Misc News – Nov 13

New Albanian's Thunderfoot will be out in bombers, presumably by spring.

But not by Saturnalia, the NABC Public House's weeks long celebration of winter beers, which starts the day after Thanksgiving (Nov 26). Saturnalia list as of now

Microbrew Review of Broo Doo.

This Busy Week

Sunday:

• Broad Ripple Brewpub 20th Anniversary Party. Starts at Noon. Music 5-9pm
• Beer & Wine tasting. Agio Restaurant, Indy. Noon-3pm. $35
• All-Grain Brewing Class. Great Fermentations, Indy. 10am
• Brewers Group discussion and trade. Great Fermentations, Indy. 1-4pm

Tuesday:

• Founder's Beer Dinner. Binkley's Kitchen, Indy. 6:30pm. $40.
• Beginning Brewing Class. Great Fermentations, Indy. 6pm

Wednesday:

• Tapping of Blitzen Ale at Rock Bottom, 86th St, Indy. 6pm
• Poppaskull (FFF/DFH collaboration) release at Brugge Brasserie *
• Stone and Founders Bastard beers at The Heorot, Muncie. 6pm+

Thusday:

• Tapping of Blitzen Ale at Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy. 6pm
• Release of Steel Curtain Oatmeal Stout. Half Moon, Kokomo.
• The Role of Water discussion. Krannert Room, Clowes Hall, Butler U. Indy. 5pm.
• Stone and Founders Bastard beers at Scotty's, Downtown Indy. 6pm+
• Beer Tasting. Big Red Liquors, Bloomington. 6-8pm
• Beer Sampling. Chalet Party Shoppe, CR 17, Elkhart. 4-6pm
• Stone/Founders collaboration event. Scotty's Brewhouse, Downtown Indy.

Friday:

• Poppaskull (FFF/DFH collaboration) release at Three Pints Brewpub. 5pm *
• Beer Tasting. Liquor Locker, Evansville. 4-7pm
• Beer Sampling. Norma's Fine Wines. Indy. 6-8pm
• Beer Tasting. Cap n' Cork, Dupont Rd. Ft. Wayne. 5-7pm
• Beer Tasting. Vine and Table, Carmel, 3-7pm
• Beer Tasting. Crown Liquors, Downtown Indy. 3-7pm; Carmel & Fishers. 4-7pm
• Avery & Flying Dog Tasting. 21st Amendment, Broad Ripple. 5-7pm.
• STL Hops 3rd Anniversary Party. St. Louis. $26. 6pm++
• BeerMBA Class Part 1/3. Carmel. 6:00-9:30pm

Saturday:

• Alpha Acid Test tasting. Lafayette Brewing. 20 dry-hopped IPAs. 2-5pm. $20.
• Michigan Extreme Beer Fest. Acorn Theater, Kalamazoo. 6-9pm. $30

Next Sunday:

• WIPB's All Beers & Cheese Considered. Cornerstone Center, Muncie. 1:30-5pm. $10/$20. RSVP by 5pm Monday, Nov. 15th at 800-646-1812 or email iprmembers@bsu.edu
• Duneland Area Exchange Club Beer Wine & Sprit Tasting. Woodland Park Community Center, Portage. 1-4pm
• Discovery Channel Brew Masters program debuts. Stars Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head. 10pm. preview - trailer - There will be an HBG viewing party at Brugge starting at 8:30pm

* “A deep, golden ale spiced with cardamom and fermented using a robust Belgian yeast strain. One third of the volume was then aged for 6 months in oak brandy barrels. Spice, esters, and sweet brandy dominate the aroma. A robust 10% abv is rounded by caramel and vanilla notes from the wood with a slight spiciness coming from the yeast.”

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Editorial

See the video below. This has got purchase in many states right now and there's a there's a ban in Michigan and "the FDA is also investigating whether to stop the sale of ... "alcopop" drinks".

This could become a problem. If our hamhanded congresscritters do this and do it the usual way, Indiana could end up banning all caffeine in alcoholic drinks. We could lose Coffee Stouts. Even chocolate or tea might not be safe ingredients. Not to mention pre-mixed rum and cokes.

The Blichmann Hop Rocket is your own personal Randall. And filter. And hopback. About $120. Available at your favorite friendly homebrew store or mail order.

BTW, John Hickenlooper, founder of Wynkoop Brewing and soon-to-be-ex-Mayor of Denver was elected Governor of Colorado.

Ratebeer's Top 50 American Session Beers (under 4.5% ABV). None from Indiana. Frowny face.

Upland – Growth Growth

This press release from Upland Brewing Co. doesn't need anything added so here it is.

"Indiana's Beer" Continues to Grow, Add Jobs...All Without Government Bailout Money Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 Bloomington, IN Local craft beer is flowing faster than ever in Indiana, and as the makers of "Indiana's Beer," we at Upland Brewing Co. are working hard to keep the taps from running dry. Case in point: a ninety ton crane towered over our Bloomington brewery on Tuesday, and a massive 150 barrel (4,650 gallon) bearer of beer brewing potential could be seen suspended in the sunlight from miles around. "What is this magnificent monolith," you ask. It's a new fermentation tank that we've christened Gigantor, due to its, well, gigantic size. It is so large that we had to cut a hole in the roof and drop it in with a crane. We've done that for smaller tanks before, but what's special about Gigantor is that it is taller than the brewery and projects through the roof, so we had to have it made with an extra layer of insulation in order to keep the temperature of the beer consistent. It is twice the size of any other tanks currently in service, and increases our total capacity by one-third. Head brewer Caleb Staton says the idea was the result of "literally out-of-the-box thinking, and we have beer to thank for it. We were getting close to hitting the ceiling on our brewing capacity and wouldn't be able to make more of our year-around beers than we already were, let alone more of our seasonals and specialties. We were talking about it over a few beers, and someone joked that we should just knock out the ceiling. Everyone laughed, but a few seconds later we realized that it could actually work." Who says beer isn't a mind-expanding substance? To give you some hard numbers, we estimate that we will sell 8,200 bbls (254,200 gallons) of beer in 2010 - a 36% increase from the 6,000 bbls sold in 2009. And 2009 sales weren't slack either, growing 20% from the 5,000 bbls sold in 2008. Where is all the beer going? About 2,000 bars, restaurants, liquor stores, and grocery stores in Indiana sell our beer, and another 250 out-of-state. We're proud of that figure, but there is still a lot of untapped opportunity out there, and we're not taking our foot off the gas. Though all of our markets (Indiana, Louisville, KY, and southeastern Wisconsin) have contributed to overall growth, the majority of it is coming from the Indianapolis metro area. Upland's president, Doug Dayhoff, says, "we owe a lot to the bars and retailers in central Indiana who have helped promote local beers and to the consumers who have begun to recognize that flavorful beer brewed by local companies is better than beer-soda brewed in multi-national factories and sold with advertising gimmicks. And I thank the stars every night for a great team that makes this growth look easy, which it’s not." Our Indy Tasting Room on 49th St. and College Ave., which we opened in November, 2009, has also given people the chance to sample some of our beers they might not otherwise think to try, and most of them find something they really like, so they ask for it at bars, restaurants, and liquor stores around the city. Increased sales have also allowed, and required, us to create new jobs. We hired five people to work at the Tasting Room in 2009, and we hired another five people for our Bloomington location in 2010. Dayhoff says, "we're never going to be the type of company that single-handedly props up a town's economy by hiring five-hundred positions, but for a company our size, ten hires in a year-and-a-half is pretty significant." Plans for the future? There's only so much of the ceiling we can knock out before what's left falls down on us, and we're just about out of floor space in the brewery. So we're working on plans to expand the brewery, giving us more room for equipment and storage. Though we're still in the early stages, we're hoping to break ground in 2011. But no matter how big our tanks are or how many of them we have, it's the beer in them that matters most. Whether we're brewing eight-hundred barrels or eight-thousand, our mission, first and foremost, is to make unique, high quality, and consistent beer that people will want to have over and over again.

www.uplandbeer.com

Celebrations, tastings, and new beer.

The Indiana Historical Society has a beer tasting & story telling event Tonight, Nov. 9, in the Cole Porter Room and Lilly Hall. The event from 6-8PM is free, but requires registration on the IHS web-site for 21-year-olds only. The Brewers Guild of Indiana provides the beer and author Doug Wissing (Indiana, One Pint at a time) will tell stories along with Ted Miller of Brugge and others.

On Nov. 18, at 6:00 PM, Brugge Brasserie is having a Poppa Skull release party with Dogfish Head and Three Floyds breweries unique co-creation. According to DFH, the golden ale was brewed at their brewery using cardamom and Belgian yeast strains and aged in oak brandy barrels.

Remember the Champaign of beer slogan? Sam Adams is releasing Infinium, a collaboration between Sam Adams and Weihenstephan (claiming to be the world's oldest brewery) as a 10% beer with Noble hops and bottled in a 750ml bottle calling it a hoppy, aromatic pilsner.

Misc News – Nov 9

Congratulations to medalists at the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers:

• Three Floyds – Silver, Chocolate City, Silver, Conquistador de la Muerte
• Upland Silver, Dantalion

Big Woods Brewing's new HoneySuckle Red is newly on tap and last month, Lieutenant Gov. Becky Skillman presented Big Woods Brewing Co. with the "Indiana Main Street Business of the Year" award. The Indiana Main Street program honors outstanding local achievements in downtown revitalization and development. Their 1st anniversary is Thursday and a new Oatmeal Stout will be summoned out from it's Woodford Reserve barrel to celebrate at 7pm.

Roger Baylor is planning some group trips in 2011. "In late June or early July, Bamberg Beercycling (Northern Bavaria), and then in September, Belgian Beer Hunting via motorcoach, including the hop fest in Poperinge. Each will be 7-8 day durations, minimum, and details are forthcoming as I get to them. Let em know if you're interested." He's also posted pictures from previous trips.

Three Pints Brewpub will open in Plainfield Friday according to this news release. Not brewing yet. Nor is their web site.

Greg waxes on to Jason about John. Hill, that is.

Todd Antz of Keg Liquors reviews some wintery beers for the Clark County Focus.

The fire at Dark Horse affected the office, beer supply store, and a tattoo shop. The tap room was broken into and the local Fire Chief thinks the fire is suspicious. The brewpub is open and the brewery not affected.

Here's an excellent editorial about MADD. In the Toronto Sun. Yes, MADD invaded Canada years ago.

Bob Mack reviews The End of History. Wasabi. 55%.

News

Firkin Fridays at Powerhouse are a big hit. So far, Jon has made a Cocoa Brown, Espresso Diesel, and Two Dave's IPA with extra Cascade hops. At this time he has the collaboration brew with Great Crescent, a Belgian Dubbel on draught along with White River Brown Ale and Diesel Oil Stout. Upcoming brews include DILLIGAF Rye ale, which sells out super fast.

CACA has been doing a technical presentation before each meeting with members and guests taking turns. These have been very informative and fun. They hold their meetings at 7pm on the first Tuesday of each month and everyone over 21 is welcome.

Beer MBA Classes

Ron Smith is doing another series of Beer MBA classes on Fridays, Nov 19th, Dec 3, and Dec 10. See www.BeerMBA.com/classes.php for all the details and to sign up.

From Ron:

The classes are designed to be taken in sequence and to take all 3 of them and get your Beer MBA Certificate.  Class 1 is a prerequisite for the other 2 classes, so once you have taken it, you can take the other classes in a future series if you have date conflicts.

The positive feedback on these classes keeps rolling in.  People continue to sign up to take it again and again, and bringing friends and family back with them.  The classes are very fun, as well as educational.  You will sample beer styles you have probably never even heard of, taste various flavor demos to train your palate, learn how to serve and store beer, and how to pair it with food, and much more.

I want to thank everyone for their support and their interest in learning more about the World’s Great Beer Styles.  The momentum is building and more and more people are being educated about great craft beer!

> Consider attending these classes as a couple or a small group for added fun.

> This is truly a unique series of classes.  They are designed to be fun and entertaining, but also very educational.  You can take a single class (class 1 is a pre-requisite for the other 2), but I think you will find it most rewarding to take all three - plus, you receive a completed MBA certificate if you take all 3 classes and who doesn’t want that to hang on their wall (smile).  You will learn about the origins, history, and uniqueness of all the major beer styles of the world (more than 75 of them), and get to sample most of them as well (we will sample over 50 of them).  Classes are 3 - 3.5 hours long to spread out the samples and cover all the material (it may seem long, but time flies when you are having fun… and you will be having fun).  In addition, I will present several off-flavor / flavor demos to help you identify some of the most common problems and flavors found in beer.  I have discovered that people can appreciate more of the world’s beer styles than they ever imagined simply by learning about them and tasting them in the right environment.

> Wine drinkers will also find these classes fascinating as they come to learn more about “vintage” beers, strong Belgian beers, wild-fermented beers, and more.  Many of these unique fermented beverages rival wine in their overall flavor and complexity (and even cost).

> These classes are more for the general public with an interest in the world’s great beers, but even knowledgeable brewers and beer connoisseurs will find them worthwhile.  So, regardless of your knowledge level, please feel free to join us.

> Classes are held in the tasting room at the Payless Liquors in Carmel on Adams Street. They cost only $135 for all 3 classes if paid up front.  The class size is limited, and there will be hundreds of dollars worth of beer sampled (plus some possible food samples paired with certain beers).

> Even though I will spread out the beer samples to avoid overindulgence, designated drivers are always encouraged (arrange to be dropped off and picked up).

SIGN UP TODAY TO SECURE YOUR SEAT!

Misc News – Nov 5

The Tomlinson Tap Room in the Indianapolis City Market is due to open yet this month. Mezzanine, old part, south end. It will be run by the B.I.G. John Hill says the fact that everything else in the City Market closes at 3pm isn't a problem – there are 200 events booked in that area each year and B.I.G. will make lots of sales to those folks.

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Upland's Tap Room on College in Indy is celebrating their first birthday starting today and running through Tuesday. Music on Mon. Tues also has music plus wear a Upland t-shirt and get a free pint. Show your employee license and get a free growler bottle.

They have the nano-system sort in place if not hooked up. A Brew Magic system from Sabco. Wanna brew?

Teddy Bear Kisses, at 11.5% is quite rich. Black Patent trumps chocolate.

Komodo Dragonfly at 6.5% is the same ABV as Dragonfly but equally as black as any stout. Thick small-bubble brown head. 65 IBU but the higher malt bill makes it seem tamer.

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Sun King with the Woodstove Flapjacks and a new release causes 180 cars to fill the parking lot.  Very busy. Coming up: Cow Bell Milk Porter.

Popcorn Pils is a nice pils. The addition of 150lbs of popped popcorn didn't really add a whole lot to the mix. We're just surprised it fit into the mash tun.

Twisted Sister is an imperial Berliner Weiss at 5%. It's of the best sort and we'll see it again at the State Fair awards. A+

Rumor has it Kahn's will buy John's Spirits at 21 N. Pennsylvania in downtown Indianapolis.

There was a fire at Dark Horse last night but there's no details yet.

Heavy Seas 15th Anniversary Ale will hit the decks this winter. 8% IIPA.

North Coast Old Stock Ale 2009 is being sent out and we should get some even though it's not in WCB's Beer Spy yet. 13.2%. Aged in bourbon barrels.

Morning Advertiser Headline: "Molson Coors is set to launch a new range of beers in the middle of 2011 aimed at the female market." In England. "The new range of beers will be made from a recipe which fights the concerns women have around drinking beer such as bloating, weight gain and taste."

Rare stuff from Cavalier include Founders Backwoods Bastard.

Misc News – Nov 3

Sun King will tap Popcorn Pils this Thursday. 6-9pm. Brewed with 150 pounds of Indiana Popcorn. Food and Woodstove Flapjacks also.

Big Woods is up to 7 beers on tap. Cat Tail Wheat, Six Foot Blonde, Possum Trot Pale, Honey Suckle Red, Hare Trigger IPA, Busted Knuckle, Tim’s Big Woods Stout…QUAFF ON!

The Lafayette Brewing newsletter tells us "This month will feature both a unique seasonal and a new package here at LBC.  First up, we'll be releasing both our Star City Lager and our Eighty-Five American Ale in new, 22 oz. bombers.  Look for the Star City to be available the first week of the month with the 85 to follow by mid-month.  We've also got a batch of our Alpha Acid Test control beer, Alpha 60, in the tanks and ready to be dry hopped with 20+ hop varieties for the tasting on November 20.  The Alpha 60 is loosely based on an American IPA and will be released on the 20th, as well.  A limited number of tickets are still available for the Alpha Acid Test for only $20.  No tickets will be available the day of the tasting."

This week's schedule. (More here):

• Thurs, Nov 4 - Popcorn Pils tapping at Sun King. 6-9pm. Food and music.
• Thurs, Nov 4 - Girl's Pint Out blind beer tasting. Scotty's Brewhouse, Geist. After work? Co-ed. Free. Registration needed.
• Thurs, Nov 4 – Specialty Brew Night with Venetia Sekema. Fiddler's Hearth, South Bend. 5pm. $55. On tap: Monk's Cafe, Theobroma, Sah'Tea, Moloko. 5-9pm. Music 9-11pm.
• Sat, Nov 6 - Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer, Chicago, IL
• Sat, Nov 6 - Shoreline 2008 Barrel-Aged series release.
• Sun, Nov 7 - Back Road will start to be open Sundays, 2-4pm. Growlers and bottles available.

Here's an article from the Indianapolis Star – Nov 26, 1996. It goes on to say "Close your eyes, and picture a typical beer drinker. Chances are, you've conjured an image of a fat, hairy guy sipping from a can on the sofa. Now meet Julie Grelle, president of Circle V Brewing Co., Indianapolis. She's female, fit and educated, and wants you to change the way you think about beer. "There's a lot more to beer than just Coors and Budweiser," she said. To help convey that message, Indiana's eclectic local brewers are organizing a trade association, led by Circle V's Grelle and Bloomington Brewing Co. chief executive Jeff Mease. The envision a guild modeled after the Indiana Wine Concil, which gets 5 cents of every gallon of wine sold in the state to promote wines and tourism . . ."

 

Yuengling, work, family, price, money, and Memphis. "We want to continue to be the oldest," Mr. Yuengling said, "not the biggest.'' article

You may have heard the sensationalist headlines recently that "beer is more dangerous than heroin". It's a neo-prohibitionist study out of England. Here's the takedown. It's based on a poll, not evidence.

Trion Tavern Three Floyds Event

On Saturday, November 13, from 7p.m.-9p.m. come out to the Trion Tavern, New Haven, IN where they will be tapping 12 different Three Floyds beers at the same time. The beers being tapped are: Alpha King, Gumballhead, Robert the Bruce, Pride N Joy, Dreadnaught, 2009 Behemoth, Artic Panzer, Ice Grille, Moloko Stout, Broodoo Harvest, Drunk Munk, and Ostemoller. A special guest from Three Floyds will also be in attendance.

BCCA Fall Trade Show

The South Central Indiana chapter The newly renamed IBC chapter of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America held their Fall Trade Show last Saturday in Indianapolis. 200 or so browsers shopped to complete their collection or just tried to make it through the day after a keg of Sun King bit the dust in the hospitality suite the night before.

IBC chapter Members

Lots to see so here's a slideshow

View Full Album

People came from St. Louis through New York. The next Trade Show in Indiana will be the Hoosier Chapter BCCA Trade Show. Feb 26. 9am+ Free Admission. Quality Inn, Dixie Way North, South Bend.

David vs Goliath, Wilbur Brewing

Wilbur brewing likely could not have a more idyllic setting for current brewing operations, a former Girl Scout cabin beside a pond, with little but trees around! Maybe some of that peace transends into the beer! Wilbur is gently moving from a homebrewing operation to micro-brewer. Still it is likely one of the few who could claim "fire brewed" beer! Plus the beer is organic. The last time indianabeer.com caught up with founder Dan Hause, Wilbur Brewhause was in its infancy. Wilbur now has larger fermentation vessels and is brewing in larger quantities.

Throwing beer styles to the country wind, Wilbur's most popular offering is Country Mellow -- and it is smooth but weighs in at 8% alcohol. This beer is closest to a strong scotch ale, but there we go trying to categorize a beer that folks just plain seem to like rather than discuss. It is a deep brown mahogany beer with rich maltiness made with local artesian waters. Wilbur's second most popular is labeled Summer Ale, though the light spiciness in it made it a tasty Fall beer, too. Wilbur bottles other seasonals such as Oktoberfest, Biker Brown, and Midnight Coffee Stout with beans from B-townBeans.

Wilbur, named for the closest little 'village' of Wilbur, Indiana, between Martinsville and Monrovia, will likely move one of these days as Dan plans to expand. That may allow Wilbur to distribute more widely with more offerings. Currently Country Mellow is likely the beer you'll find in Bloomington on tap at Scotty's, Yogis, or maybe Max's and in 6-packs at Bloomingfoods, Sahara Mart, in Martinsville at Brownstone liquor or try a bottle at Olde Northside Bar & Grill, or pick some up at Parti-Pak on the Southside of Indy.

It's great to see expanding variety for Indiana. Little Wilbur Brewing is adding organic options in South Central Indiana. Check out the facebook page for Wilbur Brewing !

Misc News – Oct 29

Barley Island's Count Hopula Imperial IPA is being released today at both locations.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Greenwood has two seasonals on tap. Their Oktoberfest lager is tasty but has a bit of a Summit hop taste. Their Pumpkin Ale holds a full hand of pumpkin pie spices.

Figure 8 Brewing has a 4-head Meheen and will be putting out 22oz Ro Shampo in a few weeks.

How did we miss, back in 2007, the naming of Mineral Water as the Official State Beverage of Indiana?

From Dogfish Head, “Over the next sixty days we will launch the following beers. Olde School, Burton Baton, Squall, My Antonia, Chicory Stout, World Wide Stout, Bitches Brew and lastly this years Fort. Phew!!!!!!!!!By years end we will have sold just over 115,000bbls worth of beer. This marks a tremendous achievement for us. The 100,000bbls bench mark has only been crossed by a handful of brewers. We are not stopping there. Our goal for 2011 is to sell 140,000bbls worth of beer. This will be another 22% total barrelage growth for us.”

What beer for the Halloween weekend? How about Wychwood Hobgoblin? Rogue Dead Guy? Witches Brew? Goose Island Night Stalker? Anything from Fantome? Or even Oaken Barrel's Gnawbone IPA.

Misc News – Oct 27

The Hoosier Beer Geeks review Upland's Teddy Bear Kisses.

B.I.G.'s Winterfest details have been sent by Jason: "Winterfest will be on January 29th, 2011. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale online on Monday Nov. 1st. VIP $50, GA $35, DD $10. A limited number of GA tickets will be on sale at select Crown Liquor stores by November 8th. There are no ticket sales at local breweries. I repeat: NO TICKET SALES AT LOCAL BREWERIES. Watch www.IndianaBeerFest.com for further details and a link to purchase tickets."

The Trion Tavern gets ink in the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette.

What to do this Halloweekend:

• Fri/Sat - Oct 29 & 30 - Horror, History and Hauntings. Great Crescent Brewery, Aurora. 6pm
• Fri, Oct 29 - Firkin of Komodo Dragonfly at Sonka Irish Pub, Terre Haute. 5:30pm
• Sat, Oct 30 - Indianapolis Breweriana Trade Show. BCCA. La Quinta, Beech Grove. Free admission. $8 tables. Info: tom@goecker.biz. 9am-2pm
• Sun Oct 31 - Firkin Sunday. The Livery, Benton Harbor, MI. 2 Harvest ales.

Schlafly's 20th Anniversary will be presented in four volumes, an Imperial Pilsner and three others. 750ml bottles. Due out December 26th, just in time to be an IOU in some St. Louis Christmas stockings.

Duvel Green is a non-conditioned beer with the same grain, hop, and yeast bill as Duvel Blegian Golden Ale. It's available in Chicago and should arrive in Indiana soon. more info and tasting notes.

Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY, is tripling their capacity in the next few years. This will allow them to have 6 seasonals per year.

Fullers has a 2010 Vintage Ale out.

There might be an 8th Trappist Monastery on the way to brewing. article - translated article – hand-translation summary: "The seven trappist monks at Stift Engelszell in Austria would like to raise money for renovation of their buildings and decided to set up a brewery. The beer recipes are being developed by University of Apllied Sciences in Wels, Austria. Local produce will be used to make the beers. Hofstetten brewery from St.Martin im Mühlkreis is to send over their brewmaster for an initial period to oversee production; Stiftsbrauerei Schlägl is said to do the bottling of the beers. - If Engelszell is granted the requested permit to use the protected Trappist logo on its beers, they might be on sale within a year."

Report from the Norman Upland

OK, what's a Norman Upland and what does it have to do with the Upland Brewery? That's a two-part question. 1) The Norman Upland is a region of south-central Indiana that is beyond the limit of the Wisconsin glacial deposits. 2) Nothing really except way back when Marc Sattinger named the Upland Brewery for these hills.

So why is this post titled thusly? It contains information about the brewpubs in the Norman Upland, OK, maybe a little further. Bloomington, Nashville, and Columbus. A nice drive on a fall turning-leaves day and an easy way to visit 4 brewpubs with a 30-mile drive on Ind 46. Or take Ind 45 to Nashville via Helmsburg for more 2-lanes. That's what I did the other day.

Upland 

The Bourbon Barrel-aged Winter Warmer on tap is a malty barley wine hidden away in Buffalo Trace barrels for the summer. The 47 IBUs don't balance or tame it – consider it was a 1082 OG.

In two weeks they are looking forward to sticking a tank out the top of the brewhouse, effectively doubling the capacity.

Caleb is kept pretty busy but has time to nose some lambic samples for next year. 

Speaking of Lambics. The Kiwi goes in for fruiting in a couple of weeks and many others of the 2010 release are waiting in glass. Blackberry, Peach, Strawberry, Blueberry, Red Raspberry, and Dantalion Dark Wild will be back also along with a new one called Gilgamesh.

     

 

Bloomington Brewing's handpulls change constantly. I was lucky enough to get a Cask Conditioned Mild Ale. The dry hopping puts nonsense to the posted 5 IBU. This comes to an effective 30 IBU. A perfect Brit ESB for Americans. 4.7%. Coming up on the handpull in November include Quarrymen Pale and Double Hopper.

Scott's 6th law: If your beer does not go with chocolate, you're drinking the wrong beer.

 

Big Woods Brewing

Busted Knuckle – Now their signature beer (replacing Tim's Big Woods Stout). A hybrid ale close to light-bodied porter but with a 7.5% basis. 27 IBU from Crystal and EKG. A bit of roasty and well-balanced. A+ stuff. Stood up to the spicy chili.

 

Power House / Columbus Bar The Great Powerhouse Collaboration Abbey Ale is freshly on tap with plenty of modicums of funky Abbey Ale yeastiness.

White River Brown is highly carbonated for a Dark Southern Brown / Mild. Malt predominates and the carbonation adds spriteliness which seems out of place at first.

 

Black Swan Brewpub - Plainfield

First the facts: 2067 E. Hadley Rd. Plainfield, IN 46168 317-838-7444 www.blackswanbrewpub.com This is the first stoplight north of I-70 at the Ind 267  exit south of Plainfield. Turn left on Hadley and it's the at the first street on the left. Open Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sun 11am-10pm; Fri, Sat 11am-midnight Opened about a week ago by DJ McCalister who has been the brewer at Barley Island and Lafayette Brewing. No, it's not a brewpub yet. A room on the west end has been carved out for spacious brewery space and they hope to be producing in January. Right now it's a 15-tap Indiana beer bar. Yep, nothing but Indiana beers. (click all the pics for bigger views). The wait staff is knowledgeable. While I was there a new hire was sampling her way through the line-up and Summer was happy to walk me through the menu. The beer menu is complete (again, click to biggify) with good descriptions. Prices range from $4.75 to $6 for 20-oz pints and 10-oz halves are half price with some rounding up. Sample sets are available - five 3-oz pours for $3.50. The opposite side of the menu lists 15 wines, a mead, and a cider; all from New Day Meadery and the Chateau Thomas Winery (which is just across Ind 267 if you need another excuse to visit the west side). The quiet bar area seats about 8 at the bar and has 4 tables and a 6-person booth. Housed in what was a uninspired BBQ place, they've reskinned the whole interior in darkish woodiness which is quite inviting.

Food, yep, there's food. Appetizers include fried pickles and a beer cheese crock - $5-$9. Salads as meals – whole at $7-$9 half at $4-$5. Lots of choices and add-ons available for these. A list of 6 Sandwiches will be most carnivores' food choice from "Sliced roast pork, tomato chutney, Capriole goat cheese, mixed greens, on a broiche roll" to the quite tasty Beef Roll ("Shaved beef, provolone, caramelized onions, arugula, Peppadew aioli, on a brioche"). $9 range. No steaks or heavy meals.

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DJ says about his upcoming beers:

"Here is how we think our first six beers will shake out. After that, we are going no holds barred and brewing any and all styles we can crank out.

• Cream Stout
• Double IPA
• ESB (for draught as well as cask conditioned)
• A malty brown ale
• A hopped up American style rye
• and either a nice crisp Belgian Wit or a Hefeweizen to round out the array."

Summary. Go west. A bar worthy of a Girls Pint Out, a homebrew club meeting, a HBG visit. It will see plenty of business from this southwestsider. Hope to see you there.

Misc News – Oct 23

Three Floyds small batches. Chocolate CIty, Aotearoa, Hell's Black Intelligencer, The Creeper. details (sorta)

Crown Brewing has Milk Chocolate Stout on tap – a sweet stout with lactose and 20 pounds of chocolate. Grand Poobah Russian Imperial Stout and Alkoholika Doppelbock will emerge in November.

Figure 8 Brewing has Black Corridor Imperial Chocolate Stout on nitro.

Shoreline's 2008 Barrel-Aged Series will go on sale at the pub on Nov 6.  Bourbon Aged beers: Lost Sailor Imperial Stout, Discombobulation Celebration Ale, Sum Cens IIPA, Big Bella Heavy Scotch Ale. Aged in French Oak Shiraz:  Seven Red on Red Rye Ale.

Back Road will start to be open Sundays, 2-4pm. Growlers and bottles available. Christmas Ale and No. 9 Barleywine will be available by Thanksgiving. Pecker Head Red in late Nov.

Thanks to Scott Bort's column for most of that.

Notes from HBG's Beer and Chocolate Benefit

Indiana Breweries by John Holl and Nate Schweber is scheduled for an April, 2011 release. Preorders are already up on Amazon.

The Apple Buzz is sold out again at Oaken Barrel, as Mike finds out. Monday they sold 133 cases. Tuesday another batch sold out.

Great Fermentations, Indy is hiring. Send your resume to bill@greatfermentations.com.

Widmer Barrel Aged Brrrbon will be out in bombers real soon now. 9.4%. About $13.

Shmaltz He'brew Jewbelation 14 has just been released. Each year it gets stronger, etc. This year with 14 malts, 14 hops and 14%. Looks like a vertical 8-pack is in the works with the last eight years of this barrel-aged brew, a glass, and Chanukah candles. article Oh, and Freaktoberfest is back again this year also. 6.66% Blood Red Lager.

Goose Island, having maxed out its Fulton Street brewery at 130,000bbls will contract some such as Honker's Ale and IPA at Redhook in Portsmouth, NH, starting in January. article

Dick Yuengling Jr. sounds like my kinda guy. article

After a British Guild of Beer Writers' seminar about beer styles, there's another blogger-flap going on. I've tried to put these links in some order. Good luck with your new time sink.

UK Style Revolution

Beer styles: the first of only two posts I will ever write on the subject

My final post on beer styles

More thoughts on beer styles

Michael Jackson and the invention of beer style

Headache ahead: Considering beer styles

Beer Style: Does is Matter?

And just for grins: Bottled beers types and categories (1977)

Novemberfest - Falling in Love with Bells

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, November 10th, at 5p.m. 800 Degrees Wood Fire Pizza, 10020 Lima Road, Fort Wayne, (260-490-0111) will be hosting a Bells beer event with the following Bells beers: Expedition, Oarsman, Amber, Best Brown, Hell Hath No Fury, Quinannan Falls Lager, and a Two Hearted Firkin. Tapping the Firkin at 5p.m. and tapping a Firkin of Hell Hath No Fury at 6p.m. All other beers will be tapped during the day. There will also be a special food menu for this event.

Race to be the next brewery

Thr3e Wise Men on Broad Ripple Avenue is being finished out, insulated, but still a long way to go. The tanks are in but not plumbed.

As you enter (bottom right on the plan), a vestibule/tasting area will be backed by a glass walk-in with 5 bright tanks. Omar looks to have finally escaped the cramped quarters with a 15/30 bbl system in the back.

A bar will becon to the left. Two kitchens (seemingly one for this location and one for advanced prep for all Scotty's houses). The Hoosier Beer Geeks have more pictures and stuff.

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At The Bier Brewery and Taproom, Darren Conner has the pots and kettles in and hopes to be producing fermented beverages before Thanksgiving.

Yep, lots of burners. Lots of Blichman equipment. He'll end up with 8 fermenters and 8 secondaries so we'll be seeing a lot of variety.

Misc News – Oct 17

NABC Elector label for bomber bottles. A sign of things to come.

Apple Buzz is back at Oaken Barrel.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, who's got the pumpkin? Now it's Mad Anthony's Punkunhead Ale.

Upland's Tasting Room in Indy is open again after remodeling to double the size.

Coming up:

• Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy – Dry Hop Wheat w/ Amarillo.
• Barley Island – Another batch of batch # 666 – Damien Belgian Strong Golden – will be out in January.
• We're told the Winter Replicale will be an Imperial ESB. Look for it everywhere in January.

Broad Ripple Brewpub on tap any day now, maybe now.

• Wobbly Wheat – Kevin's reflection on Gumballhead. 5.2%.
• Pumpkin Ale – w/pumpkin
• Big Boy. Chinook hopped IPA.

Here's the Guest list at Barley Island Restaurant and Brewhouse, Broad Ripple:

Brugge Brasserie tasting notes:

• Miller Low Life (or whatever the Belgian Single is called today). It's quite the sweet one.
• Prana Porter – Rich Thick Roasty Balticy, Worthy. A+
• Wapahini Belgian Spiced IPA – Noticable but not intrusive bitterness. Hints of wassal spices.
• Quad – Dull ugly brown with the look of used engine oil. Not that burnt, black engine oil you get from letting things go for thousands and thousands of miles, but the browner used engine oil that runs out of the pan after, say, 4,000 miles of pavement driving, maybe some at high altitude.

We grabbed some pictures of the Great Fermentations Cider Finishing Seminar while we were picking up cider for our annual batch of Add-Lots-Of-Molasses-And-Let-It-Sit-Til-March-Strong-Ciderish-Fermented-Beverage.

 

Dark Horse (Marshall), The Livery (Benton Harbor) and Right Brain (Traverse City) are collaborating on their 420th batch of beer. OK, maybe the Livery's and Right Brains. They'll figure it out somehow. Name: Random Alpha Docious Ale. Hops added every 4 minutes, 20 seconds. etc. etc. article

Wow. Martyn Cornell had put together the definitive history of the great porter explosion of 196 years ago today. long informative interesting article

Narragansett beer, killed by Falstaff way back when, is back on the shelves in Rhode Islandish places. article

Going to be in Philly? Me neither. Sob. The Tap and Table in Emmaus is having a Aecht Schlenkerla Night with the owner, brewer, and chef from Bamburg. 4-course meal, Oak Smoked barrel.

32,000 bottles of Rodenbach Vintage 2008 are mostly coming to America. This "spent two years in Fueder #96, one of the brewery's 294 huge oak barrels. It is described as a full-bodied, refreshing, copper-red beer of 7% with a tart apple-like fruitiness, with distinct caramel, wild honey and oak flavors."

Oh, and Rheingold also – in New York. article

Oct. 14 – even more....

Jerry's Pumpkin at the Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy, has 40 lbs of pumpkin for a chewy beer that gives pumpkin in the nose and spices in the mouth. 5.3%

Ram reports an upcoming Pilsner that has plenty of green bottle character. And a Weisen Bock in mid November.

Pelican Brands of Indy is taking Napa Smith beers into 16 states now. article

How was Big Red's Festival? (Seriously, we can't be everywhere. Contributions are welcome, send to bob@indianabeer.com. We're also, of course, looking for more bloggers. Join the fun.