Cutter's Brewing Co.

Hard Working Beer

Cutter's Brewing Co.'s slogan says its it all. The team of  seven - from brewers, owners, and bottling team - are definitely working hard in their new home up on U.S. 36 Avon. 

Set back from the main street, you come up to Cutter's and see the gleam off their outside tanks. 

  The brewery may seem small at first, but Cutter's Brewing Co. has become one of the Circle City's top breweries. 

Thanks to my friend and packaging manager, Adam, I was able to pop into Cutter's after work a couple Friday's back and get a little tour of the place, talk to owners Monte and Chris and of course sample some great beer. (Straight from the tank) 

Cutter's - coming from the stone cutters - Brewing Co, started back in 2010 down in Bloomington, IN. Almost as a weekend hobby, the brewery was only available on tap to a few local bars. The demand out grew the supply and thanks to a good opportunity; Cutter's moved up to Avon in December 2012 to its new facility where it can brew up to 21,000 barrels! (current production is 8-12,000). 

Since moving to Avon, the crew at Cutter's have hit the ground running. Bottling their core lineup -

- Monon Wheat - A Belgian Wheat

- Empire Stout - An Imperial Stout

- Floyd's Folly - A  Scottish Ale

- Half Court - An India Pale Ale

- Lost River - A Summer Ale

They first started self distributing to local liquor stores and bars and eventually joined and became one of the first craft beers distributed by an AB distributor which means faster delivery, more locations and eventually plans to share some Hoosier made - Hard Working Beer -with near by cities such as Chicago and Cincinnati. The growth and success of the brewery is a pleasant and welcome surprised. 

At the end of June, Cutter's started opening its doors to the public for samples, growler fills, keg fills and more. Their current "tap room" is set up right inside the brewery with the fermenters and mash tanks saying hello. (When you go, look at tank FV 4 - Chris, one of the owners designed it) Future plans do include a possible tap room, maybe a satellite tap room for growler fills and samples but for now all one has to do is follow the keg "brick" road to delicious, well crafted beer.

A stand out offering by the brewery is the new Beer Pouch. A 64oz foldable, container that makes it safe to store beer, is lighter than a regular growler and can go to any place that cans or glass are not allowed. Cutter's is the first brewery in Indianapolis to offer this to customers. 

They will be offering fills on "party pigs" and they offer home keg delivery for all your craft beer party needs.

So you know the history, you know where to get it, but what about the beer itself!
(I saved the best for last!)

Cutter's beer ranges from session beers to some high gravity ales (10% for Empire). All are simple, smooth and leaving you wanting more.  During my visit I had privilege of getting Monon Wheat off the tank and I'm telling you on a hot day, this beer was perfect. Next up was their Imperial IPA, Full Court. The flavors in this beer, a little citrusy from the citra hops, were well balanced and made this IPA smooth and creamy.

The rest of Cutter's beer lineup is also delicious. Recently I've had their new General Brown Sour and their Vanilla Bean Empire Stout.  I'm looking forward to the Empire Stout and Floyd's Folly that are hanging out in bourbon barrels as we speak. There are plans for a Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Empire Stout and some fruit infused varieties as well.

If you don't get a chance to pop over to the west side to visit Cutter's, don't worry they will be at the 18th Annual Microbrewer's Festival, Dig-In, and also hosting special tap takeovers around the state.  If anything, please pop into your favorite liquor store and pick up a six pack. You won't be disappointed.

A big thanks to Adam, Monte, Chris and the rest of the Cutter's Brewing team! I appreciate the time you took to show me around and talk to me about your wonderful beer!

Cutter's Brewing Co 
9973 U.S. 36, Avon, IN 46123
Hours: Fri - 1-6pm
Sat/Sun - 1-5pm

Behind the Scenes at Indiana Brewers Cup

For the 2013 version of the ever-popular Indiana Brewers Cup, a collection of brave souls came together to tackle the challenge of judging nearly 1300 homebrewed and professional beers in a span of 24 hours. As we adjust to steady growth in popularity, a few new changes were in effect this year. This was the first year an entry cap was in place with a limit of 900 homebrews and 400 commercial entries. While we did not actually hit the cap (despite what the registration system apparently told people at times), I believe the final tally brought us to around 880 homebrew and 370 professional entries. This still made it easily the largest Brewers Cup field yet with about 120 more homebrew entries. Second, there was a change in the way Brewery of the Year was determined on the professional side. Similar to the GABF competition, breweries were still free to enter as many beers as they wished but only 12 entries (of the brewery’s choice in advance) counted toward the points for Brewery of the Year. I thought this was a very positive change and ensured that everyone was on a level playing field regardless of brewery size, business model, etc.

I serve as the Chief Steward for this event, which basically involves a lot of bottle wrangling and checking paperwork since we attract so many repeat stewards who do an excellent job of working independently. There were a few hiccups along the way that test your ability to adjust on the fly. You don’t expect printer incompatibility issues in 2013. You don’t expect a last minute trailer cooler replacement that doesn’t have any source of light (see pic of Dave Lemen below). But once things were off the ground, everything went fairly smooth. I can’t say thank you enough to the community of organizers, judges, and stewards who pull this off every year. You don’t want to hear me whine about how much work is involved, but those who have been involved in the process understand that it’s no small task. So without further adieu, here are some highlights (or lowlights) captured in photos from Saturday followed by observations and insights on beer competitions and judging.

Upland Brewing is already well known for their sours which have earned Best in Show professional the past two years. So while it wasn’t a major surprise to see Caleb accept the award for the third straight year, it might be considered a bit of an upset that the winning beer was Helios Pale Ale. Sun King took home their first Brewery of the Year award in a very competitive race thanks to the new format. We had some unexpected national entries from breweries I’d never heard of including Blackberry Farm (Tennessee), Galveston Island (Texas), and Pateros Creek (Colorado). Besides strong performances from Sun King and Upland; perennial contenders Bier Brewery, Crown Brewing, and Oaken Barrel had another good year. Side note: If you’re in central Indiana and have never had a chance to try Crown’s beer, make it a point to do so at the Microbrewers Festival. You won’t be sorry.

On the homebrew side we had winners from brewers in states including Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, and Virginia (let’s just call them interlopers); but the Indiana brewers scored well again with a lot of different winners. Strong performances were turned in by consistently good brewers like Tom Wallbank, Chris Ingermann, and Brian Spaulding; while a few newcomers scored multiple wins as well. And some hack managed to work the name Poppi Rocketts into the list….which is awesome. While I should check my biases at the door, it was great to see my friend and occasional brewing collaborator Tim Palmer take this year’s Best in Show and Homebrewer of the Year awards. Make a big deal out of it if you see Tim, it will embarrass the hell out of him!

If you have not checked out the full results yet, they are now available here.

A few comments on the future of Indiana Brewers Cup and other homebrew competitions. The hobby of homebrewing has exploded in popularity and the number of brewers interested in entering competitions has followed suit. This creates a dilemma for competition organizers when the number of certified judges does not keep pace. This was particularly exemplified in this year’s National Homebrew Competition (NHC), the classic example of a no-win situation for the American Homebrewers Association. Despite taking the unprecedented step of limiting individual entries for the first time in history, demand for this competition created an insane rush of entries when registration opened. Aided by some system issues, this created a very frustrating experience for many would-be entrants. I’ve heard a variety of solutions for this, and none of them are perfect (before guaranteeing one entry per AHA member, consider there are still 40,000 members).

Some of the more popular competitions are going to have to decide how to balance allowing the maximum number of entries/participants with the quality of judging entrants will (and should) expect. NHC Regional sites cannot just accept an unlimited number of entries and ensure they will be judged by BJCP judges, nor can additional sites just be thrown together and staffed entirely by volunteers within a month. To handle the record number of entries, the Brewers Cup had to accept novice judges this year. Don’t take that the wrong way, our novice judges did a great job. But I know you homebrewers (I am you). If you get an unfavorable scoresheet from a novice judge, what’s your first thought going to be? What the heck is my point? Good question. 1) Expect to see more caps and various entry restrictions at larger competitions in the future. Try to understand that it just comes with the explosive growth of this hobby, and nobody intends it as a personal affront to you or your sure-fire winners. 2) If you want to help out, please consider working on your BJCP judge certification. You can find some info about exams here and Ron Smith’s Beer MBA class is a great place to start your studies if you’re local to central Indiana. 3) The good news is you can find a growing number of smaller competitions springing up in our region. These comps are often staffed by a large proportion of BJCP judges and you can receive excellent feedback if that is your main objective. You can find a list of upcoming competitions on the AHA calendar.

Cheers, Nathan

The following is commentary on beer judging from IB’s Greg Kitzmiller who served as a judge at the Indiana Brewers Cup……..

The Brewer's Cup, of the Indiana State Fair, has not only grown bigger each year but also grown better each year. Despite minor flaws, of the competitions I do or have judged this is truly one of the best organized and professional. What makes it solid? Judges are lined up well in advance; judges’ expertise are carefully considered. And if you are a home brewer (me too) you will be glad to know that while Nathan correctly reports novice judges had to be recruited still all beers are judged by judging teams and novices are paired with experienced judges. Another plus is that judges know in advance what styles they will be judging. While I often suspect what styles I will judge, knowing a couple of days in advance gives me a chance to pull some of the best examples of those beers, find some on draught, and read the style guidelines as I drink these examples. Yes, this year I literally opened more than one bottle, drank about 5 oz. and then eventually poured that out so I could focus my palate on another example -- all in the pursuit of giving that brewer the best advantage or the best attempt at judging their beer against some of the best.

The Brewer's Cup also draws some of the best judging talent in the Midwest. The top judges for the Kentucky State Fair or the Ohio State Fair and other major contests are here judging this one. I know judges come from all over the Midwest and I have judged with or enjoyed the company of many from Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and more. Beyond just judges many of the stewards handling the beer, checking the temperature, pulling the bottles, pouring the beer into pitchers for professional categories are brewers and/or have done this many times before. Anita Johnson did an excellent job of inspiring so many for this competition and Mike Freeman, Nathan Compton, Tom Stilabower, and many others have done a great job of making this professional.

Many of you know what it is like to judge. But yesterday I was asked, "how you judge beer without being biased by what you like." There are two forms of answer. First, all BJCP trained judges are taught to carefully evaluate a beer. We don't have to love a particular attribute of a beer, but we should be able to recognize the attribute. Judges should recognize how the tongue perceives sweet, salty, sour, umami, and bitter. (In 2012 researchers at Washington University identified that the tongue also perceives fat, but that does not add to beer judging!) Thus, following carefully constructed guidelines for each style of beer, a judge can recognize and comment on distinct aspect of aroma, appearance, flavor and mouthfeel of a beer as well as general characteristics. The second aspect is that most of us volunteer to judge beers that we do appreciate often - although many experienced judges can and will judge any style and have learned to appreciate (perhaps not 'love') every style. For example, I am somewhat of a self described 'nerd' so when I am drinking a beer socially there are times that I pull out the style guidelines (or just remember them) and mentally judge that beer against those -- a bit like 'training' in any other setting. For the brewer entering his or her beer it means someone has gone to great extent to evaluate that beer carefully against a strict set of guidelines and with an experienced beer palate and beer knowledge.

What are some other downsides to beer competitions? First, on the plus side many if not most of the professional beers winning medals this year appear to be beers that you or I could actually have purchased from the brewery or at the brewpub. Yet, that is not always so. Commercial brewers are allowed to brew small batches for entry which means (and seems to happen with GABF) the beer that wins is not necessarily consumed by the masses drinking that brewers beers. Kudos to Indiana Breweries that received Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals for beers that we can find on the shelves or at their tapping room! Reviewing the list of winners it is clear if most, maybe all, were commercially available. Yet there is one other 'wrinkle.' Obviously if you were entering a car competition you would polish your car and if you drove to the competition you might spruce up that car a lot before judging. Likewise, brewers certainly bottle the beers at what they believe will be the ideal condition for judging in July. So I have actually judged beer where certainly I did not know what brewery it was from, but the score was so high (and I was judging with one of the top judges in the U.S.) that it became clear the beer I judged was a medal winner in that category. Some weeks later I happened to visit that brewery's retail facility (I am masking this to hide the brewery and will only reveal that it was in Indiana but not my hometown). It was clear to me, as well as to my table of experienced beer lovers, that the beer we were drinking that particular day was not the best that brewery had put out. Since then I've had many fine beers from that brewery. But a medal does not completely guarantee that the beer in your glass later is the same beer the judge tasted. Just as true of homebrewers of course. So take heart, if your score was low remember if the first line judges got a bottle that was not the best example for you, that score reflects that bottle. Even then, I have asked to pull and have often seen this when there is oxidation perceived, the 2nd bottle just to give that brewer a chance in case the one bottle suffered.

So for my friends that think beer judging must be the BEST possible hobby, I'd like to share with them some beers I've judged for which I really wished I did not have to take another swallow! On the other hand, given a choice I think I am very glad I get to judge beer and my hat is off to the swine judges! I'll stick with beer.

And the Winners Are.... Brewers' Cup competition news!

The Brewers' Cup of the Indiana State Fair has become one of the largest beer competition in the country and this year accepted nearly 900 entries from home-brewers and 400 entries from professional breweries. With judging July 12-13, this competition had its annual awards celebration last night, July 13 at the Indiana State Fair grounds.

Brewers in both the home-brew and professional categories won from as far away as Texas! Even though this event is proudly sponsored by and featured within the Indiana State Fair we are quite pleased that it has become a national competition. Three of our indianabeer.com bloggers have been busy at work with Nathan Compton, webmaster, an event organizer while I, Greg Kitzmiller, judged for the 6th or 7th year and Jake Keefer was kept busy judging this year also. A quick comment: I've judged for the Kentucky State Fair and the Ohio State Fair and while nice competitions, neither are near as big the Brewer's Cup.

You will find major blogs here including photos during this next week with in depth coverage. However, here is a(n) (Unofficial- based on my notes) list of winners from this years Brewers' Cup.

TOP AWARDS:

Professional Brewery of the Year: SunKing Brewery, Indianapolis, IN

Professional Best of Show Beer: Upland Brewery, Bloomington, IN

Home Brew Brewer of the Year: Tim Palmer, Foam Blowers of Indiana Club

Best of Show, Home Brewer: Tim Palmer, Indianapolis (FBI)

Homebrew Club of the Year: Foam Blowers of Indiana


Special Mention for indianabeer.com: our own Nathan Compton, homebrewer, beer officianado, and our webmaster/blogger won 3 awards

The GOLD (1st place) Awards by Category;

Professional Brewers:

Light Lager: Brickstone Brewery, Bourbonnaise, IL, 557 Light Lager

Pilsner: Bells Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI, Lager of the Lakes

European Ambers: Thr3e Wisemen Brewery, Indianapolis, IN

Dark Lager: Upland Brewery, Bloomington, IN, Schwartz Bier

Bock: SunKing Brewery, Indianapolis, IN, Maibock

Light Hybrid: Twisted Crew Brewery, Seymour, IN, Red Rye

Amber Hybrid: G'Town, Galveston, TX

English Pale: Upland Brewery, Bloomington, IN, Helios Pale

Scottish and Irish: Half Moon Brewery, Kokomo, IN, Stoplight City Red

American Ale: Triton Brewing, Indianapolis, IN, 4-barrel Brown

English Brown: SunKing Brewing, Indianapolis, IN, Wee Mac

Porter: Bier Brewery, Indianapolis, IN, Dread Brown

Stout: Crown Brewing, Crown Point, IN, Celtic Pride

IPA: Bloomington Brewing Company, Bloomington, IN, Rooftop IPA

German Wheat and Rye: Oaken Barrel Brewing, Greenwood, IN, King Rudi Hefe

Belgian and French: Oaken Barrel Brewing, Greenwood, IN, Alabaster Wit

Sour: SunKing Brewing Company, Indianapolis, IN, Stupid Sexy Flanders

Belgian Strong: Sunking Brewing Company, Indianapolis, IN, Velvet Fog

Strong Ale: Crown Brewing Company, Crown Point, IN, Squatch

Fruit Beer: Lakefront Brewing Company, Milwaukee, WI, #22

Spice/herb/vegetable beer: RAM Brewery, Indianapolis, IN, Anaheim IPA

Smoke beer: RAM Brewery, Indianapolis, IN, Barrel Aged Final Countdown

Specialty Beer: Upland Brewing Company, Bloomington, IN, Rye So Serious

HOMEBREW: MY APOLOGIES in advance for completely messing up some names!

Light Lager: Chris Ingerman

Pilsner: Tim Palmer

European Ambers: Tom Wallbank

Dark Lager: Tim Palmer

Bock: Charlie Milan

Light Hybrid: Jeff Jennings

Amber Hybrid: David Bordenkecher

English Pale: Brian Spalding

Scottish and Irish: Tim Palmer

American Ale: Brian Pickerell

English Brown: Lloyd Chatham

Porter: Brent Johnson

Stout: Brian Imbrusia

IPA: Brady Smith

German Wheat and Rye: Keith & Pam Bradley

Belgian and French: Dwayne DeLaney

Sour: Tom Wallbank

Belgian Strong: Ken Shannon

Strong Ale: Tom Wallbank

Fruit Beer: Alex Robertson

Spice/herb/vegetable beer: Brian Imbrusia

Smoke beer: David Murz

Specialty Beer: Lee Frisk



Note: Corrections and editorial content will be published later this week!

Smuttynose in Indiana (and some tidbits)

“Smuttynose has a well-earned reputation as one of America’s best all around breweries.” says All About Beer Magazine. The five regular beers have now hit Indiana and here is a quick peek at them:

Robust Porter: yes, it is! Deep, dark with chocolate and Carafa II malt with just enough Cascade flavoring hop and Magnum bittering hop to make this well balanced roasty and fairly big at over 6%. Listed as "world class" on BeerAdvocate by The Bros, this dark brown beer straddles the line to its cousin stout while delivering huge flavor.

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Old Dog Brown Ale: I love that name. I love the beer. Also listed as "world class" by The Bros on BeerAdvocate, this deep amber-colored malty beer has a great body and is cousin to an English brown but bigger at over 6%. Complex and slightly sweet with a hint of the alcohol.

Star Island Single: Belgian 'single' (you know - single, double, triple) with honey malt and fresh ground coriander seed for a sessionable 4.7% Belgian style ale.

Shoals Pale Ale: a British Pale at 5.6% with cascade hops that won best American beer 10 years ago at the Great British Beer Fest.

Smuttynose IPA: with two self-proclaimed "geezers" on the label, at 75ibu citrus notes come from Simcoe and Santiam, with Centennial plus Magnum for bittering and dry hopped with Amarillo. This provides plenty of flavor without a predominate single-hop focus. IPA Vimeo Here

My two favorites were the Porter and the Brown, and several bar staff have echoed those preferences. Now available throughout Indiana! Cheers!

Remember, the 18th Annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival is July 20 at OptiPark in Broad Ripple. General Admission: $40 (advance purchase)
Includes tasting glass and unlimited beer samples. Tickets available at Broad Ripple Brewpub, Crown Liquors stores and online - See more at: BIG web site

The Gnaw Brew Beer Festival is July 27, at Valley Branch Retreat, 2620 Valley Branch Rd. Nashville, IN 47448
This is a regional Homebrewers' competition. This year’s winner will have the honor of brewing his/her winning beer in a 50 gallon batch at Powerhouse Brewing Company’s new state of the art facility with Powerhouse proprietor Jon Myers.The winning beer will be placed on tap at Powerhouse and the winner will also have a tapping party held in his/her honor to celebrate the kickoff of next year’s festival event.

The event is takes place Noon to Midnight with gates opening at 11:00 AM, and advance tickets $15 , at the gate $20. Breweries on hand include Powerhouse, Big Woods, Hawcreek, Zwanzigz, and Highway 50. There are music groups all day and night, food, and more.... INFO HERE




Cheers! Greg Kitz

WINE(ona) Hops at the Shops Festival - July 2

Saturday, July 13 - 1p.m.-5:30p.m.

The WINE(ona) Hops at the Shops Festival located at 700 Park Avenue, Suite G, Winona Lake, IN will have live music, food trucks, beer/wine tastings, and they are also having the grand opening of a wine tasting room in the Village.  As of this post, they have the following breweries being represented with more expected to participate:

Cutters Brewing Company LLC

Mount Pleasant Brewing Company

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Kona Brewing Company

Redhook Ale Brewery

Goose Island Beer Co.

Upland Brewing Company

Mad Anthony Brewing

 

The cost to sample the beers/wines is $10 per person.  The cost of food is extra.  Here is a short introduction taken from their website to give our readers a little insight as to what Village of Winona is about:  "THE Village at Winona® is a thriving arts community nestled on the shores of beautiful Winona Lake.  Come for a day of shopping, dining, and fun.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Village is home to numerous galleries, studios, shops, and eateries.  You’ll find a delightful array of original artwork and handmade gifts along with a variety of dining options.  The Village also hosts numerous cultural and entertainment events throughout the year."  Check out their website and Facebook at these links:   http://www.villageatwinona.com/  https://www.facebook.com/Villageatwinona

 

 

 

 

 

Indiana Beer News - June 30: New Beers, Fun events

What beer will you drink for Fourth of July and what beer will you drink in 2014? The answer to each might change as more and more beers come on the Indiana scene! There is a LOT going on in the next few weeks and a lot more coming.

We did a quick stop at some downtown Indianapolis breweries this weekend finding new pours everywhere and also realizing we have so many offerings in downtown Indy we could not fit them all into our short schedule.

Indiana City Beer (see Kathleen's Grand Opening Story here ) was offering up a Belgian Wheat (Yacht Rock; 6%), Oatmeal Stout (Shadow Boxer; 7%), and APA (Beyond the Pale; 7.2) showing perhaps a trend in slightly 'bigger' beers in alcohol.

SunKing showcased their regular three, WeeMac, Osiris, and Sunlight, plus a hefe-weizen (Big H; 5.8%) ), Vienna Lager (Indian Lager; 5.4%), and a collaboration beer with Solemn Oath (Mythological Wonder, 7.7%) with spicy and rye notes, delicious combo hops.


Flat12 wants to give us our fruits and vegetables with so many beers on tap including their regular suspects (porter, amber, walk-about IPA, half-cycle IPA) and as usual so many seasonals, the newest being KiwiKiwiHefeWeizen with Kiwi fruit and kiwi juice so fruity, as well as Cucumber Kolsch which seems this year truly for those who love cucumbers, their Axis hefe and a Karousel Kolsch - tapped last week at the Elbow Room's 80th birthday party!

the RAM recently rolled out Barefoot wit, perfect for these hot days.

Daredevil has rolled out their Vacation Kolsch now showing up on taps throughout the state, also brewed with German ingredients and is a crisp, clean beer. Of course Daredevil Lift Off remains out there and seasonal Muse Belgian style can still be found on tap at many locations.


If you travel to Cincinnati you'll find a new brewery open (Grand Opening was June 29) with a strong Indiana connection. Rhinegeist brewing in the Over the Rhine District of the Queen City is the new home of Head Brewer Jim Matt who was a home-brewer in the award winning MECA club that also spawned now-pro-brewers Bill Ballinger and Michael Pearson of Daredevil. Jim gained professional status with SunKing, moved to head brewer status with Moerlein when they opened a brew haus in downtown Cincy, and just opened the Rheingeist operation serving a golden ale, English mild, Hoppy Wheat and IPA. Good Luck Rhinegeist and Jim!!

Bloomington Brewing Company has rolled out 10-speed nicely hopped wheat beer and a brand new Seven Sips Belgian Strong ale that has a nod to a wit with coriander + sweet and bitter orange peel but candy sugar to make it a big beer (8.3%). Also new at BBC is a Single Hop Columbus IPA following the trend of single hopped beers.
BBC's sister Lennie's restaurant and brew pub (the home of BBC beers) won a prestigious Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence award this month. The accolade, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor.

UPCOMING:

July 4: most Indiana brewpubs are open on July 4 for growler fills!
If in Downtown Indy for the Freedom Blast (fireworks) check out the Indiana Craft Beer Garden with craft offerings from SunKing, Flat12, Fountain Square, Cutters, Barely Island and Peoples brewers.

Indiana City Brewing (26 Shelby Street a block from Washington Street and I-65), celebrates with a 4th of July Music Festival staring at 4:00 with $5 tickets and lost of live music, local beer, and food trucks -- plus a location to view the Indy fireworks.

July 6: SunKing celebrates their 4th anniversary with a Grapefruit Jungle IPA tapping with music, local beer, and food trucks 4-10PM - $10 tickets at the tasting room. Beer Tappings are scheduled throughout the day: 4pm Grapefruit Jungle, 6pm Port Barrel Aged Wee Mac, 7pm 777, 8pm Afternoon Delight, 9pm Velvet Fog.

Brewers of Indiana Guild 18th Annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival is Saturday, July 20, 3-7 p.m. at Indianapolis Art Center and Optimist Park in Broad Ripple.
Your favorite Indiana breweries will be joined by a select group of guest breweries from around the country at Indiana’s largest craft beer event. Over 300 beer selections to choose from!Details and Tix

Noted out-of-state beers coming to Indiana!

Green Flash from San Diego, noted for their West Coast style IPA, should be in distribution in Central and Southern Indiana by mid-July. Early reports suggest only 20 bars may be the first to have a GF beer on tap but many liquor stores are to get product! WCB is the distributor.

Smuttynose brewing of New Hampshire, as we previewed for Ft. Wayne story here is kicking off distribution with Cavalier in Indiana in the Northern and Southern parts of the state check releases here . We should be finding best-selling Finestkind IPA and international award-winners Robust Porter and Wheat Wine Ale in most of our areas soon.

DogfishHead has announced their return to Indiana (+ Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wisconsin) with a cute video watch the video here . Look for DFH to work out the deal with a distributor and be back by 2014, possibly sooner.

Oskar Blues of Longmont, Colorado, the first to use CANS announced in March that they should be available in Indiana soon. Most in Indiana know of the SunKing/Oskar Blues collaboration of CHAKA last year. As OB rolls out to Indiana look for Dale's Pale and Mama's Yellow Pils.

Speaking of cans look for some other craft brewers (in Indiana) to consider cans. Foxnews.com recently released a clip from one of their junior reporters extolling the virtues of cans vs bottles

and finally, having a Summer Wedding? Beer is IN! Anja Winikka, TheKnot.com Site Director recognizes the trend: "Our brides love beer! More and more we've been seeing couples go beyond the traditional bar and really personalizing the experience for their guests. Beer is huge – everything from beer flights and craft beer bars to beer tasting stations and beer and food pairings. Couples are even serving homebrews specially created for their events. That's why we're so excited about Brewlywed Ale – it gives all craft beer lovers a chance to enjoy the trend at their weddings. Plus, what could be better for personalizing your day than a specialty wedding beer?" (thanks to PR from SamAdams)

Smuttynose Tap Assault at Trion Tavern - June 27

Saturday, June 29 - 5p.m. - 3a.m. Sunday June 30:

The Trion Tavern (503 Broadway Street, New Haven, IN - (260) 493-2265) will be tapping five (5)Smuttynose beers never before seen in Indiana. A brewery representative will be in house with Smuttynose swag to hand out.  The following information was located on Trion's Facebook event page:

Smuttynose Brewing Co. is the Granite State’s leading craft brewery, located in the historic seaport city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Smuttynose was founded in 1994 by the folks who started the Northampton and Portsmouth Breweries.

For 2013, RateBeer ranks Smuttynose as the best brewery in New Hampshire and the 58th best brewery in the world (42nd in the US). This is the first time Smuttynose beers have been available in Indiana and this event will be THE OFFICIAL debut of Smuttynose in Northeast Indiana!

The beers to be tapped are as follows:

• Finestkind IPA (6.9%) BeerAdvocate: 92, The Bros: 100. RateBeer: 97 overall, 95 by style.
Portsmouth is a colonial era seaport town, so it goes to follow that sooner or later Smuttynose would brew an India Pale Ale as a tribute to those big, hoppy 19th century ales that made the long sea voyage from England's temperate shores, 'round the Cape of Good Hope, to the sultry climes of the faraway East Indies.

But there's another reason Smuttynose brewed this beer, one that's closer to their home and hearts. Hopheads.

In 1994 Smuttynose brewed our first batch of Shoals Pale Ale, our American interpretation of the traditional British ESB (Extra Special Bitter) style. At the time, it was widely considered to be darned hoppy. However, a funny thing happened over the last decade - Smuttynose's Shoals Pale Ale didn't change; beer lovers did, and Smuttynose started to hear more and more: “Why don't you guys make a really hoppy beer?”
You could say, then, that Smuttynose IPA is a physical salute to the glory of the American hop grower. The citrusy hop flavor coming from a mixture of Simcoe and Santiams is pleasantly balanced by a smooth bitterness from the Amarillo hops. The beer itself is light bodied and crisp with a golden color that will throw a slight haze, as Smuttynose bottles it unfiltered. At 75 IBU's, this is definitely not a training-wheels IPA, but is meant for hop lovers looking to satisfy their craving in a way that's not easy to find. Smuttynose thinks they’ll be quite pleased.

• Old Brown Dog Ale (6.7%) BeerAdvocate: 88, The Bros: 98. RateBeer: 85 overall, 93 by style.

Old Brown Dog has been cited as a classic example of the “American Brown Ale” style of beer. Compared to a typical English Brown Ale, Old Brown Dog is fuller-bodied and more strongly hopped.

Old Brown Dog has been around for many years. It was first brewed in 1988 at the Northampton Brewery. In 1989 it won a silver medal in its category (American Brown Ale) at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

• Robust Porter (6.2%) BeerAdvocate: 93, The Bros: 97. RateBeer: 99 overall, 100 by style.

This hearty, mahogany colored ale is brewed to evoke the dark, full-bodied ales that were a favorite of dockworkers and warehousemen (hence the name “Porter”) in 19th century London. It is a good bet that when Dickens’ Mr. Pickwick sat down for a pint, he would have been drinking an ale much like Smuttynose Robust Porter. This is a smooth and very drinkable beer, characterized by its well-balanced malt and hops, plus subtle notes of coffee and chocolate.

• Shoals Pale Ale (5.6%) BeerAdvocate: 87, The Bros: 92. RateBeer: 88 overall, 99 by style.

Smuttynose's interpretation of a classic English beer style is copper-colored, medium-bodied and pleasantly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty palate that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.

• Star Island Single (4.7%) BeerAdvocate: 79. RateBeer: 44 overall, 40 by style.

Visitors to Smuttynose Island, peering across the dark waters of Gosport Harbor towards the ragged rocks of neighboring Star Island, are sometimes startled by the fleeting sight of mysterious, alluring creatures swept up from the Atlantic’s cold, inky depths. Or so they tell us.

Smuttynose Star Island Single is an eminently sessionable, Belgian-style pale ale offering a beguiling mix of flavor and refreshment. This medium-bodied golden ale features a slight residual sweetness from Honey Malt and hints of citrus and tropical fruits from the unique Belgian yeast it is fermented with, leaving a crisp dry finish. Enjoy it sociably while you savor good times, tall tales, friendly company & life’s unexpected pleasures
Trion Tavern will be offering $8 flights of the five (5) Smuttynose beers and $10 flights for all others. This is a 4oz. sample of each of the five (5) beers. The normal price for a flight is $13 so this is a great beer deal! Try some flights to find out what you like and then order a full glass!

Check out Trion's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/triontavern for any and all updates for this event as well as their website http://www.triontavern.com/.

Brew Bracket Pale Ales

After tackling Ambers, Belgians, Bourbon Barrel Aged, India Pale Ale, Stout, and Wheat; the latest incarnation of Brew Bracket featured the popular American Pale Ale style. If you’re not familiar with Brew Bracket, it’s the unique beer competition where the winner is determined based on the votes of blind tasting participants. No qualifications required, no guidelines, just pick the beer you enjoy the most. Participants taste two beers at the same time and the winner of that voting round advances to face a new opponent in the next round until an overall champion is determined.

Jake, Jason, and I attended the event and decided to take a new approach by publishing each of our votes here for a good round of public ridicule. Our picks deviated significantly from actual winners early in the competition before falling in line a bit more as we drew closer to an overall champion. Congrats to Thr3e Wise Men for winning the tournament with their Rocky Ripple Pale Ale, and to Rock Bottom Downtown for claiming runner-up with Sugar Creek Pale Ale. We’ll start with the matchups and our choices followed by a bit of commentary.

Sweet 16 Round

Flat 12 vs. Rock Bottom College Park (North Region)

Jake’s Pick: Flat 12

Jason’s Pick: Rock Bottom College Park

Nathan’s Pick: Flat 12

The People’s Choice: Rock Bottom College Park

Three Wisemen vs. Union Brewing (North Region)

Jake’s Pick: Union Brewing

Jason’s Pick: Union Brewing

Nathan’s Pick: Union Brewing

The People’s Choice: Three Wisemen

RAM vs. People’s (West Region)

Jake’s Pick: RAM

Jason’s Pick: People’s

Nathan’s Pick: People’s

The People’s Choice: RAM

Brugge Brasserie vs. Bloomington Brewing (West Region)

Jake’s Pick: Brugge Brasserie

Jason’s Pick: Brugge Brasserie

Nathan’s Pick: Brugge Brasserie

The People’s Choice: Bloomington Brewing

Upland vs. Rock Bottom Downtown (East Region)

Jake’s Pick: Upland

Jason’s Pick: Upland

Nathan’s Pick: Upland

The People’s Choice: Rock Bottom Downtown

Evil Czech vs. Triton (East Region)

Jake’s Pick: Triton

Jason’s Pick: Triton

Nathan’s Pick: Evil Czech

The People’s Choice: Evil Czech

Barely Island vs. Indiana City (South Region)

Jake’s Pick: Barley Island

Jason’s Pick: Indiana City

Nathan’s Pick: Indiana City

The People’s Choice: Barley Island

Iechyd Da vs. Half Moon (South Region)

Jake’s Pick: Iechyd Da

Jason’s Pick: Half Moon

Nathan’s Pick: Half Moon

The People’s Choice: Half Moon

Elite 8 Round

Rock Bottom College Park vs. Three Wisemen (North Region)

Jake’s Pick: Rock Bottom College Park

Jason’s Pick: Rock Bottom College Park

Nathan’s Pick: Rock Bottom College Park

The People’s Choice: Three Wisemen

RAM vs. Bloomington Brewing (West Region)

Jake’s Pick: RAM

Jason’s Pick: RAM

Nathan’s Pick: RAM

The People’s Choice: RAM

Rock Bottom Downtown vs. Evil Czech (East Region)

Jake’s Pick: Rock Bottom Downtown

Jason’s Pick: Rock Bottom Downtown

Nathan’s Pick: Evil Czech

The People’s Choice: Rock Bottom Downtown

Barley Island vs. Half Moon (South Region)

Jake’s Pick: Barley Island

Jason’s Pick: Barley Island

Nathan’s Pick: Barley Island

The People’s Choice: Barley Island

Final 4 Round

Three Wisemen vs. RAM

Jake’s Pick: Three Wisemen

Jason’s Pick: Three Wisemen

Nathan’s Pick: Three Wisemen

The People’s Choice: Three Wisemen

Rock Bottom Downtown vs. Barley Island

Jake’s Pick: Rock Bottom Downtown

Jason’s Pick: Rock Bottom Downtown

Nathan’s Pick: Barley Island

The People’s Choice: Rock Bottom Downtown

Championship Round

Three Wisemen vs. Rock Bottom Downtown

Jake’s Pick: Rock Bottom Downtown

Jason’s Pick: Three Wisemen

Nathan’s Pick: Three Wisemen

The People’s Choice: Three Wisemen

From Jason C………….

For the record, I went into this thing a Brew Bracket virgin. I had really been wanting to attend since its inception but I suppose I was just saving myself for the right style. When I saw pale ales on the calendar well, I just knew that I was ready both physically and emotionally...it was just my time. Little did I know the mental anguish that awaited when the beers I liked left the competition without so much as a goodbye note. At least I am able to take some comfort in knowing that I can stalk those beers now that their identity has been disclosed.

After sampling everything from the Sweet 16 (rounds 1&2), I felt that the North Region was in control of the bracket (even tweeted it at the time). Oddly enough, I ended up voting against the eventual winner for it's first two pairings. This isn't meant to slight Three Wisemen in the least, their beer was certainly deserving as they did receive my votes in both the Final 4 & Championship rounds. Looking back, I still feel that the toughest decision for me was the Round 1 match-up between Flat 12 & Rock Bottom CP and I maintain that the Rock Bottom CP offering was the best beer I had all day.

I was surprised that the People's entry was knocked out in Round 1 as I felt that they had the strongest offering in the West Region (and no, I'm not being a homer!). The East Region's best match-up came in Round 1 with Upland vs. Rock Bottom DT. While I gave the edge to Upland, I wasn't surprised to see Rock Bottom DT advance to the finals. Again, a first round match-up that knocked out a pretty nice beer. The last thing I really want is to be a hater but there really wasn't much to get excited about in the South Region. The only beer that really caught my attention was the offering from Indiana City. Looking at the bracket it's obvious the majority of the beer drinking populous didn't share in my taste for this beer. The flavor contained an interesting spice note (ginger maybe?) that I found to be unique and pretty tasty. Because of this combination I gave it my vote, albeit in vain, to move on to the next round.

So that's my brief summary of my first venture into the exciting world that is Brew Bracket. They say you always remember your first and I feel that the pale ales will be no exception. I've also been told that it gets better with experience so, that being said, bring on the Oktoberfests!

From Jake………….

Like Jason, I popped my brew bracket cherry this past weekend. So the theory behind this event was a March Madness style bracket of beers, with the final beer standing being the champion. This is a great idea and the execution of the event really makes it easy for the consumer to simply enjoy themselves. A pair of food trucks fed the few hundred or so people with pretzel bun sandwiches from a german food truck and scratch truck’s indian style offerings. I was surprised to see just how many brewers were at the event; a few made it out to mingle with the crowd but most of the time they were behind the scenes drinking amongst themselves. A corn hole style long toss, a raffle, and a trivia contest sponsored by NUVO kept the mass entertained as the bottle cap votes were counted.

At the beginning of the festival a 1 page handout from Ron Smith gave a brief rundown of the style’s history and what a BJCP trained judge would look for in this style. Essentially the style is an American hop showcase. Just enough malt backbone to help balance the moderate to high hop bitterness and flavor, and low to no yeast character. This is a great style for an event like this because you do not overwhelm your senses with the first few rounds.

Anyways enough about the event, lets talk about beer. As I’m sure you read I only got 7 of my 15 picks correct. This didn’t really surprise me as I had no idea what to expect. Like Jason, I thought the North and West regions were stacked with great beer, the East had a few tasty ones. Regretfully, most of the South region would have struggled against any beer in the North or West. After discussing the event, after round 2, with some friends from another blog; I picked the beer I thought would win the whole thing. I choose Andrew Castner’s creation for the RAM. Andrew’s offering made it to the semifinal round and only lost to the overall winner, Omar’s offering from Three Wisemen. Some notable first or second round upsets were Rob Caputo’s offering from Flat 12, Upland’s Campside, Ted Miller’s Brugge beer, and newcomers Indiana City. Some of the underdogs who did well were Barley Island, always great beer but more well known for their darker beers, who made it to the semifinal, and Evil Czech who lost in round 3 to finalists Rock Bottom Downtown. After only voting for Three Wisemen once, against my pick to win it all by the way, I can’t really say I think Omar’s was my favorite beer. In reality any of the semifinalists could have won, as they were all pretty tasty.

Congratulations to Omar, and everyone at Three Wisemen! The future of brew bracket is promising. With Oktoberfests on the horizon for the next event in September and another one later this year there will be plenty of opportunity for you to end your brew bracket virginity as well. Oktoberfest is one of my absolute favorite styles, so I will be at the next event. Now I’m sorry I missed Bourbon Barrel Brew Bracket, sounds like it was a good time. What I would love to see next year is some more interesting styles like Saison, Schwarzbier, and perhaps a Berliner Weisse competition.

From Nathan………….

This was a pretty strong field of beers, I can only think of one entry that the three of us were unanimously unimpressed with. So there were a fair amount of tough decisions, and the brackets pretty much guarantee some of your favorites will be knocked out early. It’s interesting to note that as a group we unanimously voted against Thr3e Wisemen in the two North region matchups, but this is primarily because the Union and Rock Bottom CP beers were exceptional in my opinion.

The first round matchup between Flat 12 and Rock Bottom CP was just brutal – those were probably my two favorite beers in the competition. The Evil Czech vs. Triton matchup was also very difficult as they both ranked near the top of my list. I haven’t had the chance to try a lot of offerings from Evil Czech, so it was great to find out they had such a strong offering in this competition. Of course, none of the four beers I mentioned as favorites advanced past the round of 8, and the people have spoken! On the other hand, the few entries I didn’t care for were also eliminated in the first two rounds.

Once we reached the Final 4, my favorites were gone but the remaining entries were very solid. At this point, my notes tabbed the Thr3e Wisemen entry as the best remaining beer in the field. This seems illogical since I had voted against it twice, but the North Region entries were disproportionately strong. Once we pass the Porter competition in December, the next challenge may be finding new styles that Indiana brewers produce commonly enough to hold a full 16 brewer competition. Brown Ales, Lagers, and Light Hybrids (Cream Ales, Blonde Ales, etc.) are a few that still come to mind. Thanks to Brew Bracket for putting another great event and motivating me to pick up a sixer of the Flat 12 Walkabout!

 

Check out the Brew Bracket event page for your next chance to participate and select a champion (hopefully with a better rate of success than we had)! Upcoming events include:

Oktoberfest Beers

September 28th, 2013

8 Brewers, 150 Participants

Held at Tomlinson Tap Room (in City Market, Indianapolis)

Porters

December 7th, 2013

16 Brewers, 400 Participants

Held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis

Chow Down Midtown

Chow Down Midtown is an great event highlight Broadripple's culinary talents with affordable menus options.  Sometimes, along with those culinary talents, there is also beer.

Sahm's Place partnering with their neighbors down the way, Bier Brewery, offered a delicious 4 - 4oz sample flight of Bier's bier with their ChowDown Midtown meal.

I, of course, living down the street from both, and Bier fan that I am instantly decided I need to check out this line up.

This wasn't a beer paired dinner, which in case you were interested, Sahm's & Bier does offer a beer paired dinner for $30 a person every third Thursday, this was just great beer with good food.

The beer options for the night were Farmgal, Bier Brewery's saison, Weizengoot - a hefeweizen, Rye Pale, and the famous Trippelle.  All of them good, even if I'm not a fan of the Rye Pale. Obviously Farmgal is my favorite, followed by the Trippelle.  The genuine smoothness and simple flavors went well with what I had for dinner without over pouring them. Since it wasn't a beer pair dinner, there wasn't any flavor enhancement with the food. Just a basic enjoyment of good bier.

After the flight went, and boy did it go quickly, I ordered a Figure 8 - Pimp Slap (Imperial Pilsner). Lately I've really been into trying and drinking different pilsners. It was triggered after my visit to Great Lakes Brewery and I really liked the Wright Pils. Figure 8's Pimp Slap was delicious, and my only regret was I don't live near by the brewery to get more.

My suggestion? Hit up Sahm's Place before Chowdown Midtown is over (June 23rd is the last day) and get a free flight of Bier with your dinner.  This is the perfect way to try new craft beer if you haven't had a chance and a ladies, it'd be a great way to get your partner out on a date night if you mention free craft beer.

Cheers!
Kathleen

Black Swan, gastro-pub and brewery in Plainfield, IN

Ever have one of those “go to” places where you feel comfortable, you like the beer, you like the food and like the staff? Black Swan brewpub in Plainfield is one of those places. Black Swan is the place our current core bloggers met to ‘take over’ indianabeer.com and has become the place we like to go to meet or just to grab a beer or a meal. Plus Black Swan is conveniently located at the first stop light North of I-70 at the Plainfield, Indiana, exit making it one of the closest good eating places to the Indianapolis Airport. Black Swan always has at least ten taps of solid beers, great gastro-pub food, and friendly service. A funny story: in March we sat next to a fellow from Virginia who was in the area frequently on business and started talking about enjoying this place several times and wanting to get to another brewery he had read about. I asked how he knew about the local beer scene and he started telling me about ‘this site called indianabeer.com.’ Yes, brother, we beer nerds can stick together.

Locals at Black Swan love the IPAs and the strong beers. Yet the interesting fact is that there are people loyal to nearly every regular beer style on tap. If the scotch (locally called Scottish but at 8%) ale blows there are always some patrons that ask and ask when it will be back on. When the Ruby is out there are always patrons who ask when it will be back. Of course, Black Swan owner/brewer D.J.McAllister would really hear about it if there were no hoppy options. On our March visit he had the IPA at 90iub (6.9%), and the double pale at 75ibu (5.7%). For our June visit we find the hop heads truly satisfied with the IPA, Chinook IPA 90ibu, Falconer’s Flight IPA 90 ibu, and Double Pale. Overall there were 11 Black Swan beers on tap plus a guest cider. Basically there is something for nearly every taste, except Budweiser – drink the Blond or the Wit.

Want flavor beyond hops? In March a Black Peat Stout that gave the impression it was a cousin to a fine Scotch Malt whisky was delicious as was a Sour Cherry and a nearly traditional British Mild, a session beer at 4.5% abv. And DJ had a Quad on at 12.9%. Last week (June ) we found a delicious Cherry Wood porter providing a slight smoke flavor and a nice subtle cherry while the Sour Cherry was also still on tap and still tasty. A cream stout offered a fantastic richness and a French Country Ale using French saison yeast provided refreshing Belgian flavor and a slight tartness. The slightly sweet but well balanced Scottish (the scotch ale at 8%) was on tap along with a Wit at 4.9% with coriander and orange. For maximum flavor with hops there was the “Oak Aged Maris Otter Strong Ale” which at almost 10% was a big beer but very dry. This one was made using bourbon barrel staves.

Black Swan opened on 10/10/10 (Oct. 2010, lest you though I was writing in code) with a lot of guest beers and good food that immediately drew in loyal customers. Once they got their own beers on tap business boomed.

D.J. operates a 5.5 barrel system that could be stretched to 7.5 capacity with the right additions. This is an electric fired system that proves you can put out solid beer using electric. At under $4 for some local pints patrons get their money’s worth. Having brewed more than 30 different beers, the IPA, the Scottish, and the Double pale are the overall top sellers. Yet, as noted most of the beers develop their own fan club.

Due to the location in an area with many hotels serving the Indianapolis International airport, Black Swan has a steady stream of hotel patrons as well as local residents.

McAllister had both brewing and business experience before opening Black Swan. D.J. learned a lot brewing as assistant at such notable places Oaken Barrel, Greenwood, and at Lafayette Brewing. He has specific business goals for Black Swan and, luckily for all of us, he is very consistent with his goals of serving great food (“killer” local made-in-house corned beef), with a great staff , and consistently delicious beer. Black Swan is a place where you know you can usually find one of those beers that has developed its own fan club or choose from a nice selection of specialty beers such as the Black Peat Stout, the Quad, the wood-aged Cherry Porter, or the French Country Ale. Thanks, Black Swan, for great beer and great hospitality.

Cheers! Greg Kitz