Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup – 2011

Tom Stilabower (and Anita Johnson) headed up this years massive crew of judges, stewards, workers, computer folk, etc. etc. etc. to herd 1076 beers through the massive effort that is the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup. Again, seemingly without a flaw anywhere. Right down to the beer-based BBQ sauces at the reception that used Razz Wheat, Dirty Helen, 60 Shilling, and Osiris Pale Ale.
Winners, the short list.

Homebrew	Best of Show – Chris Ingermann – Cervesa Negro Vienna Lager Homebrewer of the Year – Mike Pearson Homebrew Club of the Year – MECA
Professional	Best of Show – Upland Persimmon Lambic Brewery of the Year – Bier Brewery and Taproom

Pro results are up on HBG. Homebrew results will be on the Brewers Cup site soon.
All of our thanks go to Tom, Anita, Pat Burger of the Fair, and the dozens of

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The Bier Brewery and Tap Room took home 10 medals
and the Brewery of the Year trophy
After being open for only 8 months, they entered 37 beers from their 240 batches.

  
Upland’s Persimmon Lambic won Professional Best of Show
Michael Pearson won 7 ribbons and the Homebrewer of the Year award
which includes a Blichmann pot.

 

Homebrew clubs brought enough beer for everyone at the reception.

Unofficially, MECA got 50 points for Homebrew Club of the Year,
FBI was 2nd with 20. MASH was third with 15 points.

 
A pictorial wouldn’t be right without Anita or Bill Ballinger.

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Three sessions of judging were needed to handle the crush of entries (Friday evening and two sessions on Saturday).

The Best of Show judging tables are always impressive.
Winners in 37 categories were compared for the very best.

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The following slideshow is of the party folk at the awards presentation.

Brewers Cup 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Saturday happenings correction

The Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup judging and awards ceremony on Saturday is full up – not open to the public. This, the result of an 11% growth in entries – from 961 in 2010 to 1071.

Indiana Beer News – July 6

What to do this weekend:

Sat, July 9 - Barrington Brew Fest, Barrington, IL. $35 /$40.
Sun, July 10 - Red White & Brews Fest. Shoreline. $10/$15. 2pm-late.
Mon, July 11 - Release of Pride of Pilsner. Granite City Ft. Wayne, Mishawaka, Indy.

The Brewers Cup has over 1,000 entries (up from 961 last year). Judging will take place by BJCP judges on Friday evening and two sessions on Saturday.

The cork in the gun barrel is scary. Rahr 2-Row, flaked rye, weyermann CaraFoam. Columbus, Centennial, Cascade. 130 IBU.

Great Divide’s “Brewers’ Picks” sampler pack has 3 each of Samurai Rice Ale, Wild Raspberry Ale, Denver Pale Ale, and Titan IPA.

Congratulations to The Potable Curmudgeon (#22) and Hoosier Beer Geek (#25) for cracking Wikio’s top 15 beer blogs.

The HBG’s have come up with a lot of info on the upcoming Black Acre Brewing Co. in the Irvington area of Indy. it’s just 6 doors down from The Legend, a good family restaurant with the best selection of taps in the area. This synergy could be good for both of them.

Bier Brewery and Taproom brewed their 223rd batch today. Have been open for only 7 months. Have sold out of beer the last two weekends in a row. And entered 37 beers into the State Fair Brewers Cup. (Batch 217 was “Sessie”, a Belgian Session Ale. Should be interesting to see what that is.

The official state beverage of Indiana is ……….. tada ………. water.

Ale Street News is planning a trip to the Great American Beer Festival, Denver - Sept 29-Oct 2, 2011.

“Our annual jaunt to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival is set for Sept. 29. Our 4-day package includes 3 nights lodging at the Westin-Tabor, a full day of touring breweries in the high country, and the Members Only session of the Great American Beer Festival. The price is $829 p.p., dbl. occ. Airfare can be also be booked through ASN for an additional $329*.”

(And also the Mondial de la Biere in Strasbourg in October).

Greg Hall of Goose Island said at the time of the sale to AB that his next project wouldn’t be beer. Correct. He’s starting a cider company. Virtue Cider. It’ll obviously be at least 2012 before we can taste any output.

Watch Sam C make strawberry beer via GIFs.

 

Indiana Beer News – July 3

The Black Swan Brewpub have released DJ’s first beers. Double hopped Pale Ale and a Scottish Ale.

Sun King’s Johan the Barleywine is available in cans at the brewery. See HBG’s review.

Sun King Sunlight Cream gets ink in Twin Falls, Idaho of all places. article

A bus will again be coming up from Louisville/New Albany for the Microbrewers Festival. Leaves about 12:30. Back by 9pm. $85 includes lunch and Fest ticket. details

What’s Brewing, the CAMRA newspaper reports “Worst barley crop for 40 years threatens to increase beer prices”.

A drought in southern England and northern Europe and this could reduce the 2011 crop from between 20 to 50 percent. There won’t be enough Maris Otter for home consumption and any exports will have skyrocketing prices.

Elsewhere in the same issue, Rhys Jones says the merger of AB InBev and SABMiller should be named ABISMill.

Indiana Pale Ale – Available in Times Square.

A Zymurgy poll lists the “Best Beers in America”. Sure are a lot we can get in Indiana.

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder 2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale T3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA T3. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout 5. Bell’s Hopslam 6. Stone Arrogant Bastard 7. Sierra Nevada Celebration T8. Sierra Nevada Torpedo T8. Stone Ruination 10. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 11. Stone Sublimely Self Righteous 12. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine 13. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout T14. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter T14. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale T16. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA T16. New Glarus Belgian Red 18. North Coast Old Rasputin 19. Bell’s Expedition Stout T20. Deschutes The Abyss T20. Left Hand Milk Stout T20. Odell IPA T20. Samuel Adams Noble Pils T20. Surly Furious T20. Troegs Nugget Nectar T26. Rogue Dead Guy Ale T26. Samuel Adams Boston Lager

28. Anchor Steam T29. Bear Republic Racer 5 T29. Ommegang Three Philosophers T29. Oskar Blues Ten Fidy T29. Three Floyds Alpha King T29. Three Floyds Dark Lord T34. Avery Maharaja T34. Dogfish Head Indian Brown T34. Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron T34. Three Floyds Gumballhead T38. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA T38. Lost Abbey Angel’s Share T38. New Belgium La Folie T38. New Belgium Ranger T38. Oskar Blues Old Chub T43. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA T43. Great Divide Yeti T43. New Belgium 1554 T43. Russian River Blind Pig T43. Ska Modus Hoperandi T48. Alesmith Speedway Stout T48. Dark Horse Crooked Tree T48. Green Flash West Coast IPA T48. Summit EPA T48. Victory Prima Pils

1st Annual “Brew Haven” Craft Beer Festival at Trion Tavern (New Haven, IN) Update - July 1

Here is an update sent to me listing the breweries who will have their beers available for sampling on Saturday, August 6th.:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New Craft Beer Festival Features Extensive Line-Up

June 30, 2011 – New Haven, Indiana – The list of participants for the 1st Annual “Brew Haven” Craft Beer Festival continues to grow. The breweries whose beer will be poured now includes: Sun King Brewing Company (Indianapolis, Indiana), Flat12Bierwerks (Indianapolis, Indiana), Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo, Michigan), Dark Horse Brewing Company (Marshall, Michigan), Bee Creek Brewery (Brazil, Indiana), Samuel Adams/The Boston Brewing Company (Boston, Massachusetts), Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (Chico, California), Moylan’s Brewery (Novato, California), Widmer Brothers Brewing (Portland, Oregon), Upland Brewing Company (Bloomington, Indiana), Goose Island Beer Company (Chicago, Illinois), New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, Colorado) and Granite City Food & Brewery (Fort Wayne, Indiana). Five Star Distributing, World Class Beverages, Cavalier Distributing, Winding Road Beverages and Aalco Distributing have lended their support and will also be present at the festival. Other participants include: Brewer’s Art Supply (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Old Crown Coffee Roasters (Fort Wayne, Indiana) and M.A.S.H. (Fort Wayne’s Homebrew Club).

The 1st Annual “Brew Haven” Craft Beer Festival will be held on Saturday, August 6, 2011 from 2pm to 6pm. Downtown New Haven, Indiana, will be the site of northeast Indiana’s newest and largest craft beer festival. Attendees will have the opportunity to taste dozens of different beers as samples are poured from numerous craft breweries. This event is being co-hosted by Trion Tavern and M.A.S.H. (Fort Wayne’s Homebrew Club). The festival tent will be located on Main Street just east of Broadway.

Advance tickets cost $25 and include: unlimited samples, a souvenir tasting glass, a meal and water. Tickets can be purchased at Trion Tavern or through www.triontavern.com. A limited number of tickets will be sold the day of the event for $30. Designated driver tickets will also be available for $5. A portion of the proceeds will go to the New Haven Downtown Improvement District. This will be a smoke-free event both under the tent and inside the bar.

This event is really gearing up by the list of breweries that were sent to me by Adam Lepper, who is the Chairman of this event, and the event is still 5 weeks away! If you have not purchased your ticket(s) yet, please do so ASAP so you can be a part of this event and help make it a huge success! Cheers!

Free Beer Tasting (Fort Wayne) - July 1

Mark your calendar for Friday, July 8th, for a FREE beer tasting at Cap and Cork (1031 Broadway) from 5p.m.-7p.m. There will be approximately 20 different beers to sample from breweries such as Bell's, Boulevard, Bee Creek, Brooklyn, New Belgium, Tyranena, Sam Adams, and Stone to name a few. Perhaps you will find a new summer beer to enjoy this summer! Must be 21 yrs. of age or older with valid photo ID.

Indiana Beer News – June 29

Barley Island’s tied house, the Restaurant and Brewhouse in downtown Broad Ripple has closed.

The Twisted Crew sent a picture. They’re open in Seymour on
Fri: 4-8pm
Sat: 2-8pm
Sun: Noon-4pm

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used a Y tube-olfactometer designed to take advantage of the whole body odour (breath and skin emanations) as a stimulus to gauge human attractiveness to Anopheles gambiae (the primary African malaria vector) before and after volunteers consumed either beer (n = 25 volunteers and a total of 2500 mosquitoes tested) or water (n = 18 volunteers and a total of 1800 mosquitoes). Water consumption had no effect on human attractiveness to An. gambiae mosquitoes, but beer consumption increased volunteer attractiveness. Body odours of volunteers who consumed beer increased mosquito activation (proportion of mosquitoes engaging in take-off and up-wind flight) and orientation (proportion of mosquitoes flying towards volunteers' odours). The level of exhaled carbon dioxide and body temperature had no effect on human attractiveness to mosquitoes. Despite individual volunteer variation, beer consumption consistently increased attractiveness to mosquitoes. article

Michigan has approved the name Raging Bitch after Flying Dog sued. article

But Ohio isn’t going to allow beers over 12% ABV. article

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If barley be wanting to make into malt,
We must be content and think it no fault,
For we can make liquor to sweeten our lips,
Of pumpkins, and parsnips, and walnut-tree chips.

- Verse from the 1630s.

Fort Wayne and Beyond Upcoming Events - June 29

Tomorrow, June 30th, from 5p.m.-? Cerulean Restaurant (http://www.ceruleanrestaurant.com/) in Winona Lake, IN will be celebrating their 5 year anniversary with Flat 12 Night. Here are the details:
"Basically what we are doing is having Mark Kocher here from Flat 12 to help pour and promote the brewery next Thursday evening (the 30th) from 5p- whenever. It is the 5 year anniversary of the restaurant that night so we wanted to do something fun & different. He will be bringing a specialty keg from the brewery that most places are unable to get and then we will be running 5 more tap handles of all Flat 12 beer on draft. The regular Garden food menu will be open to all customers that evening as well". If you have never been to Cerulean Restaurant, it is well worth visiting. Check out their website for their Lunch, Dinner, Wine, Beer and Sake menus.

On Friday, July 1st, Cap n' Cork (www.capncork.com) Georgetown location, (260)493-6648, in Fort Wayne, will be having a FREE beer tasting (Must be 21 yrs. old or older with valid photo ID) from 5p.m.-7p.m. Some of the breweries being represented will be Bell's, Boulevard, and Bee Creek to name a few. Perhaps you will find a new beer to celebrate the upcoming holiday!

Indiana Beer News – June 26

The Ram (Indy and Fishers) have $5.99 growler fills from now until the end of July,. ($6.99 on seasonals such as Spring Fever, Bill’s Bettor, Barefoot Wit, Batch 1000 Easy Rye-der, and the upcoming JR’s Cucumber Blonde).

Rumors we heard at the Brew-Ha-Ha:

• At Three Pints Brewpub, Tom Hynes has put a priority on keeping 5 regulars on tap.
• New Boswell and Lil' Charlie's are starting a joint venture for Roderick Landess to send beer from Richmond back to Batesville while Adam Israel moves to a all-grain brewhouse in a separate location. Roderick will expand New Boswell’s plant with four more fermenters, in a new location in Richmond, needing concrete floors and all.
• Another brewery license has been uncovered. The J & J Winery just west of Richmond has a brewery license and their web site says “Brewery Coming Soon – Das Bier “Big Dog” Brewery”.
• Danger Brew

Tickets for the Great American Beer Festival (Sept 29-Oct 1) go on sale online June 30th.

Tuxedo Park Brewers have a new paint job on their building. Amber waves of grain.

A bill that would allow homebrew to be served in licensed Michigan brewpubs and restaurants (for educational purposes) passed the Michigan State House of Representatives Thursday. House Bill 4061 passed by a vote of 105 to 5.

It’s getting weirder. Flying Monkey unveils Alpha-fornication. 13.3% ABV. 2500 IBU. “A hop-steeped wort re-circulated through an additional “Hop Vorlauf” punches up the insane intensity of this brew to a stupefying 2500 IBUs.” $45 per bottle – 6 available - only at the brewery. Nutsiness

Charlie Papazian thinks a half-million barrels of homebrew are made annually. article

A find in Southeastern France says beer was made there about 2,500 years ago using their own maltings. article

Brisbane, Australia has a new pub with 9 bars, 100 taps, that holds 7,000 punters. But “We've got 20-something beers. We didn't go for the widest range. We don't want to have beers that people won't drink.” Too bad. article

Headline: Houston Beer Fest Outsells Its Venue by 8,000 Tickets; Attendees Furious – Article: Will put a knot in your stomach.

Phoenix Theatre Brew-Ha-Ha 2011

Another year, another day of perfect weather for the Phoenix Theatre Brew-Ha-Ha. Ha Ha. This was the first year in a while that 90°+ wasn’t the bane of all the breweries and attendees. Indeed, a nice day and a huge crowd.

The Lebanon American Legion calliope boat/trailer entertained the set-up crews before the bands (Bobbie Lancaster, Finding Fred, and The Subpoenas) played.

Fountain Square Brewing Co. made their public debut with   a wide range of test beers and an innovative 1 litre backkpack pourer working the crowd.

 

Jeff Eaton (Barley Island) and Tom Hynes (Three Pints Brewpub) discussed the business of suburban brewpubs.

Roderick and Kiera Landess are expanding their brewery in Richmond

Sun King, the Ram and others had special pourings through the day.

 

 

 

It didn’t take long for the block to become crowded. Two hours into the festival it became very crowded. We’re not going to speculate on the count but next year an attendee limit or a larger venue will be likely.

People who live on that block of Park Ave. were, again, very gracious, helping both brewers and the crowd alike. By 5pm, the lines stretched from door to across the street at Sun King, Half Moon, Upland, Broad Ripple Brewpub, Thr3e Wise Men, Bier, The Rock Bottoms, People’s, Bee Creek, Power House, and every other brewery pouring (as this 1-minute video shows).

And the typical line at the portapotties. This one was odd that it stretched across Abbey Road.

 

All in all, a lot of people got to try a lot of good beer. Cavalier was pouring from their excellent repertoire, breweries were pouring from their back rooms, food was good and not overpriced. People realized they needed to get a sample and immediately stand in the next line. The 16th year of good times for the Phoenix Theatre Brew-Ha-Ha.