Great American Beer Festival Winners

Along with one heck of a big party, the Great American Beer Festival also boasts the largest commercial beer competition in the world. With another record level of participation in 2013, a few Indiana breweries can boast some impressive wins:

Medal	Brewery	Brand	Category
Gold (out of 117 entries)	Sun King Brewing (Indianapolis)	Afternoon Delight	Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
Gold (out of 89 entries)	Three Floyds (Munster)	Blot Out the Sun	Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout
Silver (out of 91 entries)	Ram Restaurant and Brewery (Indianapolis)	Anaheim IPA	Field Beer or Pumpkin Beer
Silver (out of 149 entries)	Three Floyds (Munster)	Permanent Funeral	Imperial IPA

In addition, here is a list of winning beers from out-of-state breweries that distribute to our market. Forgive me if I skip Natural Ice and Old Style:

Medal	Brewery	Brand	Category
Gold	Boulevard Brewing (Missouri)	Love Child No. 3	Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer
Gold	Fat Heads (Ohio)	Hop JuJu	Imperial IPA
Gold	Great Divide (Colorado)	Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti	Chocolate Beer
Gold	Jacob Leinenkugel (Wisconsin)	Canoe Paddler	German-Style Kolsch
Gold	Left Hand (Colorado)	Fade to Black Vol. 1	Foreign-Style Stout
Gold	Left Hand (Colorado)	Milk Stout	Sweet Stout or Cream Stout
Gold	Left Hand (Colorado)	Sawtooth Ale	Ordinary or Special Bitter
Gold	New Holland (Michigan)	Pilgrim’s Dole	Old Ale or Strong Ale
Gold	Sam Adams Cincinnati (Ohio)	Double Bock	German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock
Silver	Fat Heads (Ohio)	Black Knight	German-Style Schwarzbier
Silver	Fat Heads (Ohio)	Trail Head	Fresh Hop Ale
Silver	Hoppin’ Frog (Ohio)	Barrel Aged BORIS The Crusher	Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout
Silver	Jacob Leinenkugel (Wisconsin)	Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark	American-Style Dark Lager
Silver	Mad River Brewing (California)	Steelhead Extra Pale Ale	Golden or Blonde Ale
Silver	New Holland (Michigan)	Dragon’s Milk Reserve – Smaug’s Breath	Experimental Beer
Silver	Sierra Nevada (California)	Barrel-Aged Narwhal	Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout
Silver	Two Brothers (Illinois)	Ebel’s Weiss	South German-Style Hefeweizen
Bronze	Bell’s Brewery (Michigan)	Sparkleberry Ale	Fruit Beer
Bronze	Boulevard Brewing (Missouri)	ZON	Belgian-Style Witbier
Bronze	Brewery Ommegang (New York)	Three Philosophers	Belgian-Style Abbey Ale
Bronze	Brooklyn Brewery (New York)	Brooklyner Weisse	South German-Style Hefeweizen
Bronze	Flying Dog (Maryland)	Dogtoberfest	German-Style Marzen
Bronze	Moylan’s Brewing (California)	Dragoon’s Dry Irish Stout	Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout

Note that some of these beers were probably subject to a very limited release, while others are routinely found around the state. Happy hunting!

Books & Brews Kickstarter

I just stumbled across (on Bob's post below) this Kickstarter for a Used Bookstore / Nanobrewery that is planning on opening up on the northeast side of Indianapolis. I have not met Jason, but from the video I'd say the idea sounds quite unique for our city. I for one am always in support of another brewery opening. It looks like the Kickstarter will be ending soon, so I thought I could help spread the word. Anyway here is the link, and here is the Facebook page as well. Go support your local breweries!

-Jake

Drams and Dribs

 

“Books & Brews is the Indianapolis area's first combination used bookstore and nanobrewery.” In Indianapolis. Looking for kickstarter money to get started.

Lake Michigan Shore paper reviews “American Psycho” dinner at Three Floyds.

Yet another beer relations chart. Get out your bbbiiiggg screen and start browsing.

Sriracha Vodka?

 

  

Brewing at Home with Fresh Hops

While growing hops has not been a major commercial endeavor in Indiana (aside from the new Three Hammers Farms in Knightstown), hops can actually grow quite well for hobbyists in our state. Many homebrewers inevitably get the itch to try this out for themselves. After all, it’s just a plant and that little rhizome looks so harmless, what could possibly go wrong? Well, a little planning always helps when it comes to both growing and eventually brewing with your homegrown bounty. I have a Cascade vine that was planted about five years ago and several homegrown wet-hopped batches under my belt. So this post will offer some tips from my experiences….and maybe save you from repeating a few of my mistakes.

Let’s start with planting your hops. Hop rhizomes (fancy term for root ball) are available at some local homebrew shops like Great Fermentations and online retailers like Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies each spring. If you know another brewer who grows hops, you can also ask them to separate a rhizome from one of their established plants. If you’re looking to purchase a rhizome, plan to look into this early in the spring. You want to get them planted as early as possible, and supplies tend to dry up rather quickly. Plant your newly acquired rhizome in a spot with exposure to plenty of sun from the south. Brewers who are handy and looking for a project can construct a proper trellis for the hop vine to climb on, and equip it with a pulley system and other features. Or if you have a two story house and prefer the lazy way out like I do, a simple nylon rope run from the roofline to an anchor on the ground will get the job done. The roofline will provide a natural barrier to keep a healthy plant from spreading into unwanted areas, but try to keep it away from gutters or other structures that might allow it to venture into new territory. If your vine can find a way to continue climbing, it will (and it loves satellite dishes). Back to the rope, make sure to use pretty thick material and definitely don’t use twine. As your vine matures, it will get very heavy and can snap a piece of twine…..not that I’d know anything about that.

Several inches of mulch around the base of the plant will help retain some moisture during the dryer summer months. Hops will thrive with plenty of rain, but I’ve also found my plant to be surprisingly hearty in dry conditions. The last two summers have brought significant stretches of dry weather, and my vine has required very little watering to continue producing. The first year of growth will produce few, if any, usable hop cones at harvest time, but you can expect incremental increases for the next several years as your plant matures. If you are successful in establishing the initial rhizome, it will take on a weed-like quality and attempt to spread its glory beyond the radius you intended. Keep an eye on this early in the growing season and separate the root wherever you see an unwanted sprout emerging from the ground. The chunk you separate can be discarded, or given to another sucker so they can plant it and learn the joys of trying to control it in a few years.

One of the most common questions is how to know when a hop cone is ready to be picked. I look for cones that have developed a pure green color (immature cones will often have lighter sections), have a papery outside feel, and spring back easily when you squeeze them between your thumb and index finger. Hops past their prime will begin to turn brown, feel dry, and have little resilience when you squeeze them. Hops that are too young will still feel moist on the outside and may have sections of lighter color. When in doubt, smell the hop and use your best judgment. If it smells good in your hand, chances are it will smell and taste good in your beer. Deciding when to harvest your hops can be a bit more art than science. The Cascade plant seems to reach its peak in late August, but I’ve heard other varieties need to be picked a little earlier for best results. New buds form throughout the growing season, so whenever you decide to pick there will probably be some that are too young and some that are too old. Unless you have time to be out constantly picking, letting some hop cones go to waste is just a fact of life. One final note on picking hops – wear long sleeves no matter how warm it is. Without protection, the hop vine will subtly scratch and irritate your arms like death by a thousand paper cuts.

To use your hops conventionally, you will need to dry them and then store them in a vacuum-sealed bag to maintain freshness. Or you can just skip the time and equipment needed for this part and make a homegrown wet-hopped Harvest Ale (or two). Taking this route just requires you to pick the hops and use them in a batch of homebrew within 24 hours. When planning your recipe, keep a few things in mind:

• The weight of wet hops is mostly water and not comparable to the dried and packaged hops you normally use. I generally use a rule that 5 ounces of wet hops are the equivalent of 1 ounce of dried hops (based on an assumption of 80% weight from water), but I’ve heard and read other suggestions this ratio should be figured as high as 8 to 1 or even 10 to 1.
• The mass of hops you are about to use will soak up a lot of wort. Upsize your recipe to make sure you end up with the desired final volume. This can be a bit challenging if your equipment is optimally sized for 5 or 10 gallon batches.
• If you don’t normally bag your hops, I would strongly recommend it in this case. Unless you enjoy massive clogging issues when attempting to siphon out the finished wort to your ferementer. Learn from my mistakes.

For the 2013 Harvest Ale, I solicited a little assistance from Tim Palmer….which conveniently came with access to Tim’s Columbus vine (and 20 gallon Blichmann brew kettle). We combined our resources for a full 2 pounds of fresh Cascade and Columbus cones (about 4-6 ounces of regular hops depending on the ratio you go by). Since the Columbus plant is still fairly young, nature dictated about a 3 to 1 ratio of Cascade to Columbus, so this batch was pretty heavy on the Cascade. We sized the recipe for 12 gallons to give plenty of leeway and ensure we’d each walk away with a full 5 gallons. When it comes to deciding how to utilize your hops, I recommend buying pellet hops for the bittering addition. You might be able to take an educated guess at the alpha acid content and use your homegrown fresh hops for the bittering addition. But using this strategy will leave you guessing on the actual IBU count, and why waste all that flavor on bittering additions? The full 2 pounds of our stash was added with 5 minutes left in the boil, a point where any miscalculation in IBUs would be negligible. Likewise, I have not attempted to use wet hops for dry hopping in these beers. While I have no concrete reason to believe there would be any sanitation issues, there is still the issue of additional wort loss and you’re already walking a fine line of overkill from green plant flavor. But I’d love to hear from anyone who has tried it and would like to share how it turned out.

I’ve experimented with wet hops in Black Rye and Amber ales, but your best bet is probably to start with a typical IPA malt base with minimal Crystal malt additions. Use the neutral malt base to get a feel for the characteristics your hop variety will lend to a beer, take good notes, and decide what modifications will fit your personal tastes in future batches. Whether kegging or bottling your wet-hopped beer, the obvious rule of the fresher you drink it the better it will be definitely holds true. I’ve tried setting some bottles aside in the past to have some available for competitions. Unless your competition is within a few months after brewing, don’t do it. These beers do not hold up well – just tell everyone how awesome it was and how many awards it surely would have won if you could have just stopped drinking it.

The taste and aroma differences in fresh hops can be difficult to describe if you’ve never tried one before. Our IPA was dominated by Cascade hops with contributing Columbus additions. I would normally expect a beer featuring these hops to be heavily citrus focused with a strong emphasis on grapefruit. This characteristic is still found in the wet hop beer, but is less dominant. I get accompanying notes of melon and lemon, and the flavors just “pop” throughout your mouth in a unique way, leaving your tongue with a thick feeling of hop resin as you swallow. I’m not sure where this comes from, but one other interesting note is these beers exhibit a nice creamy mouthfeel to support the overall sensations. On the down side, you will get a distinct green plant flavor and aroma when using large quantities of wet hops. So depending on your tolerance for this character, some brewers may want to be cautious about overloading their personal batches. Using a full two pounds is more akin to throwing caution to the wind.

In summary, hops are pretty easy to grow and may actually be more challenging to control. There is always something intrinsically rewarding about brewing with ingredients harvested from your own backyard. If you’re thinking about getting started, I hope you found this information useful. If you’re an experienced grower and brewer, we welcome sharing your own tips in the comments below. Happy growing, picking, and brewing!

Nathan

Brew Bracket 8: Oktoberfest

About two years ago, I discovered the existence of Brew Bracket. I've been a hooked fan ever since.

This past weekend I was able to go to my first Brew Bracket in the Tomlinson Tap Room. Just as much bracket style, great craft beer fun as their events at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, this event is only 8 local breweries, and the blind tasting happens table side, where voters can relax, snack, and drink beer poured by the expert double pourer volunteers.

Brew Bracket 8 was right time on time with their Oktoberfest style beer challenge: right in the middle of the traditional Oktoberfest celebration going on in Munich!

The fierce competitors of this BB8 was:
Flat 12 Bierwerks
The RAM
Twisted Crew Brewery
Sun King Brewing Co.
Thr3e Wisemen
Bier Brewery
Iechyd Da Brewery
Upland Brewing

Some of the beers were really interesting. Flat 12 had their Red Oatober in the competition, and it was distinct with the hop  flavor in the nose and on the tongue.  Twisted Crew (I believe, based off my tally sheets) gave their Oktoberfest a coffee enhancement.  Other than that the other breweries had the same malted lager, creamy traditional Oktoberfest flavor.

Being only 8 breweries the voting, and tasting went quickly and it was within no time that the RAM picked up their third win.

Every time I go to a Brew Bracket event, I can't even describe the camaraderie that just surrounds the venue. Between Mike and Ryan, the charity involved, the brewers, the sponsors, the visitors, it is just a special kind of event. There is always good music, good food and I always run into good friends there.

So if you still haven't gone to a Brew Bracket.. you must go to Brew Bracket 9 - Porters! (I'm very much looking forward to this style!)

Prost!
Kathleen

Indiana Beer News, Oct. 27-28: Festivals, new Beers and more....

Take your pick of Beer Events this weekend in Indiana!

DOWNTOWN INDY:

The first ever SunKing CANvitational includes at least THIRTY ONE breweries, all packaging in cans, on Georgia Street and PanAm Plaze from Noon (early entry $75) or 1-5PM ($50) Saturday, September 27. click here for TIX Such 'far flung' brewers as Marble of NM, Sockey of ID, Surly of MN, Tallgrass of KS, and Morgan Street of MO will participate as well as one of my favs, Revolution of Chicago and of course our home-state heros TinMan and SunKing of IN and more. There will be food, music, BEE coffee, and fun.

Within walking distance is the Upland Brewery OKTOBERFEST same day (Sat. Sept. 28) 1-9PM promising all the fun of a Munich beer tent, live music, food trucks, music and tix only $5 click HERE for Upland Oktoberfest TIX at Military Park off of West Street in Indya

BrewBracket Oktoberfest City Market Indy, 6-9 PM, Saturday, Sept. 28. $35, Brew Bracket TIX here/ Tomlinson Tap Room, 7 rounds of side by side tastings, Participating brewers include Upland, Flat 12, Bier, Twisted Crew, RAM, Granite City, Iechyd Da, and #BBPales winner Thr3e Wisemen. A portion of ticket sales will be donated directly to King Park Area Development


Connect with your Irish Roots Well, not exactly a beer fest but beer will be served and there will be hurling - you know, the sport (no not THAT kind, we hope) tonight, Friday, Sept. 27, 7-9PM at Kuntz Park, 1502 W. 16th ST, Indy. Flat12 beer will be served in a beer garden and This is the last night of the season for Indy GAA's Premiere League, which has grown into a great spectator event through the year. Info at IndyGAA

Outside downtown Indy

Irvington Brew Fest, Saturday, Sept. 28 7-10 PM (Music at 6:30), $10, 5333 E. Washington St. Indy, No advance sales, beer by Flat12, Fountain Square Brewery, Black Acre, New Day Meadery (pints $4). music and food Facebook page info

Noblesville BrewFest Saturday, Sept. 28, 3-7 PM, Forrest Park, lost of national and local breweries including Barley Island, Triton, Flat12, Cutters, Fountain Square, Half Moon (Kokomo), Upland, Union, SunKing, RAM, and (not local but....) Chimay + many more! More Info Here

We'd mention the Valpo Brew Fest but it is sold out

OTHER BEER NEWS!

Indiana Collaboration Beer: Black Acre Brewing (Indy) and Bloomington Brewing (uh, B'ton,IN) released a collaboration beer yesterday: an American cousin of a German style Roggenbier with a balanced grain bill using a lot of malt including rye malt, chocolate malt and carafa , a hefe yeast strain and variety of German and American hops. This very malty dark beer starts with just hint of yeast esters, delivers a nice rich dark flavor and finishes with a slight spice of rye. This beer is dark in color, rich in flavor and complex. It does not provide much in hop notes like most American ryes and this does not have the graininess of some. We sampled this one on the day it became avaialble and we will be going back for more. It should be on tap both at Black Acre on East Washington St. in Indy and at Lennie's in Bloomington - but don't delay, there are limited quantities.


Meanwhile we've been trying all of the pumpkin beers we can get our mouths on. Yes, we know some do not like beer with pumpkin. It only comes once a year and we enjoy! We had a delicious Pumpkin Ale by Bier Brewery (Indianapolis) the other nite and this is right up there among our favorites - a lot of delicious pie spice coming from addition to fermentation and kegs! Cutters Pumpkin Porter is a tasty spin on the traditional. We hope to get our hands on some Flat Jack Pumpkin Ale by Flat12 this weekend and it is on tap at Flat12 Bierwerks.

RateBeer reports that the top five rated pumpkin styles are mostly not out yet but their number 6 is Pumpking by Southern Tier. We had some last week and loved it but want to do a direct comparison with our favorite so far. After chatting with over a dozen patrons and bartenders at multiple craft beer establishments we select Schlafly Pumpkin as the best so far regionally. Schlafly delivers a wonderful balance of spice with malt underpinning. Smashed Pumpkin by Shipyard is an Imperial that also delivers a mouthful of flavor. Again, we felt the Bier and Cutters offerings hold their own against these widely distributed offerings. If you like less spice we suggest the Shipyard PumpkinHead or the Smuttynose Pumplin Ale (both from Maine). While I rarely rip on a great brewery, I've sampled the Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin twice now (small tastes) and thought it lacked flavor. Clearly more research is needed... and I am waiting for the release of several more.


Upland holds lottery for Lambic's, expands beer to Chicago

Upland Kiwi, Strawberry, and Blackberry fruied Lambic-style ales will be released in limited quantities via a web site open at NOON on October 1 (an d closing at noon, Oct. 8). Lottery winners will receive notice by email on Oct. 9th. Any remaining sours available after Nov. 5th will be sold on a first-come basis in Indy and Bloomington. We had a chance to taste some of the notes sours with Head Brewer Caleb Staton recently in a project looking at flavor over time. It is quite interesting to note the differences in profile based on a few months difference in age! We had not had the chance until then to try an unfruited Upland sour but for those of us who love Belgian gueuze this was a wonderful experience! Upland Sour Lottery site is HERE


Upland beer will hit taps and shelves in greater Chicago in October starting with Upland Wheat and Upland Dragonfly IPA. Seasonals will be rotated in starting with Upland Infinite Wisdom Tripel and the wet-hopped APA Upland Harvest Ale. Upland President Doug Dayhoff shares, "the tremendous reception of Upland's recent wholesale expansion into Ohio and Kentucky has created an opportunity for even more growth....We anticipate strong reception as we move into Chicago." River North, distributors of other national and craft beer, is handling the Illinois expansion.

Daredevil starts canning Daredevil Brewing, Shelbyville, IN, will be making the popular Lift Off IPA available in cans before the end of this year. Lift Off is a well balanced IPA with West-Coast hops and has developed quite a following already in Indiana. Daredevil also has RipCord Double IPA and Seasonals that have included Muse and Carnival, a Belgian Saison now available, as well as a lighter koelsch.

Beers to you! GregKitz

Dribs and Drabs

Upland will start selling the current batch of kiwi, strawberry and blackberry lambics on October 1. The kiwi is my favorite – wonderfully tarty and heck, I’ve seen Return of the King about a dozen times. Since demand is way higher than availability there’s a lottery for one bottle per person. The lottery can be entered at www.UplandSours.eventbrite.com. No payment when you enter the lottery. Easier to use the web page than www.healthcare.gov. If you’re picked you can pick up your bottle in Bloomington or Indy on Oct 22-Nov5. Good luck.

The Beer Barons have a long interview with Sun King’s Clay Robinson.

There’s a guy in Texas who has enough Saccharomyces cerevisiae in his stomach he blew .37% without drinking any alcohol. A hospital study confirmed his problem – now called Gut Fermentation Syndrome.

Headline: Which NFL Stadium has the Best Craft Beer? (hint – Indy is tied for 7th with Baltimore).

Headline: How Chemistry can Explain the Difference between Bourbon and a Tennessee Whiskey. Self-explanatory.

The Pretentious Beer Glass Company makes a neat half and half glass. Or is that a black and tan glass? Can’t figure out how the ale and the stout don’t mix during the first quaff. At $35/glass, good luck with that.

Meanwhile today’s silly pics are big beers. Skoal.

4th Annual Craft Beer Festival - Deer Park Irish Pub - Fort Wayne

Saturday, October 5 - 1p.m.-5p.m.

Mark your calendar and buy your ticket for this year's upcoming beer festival at Deer Park Irish Pub located at 1530 Leesburg Road, Fort Wayne.

This is the fourth year for this event and it will showcase nationally-known craft brewers to celebrate their art and tradition with local beer enthusiasts.  Enthusiasts can enjoy four (4) hours of sampling 50+ beers and home brewed beer as well!

In addition, there will be live music with several bands, door prizes, food and Riegel's Pipe & Tobacco will host a cigar table featuring fine, imported cigars.

This event will be held rain or shine and in a big tent.  Tickets can be purchased in advance at http://deerparkcraftbeerfest.brownpapertickets.com/, at all Fort Wayne area Belmont Beverage locations http://www.belmontbev.com/ and at the event ($5 more).

All you idiots listen up:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beer Tasting - one of the Complete Idiot’s series, not to be confused with the Dummy’s series. Alpha Books has grabbed Rita Kohn and “with the Upland Brewing Co” (Caleb Staton) to tell the world the basics of which beers are good, bad and why. It can be somewhat an encyclopedia for the more experienced and a tool to learn about the various styles and tastes of beer.

We’ll run through the chapters and you can see if it’s for you. Each chapter has a “The Least You Need to Know” finish that has a soup-bowl of condensed knowledge. Learning these synopses will let you amaze your friends and, oh, give a start to your advanced education. As Carl Sagan said one night in a pub: “We’re all made of beer stuff.”

Part 1 – A Brief but Fascinating History of Beer

• Early days - Ancient days of Egyptians to Ninkasi.
• Beer in the U.S. – A short look at colonists through the giants and Prohibition.
• Homebrewing starting in 1979.
• Craft Beer Comeback – Homebrewers go commercial, women join the industry, and modern growth.

Part 2 – Understanding Beer

• Ingredients (water, malt, hops, yeast and passion).
• The Brewing Process – About craft breweries.
• The Basic Styles – Ales, lagers, wheat.
• American Craft Brewing Industry – Today’s styles, ale, amber, porter, stout, IPA, barleywine, fruit wheat, lagers, lambics. If you don’t recognized all these basic styles you need Rita’s book.

Part 3 – The Art of Beer Tasting – The basis of the book and the middle 80 pages.

• Experiencing - Temperature, pouring, aroma, about taste buds, mouthfeel, finish. Malt and hop flavor, balance, aftertaste.
• The Next Level – See, swirl, smell, sip, swallow. Lacing.
• The Meilgaard Wheel – A four-page heavy-duty perforated guide is included at the front of Idot’s Guide. This traditional “Beer Flavor Wheel” comes in excruciating detail rather than the few-dozen included on web sites and books that you may have seen. It has been expanded by the American Society of Brewing Chemists. If you haven’t seen Morten Meilgaard’s analysis chart you need to buy this book.
• The Right Glass for the Right Beer – A 20-page section that goes into detail about traditional shapes (and why)
• Pairing Beer with Food – The five Cs: complement, contrast, cut, cleanse, calm. Food elements: Salt, Acidity, Sweetness, Fat, Spice, Heat.
• Pairing of food with specific styles.
• Holding a Craft Beer Event – Whether you are teaching or learning with your friends this is a must-do. Better than a wine tasting since a bottle of beer will feed a half-dozen people while opened bottle of wine is just too much. There’s also theme ideas such as having beer from each city before watching the game.
• Appendices – Glossary, books, museums.

In all, it’s an interesting reference (not all reference books are nearly as interesting). It talks about the styles of beer and the types of malt, hops, water and yeast that make them.

It can lead you to a better experience with your glass. Hopefully the Holding a Craft Beer Event section will be used by lots of people. Get this for Christmas and you can look smart as you hold a tasting for the Superbowl. Remember, as Rita says: "It's a life-ling quest, not a cram course." $14.87 (Amazon – as low as $12)

Get this for Christmas and you can look smart as you hold a tasting for the Superbowl. Remember, as Rita says: “It’s a life-ling quest, not a cram course.”

Thr3e Wise Men Brewers offer seasonal hits, hand-pull specials!.......Broad Ripple Brew pub passes 2500th batch!

Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co., with restaurant brewery in Broad Ripple and with beer flowing in Scotty's BrewHouse restaurants around Indiana, has one of Indiana's more experienced professional brewers. Omar Castrellon was a backbone of the downtown Indy brewing scene for 8 years at the former Alcatraz brewery. He now has clearly shown Indiana what he and great brew staff like Keely Thomlinson can do in quality and award winning beers since moving to Thr3e Wise Men. If we can count and drink beer, Thr3e Wise Men won five awards at the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup in 2013.
We visited Thr3e Wise Men on a couple of different afternoons over the past few weeks chatting with Omar briefly each time. You can take a quick brewery tour with Omar using the YouTube Video below (courtesy of Scotty's/Thr3e Wise Men & YouTube)




The Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. keeps a beer on a hand pull and a few weeks ago we found the 4 bean vanilla porter on the pull. It delivered complex vanilla with a lot of sweetness in a nice porter, perfect delivered this way. The next time we visited we found an American Wheat with Lemongrass to be a delightful beer without what I call the grain taste of some wheats but a nice 'spice.' Lemongrass delivers flavor of lemon without the bitterness. Other Seasonals Tasty Waves California common was the July seasonal still available in September with wonderful malt and caramel characteristics coming in at 5.5% alcohol and 38 ibu for a nice little bitterness at the end.

The September seasonal is the Antonius 1742 Oktoberfest – a 2013 Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup Gold Medal winner. We had a sample and found it a very solid beer. If you can find fresh Oktoberfest on tap at a Scotty's near you or at the Brewing Co. restaurant in Broad Ripple treat yourself.

As for the regular pours, the Bulldog Brown has become one of my favorites as I believe the crystal and kiln coffee malt shine through for a nice rich but not overpowering flavor. As a silver medalist at the 2013 Brewers Cup it is apparent others love this beer, too! We have written about the Two Lucy's Blackberry Wheat from beer fests before, but as usual we had not focused on the blonde, beer that is. The blond offering at some brew pubs is a light beer designed to satisfy the yellow-fizzy corporate beer drinker in search of FizzyLite. This Thr3e Wise Men Snow Bunny Blonde is a delicious beer with a lot of flavor provided by the German spalter hops, giving it 16 ibu but a lot of taste . The Rocky Ripple Pale is a solid offering which we chose as the beer to walk around the grounds of the Penrod Arts Fair a couple of weeks ago (See Story Here) If you love hops, the Centennial Martyr Double IPA with 98 ibu will likely be your choice.


Upcoming seasonal beer from Thr3e Wise Men are: October: Milk Stout, November: Dopplebock .......... ..... . (Shown: Oktoberfest, Cali-Common, Am. Wheat)

Thr3e Wise Men Brewing, 1021 Broad Ripple Avenue, Indianapolis, Open daily for lunch and dinner at 11AM


BROAD RIPPLE BREW PUB PASSES 2500th BATCH!

Ask anyone who knows the Indy beer scene about the earliest brew pubs and they will point you to Broad Ripple Brew Pub. We caught up with current BRBP Head Brewer, John Treeter along with author Rita Kohn, the day after this monumental brew day. Kohn, has just released her latest book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beer Tasting

This #2500 new beer which should be coming into the tapped line-up within a few weeks is a double IPA. The beer should have a lot of citrus dimensions.

Treeter shared a Tart Lizzie, a very flavorful and only slightly sour fruit beer that was almost palate cleansing. The Tin Lizzie was an homage to the current Queen Elizabeth of England of which we think she would be proud. This not-quite-puckering offering was brewed with the assistance of nearby Brugge Brasserie owner, Ted Miller, who has sour beer expertise for Brugge.

That has since been replaced on tap with a very smooth Scottish on Nitro! This low alcohol beer gives you a nice smooth session beer at 4%! You will also find their crisp Oktoberfest lager style for the season.

The Pub, as it is affectionately known by locals, ties into local events and will be having a Tales & Ales event September 26, 6-9 PM where patrons meet local dogs rescued from animal control and ready for adoption.

Broad Ripple Brew Pub, 842 E. 65th, Indianapolis, Sunday Noon-10PM, M-S 11-12midnight


Cheers! GregKitz

Brew Bracket: Oktoberfest!

Prost! 

Time for German beers!

And to celebrate and just generally drink good beer and have a crazy good time, Brew Bracket has come back with its bracket style, blind taste judging of Oktoberfest styles of beers.

8 of your local Indiana breweries will be competing at the Tomlinson Tap Room to win the best of the best of Oktoberfests! 

There are 7 rounds of side by side tastings, samples from a couple home brewers showcasing their take on the style, entry into an incredible door prize raffle  and a half pint of your choice at the end of the event.

Participating brewers include

Upland Brewing Co.

Flat 12 Bierwerks

The Bier Brewery

Brugge Brasserie

The RAM

Half Moon Brewing

Iechyd Da Brewery

Thr3e Wisemen Brewery

A portion of ticket sales will be donated directly to King Park Area Development Corporation (www.kpadc.org)

This is a 21+ event only. ID is required at the door. Designated driver tickets include free soda and water at the event. Additional food will be available for purchase through City Market vendors. Come join us for some great times with an intimate beer crowd tasting some limited edition Oktoberfest style beers.

Doors open at 5:45PM, first round of tasting begins at 6PM. For any more details and to purchase tickets please visit www.brewbracket.com 

OR

you can try to win tickets via IndianaBeer.com by reading our Oktoberfest blind taste testing blog and seeing how you can win two tickets to Brew Bracket: Oktoberfest! 

 IndianaBeer.com - Oktoberfest Styles

Indiana Beer Group Tasting and Reviews - Oktoberfests

Originally introduced as a celebration for the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese in 1810, the Oktoberfest celebration in Germany traditionally starts the third weekend in September and ends the first Sunday of October. While the festival has evolved to feature modern diversions like amusement rides, Oktoberfest is still all about the beer; featuring a maltier version of German lager that is stronger (by German standards) at about 5.8% to 6.3% alcohol by volume. As a culture that’s always looking for an excuse to party (come on now, do you even know what you’re celebrating on Cinco de Mayo?), Oktoberfest celebrations have gained popularity in America with some local large festivals and enough neighborhood celebrations to make that purchase of Lederhosen or a Dirndl worth the money.

  

To help you prepare for your own Oktoberfest celebration, we conducted a blind tasting of five commercial examples available in the Indiana market. Our past tastings have focused on styles that American brewers can be credited with inventing or taking in new directions. But an Oktoberfest tasting demands the inclusion of some German breweries to gauge if American brewers have caught up to their German counterparts. So the field for this tasting tapped German beers from Ayinger and Paulaner to go with American OFests from Left Hand, Sun King, and Upland. The beers were served in a random order to our tasting panel, and the identity of each was not revealed until after the panelists had submitted their individual rankings. Joining me on the panel for this session were Lafayette reporter Jason Cook and guest panelists Steven Banach and Amanda Civis. Here is a summary of each beer sampled, with the brewery’s description followed by the panel’s tasting comments.

Beer #1: Left Hand Oktoberfest – This is no festivus for the restuvus - on the contrary - we start brewing in the Spring and it takes a full two months to reach lagered perfection. Biscuity, malty goodness dominates upfront while the noble pedigree hops lend a properly spicy, dry finish. Zicke zacke, zicke zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi. 24 IBU 6.6% ABV

Amanda: Golden Amber in color. Malt forward aroma. Medium to light mouth-feel with a nice level of carbonation, giving just a slight sting on the tongue. Taste reminiscent of raisin bread with some hop bitterness towards the end and a clean finish. Buy a couple and discuss with friends.  Amanda’s Rank: 3rd

Jason: Light amber in color with a big, sweet, malty nose and body. This example had everything going for it until the finish. Some sort of lingering bitterness (not the good kind) remained that served to undermine what had started out as a nice beer. Jason’s Rank: 3rd

Nathan: Brilliant copper color with low head and rich malt aroma. The aroma and strong toasted malt flavor with hints of caramel get this beer off to a great start. But it’s all downhill from there. The malt flavor gives way to a bit of lingering bitterness and noticeable alcohol. This is followed by a sulfur note from the lager yeast. This beer was promising, but the lack of clean finish hurts the drinkability and knocks it down on my list.  Nathan’s Rank: 5th

Steven: Pours a clear, light copper hue with no visible lacing or head. Aroma is a bit boozy with caramel notes. The taste is very malty, light amount of fruity hops, slightly nutty, touch of carmel, with a medium mouthfeel. The finish on this brew is dry, warm, and lingers for awhile. This brew is too boozy for my taste. While high on alcohol content, Lefthand's version would keep you warm on a cool, autumn day.  Steven’s Rank: 3rd

Beer #2: Sun King Oktoberfest – Sun King Oktoberfest is a traditional German-style lager. Crafted with choice German malts and noble hops, our Oktoberfest has a clean malty start with a slightly earthy hop character and a crisp, dry finish. 5.8% ABV

Amanda: Golden color. I used the word light a lot in my notes. Light sweet malt aroma. Light to medium carbonation, no extra tingle on the tongue. Light mouth-feel. Very clean and well balanced taste with no extra sweetness or bitterness. Has a crisp quality to the finish that dries your tongue just for a second before making your mouth water. This was one of my favorites and if I were out all day at a fest eating anything from German-Style Potato Salad with Ham to Every Baked Apple Dessert this is the beer I'd choose. Buy a few for your next tailgate.  Amanda’s Rank: 2nd

Jason: Deep golden in color with a light nose with some hop presence. The body had a light, sweet malt character with just enough hop flavor and bitterness. Finish was mostly clean with just a slight sweetness that lingers on the tongue. Overall a pretty solid beer that I would definitely drink again. Jason’s Rank: 2nd

Nathan: Lighter in color and aroma with a moderate level of carbonation. This one has a softer overall profile with moderate toasted malt and a slight minty flavor. Very clean and smooth finish with no lingering bitterness or off flavors. A well made, enjoyable, easy drinking beer that just lacks a bit of the flavor complexity displayed by my top two choices. But it’s definitely a beer I would order again. Nathan’s Rank: 3rd

Steven: This brew poured a light amber color with a small amount of lacing ring. Aroma is floral hops with caramel notes. The mouthfeel was full with plenty of munich and crystal malt flavor. Spicy noble hops balance out this beer perfectly with a toastiness, crisp finish. Sun King exemplifies a great representation of an oktoberfest beer with the alcohol content, malt, and hop profile dead on for the style.  Steven’s Rank: 2nd

  

Beer #3: Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier - This beer is an institution: the Oktoberfest Bier^® from Paulaner, with its full-bodied, pleasant taste definitely pairs beautifully with the hearty delicacies along with Hendln or Schweinshaxen. Its alcohol content of 6 % volume makes it somewhat stronger than the usual lager beer. With a hint of malty sweetness the Oktoberfest Beer possesses the perfect balance. 6% ABV

Amanda: Golden brunette in color. Initially I had a hard time, picking up flavor and aroma, on this one. My notes from the first pour were little to no aroma, took 3 sips before I got any flavor to stick and when it did all I really picked up was a little bitterness. The second pour was a completely different story. The aroma and flavor were both of slightly burnt toast. It made me want a pat of butter and a jar of spoon fruit. After taste was of bitter hay/grass. I couldn't get behind this one. Buy a bottle and see what you think.  Amanda’s Rank: 4th

Jason: Pours a light amber in color with a moderately sweet & hoppy nose. This beer didn’t agree with me from the very first sip. I’m not terribly familiar with the noble hop varieties but apparently the stronger hop presence of these is what had me cringing. Not much else for me to say on this one. Jason’s Rank: 5th

Nathan: Muted copper color with a lasting head and higher carbonation than the other examples. Full-bodied toasted malt character with a clean and slightly sweet malt character in the finish. Plenty of grassy, tea-like hop character in this one that lingers through the finish. The best hop profile of the group in my opinion. Despite the prominent hop flavor, the beer has a slightly stale character from just a touch of oxidation. I really enjoyed this beer, the finish was just a bit too sweet to make the top of my list.  Nathan’s Rank: 2nd

Steven: Paulaner's Oktoberfest brew turned out to be my favorite of the flight. This beer poured a dark amber color with a malty and grassy hop aroma and was the darkest beer in the tasting. The spicy, noble hops complimented the malty, semi sweet, full body of this beer. Noble hop flavor was very apparent in this pour. Moderate alcohol content throughout from start to a dry, long finish. I would definitely seek this beer out. The flavor of this beer was able to withstand the voyage from Germany to America perfectly and still tasted fresh.  Steven’s Rank: 1st

Beer #4: Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen - Rich, golden color. Slightly sweet, malty nose. Medium to big body and alcohol. Soft dryness from long maturation. 21 IBU 5.8% ABV

Amanda: Golden brown color. Heavier mouth-feel with nice carbonation. There is a nice complexity and layering of flavors going on. Everything from fruits like peach, grape and apple to more subtle notes of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. But the flavors of sweet malt and hop hold their own and linger on this one. I wouldn't mind killing a day with this beer, friends, a grill, bratwurst and some cabbage to braise. I could also see enjoying a couple of these all by themselves. Buy a few and invite me over.  Amanda’s Rank: 1st

Jason: This was my overall winner. Deep golden to light amber in color with a mild, unassuming nose. First sip for me and the flavor just seemed to pop. Seemed to have a bit more complex malt character than the others with a nice hop balance. Flavor seemed to linger a bit, possibly from being a bit more carbonated, but for this beer, that was a good thing. Will have to add this one to my beer shopping list. Jason’s Rank: 1st

Nathan: Golden color that trends toward the lighter side of the style. The toasted malt character was nicely balanced with some herbal hop character. This is complemented by a slight orange peel character that gives this beer a unique twist. There is a slight touch of alcohol in the finish, but this is where the beer really shines. Clean, crisp, and dry with a fuller mouthfeel and flavor profile than the other samples; the beer finishes beautifully and leaves you wanting more. An excellent example of the style. Yeah, go get you some of this.  Nathan’s Rank: 1st

Steven: The appearance of this brew had quite a bit of lacing around the glass with a copper color. The nose on this brew was very light hops and low munich malt. The first thing I noticed when tasting this beer was the high carbonation level. In addition, Ayinger's representation of this oktoberfest had a light skunky, sour flavor that had a lemon aftertaste. Unfortunately I wasn't impressed with this beer, but it could have been a bit spoiled on its travel. Steven’s Rank: 4th

Beer #5: Upland Oktoberfest - Our Oktoberfest is a traditional Bavarian lager featuring all-German malts and rare German hops. This dedication to authenticity produces a beer that would be as at home in Munich as it is here in the Midwest United States. The aroma is authentic, the taste sweet and malty, and the finish crisp and hoppy; perfect for a beautiful fall day! 16.5 IBU 6.5% ABV

Amanda: Golden amber color. Malt forward aroma of yeasty bread. Light to medium carbonation. I wanted more malt flavor to come through on the taste of this beer but it's not there. I get a bitter flavor start to finish, if you're a hop head you might appreciate that. Buy a bottle and see what you think.  Amanda’s Rank: 5th

Jason: Golden color with a moderate lager-y nose. Whole flavor profile of this beer seemed to be a bit thin. Lighter body allowed a more bready, pretzel-y flavor to come through with moderate hop bitterness and higher carbonation. Seems like they were almost playing it a bit safe with this one. Jason’s Rank: 4th

Nathan: Light colored and highly carbonated with a light malt aroma. A bit more caramel flavor than most of the other examples is balanced some herbal hop character and low toasted malt. A grassy hop character shines through more prominently in the finish. The finish is clean, but doesn’t exhibit the crispness featured in the better examples leaving the flavor slightly muddled. This is a tough one to rank. I would drink this beer again, it doesn’t exhibit any notable flaws, but it’s just lacking anything remarkable in the flavor to set it apart in this field. Nathan’s Rank: 4th

Steven: The first thing I noticed about Upland's beer was the heavy carbonation and lace ring around the tasting glass. The color was a golden, light amber color. This was also the lightest colored brew in the flight. Aroma was light carmel and a burnt toast aroma. Citra and spicy hops were low that didn't compliment the heavy malt of this beer. The brew had a medium mouthfeel with higher then normal carbonation. The finish was dry with a hint of orange. While I like most of Upland's lineup, this beer was too carbonated and high in alcohol that I prefer in my oktoberfest beers. Steven’s Rank: 5th

And the results are in…….

Unlike a few of our past tastings, a pretty clear pecking order began to take shape based on the ranking from our individual panelists. To determine the overall results, we used a model where the lowest number of points would win (a 1st place vote = 1 point, a 2nd place vote = 2 points, etc). After tallying up the scores, our collective rankings determined the final order:

Fifth Place: Upland Oktoberfest (18 points)

Fourth Place: Left Hand Oktoberfest (14 points)

Third Place: Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier (12 points)

Second Place: Sun King Oktoberfest (9 points)

First Place: Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen (7 points)

While we could generally say the Germans schooled their American counterparts in our results, credit Sun King for delivering a pretty authentic version that scored consistently high with our panel. But Ayinger was our clear winner with three 1st place votes, which is consistent with high rankings on sites like Beer Advocate and Rate Beer. The reviews ended up a bit more mixed on Paulaner, and seemed highly influenced by how much an individual enjoys more pronounced noble hop flavor. Left Hand and Upland seemed to take different recipe approaches with Upland staying close to a traditional flavor profile; while Left Hand was going for a bigger, slightly “Americanized” version similar to a few other local examples I’ve tried recently.

When evaluating cost, our rankings suggest you get what you pay for as Ayinger and Sun King were the most expensive per ounce. Ayinger is only offered in single 500ml (16.9 ounce) bottles. At around $4 a bottle, that’s great when you’d like to try just one, and not so great when you’re trying to stock up for a party. Sun King was close behind at about $13 for a 4-pack of 16 ounce cans. I might personally make an argument for Paulaner as the value pick here at $11 for a 6-pack, but Amanda and Jason would probably disagree based on their rankings. Overall, I think it’s safe to say we recommend giving the Ayinger a try, especially if you’re in the market for just a few bottles.

Big thanks to Amanda, Jason, and Steven for serving on the panel and a bigger thanks to you for reading this far. Enjoy a few Oktoberfests at home and/or hit up an upcoming event like Upland Oktoberfest, Herron-Morton Place Oktoberfest, or Brew Bracket Oktoberfest on the 28th.

Prosit! – Nathan

BREW BRACKET OKTOBERFEST TICKET GIVEAWAY: We are giving away two passes to the upcoming Brew Bracket Oktoberfest on September 28th from 6-9pm at Tomlinson Tap Room in City Market! To enter, leave a comment on this post letting us know what you think of our panel’s rankings, or just leave a comment to brag about your personal favorite Oktoberfest. We’ll do a random drawing of everyone who enters, so feel free to offer dissenting opinions. Comments must be received by Monday, September 23rd to be eligible. And remember, if you don’t win, tickets are available here for only $35 to what should be a fantastic event.

Lafayette Brewing Company Celebrates 20 Years!

  What does 20 years mean to you? Sadly, for me, it means harkening back to my glory days of being 21 years old and in my prime. For some of you readers it constitutes the vast majority of your life and, if you're reading this, that means your taste buds are more refined than mine when I was in my early 20's. If you're Greg Emig, owner of the Lafayette Brewing Company, it means that you've managed to do something that nearly all of Indiana's craft breweries can only aspire to. This third week of September 2013, Lafayette Brewing celebrates 20 years of crafting beer.


  Having just attended LBC's Beer & Bites, a ten course food and beer pairing event that helped to kick off their anniversary festivities, I find myself contemplating, with a slight buzz mind you, what the Lafayette Brewing Co. has meant to me over the years. Regretfully, I've really only been big on the craft beer scene for the last ten or so years. Go back to 1993 and it could easily be said that Lafayette Brewing was craft beer before craft beer was cool. Fast forward to today and I'm not really sure what life would be like without it, certainly a bit less palatable to say the least.


  For me, over the years, Lafayette Brewing Co. has been a (an): gathering destination for meeting out-of-town friends, neighborhood pub for grabbing a beer (or two) and some dinner, great place to catch a live show, place to have a beer (or two) and play some free pool on a slightly slanted table, place to enjoy a beer (or two) and watch people attempt to parallel park from a front window vantage point, comfortable atmosphere for relaxing with good people, excuse to eat scotch eggs, perfect place to grab Sunday beer, integral piece of Lafayette's downtown revival, amazing venue for a high gravity beer sampling that'll knock your socks off, the only place (at least in my opinion) to grab beer at a Mosey, aaaaand I'll stop now 'cause think you get the picture. LBC will always be my home field no matter where I end up.


  So please, head on over to 622 Main Street for the next day or two or, if you're ambitious, the rest of the this week to join in the celebration of LBC's 20 years of crafting beer. Please check out the schedule below and don't miss $2 pints of LBC beer on Tuesday and $2.50 pints and a free Michael Kelsey show upstairs on Wednesday starting @ 8pm. I'd rattle off the rest of the schedule but I'm fairly confident in your reading abilities if you've made it this far.


Congratulations Lafayette Brewing! Here's to another 20 years of crafting beer for our community!

Cheers!

Jason C.

Mad Anthony Brewing Company OktoBEERfest Recap

It was a hot, humid day, but that did not stop me or the sizeable crowd which was larger than last year's event from attending this year's Mad Anthony Brewing Company's OktoBEERfest that was held in downtown Fort Wayne at Headwaters Park Pavilion West.

The beer tables were located in the covered pavilion shaded from the sun and heat where the thirsty attendees had access to unlimited samples of 100+ beers, ciders and meads.  There was a very wide variety of beer styles available to appeal to the newcomer to craft beer to those that are no strangers to the world of craft beer.  There was beer swag available at most of the brewery's tables ranging from cardboard coasters to beads, to key chains, to stickers and more.  Since I collect the cardboard coasters, I was able to add to my collection which made me a happy camper!

Again this year there was a drawing for two tickets to this year's GABF being held next month in Denver, CO.  Unfortunately, like last year, I did not win; however, congratulations to the winner and I hope they have a very beery time at the event!

It was nice seeing a few new breweries in attendance this year.  They are:  Chapman's Brewing Company (Angola, IN), Tin Man Brewing Company (Evansville, IN) and Union Brewing (Evansville, IN).

The M.A.S.H. (Mad Anthony Serious Homebrewers) brought Meads and Ciders for the attendees to sample and as always they were very tasty!  If you are at a beer event and see their sign, by all means sample what they have available.

I sampled ten (10) rateable beers and two ciders (I am a beer rater at www.ratebeer.com) throughout the event.  I am not a "hophead" per se so I tend to drink beers that are more smoother, maltier tasting than those that are hoppy and bitter tasting.  I sampled/rated beers/ciders from the following breweries:

Bloomington Brewing Company - Ruby Bloom Amber
Chapman's Brewing Company - American Ale Cider
Cutters Brewing Company - Monon Wheat
Evil Czech Brewery - John the One Eyed (Abbey Dubbel)
Fountain Square Brewery - Workingman's Pilsner
Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery - Stoplight City Red (Amber Ale)
Mad Anthony Brewing Company - Peach Wheat
McClures Orchard/Winery - Farmhouse (Dry, British Cider)
Tin Man Brewing Company - See my rating below
Union Brewing Company - Cannon Ball Doyle (Dry Irish Stout)

Of the beers/ciders I rated, the Tin Man Rivet Irish Red Ale was my favorite and a beer that I would drink again.  It has a malty, caramel, lightly hoppy, and lightly fruity aroma.  The taste is sweet, malty, caramel, lightly hoppy, hint of toffee, and banana.  The ABV (Alcohol By Volume) is 5.1% which makes this a nice session beer.

My photographer, aka my husband, took approximately 40 pictures throughout the event and here are some chosen at random:

The beginning of the line of attendees

M.A.S.H.  Homebrewers

 

Tin Man Brewing Company

Flat 12 Bierwerks

Fountain Square Brewery

Cheers!!

Summit City Brewerks

Chapman's Brewing Company

Blooming Brewing Company

Drawing for the GABF Tickets

As a final note, Mad Anthony Brewing Company President, Blaine Stuckey, thanks all the breweries for their attendance at this year's event and for all the beers they brought.  Blaine also thanks all the attendees for coming out to this year's event and sampling some very good Indiana brewed beers, meads and ciders.

See you next year and keep supporting Indiana breweries!!