Indy Winterfest 2015, truly enjoyable -- reviews and comments

Indy Winterfest 2015 is behind us, but is a very pleasant memory! Over 3000 distinct users checked in to the Untapped app alone and by our count 105 breweries shared beer. Spanning two buildings made plenty of room though lines at some breweries later in the afternoon were longer but moved well.

Kathleen comments
What a way to start out the new beer year with a twice as big Winterfest! I was impressed last year as a volunteer seeing Winterfest move from the Agriculture building in to the Champions Pavilion but now with the addition of the Blue Ribbon, giving the event I believe twice as many people and 30+ more breweries it was amazing. I was, of course, one of the many volunteers working the gates like usual. I love going to festivals more as a volunteer even if it doesn’t give me a lot of time to drink beer, or get all the beers I want to try, it still is the best way to go. For starters, you get to check out everything before anyone is even there!

Anyways, I am rambling; let’s go on with the beer. As breweries got set up I noticed a common theme amongst a lot of breweries, it seemed the big thing was bacon, bacon, bacon. Crown Brewing had a nice Bacon Coffee Stout. Wabash Brewing had their Bacon Face Brown. For a minute there I thought I was actually at Bacon Fest instead of Winterfest (Which btw, was an actual event going on the same day).

I also noticed that I’ve been out of the brew scene for a while cause there were so many newer Indiana breweries that I had no idea about. Basket Case Brewing, Burn ‘Em Brewing, and Wabash Brewing were just a few that were new to me. I didn’t get a chance to find Basket Case, but Burn ‘Em Brewing’s Red Dead ReVelvet was a nice red stout (I didn’t even know you could have a red stout). If only I had a Red Velvet Elvis Flying Cupcake at the same time, I probably would’ve been on cloud 9.

Before I get into some of my other favorites – I need to give a bow to Bare Hands Brewing Co. I believe they had a least 20+ beers.. at least it seems like it was that much. They delivered variety, great flavors and hands down the experience that I so love at a festival. They got me hooked with their PB Stout three Winterfests ago, and I love that they keep it coming. I loved the Coconut Chocolate Mail Order Bride RIS.

What else got me going at Winterfest? –
Here is just a quick list of a few that I remember. (So many beers, so little memory)
• TinMan Brewing – Apricot Sour
• Upland Brewing – Barrel Aged Vanilla Porter
• Upland Brewing – Sweet Myrtle
• Black Acre – Beard Tax RIS

• Destihl Brewing – Here Gose Nothing
• Flat 12 Bierwerks – Hinchtown Hammer Ale with Black Currant
• Wabash Brewing – Smash Cherry
• FBI’s - Saison
• Zwanzigs – Ghost Pepper RIS (ok, that was a cheat cause I’ve loved that one and track it down every festival)
Big thanks to the guild, the brewers, and my fellow volunteers. It was an awesome event and can’t wait until the summer.

Andrew Korty is our featured guest blogger who is a BJCP National judge whose homebrew has won awards at the regional and national levels.

Winterfest stands apart from other beer festivals in the region, partly because is it so well organized, but mostly due to the diverse selection of beers. Breweries know that Winterfest attendees, rather than perfunctorily seeking anything with “IPA” in the name, favor the unique, the interesting, and the beer-geeky. Still, beers at this festival don’t make it on quirkiness alone. Quality is a requirement.

Straight away, Shoreline treated us to a wonderfully complex, twelve-year-old barleywine whose nutty, sherry-like tones were the perfect antidote to the blustery cold outside. On the crisper side, their Bavarian Bombshell schwarzbier offered a clean Pilsner malt base with just a hint of dark malt.

Apparently aiming for full-on zany, Evil Czech delivered an expertly balanced rye IPA with kale, jalapeño, and citrus zest, a combination I couldn’t have conjured up without several twirls of the culinary spinning wheel. They were also tipping cans of their General George Patton Pilsner, which brims with Czech hop character over a crackery malt canvas.

Function had a solid lineup, including Kinetic, whose chili pepper aroma and flavor blend harmoniously with the malt and won’t scorch your palate. Their sessionable bitter was pleasantly British, evoking the expected hop, malt, and yeast notes. And over in the firkin tent was their milk stout, accompanied by just enough java to compliment but not overpower the malt flavors.

The Dude from Crown Brewing is a porter brewed with a White Russian flavored coffee that really ties the whole beer together, man. I wish my special lady would have been there to enjoy it. I chased it with the deliciously bacony Hatchetation smoked strong stout.

Venerable Upland continues to pleasantly surprise, this time with their Side Trail, a skillful blend of a roasty stout and a currant-infused Belgian ale. I also tasted their latest Blueberry Lambic, whose fruity, lactic backbone is sharpened up with just the right amount of acetic sourness.

Grand Junction has been wasting no time building a new, hard-hitting lineup. Their Dark Road Porter is the best of the bunch and, to my taste, the best American-style porter in the region.

The most impressive beer of the night was Daredevil’s JWP stout aged in a Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel. I tend to be pretty harsh on this style, as the booziness in most examples masks the complexity of the base beer. Not in this case—Daredevil clearly allowed only a passing acquaintance between bourbon and beer, allowing the nuances of the stout to play off the whiskey notes delightfully.

Every Winterfest I shed a tear for the breweries I missed, usually due to line length or poor planning on my part. This year was no exception, and I returned home without a taste of the offerings from 18th Street, MashCraft, and several other of my favorite breweries. I console myself by reflecting on the highlights above, a list that seems to get longer every year.


Greg Kitz Adds
One of the best and most unusual beers for me was was from Bare Hands Brewery of Mishawaka, IN: Mole Mail Order Bride - a Russian Imperial Stout with deep dark malt that was aged on Mexican cinnamon with cocoa nibs and multiple Mexican style peppers. Bare Hands is well known for its Thai PA (IPA with Thai ). It also became well known in 2014 for the serious injury owner/brewer Chris Gerard suffered in the brewery. We are very glad to see Chris doing well and working hard again.

With a focus on newer breweries, I finally caught up with Drew Fox who opened 18th Street Brewery in Gary in 2013. The 18th Street Vanilla Hunter is the sweet stout plus Mexican vanilla beans and really delivers the wonderful base of the stout and just enough great vanilla without overpowering. Drew's concept, partly conceived when living on 18th Street in the Pilsen area of Chicago, is to brew a variety of beers. While Hunter Sweet Stout is close to a flagship beer, Drew has been bringing out varieties of Hunter from Vanilla Hunter, to Cherry Hunter, to Coconut Hunter. BBL aged Hunter will be out in April 2015.

Taxman Brewing of Bargersville has been brewing in house since November, 2014, and Taxman Tax Holiday delivers an amber ale close to their quad with notes of molasses and nice spice. Their Winter Wit was a very nice lemon forward version.

Mashcraft, Greenwood, featured a very special Mashcraft Ancho Annie pepper infused Amber. This provided tremendous flavor with a slight burn. No hops.

Four Fathers Brewing of Valparaiso had a Fathers Beer, Belgian Pale (5.3%) that was very nice. Their collaboration with Burn 'Em Brewing is Smoke That Shizz, and it is a complex Imperial Smoked Blonde Ale fermented with Honey. Really unique.

Burn 'Em Brewing opened in Michigan City in Feb. 2013, and their Long John's On winter warmer really delivered a lot of flavor and warmth. Their Fallen Swine Smoked Pork Chop porter seemed to be a popular beer attendees were talking about.

The Devils Trumpet Brewing Company of Merrillville, offered me Pandemonium in Purgatory Belgian Style Tripel (9.6%) that had nice flavor.

Trying to visit breweries I do not normally get to I found:

New Boswell Brewing (Richmond) not only offered a deep roasty Skye Island Stout with coffee, but a thirst quenching Root beer balancing sarsparilla, sassafras, vanilla and spices.

Basket Case Brewing operates within the Mill House Restaurant gave me Sgt. Pepper blond with scorpion peppers that had a great level of spice.


Chapmans Brewing of Angola, had RIOS, aptly named as Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout coming in at 9.5% alc but very smooth and creamy while being dark and delivering that deep dark malt flavor.

Zwanzigz of Columbus brewer Mike Rybinski had promised me a few weeks ago he'd have some 'good stuff.' As always Mike delivers. Mike is already on the radar screen for the ghost chilli stout which we sampled before he brought to Winterfest about 3 years ago. In addition, this year Nullius in Verba (See for yourself in Latin) used 13 types of grain, 3 types of sugar, and multiple hops is a barleywine that defies explanation other than complexity of spices with so many dimensions of fruitiness, nuttiness, and just deliciousness. The barrel aged version did all of that with the vanilla and oak added.

And of course there are some of our brewer friends that just knock flavor to the next county:

Daredevil (Shelbyville but soon to be Speedway) had hinted we'd get BBL aged Muse, and since I am hooked up with a major consumer of Muse we had to get our sample of this wonderful golden ale that adds the depth of the oak. I just had to get a sip of Daredevil JWP while stopping - the rich complex stout.

Upland served me the Barrel Chested Barleywine adding the caramel, toffee, dark fruit flavor of the base beer with toasted oak vanilla from the barrel. Head Brewer Caleb also poured us some Dragonfruit sour - a highly carbonated, nicely tart beer that delivered citrus and green pepper and was almost like a delicious bubbly wine.

Sun King Indy had Hot Rod Lincoln, the Barrel Aged Timmie imperial stout with cherries and chocolate.

Flat 12 used a music and art theme while experimenting with their top notch Pogues Run Porter with different yeasts. At first I was enthralled with the Belgian yeast version but the Indiana wild yeast provided such an interesting tartness to the porter to sway me.

Bloomington Brewing hooked me back with Ol Floyd's Belgian Dark Strong delivering fig, plu, some spice while smooth for a 9% beer featuring a unique yeast blend this year.

I want to give a shout out to three out-of-state breweries. Against The Grain Louisville has built from a small takeover in the L'ville Cardinals stadium, to serving nearly 20 countries in Europe, major metro areas in the U.S. and all with fun, sometimes funky, often BBL aged beers that we can love. Look for our brewer/owner buddy Sam to be featured on Brew Dogs TV in April. Sam Cruz is originally from and still lives in Indiana.
Rhinegiest Cincinnati has Indiana roots in brewer/owner buddy Jim Matt who was QA at SunKing and moved around before settling in to one of the breweries that my craft beer friends always talk about in the Ohio Valley.
Country Boy Lexington (KY) brought their beer to IN way before there was any hope of distribution here just because they are great guys and they want to share the beer love. Brewer/owner Evan Coppage was on hand at Winterfest and chatting it up with our man Josh H who will have a new brewery open in 2015, just because brewers tend to stick together and share. CB partner DG was MIA and I mention not only because they brew great beer but because they are extremely nice people - who, by the way, can host one helluva party as I can well attest.

All three of these breweries (and many more) are part of the wonderful family of local craft brewers who love beer, love the people and are most anxious to just share.

Winterfest is a wonderful event -- we only wish it somehow could be held on at least 3 consecutive days because it is impossible to try everything we want, or to just settle in and drink a couple of our favorites that we cannot get often. To all of our brewery friends who we talked with, took pictures of, shared stories with - THANKS for being part of one of the best and most open enterprises as a heart of America. We can't write about all of the wonderful people and post all 100+ pics we have of this year's Indy Winterfest. But Brewers of Indiana Guild, and all of the volunteers, police agencies, and many involved should feel very, very good about this year's event! Thanks to all, and we will see many of you soon.

This year's venue seemed to provide more restrooms, more space, and a really fun atmosphere!

Remember, there are MORE festivals coming up! Now that Winterfest is behind us, here was our post of what is coming just in the next weeks, and some beyond.

Beers, Cheers, and Sneers – October 18

Congrats again to Bier, Mad Anthony, RAM, Sun King, Three Floyds, and Upland for bringing home medals from the Great American Beer Festival competition. Upland is celebrating their gold medal by releasing a limited number of the winning Sour Reserve Blend #2 at both the Bloomington Brew Pub and Indy Tasting Room this Saturday when they open for business (11am in Bloomington and noon in Indy). Each bottle is $25 with a limit of one per person. There are about 48 bottles available in Bloomington and about 36 in Indy so get there early!

Other GABF winners worth noting (i.e. there is a chance you’ll find them in Indiana): Boulevard Brewing Reverb Imperial Pilsner and ZON, The Bruery Papier and Sans Pagaie, Goose Island IPA, Left Hand Sawtooth Ale, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy (seriously), Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Sam Adams Double Bock, Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale and Imperial Stout, and Two Brothers Domaine DuPage (highly recommended) and Ebel’s Weiss. Then there is the triple crown that represents the American-style lager category: PBR, Miller Lite, and Keystone Light. The big win prompted a little trash talk from Pabst which was met with this response from New Albanian.

Happy anniversary to a couple of prominent Indiana breweries. Shoreline Brewery is celebrating their 7th anniversary with live music Friday and Saturday night, an Oktoberfest menu, and $2 pints all weekend! Triton Brewing in Indianapolis rings in their first anniversary of brewing on Saturday with live music, food, special brews, and the official dedication of their new Beer Garden.

Further details have emerged on Sun King’s second collaboration with Oskar Blues. The Deuce is a Hopped Up Brown Ale with 100% Galaxy hops weighing in at 69 IBU and 7% ABV. The collaboration again made a point of using a special ingredient from each brewery’s region. The Indiana contribution is Riehle’s Select Gourmet Popcorn, also featured in Sun King’s Popcorn Pilsner, which was used in the mash with Colorado Malting Company’s Belgian Pale Malt. The Deuce will be packaged in Ball Corp. Alumi-Tek re-sealable aluminum pint bottles and should make an appearance in our market soon.

Hardcore fans of sour beers have found a new holiday in Zwanze Day, which offers an opportunity at various global locations to try Cantillon’s recent vintage of specialty Zwanze lambic. This year’s event was delayed until December 1st after Cantillon determined this year’s batch would not be ready and decided to revive the original rhubarb lambic recipe that generated the first Zwanze in 2008. There are no Zwanze Day participating locations in Indiana, but events at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago and Holy Grale in Louisville offer chances to join the celebration within an easy drive.

While it’s not an Indiana brewery, I qualify as an obnoxiously unabashed enthusiast of Founders Brewing Company. If you’re not familiar with their story, this article gives a great background on how the brewery nearly filed bankruptcy turning out uninspired pale, amber, and wheat ales and dumped their old lineup in favor of a new strategy that pushed the envelope of what consumers had experienced in the craft beer world. The rest of the story is history that is still being written. Founders celebrates their 15th anniversary this year with a 15% ABV “Bolt Cutter” barleywine and an appearance in Food Republic’s top 10 craft beer power rankings.

One perk for reporters covering the presidential debates is access to free food and beer courtesy of Anheuser-Busch. Yes, your favorite Belgian-owned brewery has decided to continue their tradition of sponsoring American political theater since 1996. And should you grow tired of the partisan bickering, you can switch over to the hospitality tent’s own propaganda Twitter Feed and glean such nuggets as “nothing more American than great debates and great beer” and “AB products seem to be clear winners on this debate night”. Those are about as original as the political talking points we can all recite in our sleep by now. So in the spirit of true debate, I’d like to offer this slightly alternative evaluation of such products.

For a detour into the absurd this week, a Scottish brewery claims to have produced a “beer” that somehow finished with a whopping 65% ABV through a special freeze fermentation method. Now, this was a little bit fun back when Sam Adams and Dogfish Head were pursuing the title of world’s strongest beer towards the 25% level. Since then, European breweries have pushed the threshold past the 30 and 40 percent barrier leading to this point where you have to wonder when enough is enough. If you feel the need to consume a beer at this level and can’t get your hands on any Aberdeenshire Armageddon, here is one possible alternative. Take your favorite barleywine and rig up about a 50/50 blend with Everclear. Hold your nose, take a drink, and be secure in the knowledge that any onset of blindness is likely just a short-term inconvenience.

Cheers, Nathan

Northwest Indiana Rumblings and Grumblings

The anticipation is brewing (horrible pun intended) for Dark Lord Day 2012.  The annual April event has not been publicized by the brewery and details are hard to get.  The only thing I know for sure is that it will be on a Saturday, it will probably be horribly planned, and the only way to get the news is to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or visiting the brewery's website.  Unless I've missed something horribly, nothing has been spoken since early January when we were told, "stay tuned."

In the meantime, December's release of Black Sun, a stout by 3 Floyd's description, more like a black IPA by mine (I'm no expert, I'm just saying with the hop content a novice could be confused), January's release of Behemoth, a hoppy, sweet barleywine, February's release of Brian Boru, an Irish red, and the trickling of Zombie Dust making its way out of the brewery should keep drinkers satisfied until the April date.  Heck, stock up and bring every bottle with you to Dark Lord Day because you will certainly need it.

Crown Brewing has also been abuzz with activity and heavily promoting their sponsored Illiana Mayfest, Saturday, May 26.  There lineup is constantly being updated on their Facebook page.  You can get there via their website crownbrewing.com.  Some confirmed breweries include: Sun King, Barley Island, Flat 12, Upland, Goose Island, Moylan's, and several others also appearing at BIG Winterfest.

Crown is also hosting a brewing class with Marty Nachel, author of Beer for Dummies and Homebrewing for Dummies on Tuesday, March 6 at 7pm.  Tickets are $20 and include 5 half pints of beer.  Sign up must be at the bar.

Bulldog Brewery is struggling to maintain an optimum brewing schedule.  I talked a little bit with one of the co-owners down at Winterfest and he says they are slowly getting a handle on this brewpub thing.  They are also getting involved with the community and hosting an evening with Northwest Indiana business movers and shakers sponsored by Emerge South Shore.

If you find yourself up Michigan City way, stop by Shoreline Brewery.  If you haven't tried their Scottish Beltaine yet, you don't know what you're missing.

Figure 8 has been in their new place for a while and I have somehow still not managed to make my way there.  Shame on me.

Dark Lord Weekend

This was a busy weekend for lots of people. Not the least being a couple of easterners showing off their new Indiana Breweries book. Nate (left) and John (2nd left) made 7 stops in Indy including 2 morning TV shows and a book store, stops at both breweries in Lafayette, and ended Saturday at the Beer Geeks Pub in Highland. They got within 5 miles of Three Floyds and the 6,000 people who would have snatched up books.

The interview on WISH-TV’s Indy Style is available online where they show off 3WM’s blackberry wheat, Flat 12’s wheat, Sun King’s Alt, and Bier’s . Love Nate’s headband by the way.

Me, I hit 3WM and SK before heading north to Shoreline, Figure 8 Brewing, Crown Brewing, Beer Geeks Pub, Bone Dry, DLD, and repeats at Beer Geeks and Bone Dry. A mellow trip.

Shoreline’s menu board

Figure 8’s Menu

Tanks at Figure 8 are crowded in everywhere.

Tom has rented out the second spot down the line of offices to use as storage. The tap room is busy and a pinball machine stuffed in the corner adds another reason to stick around for another pint. For speed at the Dutch door ordering station, they have growlers pre-prepared using counter-pressure filling. The customer doesn’t have to wait and it will keep unopened up to a week.

Crown Sampler pack. 6 generous pours for $6.50.

The Beer Geeks Pub in Highland became a second home for some visitors. Not crowded. Great menu (beer that is, there’s no food at all). Even the Hoosier Beer Geeks were there on Friday. Saturday, after a full Dark Lord Day, it was still a bit subdued. John and Nate were on their next-to-the-last stop on the book tour.

 

Shoreline Barrel Aged Beers (and more)

I picked up a bomber of each of this winter’s Shoreline barrel-aged beers and convened a panel to taste them. (The picture at right is last year’s label, sorry).

The beers are all barrel-aged for at least a year. All but the Seven Red were on Bourbon barrels.

• Sum Cens Double IPA (Summit and Centennial hops)
• Curse The Goat Dopplebock
• Discombobulation Celebration Ale (English Barley Wine)
• Big Bella Heavy Scotch Ale
• Lost Sailor Imperial Stout
• Red on Red - Seven Red Rye Ale aged in French Shiraz barrels

The Panel: Derrick Morris (Indiana Breweriana collector),
Chip Viering (“Collecting your emptys since 1978”),
Marv Keenan (Gambrinus Society homebrewer who makes every batch in wood),
Don St. Peters and Phil Hunter of the FBI and Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup
(but not really representing either, just drinkin beer and
makin notes and trying not to get all BJCP about it).

---

The tastes:

Sum Cens Double IPA (Summit and Centennial hops)

Floral and spice tones, just a touch of bourbon. Guessing 9-10% ABV. Big hop aroma but no hint of bourbon. Huge flavor, extremely find bubbles, thick body. Barleywine, pure and simple (so is DFH 120, dammit). Good color. Alcohol is large, sweet, hops good, one dimensional. Vanilla. Strong alcohol. Nose in style of Dbl IPA. Barleywine is a good description. Syrupy alcohol and wood nose. Monochromatic. Served in a 10oz glass at the bar (obviously). 3.2 stars (of 5).

Curse the Goat Dopplebock

Weak start. Subtle oakey aroma. Big flavor, mostly from bourbon barrel. Dark amber color possibly from barrel. Little resemblance to a dopplebock. Great color. Alcohol hidden very well. Great sweet nose. Warming. Lose the malt to the alcohol, bourbon? Oxidized finish. Nice bock flavor. Finishes with alcohol aftertaste but too heavy. Malt of the Scottish style. More married than Sum Cens and more straightforward. 2.2 stars

Bottle info: “Aged in a 15 year old Bourbon barrel for at least one year.”

Discombobulation Celebration Ale

Malty. Aroma complex. Rich flavor, lots of barrel flavor. Good caramel color. Sweet malt nose. Malt cleaned. Very little hops. Sweet, alcohol hidden. Sweet finish. Little vanilla and chocolate on finish. Molasses nose. Not heavy on alcoholic taste. Very pleasant aftertaste with the molasses present at finish. I like. Vary mature and well married. These were all brewed in 2008 so they have well more than a year of maturity and this one shows it off best. 3.4 stars

Big Bella Heavy Scotch Ale

Nice big bourbon flavor, wonderful bourbon scent. Love it. Aroma of barrel. Darker than usual for Scotch Ale. Carbonation slight, about normal. Transparent. Malt flavor of the style allows dark barrel flavors to punch through. Ruby red color. Bourbon upfront. Whiskey permeates wood finish. Malty. Lots of barrel. Nice blend of Bourbon barrel aging and your favorite Scot Ale. No hint of alcohol. Still has interesting edges – like getting licked by a cat’s tongue. My favorite. 4.4 stars

Lost Sailor Imperial Stout

Fan-freakin-tastic. Wonderful rich color and flavor. Silk, velvet. Very little aroma, not of hops, nor alcohol, nor barrel. Not much hop flavor either, contrary to style. Big malt flavor and body. Oak barrel not especially noticeable. Motor oil black. Bourbon barrel comes through. Malt, alcohol, no hops. Smooth malt, vanilla, coffee, chocolate. No nose, didn’t get my attention. Alcohol present on back end. Heavy bourbon nose with aftertaste. Dark but small aroma. Whiskey & barrel, then dry & spicy. Lightish body. 3.4 stars

Seven Red on Red

Rye Ale aged in Shiraz French oak barrel. Lovely white head tops a perfect red color. Flavorful, festive, hoppy, fruity. Some acidity from the wine barrel aging. Finishes dry. Very fine celebration ale. Nice combination of wood and beer. Nice color. Nice spiceyness. Good Beer. More wood. Celebration Ale with a hit of spice for the holidays. Will warm you up on a cold December day. Malt flavor with a hint of chocolate. Acidic. Discussion goes to tannins which makes sense. Especially well received after the heavier Bourbon barreled beers. 4.4 stars

---

As happens, there were more bombers beers on the table, so we continued.

Lafayette Brewing Star City Lager

Nice upfront, great lager flavor like Duquesne's from the 70s. Touch sweet, nice carbonation, refreshing. Very delicate noble hop aroma, Light, refreshing, slight citrus flavor. More flavor, especially of hops, than typical lager. Musty nose. Clean light, little sweet malt, and good clean hops. Pilsner light. Straw nose, light lager that is clean in taste with a dry aftertaste. When first opened had a Bohemian skunk that cleared rapidly to a more mainstream noble pils. 2.8 stars

Brewery’s description: “This Dortmund-style lager is brewed with imported pilsner and Vienna malts to create a medium-bodied golden lager. Imported Styrian Golding Hops provide solid bitterness to back the malt foundation. A well balanced, classic German lager.” ABV 5.0%, 32 IBU

Crown Brewing Crown Brown

Hand capped. Very tasty and light caramel up front. Almost coffee-like back end. Slight to sweet to dry. Slightly smoky aroma. Color just right. Burnt caramel flavor a bit much for a brown (more appropriate for a porter). Astringent finish from dark roasted malt, otherwise slightly sweet aftertaste. Good malt, Sweet, Little to no hops. Astringent finish from bitter tannins. Very dry finish. Clean nose, roast, chocolate to molasses on the back end. Desert anyone? Well carbonated. No flaws. Drinkable Southern Brown. 2.6 stars

Brewery’s description: “The Crown Brown is gorgeous dark brown ale which has a gentle malt sweetness supported by a nutty, light caramel character that lasts throughout the pint. It is brewed with imported English Maris Otter Barley Malt and Fuggle hops giving it a dry finish and low hop bitterness making it readily suited for any time of day or night.” ABV 4.1%, 22 IBU.

  Schlafly Reserve 2007

New American Oak from Missouri. Big hefty flavor in front stays and stays. Not hoppy like most Barley Wines. Very light in color for style. Good flavor bu t too light in every respect. Good oak nose. Light color. Light sweet malt. Great flavors with alcohol hidden pretty well. No oak in finish. Good head, malt nose. Light with no hint of Barleywine fruits but a sweet candy flavor that lingers on the pallet. Missed style but drinkable. Not cloying or sweet but long lasting. 2.0 stars

Bell's Batch 10,000

Sweet taste, big flavor. No aroma at all. Big full flaovr, hops, malt, and prune or plum esters (fruity). Not too strong. Very enjoyable. 9.2%! Guessed 6.8%. Amazingly concealed. Nice brown coffee color. Sweet malt. Nice hop balance. Good beer for Xmas. Very good at hiding alcohol. Malt nose, hop presence, Winter Warmer without the alcohol taste. Grayish brown. Drinkable but a bit nondescript. I need a 40. 4.0 stars.

Bell’s says: “The last of a series, Batch 10,000 Ale looks back to our roots, symbolizing the end of the home-brewing season with a creative take on "cleaning out the brewing supplies closet".  After combing through the catalogs of many malt and hop suppliers, our brewers used over 100 different malts, grains, and other fermentables, and followed them up with a blend of  60 different hop varietals between the kettle additions and dry-hopping. The resulting beer presents a deep, chocolate brown hue and offers roasted and caramel notes from the malts mixed with an assertive hop character. Sharply bitter, the beer possesses a full mouthfeel without being heavy and will withstand aging in your cellar, if you prefer.”

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special 30 Reserve 2007 aged in a 30-year Highland Park barrel.

Vanilla scnet. Smooth. Velvet. Very dark. Big tan head. Swet vanilla. Delicate, smooth flavor. Aged. Whisky barrel is not obvious. Serious but irresistible. Motor oil black. Smoooth vanilla, sweet malt, love it. Coffe and chocolate notes. Clean nose, dark roast malt. Rich flavor, dark roast coffee. Smooth on pallet. Hint of single-malt Scotch on backend nose. Mouthfeel is a bit flat with little carbonation. 5.0 stars.

---

What better setting than what Chip calls “the ultimate man cave”; Derrick’s basement?

North West Indiana Report

Took a trip up north. Here's what we found.

People's Brewing's tasting room has a full bar at the front of the brewery. Yes, good times.

• 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.

---

Just 2 blocks away, Crown Brewing was open with a few people enjoying their taps. New beers include

• 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.

---

Three Floyds hasn't changed much from their winning formula. The beers are varied and interesting.

• 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.

---

So it was off to Shoreline for a few trials.

• 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.

---

At Back Road, things are going along as normal. Chuck's Christmas Ale is conditioning. This year it is an oak-aged Baltic Porter. After 1 week in the wood it has a perfumey lavender aroma over a solid base. Give it a month more aging and it'll be perfect for the season.

---

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.

Misc News

Kahn's Joe Quinn writes "Were going to change things up a bit. Were going to change the Monday night thing a bit. Instead of doing a free tasting every Monday night were going to have paid events once a month that will be a lot cooler than just the once a week thing."

Jim Schembre reports the Hopapalooza tent at the Microbrewers Festival poured 5016 samples in the fours hours of the fest.

IU is 14th on the new list of party schools from the Princeton Review. DePauw is 15th.

We finally have had some of Shoreline's Bourbon Barrel offerings. These 8 different beers have been sitting in bourbon barrels for a year and it is noticeable. Really noticeable. The Sum Nug IPA, for instance has a big bourbon start and a long bourbon finish. In between is more bourbon, vanilla, caramel, and some hops but not a lot of persuasion that this was once an IPA.

Breckenridge Avalanche gets canned.

BrewDog is following Paradox with "Britain's Strongest Beer". 18.2%. "lambasted by the health lobby." article

Indiana Brewery News

"The Shoreline Brewery is proud to announce the release of its first barrel aged series. These beers were aged in bourbon and rye barrels for one year and have been aged further in our beer cellar since. The bourbon aged brews are: Lost Sailor (Imperial Stout), Big Bella (Heavy Scotch Ale), Discombobulation Celebration Ale (Barley Wine), Curse the Goat (Dopple Bock), Sum Nug (IPA), 3 Sum (Double IPA) and Smokestack (Porter). We also aged a quantity of Curse the Goat in a Rye barrel. Sales to the general public (first come, first served) will begin at 9 am Saturday, May 30th. The cost per 750 ml bottle is $20. Cash only please. Free Shoreline “Barrel Aged Series” T-shirt with purchase of a full case.
Hope to see you here!" - Sam and Dave

Great Crescent Brewery will hold an ACBW Open House noon-8pm, on Sat, May 16. They'll also be open on all week Noon-9pm. Normally the counter is open 6-9 on Thurs, and Noon-9 on Fri and Sat.

Barley Island's activities during American Craft Beer Week include $2.50 pints on Mon, May 11 and Tues, May 12. $3 pints of Flat Top Wheat on Wed, Dirty Helen Brown on Thurs,, BarFly on Fri, Blind Tiger Pale on Sat, and Sheet Metal Blonde on Sun. Growler refills all week are $6.50 ($3.50 for the glass).

"Last month an English Brown was brewed and is now on the beer engine. Most of the brew went into the oak bourbon barrels for aging.

The Beastie Barrel Porter has been a big hit. Be sure and come in for a taste before it's all gone. Other specialty beers on tap this month are the Franken Stout, 60 Shilling Scotch, and Sheet Metal Blonde.

Our next new beer is going to be a Belgian Pale Ale or sometimes called an Amber Ale. We have pilot batches being conducted this week with a potential brew date later this month.

We have stepped our brewing schedule this month in preparation for sending pallets of beer to our new Chicago distributor. Yes, you will be able to purchase Barley Island beer in Chicagoland by June 2009!"

Upland get's "ink" on NBC's Parks and Recreation which takes place in Pawnee, IN. What else to drink on-screen, besides Upland?

Bob get's ink in Chesterton Tribune, WTHR, MSNBC. It's all the same article from the Chicago Tribune. If you Google "Cathedral to football" you'll get 22 hits.