Weekly Local Craft Beer Roundup for the Northwest - Gary Post Tribune
Showing posts with label Brickworks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brickworks. Show all posts
Brickworks - Sadness
Northwestern Notes
Lafayette Brewing's Winter Warmer is February 13th. Too bad it's sold out already. Went on sale last Tuesday at 10:06am. (10:06?) When we got there at 2pm they were gone.
Lafayette also has new swing-top 1-liter growlers. New: $9. Refill: $5. Tues. Refill: $4.
- Winter Lager – Heather lager with meladonin malt, Celeia and Sazz hops. 6.1%. Basically a big Munich lager. The noble hop presence keeps it bright.
Figure 8 Brewing in Valparaiso hasn't started production yet. They are now working on the floor of the brewery. A full description is at the News button of their web site.
In the most out of focus picture ever, Jon Uban checks the new flat Figure 8 floor after a day of grinding.
- Browncoat Brown Ale – Dark clear light American Brown with infinitely-lasting tan head. A+ for looks. Light aroma. Massive chocolate malt belies the light color.
- Cornerstone Bitter – American Pale Ale with wake-up bitter NW hops tang.
Crown Brewing in Crown Point has 7 beers on tap.
- Xtacy of Gold Blonde - "Our lightest offering. Brewed to be drinkable without too much flavor". Oops. 4.1%
- Blueberry Wheat – The Weiss with flavoring, ala Back Road. Nice tang without being obnoxious. Tang is the correct word. 4%
- Lady in Red – Malty Scottish 60/-. Went down quickly. Nae, richt noo.
- Crown Town Brown – Maris Otter and Fuggles. My favorite. Simple presentation of basics puts it dead square in the middle of the Southern Brown kingdom. 4%. Please, put this on a handpull.
- Winter Warlock – Cinnamon, nutmeg, clover of a pumpkin but lots of pine and cascade citrus makes it a 2002 Sierra Nevada Celebration.
- Industrial Porter – Solid, broad taste band incorporating roast and toast encompassed by a flight into fresh beer brightness around the edges. Halo effect?
- Special Force Ale – The Crown flagship is an unfiltered IPA with 7 hop applications of Summit, Centennial, and Cascade. A Cascade hop bomb worthy of the Alpha King Challenge. 5.8%
- Ham on Rye – A collaboration with Piece Brewery. Aroma of smoked ham. Not just any ham. Certainly not one of those clove-infested spiral-cut hams they sell for 89¢ per pound right after Christmas. A real Virginia smoked damn ham that you have to soak for a day before slicing and pan-frying. They should export this stuff to Bamberg. 6.2%
- Admiral Lord Nelson British Strong Bitter – Emphasis, of course, on "bitter". Hey, there's apricot; distinctly apricot. Neat. 6.8%
- Grosser Kurfurst Munster Dunkel – Dark amber Vienna. Subtle caramel is the keynote. It's darn near normal. 5.8%
- Black Sun Stout – Black American Stout. Very black – which just enhances the surprising lightness of body. All that chocolate, molasses, etc. that you expect without getting into the coffee realm. 7%.
- Stay in School - Let's let is grow a bit more. Dull, dark persimmon color. Aged 6 months in a Palo Santo barrel and another year in a bourbon barrel. Not yet drinkable. Discussing this beer is tantamount to judging Obama's presidency after 1 year with 7 more to go.
Brickworks: Open Now. Figure 8: In progress.
Tom Coster's Brickworks Brewing had a very soft opening a couple of weeks ago and they are doing good business already with lots of support from the community. It's right downtown Hobart on the homecoming parade route.
The Premium vessels are all proudly displayed behind glass at the front door and at the 22-seat bar. 7,000 sq. ft. means it is as uncramped a restaurant as you could possibly want.
Food is sandwiches, fish, and pizzas at $7 to $9.
- Porter – Almost translucent brown.
- IPA – Very agreeable at 40 IBU and 6% ABV. Chinook and Cascade are the standard of the industry and this will stand up straight against any other.
- Dunkelweizen – Deep brown with small white head. Wheat comes through nicely. Thinish body makes it seem weak but is put to the lie by a bold sweetness. Could use a dryer finish but most of that went away when Tom filtered it. It's a learning process.
A "327 Amber" will finish out the regular lineup.
What better way to have a "family day" than spending a Sunday with saws and hammers? In Valparaiso, Lynne and Tom Uban (below) have been working since July on Figure 8 Brewing. They are finishing the construction of walls, walk-in, etc. and will be plumbing their system soon. Kegs and even bottles may be out by the end of the year. Follow their progress by scrolling up through the news.
Location? It's in a new light industrial strip on the east edge of town on SR 130.
Misc News
Owner Tom and Nancy Coster and a lot of their friends have been busy setting this up. Brickworks comes from the history of Hobart where the high school football teams of old worked in the brickyards instead of doing calisthenics.
Want videos? Here's a tour of the construction site, the new tanks, and the search for bricks. Brewing vessels arrive next week. "Set to open in July".
The HBGs have fun with a French Press and a bunch of beers. "Upland Wheat w/ fresh strawberries - The most bizarre result. Smells and tastes like warm bologna." Not to spoil the ending but they liked Erdinger Weissbier with cucumber and Alpha Klaus with Whoppers. blog
Crown Liquors is renovating 7,000 sq.ft. of store at Ohio and Delaware in downtown, Indy. Should be opening mid August.
Look for the new Bud Light Golden Wheat to be on shelves in early October.
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