Tailspin fest, Feb. 20 - a great way to learn Indiana and Kentucky beers in a historic setting

This years Tailspin Ale Fest in Louisville promises to be better than ever on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Eight Indiana breweries (the venue is just 8 miles from the Indiana state line) are serving including Tin Man and Carson's of Evansville, Flat 12 of Indy and Jeffersonville, New Albanian of New Albany, 450 North of Columbus, Upland of Bloomington, Central State of Indy, and 3 Floyds of Munster. Kentucky brewers will come from far and wide including new breweries!

The airplane hanger at Bowman Field provides a great historic setting for brewers from sixteen states! Against the Grain Brewery of Louisville was part of the Brewdogs television series and distributes in several states as well as several countries! ATG will have a barrel aged wheat wine and a rye imperial stout along with others. Sponsor West Sixth Brewing of Lexington will serve several beers including a coconut porter and a tripel. Country Boy of Lexington will offer a Red Ale aged in sherry bbls with blackberries along with other beers. Goodwood of Louisville features a coffee stout on oak. Yet another brewery in a church has opened in Louisville, and 3rd Turn Brewing will offer a porter and a cucumber saison. Rhinegeist Brewery of Cincinnati, with former Indy brewer Jim Matt, will share a bbl aged imperial stout and a Belgian style dark ale. Louisville's Apocalypse Brewing, with strong ties to Indiana, presents a Pro-Am collaboration with LAGERS local New Albany home brew club. Dry Ground Brewing of Paducah, KY is so named because their building, an old Coca-Cola bottling plant was flooded by the Ohio River in 1937. They too will bring a bbl aged imperial stout, a Belgian style rye PA, and a tripel.

With over 200 beers offered from nearly 50 breweries to sample between 3-7PM this Saturday and a chance to help the Dare to Care Food Pantry the event will build on the three successful past years offering up Honky Tonk music plus several food trucks and promised sixty-degree weather this year! For tix, directions and more CLICK HERE Everybody get's a free empty growler from Liquor Barn.

5 Indiana Beers for Warm Weather Drinking

Last week was the first official week of spring. With the warmer weather on the horizon, many beer drinkers’ preferences will shift with the change in seasons.

Here are some fantastic Indiana beers to compliment the warmer weather. Since Indiana has so many tasty beers to choose from, I had to narrow down the contenders. I limited my choices to beers available in bottles or cans, beers with low ABV, and beers packed full of flavor. It’s by no means an exhaustive list but hopefully a starting point for the next time you are at your local beer purveyor.

Champagne Velvet, Upland Brewing Co.

CV- Upland’s take on a classic American Pilsner- provides the smooth, clean and crisp flavors you’d expect from a light lager. This beer finishes nice and dry and keeps you coming back for more- a great choice for those dog days of summer.

As a bonus CV is also available in 16oz cans if prefer a travel friendly format.

Ruby Bloom, Bloomington Brewing Co.

One of the more of the malt forward, sweeter options on this list, Ruby Bloom is an amber ale ideal for anyone who is a little hop-shy. Caramel malts help give this beer its signature color, as well as smooth drinkability.

Indians Lager, Sun King Brewing

Sun King’s seasonal offering is well suited for the ballpark- as the name suggests. The clean and crisp characteristics you’d expect from a lager but with a touch of sweetness in the finish. A really versatile food-pairing beer, Indians Lager will go well with a variety of summer food- and my favorite in particular-grilled meats.

Yum Yum, 3 Floyds Brewing Co.

3 Floyds has built a solid portfolio of hoppy, higher alcohol Double IPAs— and Yum Yum stays within that hoppy wheelhouse. It possesses those quintessential citrusy characteristics found in many American IPAs but in a low-alcohol package. This beer allows you to get your hop fix whilst being able to enjoying multiple in the same sitting.

Damascene, Tin Man Brewing Co.

The realm of sour ales is often perceived as the domain of beer nerds and collectors. Damascene is approachable, refreshing and most importantly- delicious. The apricot fruitiness provides a nice balance to the sour tart character that defines this style. This is a great gateway beer into the world of sour ales.


There are so many great Indiana beers available for spring and summer drinking. I’d love to hear what your go-to-beers are. Share what you like to drink and where to find it in the comments below.

Spring also signals time for the Bloomington Craft Beer Fest! A chance to try beers like these and many more in an open but covered venue just off Highway 37 and perfect for Spring weather! Tickets are go fast but details can be found here

By Ross Hughes;
Ross Hughes is a home brewer, a Cicerone certified beer server, aspiring Certified Cicerone and all-around beer nerd. An English expat based in Bloomington, IN, his passion for American craft beer started after his desire to find a local pub took him to Upland Brewpub and Bloomington Brewing Co. Whether he’s drinking cask ales reminiscent of his native country, or trying the latest experimental hopped IPA, Ross enjoys a variety of beer styles and is always looking to train his palette with another tasty ale.

Indiana's Flat12 & Tin Man sponsor Beer and Bourbon Fest just across the Ohio River: Feb. 20 (BBL aged & booze) & 21 (beerfest)

Do you love beer? Are you interested in Bourbon? Get a $20 Discount and enjoy not only Indiana but Kentucky barrel aged beers and Kentucky Bourbon this Friday night 11 minutes from Jeffersonville, IN, at the Tailspin Ale Barrel Roll event at Bowman Field, Louisville! Spend a night in Louisville and mingle with Brewers and Brewery Reps, enjoying limited Barrel Aged Beers, Bourbons and Craft Cocktails with local food and entertainment. Enjoy such beers as
Flat 12 (Indianapolis) Pinko Russian Imperial Stout aged in Willet Bourbon Barrels,
Flat 12 Snowdog Russian Imperial Stout aged in Canadian Whisky Barrels,
Tin Man (Evansville) Cherry Cordial Barrel Staved Czar Russian Imperial Stout,
Apocalypse Brewing (nano - Louisville) Official Tailspin PRO/AM Ale – “Spit Fire” Russian Imperial Stout w/Peppercorns,
Against the Grain (Louisville) We Mint Well Scotch Ale Brew Dogs Collaboration to be featured on the BrewDogs TV show in April,
West Sixth Brewing (Lexington) Transy Brandy Belgian Tripel Aged in Copper & Kings Brandy Barrels, and dozens more.
The Friday night VIP event features gourmet tapas from Mussel & Burger Bar, El Taco Luchador, CENA, and Guaca Mole Louisville plus national recording artists the Pimps of Joytime, and a photo booth for candid memories with friends.
Tickets are discounted to $65 per person (vs. $85 at the door if available) by entering BARREL into the promotion code. More info and tickets here

On Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Tail Spin Ale Fest over 40 breweries with at least 3 Indiana breweries (New Albanian, Flat 12, Tin Man), a dozen Kentucky breweries and more will be represented in a super cool vintage airplane hanger. With a smaller venue and representation of Southern states there are many beers you may not otherwise get to try elsewhere! Last year we enjoyed the expansion of KY breweries and trying special products as well as chatting with so many in the industry. The brewing industry is like a family. Brewers from all across the nation know each other. Larger local brewers are often found helping the smaller breweries as they grow. This is well represented in this nice brew fest! Check out the brewery list and tix (if still available - going fast!) HERE

Kentucky and Indiana brewers tend to be just great folks. Our early venture into barrel aged beers was from Kentucky brewers. We'd venture to Louisville and sample Bluegrass Brewing's Bourbon Barrel Stout. (available at Tailspin) One fine day we stopped in at a BBC location and met Brewer Sam Cruz. Sam was pleased to show us the operation and provide us with samples of many barrel-aged products. Eventually Sam left BBC and with partners opened Against the Grain Brewery at Louisville's Slugger Field. We shimmied up ladders with Sam to see the multi-storied brewery and sampled more notable beers like Kentucky Ryed Chicken (available at Tailspin). We are now excited to try the ATG/BrewDogs (think TV show) collaboration at this Tailspin Barrel-Role. Sam represents so many fine brewers that are so congenial and love to talk about their beer just like DH and Evan, founders of Country Boy Brewing in Lexington and Roger Baylor of New Albanian (NA IN) Brewing. Good people brewing good beer!

Kentucky, just like Indiana, is going through legislative action that tends to be the local brewers vs. the big international giants Ky Beer legislative action here
Indiana brewers can't grow due to a cap put on brewing for local distribution. Details here We can help by providing our opinions to legislators!

IF YOU LIKE NUMBERS Craft beer (US Dept of Commerce numbers) grew 18% in 2014. Belgian beer imports grew 25% but on a small base of sales while Mexican imported beer represented 60% of all imports in 2014, growing 15%.

Read our Valentine's picks here....

Dig In 2014

It seems appropriate that after a long period of time of not writing that I come back to write about an event that I first wrote about 4 years ago when I joined the crew with IndianaBeer.com.

Dig IN Indiana is not just beer though. It is all things Indiana. Beer, Wine, Food from local farms, prepared into small portioned meals by Indiana chefs and finally treats from Indiana Artisans. Put on by Indiana folks and entertainment by local entertainment. Seriously the biggest Taste of Indiana anyone could have.  I've grateful to volunteer with this festival for the past four years.

But this is about the beer!

I was already anticipating all the beer I'd get to sample after my volunteer shift.  Especially since my duties for the day was directing all the vendors to their parking and as each brewer came through and we said hello or had a quick catch up chat, my excitement grew.

As the breweries grow in Indiana, the options for beer in Dig IN have grown along with the demand. It was nice to see seasoned vets like Flat 12, Sun King and Brugge there along with some of the new guys like Scarlet Lane and Tin Man Brewing.

My first stop was to Tent C and I visited TaxMan with their saison, Bloomington Brewing Company's hoppy wheat, Thr3e Wiseman and their blonde, but my favorite from Tent C was Indiana City's Yacht Rock. I've had this belgian wheat ale many times but either it was the hot day or the work of Ray and the rest of his crew at Indiana City Beer getting better as time goes by, but it was a nice and smooth beer.

After filling up again on my food ( which was all delicious and I had to use two hands to count how many different kinds of meat was used )  I headed over to Tent B.This time to get my hands on Pooka, which was poured at the Brugge table.  It is no secret that Brugge's sours (Harvey and Pooka) are two of my all time favorite beers.  It once again did not disappoint during Dig In.

I popped over the next table over to say hello to Rob at Flat 12 and was surprised to see that Flat 12 was offering their Flat Jack.  I also love pumpkin ale and I've been seeing a lot of it popping up in liquor stores. I  was surprised it was at Dig In but still delighted to give it a try once more.  It must be me, cause when I posed a question on Facebook about seeing pumpkin ales early, it seemed to be the norm to have it on the shelf in July.

Lastly Tent A was my last stop. (obviously my beer palate wanted to work backwards when it came to tasting). There I ran into good friends from Bier and has some Weizengoot. Tried the ale that Figure 8 had to offer. I wish I could remember their ale but in the midst of tasting I heard someone in the table over ask for TinMan Brewing Co's Apricot Sour and I honestly downed the sample I had in my hand and popped over to TinMan's table.

I'm not a huge fan of apricots but this sour was the exception to my dislike of apricots. It was perfectly balanced, slightly creamy but with an appropriate zing that I love at the end of my sours. It almost made me question my love of Pooka that day.  I have had TinMan Brewing Co's beer before and wasn't really sold, but they have me wanting to come back and give them another shot after that apricot sour.

I didn't get to all the beer at Dig IN unfortunately. (I had a small food challenge of finishing the food passport and after that I had no room for beer) but what I did have was definitely delicious. I also learned a valuable lesson, don't dismiss the newbie breweries, like TinMan. Cause they make sneak up on you with a great out of the box beer.

Thank you Dig In for another year. Now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, it is time to start planning some brewery trips and tracking down some of those new breweries I've let slip through my fingers and give them a try!

Cheers!

Kathleen

Dribs and Drabs

Turoni’s Pizza & Brewery gets a shout out and a history by Evansville’s Roberto Cammpos.

Tin Man of Evansville is making Klingon Warnog Roguen Dunkel. Licensed. A Rye with clove. “Make it so”.

The FDA looks to be planning to forbid breweries from giving their spent grain to cattle farmers. article1 article2.

Dark beer will remove carcinogens from grilled burgers. article1 article2

20-year old girl in VA accosted by un-uniformed ABC agents because she bought bottled water. 911 calls, guns, arrests, jail, withdrawn charges, medical costs, lawsuit. Well, you know the drill. article

Beers, Cheers, and Sneers – November 29

Ordinary beer does not compute, so Tin Man Brewing in Evansville is now open for business. Look for their beers at Tin Man's taproom (1430 W. Franklin Street), on draft, and packaged in 16 ounce cans (note: cans will not be on shelves until early 2013). As a robot after my own heart, Tin Man’s brewing process emphasizes sustainability through resource conservation. They are the first U.S. brewery of their size to employ a high-efficiency mash filter system that uses 40% less water and 15-20% less natural gas than conventional systems. Tin Man’s offerings are touted as session beers, despite an IPA that pushes 6% ABV, and include:

Circuit Bohemian Pilsner	IBU: 35	ABV: 4.5%	Light and crisp Czech pilsner with heavy use of Saaz hops
Rivet Irish Red Ale	IBU: 22	ABV: 5.1%	More colorful and flavorful version of its English relatives featuring Caramel malts and Willamette hops
Alloy American IPA	IBU: 36	ABV: 5.8%	Well-balanced with citrus notes from Warrior and Cascade hops
3 Gear Robust Porter	IBU: 55	ABV: 5.4%	Big dark fruit flavor and hop aroma, but amazingly balanced and easy to drink
Dry Cell Irish Stout (draft only)	IBU: 37	ABV: 4.5%	Served on nitrogen with dry and roasted flavors and a balancing sweetness

 

As we approach the end of the year, the requisite “best of” lists for anything and everything will be making their way around various media outlets. The top 25 beers of 2012 from Draft Magazine includes Sun King’s Velvet Fog, which will be released soon in the now familiar Alumi-Tek pint bottles. Other beers that may be available locally include Founders Bolt Cutter Barleywine, Left Hand Milk Stout, Stone 16th Anniversary IPA, and Urban Chestnut Zwickel. Wine Enthusiast’s Top 25 does not include any Indiana products, but does include Ayinger Celebrator Dopplebock, Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, Founders Bolt Cutter Barleywine, Jolly Pumpkin La Roja, Left Hand Polestar Pilsner, Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA, The Bruery Saison Rue, and Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock. So the consensus is you should get your hands on a bottle of Founders Bolt Cutter – good luck, and pick me up a bottle if that somehow works out for you.

 

Random Beer Review of the Week. These brief reviews should be an occasional addition to this column. While it’s fun to review super rare or out-of-market beers, I’ll try to focus on potentially interesting products that you can actually find in better craft stores around the state. This installment features Sam Adams Double Bock, which I picked up while looking for inspiration for a homebrewed recipe of the Dopplebock style. This beer took the silver medal in German-Style Dopplebock or Eisbock at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. These are fairly big beers, but Double Bock really pushes the envelope at 9.5% ABV. The batch number is 7832 but no freshness date is indicated.

Malty, rich aroma with prominent dark fruit and hints of brown sugar and molasses. The flavor characteristics are very similar to the aroma with some residual sweetness balanced by alcohol in the finish. The carbonation is moderately high but doesn’t quite tame the lingering alcohol in the finish. This is one seriously rich, strong, malty beast of a beer. It’s a good beer, but you don’t find yourself immediately wanting to go back for more. The overall character reminds me of a Strong Scotch ale more than the smooth, drinkable character expected from a Dopplebock. The beer has good flavor and reminds you of a nice after-dinner drink during cold weather months. But it just doesn’t have the drinkability I’ve found in other examples of this style. It would probably round out and be a little more enjoyable with some age.

At $11.99 for a 4-pack, I found Sam Adams Double Bock enjoyable and generally worth the price. But that price point is not a large advantage over some of the finer imports like Weihenstephaner Korbinian or Ayinger Celebrator. I would probably pay the slight premium for a reasonably well-kept example of one of these imports, or save my pennies for the February release of Bell’s Consecrator.

 

Rogue has created a new beer called White Whale Ale to celebrate the 41st Anniversary of Powell’s Books in Portland. The beer was given a special touch when pages from Moby Dick were added to the brew kettle. So you beer judges think twice before assuming that papery character is the result of oxidation. If you’d like to try this experiment at home, allow me to suggest using <ahem, shameless plug> Hoosier Beer: Tapping Into Indiana Brewing History by Bob Ostrander and Derrick Morris. A copy that was not destroyed in a brewing experiment also makes a great Christmas gift for your favorite Indiana beer lover.

The comic strip Failure was recently canceled by the Boston Phoenix, allegedly due to a strip that insulted Phoenix sponsor Bud Light. The offending strip discusses dystopian society and compares Bud Light to the Victory Gin of Orwell’s 1984. Well, that and diluted horse piss. The Phoenix denies that this was the reason and cites their move to a new format and questioning if Failure was a “fit for the new publication”. I would suggest we all accept the Phoenix’s reasoning and end this futile better beer resistance movement. Ignorance is Strength. Big Brother is Watching You.

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News – February 23

Columbus will host the D’Vine Winter Wine and Beer Festival this Saturday from 11am – 7pm at The Commons on the second floor of the Nugent-Custer Performance Hall. Upland will be representing the Indiana brewing community. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 on Saturday.

Construction is underway at the new Tin Man Brewing Company in Evansville. They are shooting for an opening this summer, but in the meantime you can follow the progress on their Facebook page.

The Heorot Pub is Muncie is poised to become the city’s only brewery. Stan Stephens and Robert Cox have put together a unique brewing system with a wooden frame to go with their Viking theme. Each batch produces just 10-11 gallons (…maybe my patio qualifies as Sahm Park’s first brewery…) so there will plenty of room for experimentation. This article claims it will be Muncie’s first brewery, but the pre-prohibition Muncie Brewing Company might dispute that.

The Hoosier Beer Geeks report plans for a collaborative brew involving Sun King and Colorado’s craft beer canning pioneers Oskar Blues. The breweries will be creating an 8% Belgian-style ale called Chaka that will be released in their respective markets. Oskar Blues is not distributed in Indiana, but should you find yourself in a state where it appears on the shelves pick up some Gordon and thank me later.

Since it’s 50 degrees outside and you’re already thinking about spring, it’s worth mentioning that Bell’s Oberon will be released on March 26th. Prepare yourself for some overhyped much anticipated release parties coming to a bar near you.

We’re looking for judges and stewards for the National Homebrew Competition first round judging at Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis. If you are a BJCP-certified judge or would like to participate in a fun event as a volunteer steward, the online registration site is now open here: http://tinyurl.com/nhcindy2012. There will potentially be four judging sessions:  Friday evening, April 13th @ 7:00, Saturday morning, April 14th @ 10:30, Saturday afternoon, April 14th @ 2:30, and (if necessary) Sunday morning, April 15th @ 10:30

I leave you with a Zymurgy magazine cover featuring swimsuit model Kathy Ireland from 1988 that resurfaced thanks to AHA founder Charlie Papazian. Who says homebrewers are geeks?

Cheers, Nathan