Indiana's Flat12 & Tin Man sponsor Beer and Bourbon Fest just across the Ohio River: Feb. 20 (BBL aged & booze) & 21 (beerfest)

Do you love beer? Are you interested in Bourbon? Get a $20 Discount and enjoy not only Indiana but Kentucky barrel aged beers and Kentucky Bourbon this Friday night 11 minutes from Jeffersonville, IN, at the Tailspin Ale Barrel Roll event at Bowman Field, Louisville! Spend a night in Louisville and mingle with Brewers and Brewery Reps, enjoying limited Barrel Aged Beers, Bourbons and Craft Cocktails with local food and entertainment. Enjoy such beers as
Flat 12 (Indianapolis) Pinko Russian Imperial Stout aged in Willet Bourbon Barrels,
Flat 12 Snowdog Russian Imperial Stout aged in Canadian Whisky Barrels,
Tin Man (Evansville) Cherry Cordial Barrel Staved Czar Russian Imperial Stout,
Apocalypse Brewing (nano - Louisville) Official Tailspin PRO/AM Ale – “Spit Fire” Russian Imperial Stout w/Peppercorns,
Against the Grain (Louisville) We Mint Well Scotch Ale Brew Dogs Collaboration to be featured on the BrewDogs TV show in April,
West Sixth Brewing (Lexington) Transy Brandy Belgian Tripel Aged in Copper & Kings Brandy Barrels, and dozens more.
The Friday night VIP event features gourmet tapas from Mussel & Burger Bar, El Taco Luchador, CENA, and Guaca Mole Louisville plus national recording artists the Pimps of Joytime, and a photo booth for candid memories with friends.
Tickets are discounted to $65 per person (vs. $85 at the door if available) by entering BARREL into the promotion code. More info and tickets here

On Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Tail Spin Ale Fest over 40 breweries with at least 3 Indiana breweries (New Albanian, Flat 12, Tin Man), a dozen Kentucky breweries and more will be represented in a super cool vintage airplane hanger. With a smaller venue and representation of Southern states there are many beers you may not otherwise get to try elsewhere! Last year we enjoyed the expansion of KY breweries and trying special products as well as chatting with so many in the industry. The brewing industry is like a family. Brewers from all across the nation know each other. Larger local brewers are often found helping the smaller breweries as they grow. This is well represented in this nice brew fest! Check out the brewery list and tix (if still available - going fast!) HERE

Kentucky and Indiana brewers tend to be just great folks. Our early venture into barrel aged beers was from Kentucky brewers. We'd venture to Louisville and sample Bluegrass Brewing's Bourbon Barrel Stout. (available at Tailspin) One fine day we stopped in at a BBC location and met Brewer Sam Cruz. Sam was pleased to show us the operation and provide us with samples of many barrel-aged products. Eventually Sam left BBC and with partners opened Against the Grain Brewery at Louisville's Slugger Field. We shimmied up ladders with Sam to see the multi-storied brewery and sampled more notable beers like Kentucky Ryed Chicken (available at Tailspin). We are now excited to try the ATG/BrewDogs (think TV show) collaboration at this Tailspin Barrel-Role. Sam represents so many fine brewers that are so congenial and love to talk about their beer just like DH and Evan, founders of Country Boy Brewing in Lexington and Roger Baylor of New Albanian (NA IN) Brewing. Good people brewing good beer!

Kentucky, just like Indiana, is going through legislative action that tends to be the local brewers vs. the big international giants Ky Beer legislative action here
Indiana brewers can't grow due to a cap put on brewing for local distribution. Details here We can help by providing our opinions to legislators!

IF YOU LIKE NUMBERS Craft beer (US Dept of Commerce numbers) grew 18% in 2014. Belgian beer imports grew 25% but on a small base of sales while Mexican imported beer represented 60% of all imports in 2014, growing 15%.

Read our Valentine's picks here....

Craft Beers from the Borders

I haven't had a chance to drink too much at new breweries or tap takeovers these days. I miss getting out and trying new beer and hopefully will get out more as 2014 carries on.

Even though I haven't gotten out to some local Indiana craft beer events or breweries I have made it to some craft breweries in states bordering Indiana.

A few weekends ago I was out and about in Cincinnati.  Made my regular trip to Jungle Jims, which I highly suggest popping into if you are ever in Cincinnati, they really have a great selection of beer.  After Jungle Jims I popped into Rivertown Brewing Co..  I will say, you have to know where you are going to find Rivertown. It is in the middle of an industrial park.  Once inside you are greeted with barrels of beer aging, and a nice little bar.

It was quiet Saturday afternoon, not yet busy so my friend and I got an opportunity to get a flight and talk with the taproom associate on staff.   Of course the first thing I ordered was a flight. If a flight is available, I'm all for trying as many new beers as possible. I did cheat, in my flight the first thing I ordered was the Roebling Imperial Robust Porter. This beer caught my mouth back at the Beer Blogger's Conference. I love how the vanilla blends well with the espresso. Generally espresso is bitter but this beer makes it nice and smooth.  Next on the flight was Dunkel, which was nice. Had a slight toffee flavor to it.  The rest of the beers were Hop Bomber, Bock Lager, Brewmaster's choice which was a blonde. All decent beers, but the stand out besides the Roebling was the Winter Ale. It had a molassess, spice mouth feet that literally felt like chewing on a gingerbread cookie. I'd definitely say it was my second favorite.  My suggestion? Pick up a 6 pack of Roebling if you can.

This past weekend I stopped by Bluegrass Brewing Co. brewpub on 4th St.  in Louisville. BBC's Bourbon Barrel Stout was the first bourbon barrel beer I tried. Immediately I fell in love with the concept and the flavor of beers that were aged in bourbon barrels. That extra creamy, vanilla undertones complimented the stout even straight out of the bottle. I was excited trying a pint of it from the tap, at the brewery it was made. Of course I also went and ordered a flight to try the more of the BBC lineup. (Because more beer trying is never a bad thing).

I was a little hesitate for trying the green beer. After all, it is a little gimmicky due to St. Patrick's Day. The lineup  for the flight was: a Dark Star Porter,a Alt Bier, Wit Bier, an IPA, an APA, a Blonde and a Smoked Rye.  I really liked the Smoked Rye, which was surprising because I don't really like smoked beers. They can be a little over powering. I also don't really like rye beers but something this beer had a nice flavor that wasn't overpower in the heavy smoke flavor.  If I didn't already have plans for having a pint of the Bourbon Barrel Stout, I would've had a pint of the Smoked Rye.

The food at BBC is also very well. A mix of southern with having fried green tomatoes. And a little bit of other southern inspirations as well with the burger toppings and entree offers.  I highly recommend getting a pint, a bison burger smokehouse style, with garlic fries and an appetizer of green tomatoes. Or just beer. Because according to BBC - Beer is Food.

It's been nice adding more breweries to my list of visited places. I hope to add more of our new up and coming Indiana breweries as well. If anything, I highly suggest popping down to KY or over to OH and trying out Rivertown or BBC.

- Cheers,
Kathleen