State Fair Best of Show tapped. Another coming up.

Susie's Sweet Stout 2009 Indiana State Fair Brewer's Cup Best of Show Dark, rich and roasty with a touch of lactose sweetness. This medium bodied ale has chocolate aromatics and low hop bitterness which leads to a long roasty finish. Inspired by Susie, who always has oatmeal with milk and brown sugar in the morning for breakfast. This beer, is at its heart, an oatmeal stout with lactose added to sweeten it up just a bit. Beer, it's not just for breakfast anymore. Created by Larry Barnhart (Brewcat of the Tin Whisker) who was this year's Brewer's Cup winner. ABV 5.25% - Broad Ripple Brewpub menu

Larry and Susie Barnhart

Lots of lactic lactose and plenty of oatmeal gives a big, chewy body. Gobs of hops overcome the sweetness but it's a battle – hops win in a 2 out of 3 cage match. There's a touch of roast, a hint of toast, and a breath of bittersweet chocolate. Still, the lactic character builds though a long finish.

A couple dozen of the Barnhart's friends and family were at the tapping – coming from as far away as Wisconsin. Larry brought the recipe which shows 16% of the grain is oats and 8% milk sugar. Uses Scottish Ale yeast. 1060, 25 IBU from Fuggles. An outstanding 282 calories per pint.

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Oaken Barrel's Apple Buzz is all gone. 28 barrels went out including 30 cases of 6-packs were sold from the reception stand in 4 days.

Big cloudy brass color with an active white wheat rocky but compact head. Made with malt, ciderf rom Adrian Orchards, clove, and honey from Who's Your Honey to a recipe from Ken Price back in, we think, 2003.

Tart cider, sweet malt, honey notes. 7%. As always, A++. But it's gone. Mike and Jen Wolcott are shown here walking out of the brewery with the last case. Sob.

Mark's Pum-Kwan Ale that won the State Fair Best of Show in the Professional division is mellowing for an October 31st release at Oaken Barrel's Pumpkin Festival, Noon-3pm.

Indy Samplings

Some Tastings:

• Granite City Oktoberfest. Bright red/brown leather-look. Very cold in an iced glass so aroma test was abandoned. Good fat white ½" head that held on a while. First taste was sharp, not quite metallic, as the strong bitter finish cam in too quick to appreciate the still-frozen malt. Once warmer, it becomes a fairly rich, traditional O'fest with a big, quick, floral bitter finish. Order with a warm glass.
• Rock Bottom, 86th St, Indy, DWANA-nother beer Hefe – A coriander Belgian Wit with enough Ginger to make a difference. Smooth and very quaffable.
• RB86th Pifer's Pale – Brewed for the wedding of two regular customers. A 6.9% APA/IPA with 60 IBU of Amarillo and Crystal hops. Big throughout but a bit one dimensional.
• RB86th Pumpkin Seasonal – Deep Labrador-eye orange brown. A tank of varying refracted shades from loam to wheat. Long-lasting dense ivory head. Pumpkin spice aroma sings over the malt base only because we expect the malt, sort of like a rhythm section. On the tongue it isn't very sweet or pie spicy, just a solid blend.*
• Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy Pumpkin Seasonal – Unfiltered dark hefe-looking. Full in-your-face pie spice aroma comes through. 5.3%.*
  
  Also on tap at RBD, Hop Bomb, Happy Pils, Hefeweizen, Coffee Stout.

* No pumpkins were harmed in the making of these Pumpkin ales.

Granite City has some new "brew mixers" on their beer menu (but not online). They had a Two-Pull (Light and Bock). Now there are a whole slew up to a Blarney (Bock and Stout).

Rock Bottom, 86th St, Indy has a Brewers Dinner on Wed, Oct 21st but it's sold out at 65 people. So they're having a prequel – another Brewers Dinner on Tues, Oct 20th. Call 317-471-8840 for details.

Apple Buzz is back at Oaken Barrel. 28 barrels made, half gone already.

Collapsable plastic Port-A-Pint Beer Glass. $8.

Misc News – Oct 15

New Albanian Public House (Rich O's) Lupulin Land Celebration is upon us. It starts tomorrow and will run for a couple of weeks. Here's the starting lineup. <<Roger: Kudos for the informative links>>

All American IPAs this year – that is from American breweries. There are IBA, Belgian IPAs, Dark IPA, Double IPAs, Brit IPAs, Rye Double IPAs, American Strong Ales, Imperial Reds, and Dogfish Head 120 Minute.

Here's a nice article about the couple who own the Hickoryworks shagbark syrup company near Trafalgar. Bottling the Shagbark - American Profile. Their product was an integral part of the 2006 Replicale.

Coming up at Mad Anthony's: Smoked Amber Ale, Hop X IIPA. A Cream Stout is on tap now.

Abinbev is selling off most of the East European operations for $2bn+. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia will shed Belgium's control and get some company named CVC Capital Partners instead. Abinbev has already sold their breweries in China, Ireland, Scotland, and South Korea.

Rick Lyke talks about a really obnoxious trademark fight. Monster Energy Drink vs Rock Art Brewery's The Vermonster IIPA.

 

Owner/Brewer Matt Nadeau talks passionately for 6 minutes about
starting the brewery,  The Vermonster, the Monster Energy folks,
and trademark law, and why this even happened.
(Hint: Monster Energy Beer)

MASH Meeting & The Trion

I attended my first MASH (Mad Anthony Serious Homebrewers) (http://www.mashfortwayne.com/) meeting, even though I am not a homebrewer, at The Trion in New Haven, IN this past weekend.  I enjoy trying homebrewed beers and I was invited by Brian Spaulding of MASH and I figured I would take him up on his invitation and that this would be a good way to try some homebrews from members of MASH.  I was first of all very impressed with the warm welcome I received from all the members in attendance and secondly was very impressed with the various styles of hombrews that I sampled.  The styles that were passed around the table for sampling were: Vienna Lager, Octoberfest, Irish Red, bottle conditioned Imperial Irish Red, American Brown, Oatmeal Stout, American Amber, Amarillo Pale Ale, Rye IPA, Blueberry Brown Ale, English Barleywine, 3 blended Mead which was brewed 2 1/2-3 years ago, and a Braggot.  Everyone explained what brewing process was used, the ingredients used to brew their beer and then members gave their opinion of each beer.  After sampling each and everyone one of those beers, I quickly decided that I will be attending more of these meetings.  The meetings take place on the second Sunday of the month at 3p.m. at either Mad Anthony Brewing Company or at The Trion.

Speaking of The Trion, they have 45 taps.  That's right 45 taps of some mighty fine beers.  They have beers from breweries such as Founders, Bells, Lindeman's, Southern Tier, 3 Floyds, New Belgium, Mad Anthony, Dogfish Head, Ommegang, Victory, Stone, and New Holland just to name "a few".  Well worth a visit for a good brew or two and good food as well.

Misc News – Oct 14

Anita Johnson (Great Fermentations) will be returning to her Head Honcho role at the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup in 2010. She and Tom Stilabower will co-chair the event. Tom has been the Judge Coordinator recently and also works at GF since retiring from UPS.

Anita, Larry Barnhart John Blichmann, and Tom as Larry receives
somewhere close to the time Larry Barnhart was presented with the
Best of Show at the 2009 brewers cup.
(Thanks Brian)

Larry Barnhart's Susie's Sweet Stout was brewed by him and Kevin Matalucci
and will be tapped this Saturday at the Broad Ripple Brewpub.

Left Hand Warrior "Colorado Fresh Hop Beer" is in the Cavalier warehouse.

Oktoberfest Munich wrapup. Attendance down to 5.7m from a high of 7.1m. Beer? 6.5m liters, up from 6m last year. Oxen? Up from 104 to 111.

Mike wonders which beer to get for newborn presents. He needs one that will age well for 21 years. blog. A bottle of mead may do the trick.

Britain's Pub Signs. Part 1, Part 2. Plus Big, Pricey Beers. Or maybe you'd like to know the History of Gummy Bears.

Misc News – Oct 10

Big Woods Brewing in Nashville has the Timber Framing done for the patio and restaurant expansion. Good thing Jeff McCabe, one of the owners, also owns Hearthstone of Indiana, timber frame specialists. They are anticipating an October 24th soft opening.

The Indiana Excise Police are looking for people who don't look for IDs. Seemingly they find plenty.  They say 35% failure rate (maybe using the guy who is "the size of a moose with a bunch of tattoos"). article

Crown Point debates churches vs. bars.

The Knights look in depth at Southern Tier's Biers.

CAMRA did a study and found Real Ale sales in Britain are up in 2009, the first rise since 1982. 825,000 bbls in the first six months from 660 breweries.

"America’s anti-alcohol movement is composed of dozens of overlapping community groups, research institutions, and advocacy organizations, but they are brought together and given direction by one entity: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation." Thus starts a look behind the group behind the neo-prohibitionists. article – full report (28-page pdf)

Speaking of the anti-alcohol movement, Bud Light Golden Wheat hits the shelves any day now. "Whether garnished with an orange or enjoyed straight from the bottle or in a glass, Bud Light Golden Wheat offers a light wheat-malt sweetness upon first sip, which quickly gives way to a refreshingly crisp, citrus finish." 4.1%

Beer Can Collecting – Swap Meet

40 vendors and a couple of hundred people spent Saturday in Indianapolis shopping for old bottles, cans, beeriana, and even new current cans such as the Bud Light college-colors editions. People were here from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. If you're interested in collecting, be sure to see the Brewery Collectibles Club of America web site.

 

Upland, Schwarztag, and a Lynx

Lanky the Lynx sat bemused by the attention at Upland last Saturday. He's from the Exotic Feline Rescue Center south of Brazil but was in the Upland parking lot to help promote the center to the hundreds of folk who came to try this year's Schwarz Black Lager.

The beer is perfectly black, agreeably thick, swarthy. A stout of lagers. 5.0%.

It's available now only at the brewery on tap and in bottles. You'll be able to get it in stores around the state as 6-packs are heading to Monarch on Monday.

The EFRC is now caring for 196 big cats from 22 states. All were "pets" that grew up. Take a tour sometime. 108 acres, 3,000 pounds of meat a day.

Inside the brewery the new bottling line is clean and ready for the next batch.

 

Beside the bottling line, one of the fermenters was making naughty on the floor with froth from the second batch of this year's Winter Warmer. A great sight.The last picture below right shows the inside storage tanks for the solar collectors on the roof.

 

Misc. - North West Indiana

Every beer lover would envy a trip to a mecca, Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, IN. We were lucky enough to enjoy great beer plus meet the senior Floyd on a recent trip. Imagine a spot in an industrial park that is packed on a Friday night, serves great food, and most of us go for some over-the-top often only available there beer.

Got to try the de Muerte, or death, barrel aged chili pepper beer with roasted malt and lingering spice burn from the chiles. Looking for beers we can't get everywhere tried the Pride and Joy, a 5% smooth American mild that was delicious. How many places can you go that has their own great beers on tap plus Rochefort 10 & 8 in bottles!

Michael Floyd, elder of the three, physician, and great guy told us a cute story. Son Nick was looking for a brewery location. Nick found one and called his M.D. dad who was pumping gas at the time and also talking on the phone to a nurse. The nurse was describing a medical situation and making a procedural recommendation while Nick was on another line talking about the brewing location. Michael answered to the nurse, "yes, we should do that," Nick heard the words, and it seems the brewery was born! Whether we heard the story exactly right or not, it is clear the Floyds have great spirit to go with their super beer.

When making the trip stop at Crown Point to visit the Crown Point Brewery! Award winning Brewer Steve Mazylewski brews a very tasty malty brown and, while appealing to the "light" crowd, brews a Crown Light in a German Helles style -- so very crisp, clean, but with flavor. His IPA at 6.7% ABV dry-hopped for flavor is unfiltered and a beer-geek's delight! Only 17 miles from 3-Floyds and just 3 minutes from I-65 from the Crown Point exit (go into town and look left for the old smoke stack) this brewery is a must visit.

Thanks to Crown for hosting the Pro-Am Crown challenge beer competition that was a delight ... go here for winners http://crownbrewing.com/CrownChallenge.html

Misc. - Bloomington, Oct. 10

It is SchwartzTag at Upland Brewery in Bloomington today, Oct. 10. Ok, so that translates to "black day" but on this sunny, fall day refers to the Schwartz beer or Black Lager just put on tap. This is a solid lager at 5% alc (ABV) with a nice roast slight character which brewers Caleb and Eileen say comes from the dark malt used (just a tiny hint of roasted malt was added). This is a very smooth drinkable session type beer.
A live bobcat is to be making an appearance until 7:00 PM for a fundraiser for the exotic feline rescue center. Bands will be on hand tonight. If you miss the Saturday fun, the Schwartz beer will continue on tap along with the delicious Rauch bier or German style smoked lager and the Oktoberfest! Of course the normal popular Upland beers such as wheat, Rad Red, and Porter are also on tap.

Though mentioned on these pages once, cudo's to brewer Eileen Martin of Upland who scored the first ever American Distilling Institute Craft Distilling Internship to work with another distiller in the making of whiskey in the greater-Louisville area, Eileen's hometown.

Across town in Bloomington, Lennies and the Bloomington Brewing Co. brewpub has a very delightful Mild on tap weighing in at only 4% alc (ABV). Brewers Floyd and Asst. Dustin did a great job on this session beer.

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.

Misc News – Oct 6

We stopped in at Barley Island to compare the tap Dirty Helen Brown with their bottled version which won Gold at GABF. The two are from different batches but quite the same. The tapped pint was colder but after that was fixed there was little difference except the bottled beer has more carbonation giving it a slightly less malty and lighter character.

Upland's license for the 49th & College Indy location has been approved.

Elkhart’s sister city is Burton-upon-Trent. They make beer there.

Here's why beer is getting more expensive while other food and beverage prices drop. Reason 3: "At A-B the top 13 executives made $73 million in the first half of 2009, or $5.6 million each, on average -- up from $38 million a year before." (Which was a 79% increase from 2007).

Three coming from Left Hand. Fade to Black – Export Stout at 8% in 2-packs. Warrior IPA Fresh hopped Cascade, Warrior, and Goldings. 6.6% in 22oz bottles. Oak Aged Widdershins American Barley Wine aged in Heaven Hill brandy barrels at 8.8% next year.

This is a different take from Scotland: Top cop: Pubs safer than home drinking. You'll drink more at home and there's no CCTV to watch you.

Men's Journal tells us which are America’s 25 Best Beers.

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Meet Blake Montgomery of Tipton. His garage is insulated with beer bottles. Over the last 10 years he's saved one of each beer bottle he's opened.

Sunday Sales update

The minutes of the Interim Study on Alcoholic Beverage Issues' September 15th public meeting are up. and there were some interesting points made.

1. The Excise Police pointed out current problems with election day prohibition.
2. Sen. Phil Boots said he will introduce the legislation next year and supported Sunday sales and Cold grocery/drug store sales. (He owns convenience stores "that do not sell alcoholic beverages").
3. The committee discussed stores using alcohol as loss leaders and the possible need for minimum price controls.
4. The committee wondered if liquor stores should be allowed to sell "more non-alcoholic beverage products". (Maybe cold sodas and mixers).
   
   Then the Pros testified
   
5. David Hanson, Prof. Em. Sociology, SUNY said Sunday sales won't increase DUI accidents.
6. Matt Norris of Hoosiers for Beverage Choices said the "Indiana Petroleum Council, Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, and the Indiana Retail Council financially support the coalition." They've achieved 65,000 signatures on their petition.
7. John Elliott of Krogers said it isn't fair that liquors stores have a monopoly on cold beer sales and made other good points. He did say, though, "Allowing Sunday sales would not put all package stores out of business, but most would not be able to compete." He doesn't like the idea of separate 21+ liquor sections in grocery stores partly because it would prevent parents with kids from entering the area.
8. Douglas Pendleton of Grapevine Cottage gourmet food and wine store said Sunday is the 2nd busiest and he'd like Sunday carryout.
9. Grant Monahan of the Indiana Retail Council said $9 million in sales and excise tax is lost to the Sunday ban because of cross-state shopping. The IRC also "oppose price controls because retailers know best how to price items, and consumers want the best price."
   
   And then the Antis were scheduled.
   
10. John Livengood of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers (the liquor store lobby) played a video and pointed out competition between liquor stores and grocery stores is healthy to have. You can buy cold beer to go at many taverns. The few states that have "wide-open" Sunday sales don't have a strong package store industry.
11. Warren Scheidt, also from the IABR, said "Kentucky and Indiana, in that order, have the most conservative alcohol policies, and the lowest number of traffic fatalities. Michigan and Wisconsin have the most liberal alcohol policies and the highest number of alcohol related traffic fatalities."
12. Randy Zion who owns the Indianapolis Liquor Barns said "He is not interested in changing the law to expand the non-alcoholic beverage products sold in package stores, because this is contrary to why package stores were created, and package stores cannot compete with grocery and big box stores on these products."
13. John Sinder who owns Crown Liquors said "big box retailing has caused a lot of Indiana businesses to die."
14. Ronald Culp, owner of Elmwood Liquors in Lafayette, said it will cost $20,000 in labor alone to open on Sunday at his one store. He also made the point that Indiana residents own the liquor stores and if grocery, etc, stores have control over alcohol then that control will effectively be transferred out of Indiana.
15. Jerry Corliss, owner of the Chalet Party Shoppes in Elkhart Co. said "Allowing Sunday carryout sales would reduce the value of package store permits. His package store permits cost $300,000 each. Last year the state auctioned off licenses in Westfield and Fishers for $450,000 each." He also predicted "Allowing grocery and drug stores to sell cold beer would put 4 of his 6 stores out of business."
16. Pamela Erickson of Public Action Management out of Arizona spoke. PAM supports "alcohol moderation and methods to "push back" on toxic cultural messages that encourage kids to drink." Basically, PAM seems to be a small, 2-person, newsletter that will travel and testify.
17. Chris Ward of Lawrence, a private citizen, said "he just wants to be able to drink responsibly on Sunday.
18. Rev. Amy Mildenburg from Boone County "spoke to the correlation between repealing blue laws and reduced church attendance and increase in alcohol and drug use by formerly religious people."
19. Jeff Harlow of Crossroads Community Church in Kokomo said, among other things, "Deregulating alcohol or making it more accessible, will be making a statement to misdirect children."
20. Clarke Kahlo of the Greater Broad Ripple Community Coalition presented the Drug Free Marion County position statement.
21. Michael Lockard of the Westside Improvement Association in Evansville refuted David Hanson(point 5 above) and claimed a New Mexico study Hanson denigrated was really a valid study. He also said "Non-liquor stores should use colored bags for carryout liquor so police would have probable cause to question customers about their purchases." He added "Underage drinking in Indiana costs $450 million in medical costs and loss of work costs."

The day ran out of time before people from various neo-prohibitionists and other clubs could testify. These included the Advisory Council on Underage and Binge Drinking, Drug Free Marion County, Drug Free Tippecanoe County, Indiana Collegiate Action Network, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation lackey Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking (ICRUD).

Written-only testimony included Karen Michler's of Drug Free Tippecanoe County. "Ms. Michler submitted her testimony in writing to the Committee concerning the compliance checks she coordinates, in which a minor accompanied by a plain clothes police officer attempts to purchase carryout alcohol (Exhibit 14). She said of the 121 checks done in Tippecanoe County since January 1, 2009, 5 stores were non-compliant, consisting of convenience stores, a grocery store, and a 'big box store'."

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The Interim Study on Alcoholic Beverage Issues' next meeting is Oct 20th, 1pm. Two hours are allocated for public testimony on the topics to be discussed:

• Expanding cold beer sales by vendors other than liquor stores.
• Establishing procedures for allowing direct wine shipments to consumers from Indiana wine sellers and establishing procedures for allowing out of state wine sellers to ship wine, pre-purchased by an Indiana consumer, to an Indiana vendor for delivery to the Indiana consumer.
• Allowing gourmet wine shops to provide wine sampling.
• Additional permits for additional warehouses of beer wholesalers.
• Limitations on the amount of alcoholic beverages that may be purchased at the point of sale for carryout or delivery.

Indiana Beer History – Time in a Bottle

Want to see more and meet Derrick? Come to the BCCA Trade Show Sat, Oct 10. 8am-Noon La Quinta Hotel, I465 & Emerson on Indy's south side.

"If I could save time in a bottle." - Jim Croce.

Meet Derrick Morris who does save time in many bottles. The times of Indiana's pre-prohibition beer barons – Cook, Muessel, Schellinger, Rettig, Reising, Raupfer. The times of the pre-WWII big breweries – Lafayette, Indianapolis, Kamm. The times of the mega-breweries and their downward slide out of state – Terre Haute, Drewrys, Sterling, Falstaff. Even the times of the Modern Era – Naptown, CircleV, Wildcat, South Bend, Duneland, Hops, Aberdeen, Oyster Bar, NineG.

Derrick has 20 years dedicated to collecting thousands of artifacts of Indiana Beer History. Not just those closed breweries, the open ones as well. We don't know the superlatives to use so just sit back and admire his all-Indiana bottles, cans, growlers, signs, banners, menus, press clippings, and more.

Derrick adds:

To everyone who ever had anything to do with the production and distribution of Indiana made beer, it has been a very exciting 20 years, watching the brewing industry grow. I have pleasant memories visiting microbreweries in the early years of development. I am thankful for the talents and generosity of the owners, brewers and the staff of all the breweries.  Today the Brewery Collectibles Club of America and the Brewers Guild have exploded in popularity and function. Now is the time they can make each other shine brighter. Local collectors are bound to their favorite brewpub beers and enjoyed participating at the Winterfest early this year. Continued group participation to such type events is beneficial to everyone.  This is all very exciting, I say wow, Thanks!
- Derrick Morris

Misc News – Oct 4

Lafayette Brewing's website has a nifty map of where you can buy Tippecanoe Common and other bottled beers.

Students hop to it at Towle Theater Beer School in Hammond.

Muncie liquor stores still not selling beer by the keg.

IUPUI now has 2 beer classes. In addition to Omar Castrellón's Beer and Spirits Management class, Ron Smith has 5 students in this inaugural semester of Beer Styles Appreciation and Evaluation class. Both are in the catalog for the spring semester starting in January.

There's no 2009 Thomas Hardy's but we'll be seeing the 2008 40th Anniversary edition in stores.

Great Divide has Fresh Hop beer coming to stores in bottles.

Boulevard's Tank 7 will replace the Saison in the Smokestack series. article

Hoosier Beer Geek's 2009 GABF Road Trip Wrap-Up Post with lots of pictures.

Tasting three Asian brands from Cavalier.

• Saigon Export – One of the standards of SE Asia that most Viet Nam vets left behind. No head and little hops but clean and not soapy. No aftertaste at all. 4.9%
• Chang – Thailand's leader. High carbonation; actually fizzy on the tongue. No head. Bigger than Saigon. A touch soapy. Actually has a dry finish. Our favorite of these three. 5%
• Kingway Premium Lager – China's fanciest label. Greenest. Again, no head. Small-bubble carbonation. Malt taste lasts a bit as it declines. 4.7%

Fort Wayne Brewery Closing

It was announced today that local brewing company, Warbird Brewing Company, is ceasing operations. Here is a link to the announcement:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local_wane_fw_warbird_closing_200910021745



Here is the a press release:

Fort Wayne, IN, October 2, 2009: Warbird Brewing Company has announced that it will cease operations as of October 1, 2009. Company founder, owner, president and brewer Dave Holmes made the announcement regretfully. “This has been a great 5 years for us. The Warbird brand reached out to those who loved airplanes, those who have served in our military and their family and friends. As a company, our mission has been to serve others by providing the best beer in the most attractive packaging under the most respectful and patriotic brand name in the beer business. We made beer we were proud of, and we have served many people in the community in many ways. It has been a privilege for me to lead this effort. Unfortunately, we simply did not sell enough beer profitably to meet our financial obligations. We have no choice but to face the reality that we did our best but we did not achieve financial success. The beer business is a very tough business. I learned a lot. I’m sorry to say it. It is game over for Warbird,” said Holmes. Holmes plans to work with the company’s customers and creditors to achieve the best possible outcome. He states, “Obviously, we are in discussions with our creditors and our advisors to address the realities of the situation. I am personally contacting people to explain the circumstance and discuss what we can do to work things out.” Warbird produced several regional and internationally recognized award winning beers, including the “Shanty Irish” which won the Gold Medal at the Indiana Brewer’s Festival in 2008 and recently was awarded the Silver Medal at the Australian International Beer Awards 2009. “Unfortunately,” said Holmes, “awards don’t matter unless they help you sell more beer, and ours did not.” Warbird Brewing Company sold beer in 6 states: Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Georgia, and Texas. The company started operations in October 2004 but never achieved profitability.

Dave emails:

Tell everyone we did our best but making it with a pure production brewery in Fort Wayne is tough.  We now join a long line of distinguished breweries in Fort Wayne that have failed (financially).

Fortunately, we succeeded in many of our other efforts to serve others and to be good examples to our children, which is really what this is all about anyhow.

Take care.
Cheers,
Dave

Misc News – Oct 1

Congratulations to Dave Helt of Milwaukee for his Best of Show at the Crown Challenge with a Brown Porter. He was also reserve BOS at the Wisconsin State Fair this year.

Congratulations to Eileen Martin (Upland) for getting an American Distiller's Institute internship at Huber's Starlight Distillery. more details

Rocky's Italian Grill now has 32 taps inside and 16 taps on the veranda. 5 mundane, 4 imports, 1 cider, 11 USA craft regulars, and 11 more rotating. Plus nice views of the Ohio, even on a dull cloudy day.

  

World Class has a couple of dozen captioned snaps of their trip to GABF 2009.

The Knights of the Beer Roundtable goes through the Berghoff catalog. Wikipedia can be believed, but in the Berghoff/Huber case they only go back to 1960. Here's the real poop – it's an Indiana beer.

Magic Hat will serve beers from the Night of the Living Dead 12-pack (plus Lucky Kat) at the Oct 13th beer dinner at the Fireside Grill, Indy. $35 complete. Call for reservations – 317-823-1000.

Five Uses for the Hop.

New Belgium will bottle Ranger IPA in early 2010 as a regular offering. Simcoe, Cascade, Chinook hops to 60 IBU. 7% ABV.

Headline: "Major fake vodka plant raided". A still in Leicestershire, England making fake Glens brand vodka. They had 9,000 gallons of pure alcohol on hand – enough for 130,000 bottles. That is major.

Britain has changed the rules so tips can't be figured in to the minimum wage (£5.80 - $9.33 US).

Ernst & Young figures there were about 3,000 breweries in Europe in 2006 and 3733 in 2009 – a 25% increase. That's 2.5 million jobs.

Bank Street's Vats

Just some pictures of New Albanian's Bank Street Brewery.

That's a 2bbl hopback down front

 

In keeping with the Red Room theme, the vats are named, not numbered. Bakunin, Castro, Debs, Engels, Lenin, Mao, Marx, Owen, and of course, Trotsky.

Big Woods Brewing Co.

Tim O'Brian, Jeff McCabe, Ed Ryan (below) are three nice Irish boys in Brown County that are already brewing pilot batches at their upcoming brewpub. They're working at full speed shooting for an Oct 24th opening.

Big Woods is located in the alley ½ block north and ½ block west of the main intersection in Nashville, Indiana. Actually at 60 Molly Lane at the corner of Honeysuckle where The Jug bar previously sat.

Spring Smith (the pretty one) will be running the kitchen side of the business with the one mandate: "no fried foods". She isn't planning a set menu but each day's main entrees will change according to availability in local markets.

Tim is the main brewer even though they are all homebrewers. So far they have brewed some pilot batches on their 15-gal SABCO system including a Pale Ale, Stout (their favorite), and a Blonde. The Blonde will be essential to their tourist business and Tim's has some wheat for a nice citric freshness.

Reverse osmosis systems are needed for the limestone-rich water. Two of them will yield enough "clean" water for the kitchen and customers as well as the brewery.

The current building shown here will be completely changed with the front pushed out to double the seating area to about 40 people. In fact, they are erecting in a timber frame roof today.

Porch seating, good food, good beer. A place to wait for the spouse to finish shopping on a nice fall day. Could be they are onto something. After all, their motto is "We're not going to stop until Budweiser is out of business".