced, with up to year of aging, 6 beers that are available at the bar ($20/750ml): Lost Sailor Imperial Stout, Discombobulation Celebration, Sum Cens IIPA, Big Bella Scotch, Curse the Goat Dopplebock (all of these in Bourbon barrels), and Seven Red on a French Shiraz oak wine barrel.
Coming up: Bavarian Bombshell, Black IPA, Don't Panic English Pale Ale, Singing Sands Oatmeal Stout.
Mishawaka Brewing's seasonal is a
- Pumpin Ale that is bright, yellow, and strong pumpkin pie from the aroma through the lingering aftertaste.
- Seven Mules Kick-Ass name got the KA for a reason. Bitter, then a touch of caramel then a massive floral hops attack.
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