Beers, Cheers, and Sneers – February 7

RateBeer has released their latest set of “best” lists for 2013, which is better known as the Three Floyds Open in this state. The craft titans from Munster rank #2 (behind only Hill Farmstead Brewery in Vermont) on the list of Best Brewers In The World. Dreadnaught, Zombie Dust, and Dark Lord (Bourbon Vanilla Bean) claimed spots among the Top 25 on the list of Best Beers In The World. To take it one step further, a total of nine 3F offerings were included among the Best Beers By Style lists (they make a Schwarzbier?). 

The wealth is spread around a little more if you delve into the Top Retailers By Subregion for Indiana:

Best Brewpub	New Albanian Pizzeria and Public House (New Albany)
Best Restaurant	Shallos Antique Restaurant (Greenwood)
Best Brewer Taproom	Flat 12 Bierwerks (Indianapolis)
Best Bottle Shop	Crown Liquors #14 (downtown Indianapolis)
Best Bar	The Heorot (Muncie)

You should never take it literally if you hear us muttering that it seems like a new brewery opens every day. According to the Brewers Association, that would more accurately be stated as 1.06 breweries per day in 2012. The nationwide figures show an increase in active breweries from 1949 at the end of 2011 to the 2336 that closed out 2012. But wait – there’s more! The BA counts 1254 prospective breweries-in-planning that were in some phase of opening during 2012. Like I always say, a chicken in every pot and a brewery in every neighborhood – that’s how it goes right?

Bottleneck Management is set to open a new restaurant called Howells & Hood this March in the Tribune Tower. The setup includes three separate bars with a total of 360 beer taps, which they believe will be the most of any restaurant in the world. If you go there and ask your server to come up with a recommendation, you might be suffering from sadistic personality disorder. It’s not your fault.

Surly Brewing in Minnesota lived up to their moniker and had a little fun with authorities by submitting label artwork that features a pink unicorn, fairy, and accompanying rainbow. The label was predictably rejected for appealing to underage drinking. So Surly has learned that pink unicorns are bad, but occult imagery is no problem.

Good news/bad news for AB InBev’s annual splurge on Super Bowl “big game” commercials. The Budweiser spot reuniting horse and trainer took the top spot in USA Today’s Ad Meter Results, but commercials for their heavily hyped Black Crown and Beck’s Sapphire products took three of the bottom five spots. I guess a bunch of hipsters toasting a dude in an apron doesn’t make up for calling your amber lager “black”.

A collaboration between Spiegelau glassware, Sierra Nevada, and Dogfish Head produced a new glass specifically designed for drinking hoppy beers. The glass is designed to aerate the beer as you tip it so that a blast of aromatics are delivered to your nose as you sip the liquid. I don’t have a joke for this, I just want one.

More than a few homebrewers were caught off guard in 2012 when the National Homebrewers Conference sold out in a then unprecedented two days. Welcome again to the brave new world of American beer culture. Despite a nearly 90% increase in capacity, the 2013 conference sold out in 20 hours. Hope everyone who made it in has a great time this year. I won’t be joining you, but surely this photo spurred on the increased demand. If anyone from the American Homebrewers Association is reading this, please make the royalty check out to Poppi Rocketts. Thanks.

So you’ve probably heard that the push for Sunday alcohol sales has reared up again in the current legislative session. This is logically the time where I should climb on my soapbox and rant against another bass-ackwards law still on the books in Indiana. But I’m just having a hard time finding the motivation at this point. Not because I’m a big fan of blue laws or appreciate Indiana serving as a national punch line every time another state decides to join the 21st century of alcohol laws. It’s just hard to see why it really matters for our scene. If you’ve lived here for a while, how often are you really blindsided when Sunday rolls around and the fridge is empty? And with carryout sales now allowed from Indiana breweries, most people can support a local business and take home a fresh growler or six-pack for Sunday festivities. But of course, this was never about the best interests of consumers, it’s a retailer pissing match between liquor stores and grocery chains. And that’s not the type of thing that really gets my blood boiling one way or the other. So Sunday sales would be nice at a certain symbolic level, but I can also live with punch line status for a while longer. Other states can laugh it up, but we still have the Kokomantis.

Cheers, Nathan

Beers, Cheers, and Sneers – August 16

Keep an eye out for Sierra Nevada’s “Best of Beer Camp” 12-pack boxes hitting stores this month. The Imperial Red Ale inside was developed by Muncie’s Stan Stephens (owner of the Heorot Pub) and Bob Cox at last year’s Beer Camp. Their creation was selected as one of four beers to be included in the variety pack which also includes an Oatmeal Stout (quite large for the style at 9% ABV), Imperial Pilsner, and Floral IPA. If you can’t get your hands on a box, the Imperial Red Ale will be one of 20 Sierra Nevada brews tapped at the Heorot’s “beer school” on August 24th from 6-8pm. There is no charge for the event, but potential students are asked to sign up at the pub in advance of the festivities.

Congrats to Four Horsemen Brewing in South Bend for winning a bronze medal with their Irish Red in the US Open Beer Championship. The competition included more than 1650 beers judged in 65 beer style categories with Sweetwater Brewing in Atlanta winning the Grand National Champion award.

As we approach the season for Oktoberfest celebrations, word comes from Bell's that their annual Octoberfest seasonal brand will not be offered in six-packs this year. The construction and transition into their new brewhouse limited the required fermentation space, but the product will still be available on draft. In other Bell’s news, their seasonal and somewhat elusive Double IPA “The Oracle” will be tapped at 6pm tonight at Max's Place in Bloomington and at 5pm Friday at Gerst Haus in Evansville.

There may be some concerns on the horizon for fans of hard ciders. Michigan is estimating a 90% loss of their annual apple crop after the spring weather caused fruit tree buds to come out early and subsequently freeze. Indiana could also see our worst crop in over 50 years.

This week the White House admitted to operating a homebrewery that makes small batches of beer for special events. After reading just a few of the comments on the USA Today story, I’m not going to attempt a joke or even say another word about this. Take a deep breath everyone, it’s not always that freakin’ deep.

The term “craft beer” highlights the list of words and definitions added to the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Other notables include “gastropub”, “man cave”, and “sexting”. The list is rounded out with the ubiquitous “f-bomb”, which is likely utilized more frequently in the making of craft beer than its consumption.

The occasional odd/random request or announcement will hit my email, but this one was kind of a standout. In an effort to appeal to the younger audience, the folks at Roth IRA created Tom, the 25 year-old beer lover who can use their products to save enough money for a retirement skyscraper worth of beer that will provide a six-pack a day until he turns 100. I’m just guessing that most of us will need to buy a few things other than beer in retirement, but I have to applaud the effort here. It’s worth noting that the savings allocate 83 cents a beer, so you may have all you want but it probably won’t be Three Floyds.

A mother bear with three cubs reportedly ripped off the wall of a cabin in Norway and proceeded to consume over 100 cans of beer stored inside. The party continued as the bears finished off the cabin’s food and smashed the beds and kitchen appliances. The owner identified the culprits based on excrement on the outside of the cabin. So the ripped open wall wasn’t your first clue?

A startup brewery going by the name of Kinky Kabin in Bangor, Wisconsin (I couldn’t make this up if I tried) seems to have embraced the idea of taking sexuality in beer marketing to the next level. I’m not one to necessarily discourage such things (let’s not talk about some of my homebrew names), but the claim that their beers are “specially formulated to lower the inhibitions of the people drinking it” seems a bit obvious. There is a way to formulate beer to lower inhibitions. Most of us just call it fermentation.

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News – February 23

Columbus will host the D’Vine Winter Wine and Beer Festival this Saturday from 11am – 7pm at The Commons on the second floor of the Nugent-Custer Performance Hall. Upland will be representing the Indiana brewing community. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 on Saturday.

Construction is underway at the new Tin Man Brewing Company in Evansville. They are shooting for an opening this summer, but in the meantime you can follow the progress on their Facebook page.

The Heorot Pub is Muncie is poised to become the city’s only brewery. Stan Stephens and Robert Cox have put together a unique brewing system with a wooden frame to go with their Viking theme. Each batch produces just 10-11 gallons (…maybe my patio qualifies as Sahm Park’s first brewery…) so there will plenty of room for experimentation. This article claims it will be Muncie’s first brewery, but the pre-prohibition Muncie Brewing Company might dispute that.

The Hoosier Beer Geeks report plans for a collaborative brew involving Sun King and Colorado’s craft beer canning pioneers Oskar Blues. The breweries will be creating an 8% Belgian-style ale called Chaka that will be released in their respective markets. Oskar Blues is not distributed in Indiana, but should you find yourself in a state where it appears on the shelves pick up some Gordon and thank me later.

Since it’s 50 degrees outside and you’re already thinking about spring, it’s worth mentioning that Bell’s Oberon will be released on March 26th. Prepare yourself for some overhyped much anticipated release parties coming to a bar near you.

We’re looking for judges and stewards for the National Homebrew Competition first round judging at Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis. If you are a BJCP-certified judge or would like to participate in a fun event as a volunteer steward, the online registration site is now open here: http://tinyurl.com/nhcindy2012. There will potentially be four judging sessions:  Friday evening, April 13th @ 7:00, Saturday morning, April 14th @ 10:30, Saturday afternoon, April 14th @ 2:30, and (if necessary) Sunday morning, April 15th @ 10:30

I leave you with a Zymurgy magazine cover featuring swimsuit model Kathy Ireland from 1988 that resurfaced thanks to AHA founder Charlie Papazian. Who says homebrewers are geeks?

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News – January 19

Three Floyds has posted their 2012 State of the Brewery Address highlighting their production exceeding 20,000 barrels in 2011. They have contracted more hops to keep production of Zombie Dust moving forward. Supplies will be limited so keep your eyes open.

Stan Stephens, owner of the Heorot in Muncie, and his brewing cohort Bob Cox were invited to participate in Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp. During the two-day camp, they created a nice sessionable Red Ale dubbed Red-oric that clocks in at 9+ percent ABV. Want to try it? Head over to the Heorot at 8 pm on February 11th and join the festivities.

Goose Island fans may be disappointed to learn that Big John, Demolition, Fleur, King Henry, and Nightstalker will not be brewed in 2012. But various forms of Bourbon County Stout will carry on the Extreme Ales tradition.

Mark your calendars: Keg Liquors Fest of Ale 2012 will be held on June 2nd from 3-7 pm. We’ll have more details as they become available.

In case you haven’t heard, both VIP and General Admission tickets for Winterfest are sold out online. You can still try to find General Admission tickets at Crown Liquors and Central Indiana breweries……or nobly volunteer to be a designated driver.

On the subject, we have it on good authority that homebrew clubs will be able to serve beer at Winterfest! There had been some debate on how to interpret the Indiana law forbidding the sale of homebrew in the context of festivals. But we’re back baby!

Cheers, Nathan