Upcoming Beer Events / Super Bowl Campaign

Need a good beer event to fight the winter (or whatever you call this) blues? Sure you do – so here are a few suggestions for the upcoming week:

Jan. 12th: Readers in northern Indiana may want to make a run across the border to Kalamazoo for a rare firkin tapping of Bell’s legendary Hopslam. Great way to kick off the upcoming activities of Kalamazoo Beer Week if you’re able to spend more time in the area.

Jan. 14th: Saturday brings the first anniversary celebration for Flat 12 Bierwerks in Indianapolis. The party runs from 12-6 and will include the tapping of Winter Cycle Double IPA which is described as Half Cycle's pissed off viking cousin. Sounds promising. The staff also plans to offer a variety of specialty and barrel-aged beers in the tasting room on Thursday and Friday.

Jan. 15th: For southeastern Indiana, Sunday brings The New Albanian’s Old Lightning Rod Day from 10-6. The event commemorates the birthday of Benjamin Franklin featuring a special menu and the release of a throwback strong ale from Colonial American times. In addition to this, New Albanian has announced the first 36 beers for Gravity Head 2012. Let the madness ensue.

Looking ahead a few weeks, be aware that VIP tickets for Winterfest are sold out. Better get your general admission tickets while they last – this event will sell out!

Finally – and this is very cool – Bob Mack from World Class Beer is working on a “Drink Local” campaign for Super Bowl week. Along with sponsoring shuttle buses that will run between downtown and craft beer hot spots Mass Ave. and Fountain Square, there will be a Twitter hashtag to help get the word out. So Twitter users, remember to use the hashtag #IndianaBeer that week to get out the word about local craft beer and where attendees can find it! Or we can all just bow down to the propaganda blitz that will be delivered by The Man a certain light lager. It’s your choice.

Cheers, Nathan

April Recap - May 3

A few weeks ago I visited three of the newest breweries in Indy: Flat12 Bierwerks (http://flat12.me/), Bier Brewery and Taproom (http://www.bierbrewery.com/) and Thr3e Wise Men Brewery (http://thr3ewisemen.com/). A wide selection of beers were available for sampling at all three establishments along with friendly, courteous service. The servers took the time to explain each of the beers that were sampled and were very interested in feedback from those that were sampling their beers. This was great to observe as they wanted not only positive feedback, but not so positive feedback as well. This is how it should be in my opinion. At Flat 12 Bierwerks, I sampled six (6) of their beers (they had more available but I wanted to pace myself and not have a ruined palate for the other two breweries). I enjoyed their Amber Ale the most as it had a very nice malty and not overly hoppy aroma and flavor. It was very easy to drink and in my opinion a nice session beer. At Bier Brewery and Taproom, they had seven (7) or so beers available for sampling. Of the six (6) that I sampled, I enjoyed the Four Banger Ale and the PDG Pale beers the most. They both had a nice hoppy presence, but not overly hoppy. At Thr3e Wisemen, they too have a large selection of beers to choose from and I had the three beer sampler in which one can choose which three beers to sample. Of the three that I chose, the Golden Zoe IPA was the best choice. Very nice hoppy flavor and true to style. If in Indy, do yourself a favor, and take the time to visit these new breweries and try their beers! I also stopped at Chumley's for a first-time visit. They have about 50 or so taps and 100 or so of bottled beers. A very, very good selection of beers to say the least.

If you think that WineTime (6210 Covington Rd., Ft. Wayne, IN 46804 (260)459-9463) only sells wine, think again! They sell single bottles of beer for $2/btl. or $12/sixer. They let you mix n' match if you choose to do so and they also have a Beer of the Month Club which is $22 + tax. On a recent visit there they had beers from these breweries: Minhas, Berghoff, Crown Valley, Boulder, Strangford Lough, Sherwood Forest, Spanish Peaks, Breckenridge, Stegmaier, Left Hand, Mendocino, Lake Front, Sprecher, and Two Brothers. Stop in and check out their beer selection and speak to Jeff Armstrong about his beer selection if there is something special you would like for him to try to acquire.

Upcoming Events in Fort Wayne: On Saturday, May 21st, from 2p.m.-4p.m., the "1st" Annual Micro Beer Festival at Northbrook will take place. I have received information that there will be 100+ micros available for sampling. This is a FREE event (Must be 21 yrs. of age or older with valid photo ID). The address for this event is 10020 Lima Road and look for the "huge blue and white tent behind Starbucks and in front of Cap n' Cork".

On June 18th, from 5p.m.-8p.m., S & V Liquors on Illinois Road will be having their "Summer Beer Bash" with approximately 50 different beers distributed by Aalco Distributing, Cavalier Distributing, Five Star Distributors, and World Class Beverages. This is a FREE in-store beer tasting (Must be 21 yrs. of age or older with valid photo ID). Also, representatives from Cheesemanstore.com will have many, many samples of their delicious cheeses for sampling and purchasing.

Remember, to keep checking the Calendar section of this website for beer events that not only take place in Indiana, but outside of Indiana as well.

Misc News – Aug 27

Gina's Random Beer Roundup lists lots of new beers on the shelves.

World Class Beverage's Beer Spy is now available for the small screen. You can now find their craft beers in Indiana wherever you are. how-to video

Figure 8 Brewing has a Belgian Tripel in the fermenter and are fixing up a Meheen bottler.

Bell's Oarsman and Oracle (IIPA) are out now. and Eric Strader has some, some opinions, prices, etc. He also talks about last weekend's Art of Beer Festival.

18 Vodka. Hand Made in Indiana. Mishawaka. On Grape Road. 100% Rye. Coming up. Journeyman Distillery making whisky in Three Oaks, MI. article

Sandkerwa NA at the New Albanian Public House might start on September 9th. Roger is holding off on an absolute date until the Anstich kegs arrive. article Cask Conditioned beer from Ahornberger, Bayer, Beck, Gunther, Huppendorfer, Lowenbrau, Monchsambacher, Rossdorfer, Weissenohe. Reserve a Thurs, Fri, or Sat. More info later.

Upland's Taproom in Indy has a cool bike rack. They also are serving Wheat, Dragonfly, Preservation Pilsner, Helios Pale, and Double Dragonfly along with Alter State – Brian Steuerwald's UpCup Altbier – Good malt attack with good Alt hops balance that wants to taking over but doesn't intrude. At 4.7% it's quite drinkable, although not available in growlers.

The Taproom also confirms they are considering an expansion into the next space over which could include a nano-brewery. No dates and plenty of potential obstacles including problems with the ownership of the building.

Bob and Jim  and WCB get linked and inked by Beer News for asking back when "are there too many beers"?

Great Fermentations' Cider will be a 2-parter this year. Each year Anita gets a special blend of unpasteurized unpreserved cider that makes good spring drinking. There will be an early and a late blend available on Sept 18th and Oct 16th for people who want to do two batches. Count me in again this year – for both. $5.99/gallon. Must be pre-ordered by 9/14 and 10/12. They are also having Cider Finishing seminars if you are nervous. more info

Great Fermentations is holding a Brown Ale competition. No cost to enter. (by Oct 27th). No spices or herbs. OG < 1060. Winner gets $25 cert and brews the brown at GF.

The stoopid food of the day award goes to the Texas State Fair for Fried Beer™. "Beer-filled pretzel pocket is deep-fried to a golden brown. One bite and the escaping beer serves as a dipping sauce." 21 and over, ID required. article

A tour of World Class Beverages (Monarch)

It's 530,000 sq. ft. It has 1,300,000 cases of beer in it. It's the new World Class Beverages warehouse on Pendleton Pike in Lawrence, Indiana. OK, they share it with Monarch Beverages who handle Miller and Coors in Central Indiana.

Indiana law requires distributors to work from one single warehouse, so while some distributors are bigger, Monarch's is the largest beer warehouse in the country.

They invited some beer enthusiasts to tour the place and here's some pictures.

Miller and Coors pallets are brought in by the truckload.

This is a "depalletizer".
It separates the cases so the rest of the automated system can handle them.

 

A multi-story multi-million dollar system pulls cases all night for drivers to deliver the next day.

Most Craft Beer isn't completely hand-picked but many of the slower sellers are
kept in racks to be set out in order for merging with each store's and pub's order.

"Slow sellers" makes for some strange bedfellows. Lambic and flavored beverage side by side.

 

Misc News – Oct 8

Scott Wise, the owner of the 5 Scotty's Brewhouse in Indiana has been named the 2009 Restaurateur of the Year by the Indiana Restaurant Association. article

Kahn's in Indy is 30. During October sing "Happy Birthday dear Kahn's, Happy Birthday to You" at the cash register and get 5% off. Seriously.

Spotted at Kahn's: Hottenroth Berliner Weisse 750 $9.50. Ørbæk Bryggeri Old Danish Braggot 750 corked $35. (Braggot is a beer and honey brew similar to a mead).

The Brugge Brasserie has the Bronze-winning Bad Kitty Leipziger Gose on tap. Think tart wit.

Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy has a non-dryhopped Pale Ale on the handpull for those of us who aren't hop heads. For those who are, try Jerry's Summit-based Hop Bomb. My my.

Arlington Heights, IL may ban single-bottle sales of beer in any bottle under 40 ounces. Bye bye bombers and 750s. Surprisingly, Chicago has such a law but the minimum size is 16 ounces. These efforts are to stop oil-cans of Steel Reserve. article

The Wall Street Journal says Cheese Chooses Beer. We agree.

Sat, Oct 10 - Plus goat  cheese & beer tasting at 2pm at New Albanian's Bank Street Brewhouse.

World Class Beverages is looking for some people. Here's the 8 jobs from their web site:

• Sales Representatives in Evansville, New Albany, Fort Wayne, and Columbus/Franklin
• Promotional Specialists in Evansville and Indianapolis
• Merchandiser in Evansville
• Payroll & Benefits Coordinator Indianapolis

We finally grabbed some pictures of the new Monarch / World Class warehouse out on Pendleton Pike at 52nd St. in Lawrence.

First, it's massive. 580,000 sq ft. 13 acres.
That is smaller than the nearby Fort Harrison Finance Center but the ceilings are higher.

Offices, as usual are up front with the warehouse behind.
This shot is looking to the back so it shows the depth but not even a tenth of the width.

Tasting room.