Thoughts on new (and returning) breweries in the Indiana market

The recent months have produced some big news for breweries entering or returning to the Indiana market. Smuttynose hit our shelves first, followed closely by Green Flash. Dogfish Head announced a plan to return to Indiana by the end of 2013, while reminding Rhode Island that they've seen a fu!*ng map. And Oskar Blues….what the heck is going on with Oskar Blues? We haven’t heard any new information on a timeline since there was initial indication they would be here by now, but we also have no reason to believe it won’t happen in the near future. I’m still assuming the World Class Beer Spy wouldn’t be listing Dales Pale Ale if there was much doubt about that.

I have at least some experience with the offerings of each of these breweries, and they will all be great additions to our market. But as I considered writing up some thoughts about them, I was a bit surprised at how enthusiastic I felt about certain breweries versus others. So this post will have some thoughts about each brewery, but also my personal ranking of how excited I am to obtain these beers without driving to Ohio. So we can skip the “in no particular order” copout and move on with the rankings.

1. Green Flash Brewing (San Diego, CA)

This is probably old news to many who have found Green Flash products in their taverns and liquor stores over the past month: Green Flash makes damn good beer. Especially if you’re a hop head. This was hands down my favorite brewery we visited while in San Diego for the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference. It’s true that Stone is like the Disneyland of craft breweries, but Disneyland is overrated. Heck, the most memorable beer I drank at the brewery was an ESB, and you have to do a mighty fine job to make a style like that stand out in a sea of insanely hoppy beers and Belgian styles.

When I started thinking about how to rank these breweries, the question that comes to mind is which specific offerings will really stand out in an ever-expanding market. For me, I can gaze upon a sea of IPA offerings and the West Coast IPA is one that will grab my attention every time. At the risk of plagiarizing the brand name, this beer symbolizes the quintessential West Coast style with an extremely aggressive bitterness that melds into a wonderful cascade of citrus hop notes. Similar things could be said about the Hop Head Red for those who enjoy a little more malt character to balance out what is still a very hop-forward offering. One of the few offerings that hasn’t been overly impressive was a recent taste of their Double Stout. Too big at 8.8% to be an easy drinker, yet lacking the complexity of a Russian Imperial Stout, I would probably opt for Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Ale if looking for a something in that neighborhood.

There are a couple of downsides to buying Green Flash at your local liquor store. First, there is a slight premium built into the price of these products. Expect a 4-pack of their regular lineup to run $11-12. That’s not your typical 4-pack of pints that is becoming more common. That’s a 4-pack of 12 ounce bottles. Second, watch the bottling dates printed on the bottles. When I would seek out the West Coast IPA in Ohio, finding a reasonably fresh batch was challenging and it makes a big difference with this beer. We’ll have to see how well the chain works to get fresh bottles to Indiana, especially after Green Flash is relatively well established. On the upside, the product comes in very sturdy, uniquely etched glass bottles that are great for cleaning and refilling with homebrew :)

Try these beers: West Coast IPA, Hop Head Red, Palate Wrecker, Le Freak

2. Oskar Blues Brewery (Lyons, CO)

Given my past obsession with finding Oskar Blues beers in other markets, it seems a bit surprising to sit down and not be able to place them in the top spot. Maybe I burnt myself out on Oskar Blues binges on past trips. Maybe it’s still the haunting experience with GUBNA (more on that later). Regardless, this is still great news for the Indiana craft beer market. Similar to Green Flash, Oskar Blues rapidly made a name for themselves with outstanding beers that have capitalized on the American craft trend of bigger and hoppier. And I’d venture to guess that few nationally distributing brands started out in a town as small as Lyons, CO (population 2067); which is an absolutely charming little town at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

If West Coast IPA is a benchmark for American IPAs, OB’s Dales Pale Ale is certainly in the same category for American Pale Ale. A beer that nicely balances both aggressive malt and hop profiles, DPA was the first beer I ever tried from the brewery and still probably my favorite. A close second would be G’Knight Imperial Red, which was formerly known simply as “Gordon” until Gordon Biersch Brewery jumped into the craft beer cease and desist game. Compared to the Green Flash Hop Head Red, G’Knight has a much more aggressive underlying malt character and can put you down for the night at 8.7%. But while these two beers are standouts in a good way, the GUBNA Imperial IPA is the opposite for my tastes. Heavy on Summit hops, this one comes across with some ammonia/cat pee in the aroma and heavy garlic and onion in the flavor. Yummy.

To the best of my knowledge, Oskar Blues does not play the bomber game and packages everything in 4-packs of cans. Most cans are 16 ounces, while some premium brands like Ten FIDY Imperial Stout are reduced to the standard 12 ounce size. To continue pushing the boundaries, the brewery will begin canning Imperial Pints (19.2 ounces) of their Mama’s Little Yella Pils this year.

Try these beers: Dales Pale Ale, G’Knight Imperial Red, Ten FIDY Imperial Stout, Old Chub Scottish

3. Dogfish Head (Rehoboth Beach, DE)

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”

“Absence makes my sneakin’ around that much easier”

How the heck did Dogfish Head end up at number 3? Considering their importance in the craft beer revolution, their well-deserved reputation as innovators, and the fact Sam Calagione is Poppi’s dream man; they should have been a lock for number 1. Well, as the initial quotes alluded to, ya left town Dogfish Head and we found other loves.

We’ve lost other great breweries in my market (Avery, Great Lakes), but none had the same effect as when Dogfish Head left Indiana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wisconsin in 2011. But even for a brewery as unique as Dogfish Head, there were plenty of alternatives at that point. 60 Minute IPA? The field had leveled on that one long before. 90 Minute IPA? Tougher, but still plenty of good Imperial IPAs on the market. Indian Brown? Tougher still, but Boulder Beer Flashback is a pretty nice substitute. The one I really missed was Punkin Ale, but that is just a seasonal and nothing an annual run to Ohio couldn’t fix. Raison D’Etre and Palo Santo Marron were impossible to replace, but those were never everyday beers in my lineup.

For the record, I respect the hell out of the tough decisions Dogfish Head and other emerging craft breweries have made when faced with overwhelming demand. Taking the company public and risking the erosion of your culture and creative control is the easy way out. It was incredibly welcome news that these beers will be returning to Indiana shelves. You always want what you couldn’t ever have, and maybe I’ll start taking Green Flash and Oskar Blues for granted once they’ve been on shelves for a while. Being new to the market doesn’t make your beer any better, but how people perceive such a product can become slightly skewed. I’m not sure what my real point is here, other than trying to figure out how Dogfish Head ended up 3rd in my mental rankings. Words, words, words. Let’s move on…..

Try these beers: Punkin Ale, 90 Minute IPA, Palo Santo Marron, Raison D’Etre

4. Smuttynose (Portsmouth, NH)

Smuttynose makes some good beer, and I can’t claim to have tried everything from their catalog or even a high percentage. But when I come back to asking the question of what specific brand will stand out now among all the current choices, I have a hard time coming up with one. The Big Beer Series, which I’ve seen priced as low as $5.99 for a bomber, offer some good values for you to try some more premium styles. I recall enjoying the Baltic Porter quite a bit. The Big A IPA seasonal offering is a very good, and reasonably priced, Imperial IPA. After that, the Summer Weizen, Pumpkin Ale, Finestkind IPA, and Robust Porter didn’t make the kind of impression on me where I would hone in on them in a liquor store. And sorry dog lovers, but their Old Brown Dog Pinups ain’t the kind of pinup I had in mind.

Try these beers: Big A IPA, Baltic Porter, Robust Porter

 

So who’s next? Will Lagunitas, with their new regional brewery in Chicago, finally decide to give us a try? Will Great Lakes ever return to Central and Southern Indiana? More California breweries could be a possibility with Bear Republic already in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio; and Ballast Point now in Illinois and Ohio. Or could we really dream big along the lines of say……Russian River? Who would be your pick in the Fantasy Football League of craft breweries?

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News - June 30: New Beers, Fun events

What beer will you drink for Fourth of July and what beer will you drink in 2014? The answer to each might change as more and more beers come on the Indiana scene! There is a LOT going on in the next few weeks and a lot more coming.

We did a quick stop at some downtown Indianapolis breweries this weekend finding new pours everywhere and also realizing we have so many offerings in downtown Indy we could not fit them all into our short schedule.

Indiana City Beer (see Kathleen's Grand Opening Story here ) was offering up a Belgian Wheat (Yacht Rock; 6%), Oatmeal Stout (Shadow Boxer; 7%), and APA (Beyond the Pale; 7.2) showing perhaps a trend in slightly 'bigger' beers in alcohol.

SunKing showcased their regular three, WeeMac, Osiris, and Sunlight, plus a hefe-weizen (Big H; 5.8%) ), Vienna Lager (Indian Lager; 5.4%), and a collaboration beer with Solemn Oath (Mythological Wonder, 7.7%) with spicy and rye notes, delicious combo hops.


Flat12 wants to give us our fruits and vegetables with so many beers on tap including their regular suspects (porter, amber, walk-about IPA, half-cycle IPA) and as usual so many seasonals, the newest being KiwiKiwiHefeWeizen with Kiwi fruit and kiwi juice so fruity, as well as Cucumber Kolsch which seems this year truly for those who love cucumbers, their Axis hefe and a Karousel Kolsch - tapped last week at the Elbow Room's 80th birthday party!

the RAM recently rolled out Barefoot wit, perfect for these hot days.

Daredevil has rolled out their Vacation Kolsch now showing up on taps throughout the state, also brewed with German ingredients and is a crisp, clean beer. Of course Daredevil Lift Off remains out there and seasonal Muse Belgian style can still be found on tap at many locations.


If you travel to Cincinnati you'll find a new brewery open (Grand Opening was June 29) with a strong Indiana connection. Rhinegeist brewing in the Over the Rhine District of the Queen City is the new home of Head Brewer Jim Matt who was a home-brewer in the award winning MECA club that also spawned now-pro-brewers Bill Ballinger and Michael Pearson of Daredevil. Jim gained professional status with SunKing, moved to head brewer status with Moerlein when they opened a brew haus in downtown Cincy, and just opened the Rheingeist operation serving a golden ale, English mild, Hoppy Wheat and IPA. Good Luck Rhinegeist and Jim!!

Bloomington Brewing Company has rolled out 10-speed nicely hopped wheat beer and a brand new Seven Sips Belgian Strong ale that has a nod to a wit with coriander + sweet and bitter orange peel but candy sugar to make it a big beer (8.3%). Also new at BBC is a Single Hop Columbus IPA following the trend of single hopped beers.
BBC's sister Lennie's restaurant and brew pub (the home of BBC beers) won a prestigious Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence award this month. The accolade, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor.

UPCOMING:

July 4: most Indiana brewpubs are open on July 4 for growler fills!
If in Downtown Indy for the Freedom Blast (fireworks) check out the Indiana Craft Beer Garden with craft offerings from SunKing, Flat12, Fountain Square, Cutters, Barely Island and Peoples brewers.

Indiana City Brewing (26 Shelby Street a block from Washington Street and I-65), celebrates with a 4th of July Music Festival staring at 4:00 with $5 tickets and lost of live music, local beer, and food trucks -- plus a location to view the Indy fireworks.

July 6: SunKing celebrates their 4th anniversary with a Grapefruit Jungle IPA tapping with music, local beer, and food trucks 4-10PM - $10 tickets at the tasting room. Beer Tappings are scheduled throughout the day: 4pm Grapefruit Jungle, 6pm Port Barrel Aged Wee Mac, 7pm 777, 8pm Afternoon Delight, 9pm Velvet Fog.

Brewers of Indiana Guild 18th Annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival is Saturday, July 20, 3-7 p.m. at Indianapolis Art Center and Optimist Park in Broad Ripple.
Your favorite Indiana breweries will be joined by a select group of guest breweries from around the country at Indiana’s largest craft beer event. Over 300 beer selections to choose from!Details and Tix

Noted out-of-state beers coming to Indiana!

Green Flash from San Diego, noted for their West Coast style IPA, should be in distribution in Central and Southern Indiana by mid-July. Early reports suggest only 20 bars may be the first to have a GF beer on tap but many liquor stores are to get product! WCB is the distributor.

Smuttynose brewing of New Hampshire, as we previewed for Ft. Wayne story here is kicking off distribution with Cavalier in Indiana in the Northern and Southern parts of the state check releases here . We should be finding best-selling Finestkind IPA and international award-winners Robust Porter and Wheat Wine Ale in most of our areas soon.

DogfishHead has announced their return to Indiana (+ Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wisconsin) with a cute video watch the video here . Look for DFH to work out the deal with a distributor and be back by 2014, possibly sooner.

Oskar Blues of Longmont, Colorado, the first to use CANS announced in March that they should be available in Indiana soon. Most in Indiana know of the SunKing/Oskar Blues collaboration of CHAKA last year. As OB rolls out to Indiana look for Dale's Pale and Mama's Yellow Pils.

Speaking of cans look for some other craft brewers (in Indiana) to consider cans. Foxnews.com recently released a clip from one of their junior reporters extolling the virtues of cans vs bottles

and finally, having a Summer Wedding? Beer is IN! Anja Winikka, TheKnot.com Site Director recognizes the trend: "Our brides love beer! More and more we've been seeing couples go beyond the traditional bar and really personalizing the experience for their guests. Beer is huge – everything from beer flights and craft beer bars to beer tasting stations and beer and food pairings. Couples are even serving homebrews specially created for their events. That's why we're so excited about Brewlywed Ale – it gives all craft beer lovers a chance to enjoy the trend at their weddings. Plus, what could be better for personalizing your day than a specialty wedding beer?" (thanks to PR from SamAdams)

Beer Travels: The Mile High Club

The benefit of choosing a University in Denver for your online program is it gives you a good excuse to celebrate graduation by visiting a vibrant craft beer scene. So while beer may not have been the “official” reason for this trip, you can bet we allowed it to play a pretty strong supporting role.

Avery Brewing (Boulder): Our first visit and arguably the highlight thanks in no small part to the hospitality from Plant Engineer Steve Wadzinski. Let’s get this out of the way first – yes, Avery did pull distribution out of Indiana in 2011 and you can hold that against them. But they have also established a well-earned reputation as one of the more aggressive and innovative breweries in the past twenty years of craft beer. As a drinker who grew into the scene primarily through American styles, Salvation and The Reverend were two of my earliest exposures to Belgian styles. And The Beast Grand Cru frightened me a little at the first tasting…in a good way.

The growth of today’s Avery Brewing has strained the limits of available buildings within their small industrial complex, and plans for a new facility have been in the works for two years. The brewery continues to produce their old favorites and push the boundaries of emerging craft brewing trends. When we attended, they were preparing for the release of Momi Hiwa, a 17% ABV coconut porter aged in dark rum barrels and the 15th addition to their Barrel-Aged Series. The interesting samples we found in the tap room included Trogdor, a smoked Dopplebock, and Snapping Turtles, a Scottish Wee Heavy brewed with a variety of hot peppers that really snuck up on you with a nice burn in the aftertaste. And it’s just always great to get fresh samples of Maharaja Imperial IPA and Hog Heaven, a very hop forward American Barleywine that I prefer without extensive aging.

Probably the most unique feature of Avery’s brewing process to me is the use of outdoor fermentation vessels due to the lack of sufficient indoor space. These require six inches of insulation to preserve proper temperatures during Colorado winters. As someone who worries about the 1 degree change from placing a carboy in different sections of the basement, I find it a marvelous feat of engineering that all this great beer can be produced when exposed to a harsh climate.

Oskar Blues (Lyons): Oskar Blues appears to be building a small empire in the Rocky Mountain National Park region with a variety of brewing facilities, tap rooms, burger joints, and their own food truck. They also just opened a new brewery in Brevard, NC. You may be familiar with Oskar Blues from their two collaboration releases with Sun King, and you may have read here a few months back about their desire to expand distribution to Indiana. For our trip, we visited the original Oskar Blues Grill & Brew in the very small town of Lyons that we first discovered in 2006.

Besides their status as one of the pioneers of producing craft beer in a can, Oskar Blues is well known for crafting assertive beers high in flavor….and alcohol. Their hoppy beers are wonderful, but the Old Chub Scotch Ale and Ten Fidy Imperial Stout are also personal favorites. On our trip to the brewery, the house taps included smaller offerings that included a Nut Brown and Helles lager which were very good. Any place that I can get good beer and a good bowl of jambalaya is a winner in my book.

This was also the first (and not last) experience with a $7 pint on this trip, a pint of Deviant Dale’s IPA in this case. While this beer certainly warrants a certain level of premium pricing, it brings up a topic I’ve been tempted to address in the past. I enjoy visiting a brewery and sampling some fresh beer (arguably too much), but I start to wonder if there are any limitations on what breweries can charge at their own place. It seems like the same beer that goes through the added expense of bottling/canning, distribution, and retail markup somehow ends up half the price or less when purchased off the shelf. I know, I know, the beer in that glass is worth whatever someone like myself is willing to pay for it. Well, exactly how much are we as drinkers willing to pay? On another recent occasion I visited an unnamed brewery taproom and enjoyed a nice seasonal offering. Upon leaving and visiting another bar, I found the same beer and was able to order a pint for 50 cents less than was charged at the brewery. Not a big difference, but something seems a little backwards here. Anyway, I’m way off topic, back to the trip…….

Great Divide Brewing (Denver): Our final visit of the trip commenced with a convenient walk up Arapahoe Street from downtown Denver to the Great Divide tap room. Now this is a great tap room! There were 16 different beers on tap including four different varieties of their Yeti Imperial Stout (regular, oak aged, espresso oak aged, and chocolate oak aged). Great Divide will pour you a generous sample (see picture below) of any beer on tap for merely a dollar. This included premium offerings like the Yeti varieties, Old Ruffian Barleywine, and their 19th Anniversary ale featuring birch wood aging. To top it off, all tap room sample sales are donated to local nonprofit organizations.

Great Divide initially made a name for themselves with Titan IPA and Hercules Double IPA, but it’s the other styles that have always really impressed me at this brewery. The Claymore Scotch Ale and regular Oak Aged Yeti would rank at the top of my list, followed closely by Hoss Rye Lager and Nomad Bohemian Pilsner. While all the Yeti samples were wonderful, the oak character pairs so well on its own with this beer that other additions end up distracting. Overall, this is basically a brewery that can spin through a wide variety of styles and rarely leave you disappointed. I think the Yeti beers are a fairly good value even in bombers, but six packs of the Claymore Scotch Ale or Hibernation Ale (winter seasonal) are highly recommended buys from Great Divide. They’re fairly easy to find at better craft beer stores across central Indiana.

Regardless of my comments on pint prices, these three represent the breweries I consider “must stops” along the Denver/Boulder/Rocky Mountain National Park route. Left Hand Brewing in Longmont is only excluded because their tap room was closed for renovations the day we could have fit in a visit. I had a great time visiting them on past trips. We’re not big fans of New Belgium beers, but their brewery is a really interesting place to visit and I appreciate their sustainability efforts. The other breweries we visited on this trip included:

Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery (Boulder): Well worth a trip

West Flanders Brewing (Boulder): If you have a time

Wynkoop Brewing (Denver): If you have a time, and don’t order “Ye Olde Ale”

Cheers, Nathan

Beers, Cheers, and Sneers – March 24th

Welcome to spring! March 25th is the official release date for Bell’s Oberon, which is either the worst or greatest timing ever depending on your perspective. So after you’ve dug out from a foot of snow, here are the official release party locations for Monday morning/night (see Bell’s event page for Indiana for additional events later in the week):

Bloomington	Yogi's Bar and Grill	6-8pm
Bloomington	The Tap	8pm
Elkhart	Sauk Trail on 17 Smokehouse & Grille	5pm
Fort Wayne	Dicky's Wild Hare	5pm
Granger	Tilted Kilt	5pm
Indianapolis	Mousetrap Bar	midnight Sunday
Indianapolis	The Aristocrat Pub	5-9pm
Indianapolis	Mass Ave. Pub	5pm
Mishawaka	Buffalo Wild Wings	5pm
Mishawaka	The Gallery Sports Pub	6pm
Muncie	The Heorot	midnight Sunday
Plymouth	Pizza Bill's	5pm
South Bend	O'Rourke's Public House	midnight Sunday
South Bend	Brothers Bar and Grill	5:30pm

Oskar Blues Brewery is reportedly in talks with distributors for expansion into the Indiana market with a target launch of late spring/early summer. If you’re not familiar with Oskar Blues, they specialize in big, hoppy craft beer in a can. That probably sounds unremarkable at this point, but they were one of the pioneers in challenging the notion that canned beer had to be cheap in both price and flavor. My first experience with the brewery occurred when stopping off at a Colorado liquor store before the 2006 Great American Beer Festival. I hesitated with the clerk recommended Dale’s Pale Ale as a great local choice for a thirsty traveler. Good beer in a can? Inconceivable! But that choice led to a habit of stashing cans of Dale’s Pale, Old Chub, Ten Fidy, and (my personal favorite) Gordon in airline luggage during subsequent trips within their distribution network. Now Oskar Blues is canvassing our region with recent launches in the Ohio, Chicago, and Michigan markets. Who will be next? I’m looking at you Lagunitas.

Fountain Square Brewing is back with another Peep Show event and Miss Poppi was not invited to perform. No, Fountain Square’s version of a Peep Show commissions local engineering talent to design gadgets capable of shooting full-sized Peeps. Kind of like a Punkin Chunkin event for people with real lives. Which is a great approach if you enjoy a good sausage fest. I kid…I kid…it will be a lot of fun. The event takes place on Friday, March 29th at 7:00. Visit the Fountain Square registration page to claim your spot in the competition.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a bill that legalizes homebrewing in Mississippi, which is nice since an estimated 2200 citizens are doing it anyway. Mississippi now becomes the 49th state to allow homebrewing, and we’re proud to say this is one area where Indiana was a bit ahead of the curve. What about the 50th state? Well, a homebrewing bill in Alabama was removed from the special order calendar when politicians decided to be politicians and ground business to a halt due to other disagreements. Which means Mobile County prosecutor Keith Blackwood is still a criminal for posting his homebrewing exploits on Twitter. C’mon Keith – illicit affairs and laundering campaign contributions might be standard operation procedure, but keep your Berliner Weisse out of the public domain!

Some news on beer and rock and roll. Iron Maiden will partner with Robinson’s Brewery to create Trooper, a 4.7% ABV premium British ale with Bobec, Golding, and Cascade hops. Maiden fans searching for a Belgian Golden Strong will still have to settle for the slightly less-Satanic 668 Neighbor of the Beast from New England Brewing. 

I don’t often have a good excuse to link one of my favorite internet haunts in this column, but the fine folks at punknews.org picked up on the collaboration between Three Floyds and thrash metal band Municipal Waste. The new Toxic Revolution ale is a massive Oatmeal Stout perfect for winter shred sessions. And being a new beer from Three Floyds, it’s probably also perfect for the hallowed Viking quest of online beer trading.

Tip of the cap to People’s Brewing of Lafayette for their participation in a project to conserve the important ecosystem of Mulvey Pond in Tippecanoe County. The land was purchased by NICHES Land Trust and several local businesses, including People’s, are assisting with tree planting and the construction of a visitor platform. The platform will offer views of local and migratory waterfowl including snow geese and sandhill cranes.

Some timely new statistics are in from the Brewers Association following our recent piece on craft beer growth. For the full year of 2012, craft brewers achieved a 15 percent increase in sales volume and a 17 percent increase in dollar growth. These numbers balance out pretty well with an 18 percent increase in the number of U.S. operating breweries. The numbers for 2013 should be pretty interesting as the Association expects new breweries to open at an even higher rate.

As the power struggle between craft brewers and big brewers rages on, a grocer in Chicago scores one for the little guy. Garden Gourmet Market is working on a deal to obtain a liquor license in the mostly dry East Village. The catch? Garden Gourmet could only sell beer produced by craft brewers. While the results look pretty good, selling the idea that Garden Gourmet’s customers are professionals who aren’t interested in hard liquor or “40s” might not help the stereotype of craft beer as an elitist pursuit. On the opposite end of the spectrum, MillerCoors struck back with an exclusive agreement for product placement in all original TNT and TBS shows. There should probably be a joke here, but I can’t name a single original series on either of those networks. And the Ommegang Brewery already claimed Game of Thrones, so maybe we should score two for the little guy in this case.

The coveted Best Beard of Craft Beer award went to Chili of Stone Brewing. Never mind the fact that Chili isn't even a brewer (he is Stone’s groundskeeper and gardener), I suppose going by the single moniker Chili earns you some bonus cool points. I can only assume the guy to the right would be a serious contender if his choice in beer were improved.

Cheers and Hoppy Easter, Nathan