"Introduction to Brewing" Class - Fort Wayne - August 24

If you are interested in learning how to brew beer, here is your chance to attend a FREE class this Saturday, August 27th, from 2p.m.-5p.m. at Hops & Harvest (www.hopsandharvest.com) located at 4616 E. Dupont Rd., Suite O, (260)918-3035. You can RSVP by calling the phone number listed or via email to taya@hopsandharvest.com.

Indiana Beer News

Yogi's in Bloomington will turn EIGHTEEN TAPS over to Bell's Beers on August 30, starting at 5:00 PM

Triton Brewing hopes to brew next week. Meanwhile, they hope to open with guest beers only about September 3.

Flat 12 Indy currently have 2 porters (Tangerine Porter which is very lightly spiced, their normal Pogue's Run Porter) and 1 milk stout on tap. Their Walkabout Pale with Australian Galaxy hops was very popular among a gathering of recent beer lovers.

Against the Grain Brewery, in downtown Louisville, just across the river hopes to open in the former Browning's Brew Pub in the ball park -- renovations well underway with opening in early October. Two brewers formerly of

Indiana Beer News - August 23

What's doing this weekend:

• Thurs, Aug 25 - Grapefruit Jungle Tapping at Sun King, Indy. 6pm+
• Thurs, Aug 25 - Sun King tasting at Keg Liquors, Clarksville. 5-8pm. Tapping at Rocky's Sub Pub, Jeffersonville 8:15+ 
• Fri, Aug 26 - Bier Prost. Horseshoe Casino, New Albany. 6pm+. $35. $50/couple.
  Sat, Aug 27 - SWIRCA Southern Indiana Brewery, Winery & Spirits Festival, Evansville. 6-10pm 
• Sat, Aug 27 -Hoosier Beer Geeks Anniversary Party. At Sun King, Indy. $30 incl samples, food, glass, etc.
• Sat, Aug 27 -Brew at the Zoo. 4-9pm. Louisville. $45/$89
• Sat, Aug 27 -Chicago Heritage Craft Brewfest. Noon-4pm. $20/$25
• Tues, Aug 30 - Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 6:30 boring speech. 7:30 Pub Quiz. Turoni's, Evansville
• Wed, Aug 31 - Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 6:30 boring speech. 7:30 Pub Quiz. New Albanian's Public House (Grant Line Rd). No charge.

Scenes from HBG's trip to Great Taste of the Midwest: Indiana invades Wisconsin. NABC's pictures include a Michigan road trip: Great Taste Roadtrip 2011: Thursday, August 11 - August 12 - August 13 - August 14 - August 15 - August 16 - August 17.


Mike Sale writes: Brew Bracket is back! The tournament of craft brews returns to the Indiana State Fairgrounds this fall, with an event featuring Stouts on the afternoon of Saturday, October 8th. Come join us to taste 16 different Indiana Stouts and vote for your favorites in a blind, head-to-head comparison. Tickets are available at www.brewbracket.com ($35 participant and $7 for DD). Only 400 tickets will be sold.




Great Fermentations annual grain sale runs from Aug 29 to Sept 17. Full pricing won't be on their web site until; the sale starts.

Indiana Beer News - August 19

Press release: "Upland Brewery is thrilled to be the only Indiana local beer to be served this upcoming football season at the Lucas Oil Stadium located downtown Indianapolis. Not only that, Upland is excited to be hosting an “Official Tailgate of Upland at the Patio @ High Velocity Bar in the JW Marriott of Indianapolis.  Join us every home pre-game for $3.50 drink specials, land some free Upland gear and football gear, and get to know your community Upland reps! This official Upland Tailgate party will take place before every home game! The tailgating will begin THIS Friday (August 19) @ 5pm. Looking forward to meeting you all!"

Figure 8 Brewing has already outgrown their brewery in Valparaiso and looking to move into the downtown area. At least that's what all the rumors say.

We'll let STL Hops provide the Great Taste of the Midwest pictures since we weren't there.

Hoperatives looks at Radlers. blog

Shelton Bros. importers have some new some new beers in their portfolio that will hit Indiana soon.

• Shizuoka Natsumikan (Summer Mikan) Ale - " a grapefruit-like citrus fruit that is tart and sweetly sour in flavor and wonderfully aromatic"
• Ise Kadoya IPA
• Kulmbacher Oktoberfest
• Haandbryggeriet Hesjeøl (Multigrain Harvest Ale) - a fruity and floral ale with a slightly smoky and spicy flavor.  Made from barley, oats and rye, and fermented with a special wild house yeast.
• Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood - smoky farmhouse brew.

Indiana Beer News - August 16

This week in beer:

• Thurs, Aug 18 -  Grand Opening of Four Horsemen Tasting Room. South Bend. 3pm
• Thurs, Aug 18 -  Sun King Pale Rider Tapping. Captains Cove at Victory Field. 6:35pm. Dave Colt will throw out the first pitch.
• Thurs, Aug 18 - Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. Flat 12 Bierwerks, Indy. 4-7pm
• Fri, Aug 19 - Nine in-store samplings around the state. See indianabeer.com/calendar.html for details.
• Sat, Aug 20 -  BW3 Presents Festiv-Ale to Benefit the CFF. 200 S. Meridian St. Indy. 4-8pm. $40/$50 incl food.
• Sat, Aug 20 -  Black Swan Brewpub's Inaugural Brewery Bash and tapping of Inaugural Old Ale.
• Sat, Aug 20 - WAMM Fest, Greenwood. 11am-8pm. Barley Island, Upland, Oaken Barrel, Sun King.
• Sat, Aug 20 -  United Way 2011 Kickoff with Indiana craft beer and wine. Century Center. South Bend. 5-10pm. $15/$20
• Sat, Aug 20 -  Beginning brewing class. Great Fermentations, Indy. 9am

Three Floyds collaboration labels approved. Probably will be bottled someday.

 

Jordan Gleason, Holly and Justin Miller, and Matt Johnson of Black Acre Brewing Co. came to the Bookmamas signing of Hoosier Beer and brought a Saison, a dry-hopped Citra Pale Ale, and a Brown with rich coffee notes from roasted malt. Thanks folks.

Indiana Beer News – Aug 13

Here’s today’s new FFF label. ==>>

Flat 12 Bierwerks' Axis Hefe will be the featured beer of IndyFringe. On tap at Mass Ave bars and Fringe Festival Outdoor Stage "Club Fringe". Aug 19th, 20th and 26th, 27th.

About 25 people attended the first Hoosier Beer book signing and pub quiz at the Black Swan Brewpub. The Peppers (below), Angie, Jimmy, parents, and Devin Tudor upheld Plainfield’s honor in a squeak over Hoosier Beer proofreader Josh Dials and friend. Congratulations.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout will be released in 750ml bottles. Don’t know when.

Meet Richard Dubé, the brewmaster of the Moerlein Lager House in Cinci. article

Alaskan Brewing will expand into Wisconsin before Labor Day. press release

Great Britain halved the excise tax (duty) on beer of 2.8% ABV or less starting in October. Now bring on the milds.

“Professional quality beer in 7 days, just like a modern Brewery.” the WilliamsWarn ferments for only $5,660.

Indiana Beer News – Aug 10

This week in beer:

• Today, Aug 10 - Tapping of Happy Pils. Rock Bottom, 86th St. Indy. 6-6:30pm
• Tomorrow, Aug 11 - Tapping of El Jefe Hefeweizen. Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy. 6-6:30pm
• Tomorrow, Aug 11 - Tapping of Apricot Wheat. Flat 12 Bierwerks
• Tomorrow, Aug 11 - Inaugural Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 6:30 boring speech. 7:30 Pub Quiz. Black Swan Brewpub, Plainfield. No charge.
• Fri, Aug 12 - Monthly Friday Night Club meeting. Great Fermentations, Indy. 5:30pm. Owen Lingley from Wyeast Labs will be there and will answer questions.
• Fri, Aug 12 - Sun King tasting. Kahn's, downntown Indy. 5-7pm
• Fri, Aug 12 – Liquor store tastings including:
• Beer Tasting. Cap n' Cork, Covington Plaza, Ft. Wayne. 5-7pm
• Beer Tasting. Liquor Locker, Evansville. 4-7pm
• Beer Sampling. Norma's Fine Wines. Indy. 6-8pm
• Beer Tasting. Moggers Restaurant, Terre Haute. 5:30pm
• Beer Tasting. Vine and Table, Carmel, 3-7pm
• Beer Tasting. Crown Liquors, Downtown Indy. 3-7pm; Carmel, Fishers, US31 & Shelby, and 106th & Michigan. 4-7pm
• Beer Tasting. 21st Amendment, Broad Ripple. 5pm.
• Sat, Aug 13 - Beginning brewing class. Great Fermentations, Indy. 9am
• Sat, Aug 13 - Book Signing for Hoosier Beer. 1:30pm. Bookmamas, Irvington, Indy
• Sat, Aug 13 - Art of Beer Festival, Benton Harbor, MI. $25/$30

“Three Floyds Zombie Dust: The long-rumored 6-packs are one step closer to fruition. The beer, a single-hop pale ale made with Citra hops from Yakima Valley, Washington, has been on draft for a while now.”

Beer Geeks in Highland seems to have all of Indiana’s Hair of the Dog/Deschutes collaboration #2. They also have Adam and Blue Dot IPA on tap next week.

<<== NABC’s ad in the Great Taste of the Midwest program.

Hoperatives have a pleasant review of Great Crescent’s Dark lager.

Four Horsemen will soft-open in South Bend on August 18th, 3pm. Grand opening party sometime in October.

Pump Clip Parade collects the most terrible, punny, sexist, buttmost, and just plain worst. Reallly now, Caskablanca? Ffiagra though; that’s cute in a Welsh sort of way. ==>>

The Brewers Association says there are 725 breweries in the planning stages. Up from 389 last year at this time. Dollar growth is up 15%.

Oktoberfest starts Sept 17th.

MGD 64 Lemonade has been axed. MillerCoors will even buy back any in warehouses or give distributors $2.50 per case to destroy it. They must really hate it. Now they are test marketing (not in Indiana) Blue Moon Blonde made with Chardonnay juice.

Junior Johnson is selling “moonshine” in the new NASCAR tradition of getting a license and using distributors. Midnight Moon is triple-distilled corn squeezins. Or have some with fruit infused – Apple, Cherry, or Strawberry. Is that NASCAR or what?

Wells and Young’s formed in 2006 as a merger of two respectable London-area breweries. Wells Bombardier and Young’s Bitter are the flagships. Now Young’s has sold its 40% share to Wells for £15m and is moving entirely into the pub-owning business. No doubt, though, Young’s beers will continue to be brewed. article

Indiana Beer News – Aug 6

Figure 8 Brewing has 22oz bombers available in better liquor stores. A recent Kahn’s add lists Where Lizards Dare IPA ($7.99), Solar Collector Pale Wheat ($6.99), Snake Pro Double IPA ($7.99), Ro Shampo Imperial Red ($7.99), Offwidth Double Pale Ale ($7.99), First Ascent Belgo Honey Lager ($5.99).

Oaken Barrel says “We are running out of beer!  Due to the high demands of our customers at the restaurant, Sunday carry out beer sales, and the demand of our beer distributor, we’ve ran out of few beers this summer.  We are in process of expanding our brewery, and plans are in the works to add 3 large fermenters to double our capacity.  Thank you for the understanding.”

Sun King’s Pale Rider will be tapped at the Captains Cove at Victory Field. 6:35pm, August 18th. Dave Colt will throw out the first pitch.

Thr3e Wise Men’s newest seasonals are Long Fang Abbey Ale, 7%; and Centennial Martyr Double IPA, 7.7%.

Fountain Square Brewing is starting construction of the inner walls including the tap room. The “could be open by Labor Day but that’s in a perfect world”.

The Tuxedo Park Brewers homebrew store in Fountain Square, Indy, is starting an in-house homebrew club. MONK – Midwestern Order of Ninkasi" – has about 15 members already.. They also have acquired much of the Wilbur Brewhause consumables including:

• Malt Extract – Organic Pale Malt. $1.50/lb. $85 / 60 pound pail.
• Cases of clean, unused, bottles – $10/case
• Organic Hops – 2009 crop. $1/ounce. Leaf Hallertauer, Fuggle pellets, Nugget pellets.
• A 24-head bottle rinser.

Big Woods Brewing has opened the Big Woods Pizza Co. It’s on Indiana 135, N. Van Buren St, just east of the brewpub, north of Main St. It’s a family place (the brewpub is 21+) and has 2 taps of Big Woods beer – right now Busted Knuckle and Cattail Wheat.

Eric Strader uncovers an effort in Elkhart to start the Iechyd Da Brewing Co. (that’s Welsh)next year. article

Flat 12‘s Axis Hefe is the “featured beer of IndyFringe. On tap at Mass Ave bars and Fringe Festival Outdoor Stage "Club Fringe" and will be served at the Sullivan Hardware Indy Egg Fest – nope, an Egg is a big round BBQ.

Owen Lingley from Wyeast Labs will be joining Great Fermentations for their monthly Friday Night Club meeting and at 5:30pm on August 12th, he will make a short presentation then be available for questions. Attendees are encouraged to bring home brew or wine to share, and we have a special 20 gallon batch of beer split and fermented four different ways to showcase the yeast. Our Friday Night Club always meets on the second Friday of each month from 5-7pm, and is an informal get-together of brewers and winemakers to share information, ideas and beverages.

Triton In Lawrence has signage up now.

St. Peters has some new flavors. Sorgham Beer, Old-Style Porter, Cream Stout, IPA, Fruit Beer-Grapefruit, Organic English Ale.

The Great British Beer Festival has named Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild as the Champion Beer of Britain. 3.7%, Champion Mild of Britain in 2006, CAMRA Beer of the Year, 2002, and not available here (or much of anywhere outside of Essex).

Strained headline of the day: “Coney Island Brewing opens as world’s smallest brewery”. one-gallon. output is bottled.

Upland’s new brewery

Upland is going to move most of the 11th Street brewery equipment a mile south when their new 47,000 sq. ft. facility at 301 W. Grimes is ready next year. 11th Street will be converted to a pilot brewery – a very large pilot brewery.

Current

Future

Current

Future

Main entrance, at right, leads to a line of vessels, some projecting through the roof. The back wall (left) will hold aging kegs. Back left will eventually have a tasting room but that isn’t due until at least mid-2012.

Indiana Beer News – Aug 1

The Beer… Is Good! is a Michiana blog and Andy has visited the Four Horsemen Brewing Co. now being built in South Bend. blog They expect to open in about 2 weeks as a growler and have their beer available in 6-packs and good beer pubs. They will also be contract brewing Evil Genius beer for a Pennsylvania company.

This week:

• Wed, Aug 3 - Upland open house at their new brewery site, 301 W. Grimes Lane. Bloomington 5-7pm.
• Thurs to Sat, Aug 4-6 - Germania Maennerchor Volksfest, Evansville
• Sat, Aug 6 - Beginning brewing class. Great Fermentations, Indy. 9am
• Sat, Aug 6 - Brew Haven Northeast Indiana Craft Beer Festival, Trion Tavern, New Haven. $25/$30. 2-6pm

The Louisville Beer blog is up and running. Find out what John Campbell, John Wurth, and Roger Baylor know about Kentuckiana beer. Roger says “Know your enemy”. Wurth makes a Louisville Brewfest video (better muted).

The Chicago Tribune adds up the new local brewpubs. article

The Detroit Free Press bemoans three-tier distribution in Michigan. article

Buffalo Bill Beer. Which one? Two breweries in Cody, WY are sharing the name after a judge judged neither established their trademark before the other. article They seem to be ignoring Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in CA.

Beer bottle art.

Final Update for First Annual "Brew Haven" Craft Beer Festival (Trion Tavern-New Haven, IN) - August 1

Here is the final update for this first-time event that will take place on Saturday, August 6th. Come out and sample some good craft beers and support these brewers/breweries efforts in crafting some darn good beers!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Local Festival Offers Unique Opportunity To Taste Craft Beer

July 28, 2011 – New Haven, Indiana – Samples of over 100 different
beers from more than 30 breweries will be poured at the First Annual
“Brew Haven” Craft Beer Festival. Attendees will have the opportunity
to try beers from:

Bee Creek Brewery
Bell’s Brewery
Blue Dawg Brewing/Wild Blue
Boulevard Brewing Co.
Breckenridge Brewery
Brooklyn Brewery
Chimay
Coney Island Brewing Co.
Crispin Cider
Dark Horse Brewing Co.
Flat12 Bierwerks
Founders Brewing Co.
Franziskaner
Goose Island Beer Co.
Granite City Food & Brewery
Lexington Brewing Co.
Lindemans
Mad Anthony Brewing Co.
Magners Irish Cider
Mendocino Brewing Co.
Moylan’s Brewery
New Belgium Brewing
Samuel Adams
Schlafly Beer
Shock Top Brewing Co.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Spaten
Stone Brewing Co.
Sun King Brewing Co.
Three Floyds Brewing Co.
Upland Brewing Co.
Victory Brewing Co.
Widmer Brothers Brewing

More festival information:

Brew Haven is going to be part of Sam Adams' "Beer Lover's Choice"
promotion: attendees will get to taste samples of their as-yet-unreleased
Oaked Ale and Maple Pecan Porter... and then cast their official vote on
which should be added to the Samuel Adams family of beers!! Sam Adams is
only doing this at their Boston brewery and "select events around the
country". Plus, SA is also sending kegs of an Oak-Aged Porter (which they
do not bottle or sell, its for festival only) and the Hallertau
Mittelfrueh version of their "Deconstructed" Latitude 48 IPA (that only
comes in a "limited release" variety pack).

Also on tap:
• New Belgium: 1554 Enlightened Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey
Grand Cru and Trippel
• Founder's: Centennial IPA & Porter
• Stone: Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
• Lexington: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
• Flat12 Bierwerks: Half Cycle IPA, Upside Down Blonde, and "a one-off
of something special"
• Upland: 3+, TBD
• Sun King: 3, TBD
• Goose Island: TBD
• Three Floyds: at least Gumballhead, maybe another
• Mad Anthony: "a specialty beer" and maybe another

Plus, DOZENS of beers from the rest of the line-up and plenty of
surprises...

This inaugural Brew Haven will feature 6 Indiana breweries and 3 from
Michigan.

Five Star Distributing, World Class Beverages, Cavalier Distributing and
Aalco Distributing are lending their support and will also be present at
the festival. Brewer’s Art Supply will be on hand to help explain the
hobby of homebrewing. Old Crown Coffee Roasters will be serving their own
kind of brew. And finally, the members of M.A.S.H. (Fort Wayne Homebrew
Club) will be pouring 50 handcrafted beers including some that recently
won awards at the Indiana State Fair Brewers’ Cup, one of the nation’s
largest homebrew competitions.

Northeast Indiana’s newest and largest craft beer festival will take place
on Saturday, August 6th from 2pm to 6pm in downtown New Haven, Indiana.
The event is being co-hosted by Trion Tavern and M.A.S.H. (Fort Wayne
Homebrew Club). The festival tent will be located on Main Street just east
of Broadway Street along the north side of Trion Tavern.

Based on the growing popularity of craft beer and pre-sale tickets being
limited to 500, this event is expected to sell out. Tickets can be
purchased at Trion Tavern or through www.triontavern.com. Advance tickets
cost $25 and include: unlimited samples, a souvenir tasting glass, a meal
and water. A limited number of tickets will be sold the day of the event
for $30. Designated driver tickets will also be available for $5 at the
door. A portion of the proceeds will go to the New Haven Downtown
Improvement District. This will be a smoke-free event both under the tent
and inside the bar.

**Must be 21 years of age or older with valid photo ID to sample the beers**

Hoosier Beer – the book

It’s a fait accompli. The fourth recent book about beer in Indiana is out. Hoosier Beer – Tapping into Indiana Brewing History doesn’t so much look at beer, but the breweries. Mainly the old breweries.

Indiana became a state in 1816 and in that year our first two commercial breweries opened. Since then over 350 licensed breweries have offered cool, refreshing beer to Hoosiers, made by Hoosiers. 200 years of history.

Hoosier Beer chronicles, city by city, the rise from small family backyard breweries to large factory breweries to their demise as massive mega-conglomerates. It also covers the modern era of brewpubs and the return of the small family-owned breweries that offer a wide variety of beers directly to customers fresh at the brewery.

Meanwhile two (!) prohibition periods pitted temperance and religious groups against the industry in a fight that always depended on who owned the Indiana statehouse.

As the state grew with a large German population beer headed to lagers but lots of ales were available also. Population shifts, a few wars, better transportation, cooling, bottling, canning, understanding yeast, all contributed to this story.

256 pages, 128 illustrations, $21.99 publisher's suggested price. Published by The History Press.

Your humble servant, Bob Ostrander wrote the words and collector of Indiana breweriana, Derrick Morris supplied the illustrations and tons of resources from his 9,000-artifact basement museum.

It’s been three years in the making; beginning with an online history at the B.I.G. website which was moved to IndianaBeer.com. This will soon go away, replaced by the book and an extensive addenda support website, www.HoosierBeerStory.com.

We expect Hoosier Beer to be a historical reference for the next poor idiots who are interested in the writing about the subject.

---

Jeff Eaton, owner of Barley Island, proofread the book and gave it this quote:

“Bob Ostrander & Derrick Morris have provided us a detailed journey through the rich heritage and tradition of brewing beer in Indiana.

“The beer memorabilia including the fascinating pictures of actual cans and bottles displays the inherent pride these Hoosier brewers possessed in their brands.

“The figures on number of breweries and their barrel production will surprise you and it all leads to the final chapter on the Modern Era with the current rebirth in Indiana-produced craft beer!”

---

Want to buy one? Come to a book signing. The first will be Thurs, August 11th, at the Black Swan Brewpub in Plainfield followed by one at Bookmamas on the 13th in the Irvington area of Indy.

We’re adding a Pub Quiz to the book signing. Should be a good party. Hope to see you on the 11th.

Thursday, August 31st we’ll do it again at New Albanian's Public House.

We’ll keep you up to date on the IndianaBeer calendar.

Through September October we’ll have signings and Pub Quizzes at pubs or brewpubs in The Region (Beer Geeks Pub), South Bend (Fiddler's Hearth), Fort Wayne (Mad Anthony), Lafayette (Lafayette Brewing), Kokomo (Half Moon), Muncie, Columbus (Power House / Columbus Bar), Bloomington (Bloomington Brewing), Evansville (Turoni's). None of these have confirmed dates yet. Look to the IndianaBeer calendar for one near you.

Amazon and Beerbooks.com (which has the lowest price at $16.88 + $4 shipping) have it.

The Book Depository and Borders have it in their online catalog but aren’t shipping yet.

We’ve talked to some independent stores and so far we’ve heard back from Bookmamas in Indy, Village Lights in Madison, and Destinations Booksellers in New Albany that they will carry it as soon as they get their shipments.

If you’d like to buy copies to sell at your pub please contact The History Press - 843-577-5971 x 213.

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Here are some stories you'll read about in this history:

• A farm brewery was part of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War and a speakeasy and bordello during Prohibition (Hoham/Klinghammer in Plymouth).
  
• A large brewery’s life was ended due to a labor strike (F.W. Cook’s in Evansville).
  
• One brewery was part of a utopian colony (New Harmony), and one was part of an Archabbey (Saint Meinrad).
  
• One brewery recovered from $3,000 debt in 1881 (Joseph Miller in Covington). Another brewery’s owner, when faced with a $5,000 debt in 1889, committed suicide (Main Street Brewery in New Albany).
  
• Several were in the back rooms of inns and hotels—early examples of brewpubs.
  
• One brewery bought the local newspaper in order to change its editorial stance during a temperance campaign (Indiana Brewing Association in Marion).
  
• Some breweries were related to famous people, including Hew Ainslie, Tony Hulman, Richard Lieber, Cole Porter, Knute Rockne, Howard Hawks, Governor Robert Orr and Kurt Vonnegut.
  
• A brewery and distillery company started a city’s fire department (Great Crescent in Aurora).
  
• Many breweries were taken over and managed by the widows of the owners, and some were started and operated by women.
  
• One brewery paid its sales manager $108,000 per year during Prohibition (Kiley in Marion).
  
• One brewery piped water from its spring to neighbors during the Civil War—and even built a bathhouse (Spring Brewery in Lafayette).
  
• One came to an ignominious end when the president was arrested for income tax evasion after the ex-commissioner of the IRS got a $363,000 tax bill reduced to a $35,000 refund (Indianapolis Brewing Co.).
  
• Many brewery buildings have gone on to other uses, including shopping malls, college classrooms, apartments and office buildings.
  
• The first brewery in Fort Wayne, at the American Fur Trading Company post, was started by Alexis Coquillard, the founder of South Bend.
  
• Brewery owners were jailed for selling bootleg beer during Prohibition. One was given probation because people would be put out of work (Huntington Brewery). One owner was jailed for bribing federal Prohibition agents (Southern Indiana Brewing Company in New Albany).
  
• Breweries owned or sponsored minor-league and Negro League baseball teams. One sponsored the Notre Dame football team (Kamm’s in Mishawaka).
  
• One brewery was built specifically to entice settlers in the 1850s to buy land in a new community (Cephas Hawks in Waterford).
  
• One brewery closed three days before winning a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival (Evansville Brewing Co.).
  
• Many were started by immigrants to the United States from Belgium, England, France, Germany, Scotland and Switzerland.
  
• One “Brew on Premises” was set up where anyone over twenty-one could brew his or her own beer. (Just Brew It in Mishawaka)
  
• Dozens of brewery owners served as mayors, bank presidents or congressmen.
  
• A surprising number of breweries burned down—some multiple times. One man (Charles T. Doxey of Anderson) had a brewery, a barrel stave factory, an opera house, a handle factory, a music hall and a plate glass works destroyed by fire while he was a state senator, a U.S. representative and running for governor.
  
• One brewery opened a famous restaurant in Chicago that is still operating (Berghoff in Fort Wayne).
  
• One brewery was owned by a pipe organ builder (Louis van Dinter in Mishawaka).
  
• Three modern-era breweries were opened by doctors.
  
• Inventions from Indiana led to the modern CO2 regulator, beer line cleaning equipment and corn-adjunct beers.
  
• The largest of the old-line breweries made over one million barrels (bbls) of beer annually (a barrel is sixty-one gallons; Sterling, Drewrys and Falstaff).
  
• The largest of the modern-era breweries has a capacity of about fifteen thousand bbls (Three Floyds).
  

Indiana Beer News – July 27

Big Woods Brewing’s alley adjunct, Big Woods Pizza Co., is open. A tied house just across the street will have weekly changing gourmet pizza and, of course, Big Woods Beer. In fact, they have a brewery over there and will be released Busted Knuckle ale in bombers soon.

This week’s pizza is Black and Bleu:  It's a slightly spicy, and unconventional combination of Cajun Alfredo sauce, shaved lamb, Gouda, red onions, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, and cool creamy gorgonzola.

There’s a Hops Workshop on August 17th at Michigan State University’s school in Benton Harbor. 9am-3pm. $25. article

While you’re in that area, the Round Barn Brewery in Baroda, MI will have Grape Expectations “Malt beverage brewed with peppercorn and grape.”

Brownings in Louisville is getting a makeover and a new name – Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse. Still at Sluggger Field. According to their facebook page they can satisfy about any taste: Food Styles, American (New), American (Traditional), Asian Fusion, Barbeque, British, Burgers, Cajun/Creole, Caribbean, Chinese, Cuban, Diners, French, Italian, Latin American, Mexican, Pizza, Sandwiches, Seafood, Soul Food, Southern, Steakhouses, Taiwanese, Tex-Mex, Thai, Vegan, Vegetarian.

Sub-headline: Chicago-area suds scene still riding a surging wave. The Trib outlines Chicago breweries – From Chicago Beer Co. to New Chicago Brewing Co.

Brew Dog isn’t being allowed to have their beers among the over-1,000 that will be served at the Great British Beer Festival. CAMRA says they aren’t real ale. Brewdog asks “what is real all?” and accuses that CAMRA of applying different standards to domestic and imported beer (which doesn’t need to be real ale). BD’s blog

They say MDG 64 Lemonade, although planned to be available from Memorial Day to Labor Day, might disappear any day now – from the Miller catalog, since it isn’t disappearing from store shelves.

Businessweek chronicles the Fall of the House of Busch.

Upland expands

Upland Brewering in Bloomington plans major expansion to take capacity from 11,000 barrels currently to 25,000 barrels within 3 years according to the Herald Times newspaper of Bloomington (HeraldTimesOnline.com, July 25, 2011). A new brewing facilty is planned several miles nearly due South of their current brewery and pub in the central district of Bloomington. It is reported that Upland will spend $1.5 million to purchase formerly used by the old RCA plant and warehouse and another $1.5 million over 3 years to renovate the facility.

Upland has gradually increased production and distributon under owner Doug Dayhoff and Head Brewer Caleb Staton with their reach extending South into Kentucky and North into Wisconsin. Upland's signature beer is the Upland Wheat which contributes the most volume but they may be best known as one of the few U.S. brewers to produce Lambic, for which they have received multiple awards including recent medals at the Brewer's Cup of the Indiana State Fair. Upland also sponsors an annual Upcup competiton for homebrewers with the winning brewer working with Caleb and Crew to brew the winning recipe for commercial consumption. Caleb never influences the winner which has yielded such excellent brews as a rauch beer, which few local or regional brewers attempt (and this blogger loved it and frequently showed up to help the consumption).

Upland's plans are being celebrated by the Mayor of Bloomington as blazing the trail for more local commercial development -- and while we thank the major we just love it for good beer!

Upland is hosting an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Wed. Aug. 3 at their new site of 301 West Grimes Lane, in Bloomington according to the Herald Times (see previous reference).

Indiana Beer News – July 25

Starting today New Day Meadery in Indy will have growlers available. Growlers of bothmbead and cider.

The “America’s Finest Beer Festival” (yep, that’s its name) scheduled for this past weekend in San Diego was cancelled just before it started due to lack of finances to pay for up-front costs. They couldn’t pay for stage, tents, tables, etc. Looks like they spent it all on a “$110,000 media campaign in magazine advertising, radio stations, TV appearances and street teams”. Yike. apology

Sunoco in western New York is trying the “Craft Beer Exchange”. Yep, get your growlers filled at the gas station. Tröegs, Flying Bison, Middle Ages Brewing, Ommegang, Magic Hat, Dogfish Head, Ithica, Stone, Lake Placid Brewing, etc. “On the largest scale we serve Samuel Adams, but nothing from AB In-Bev or MolsonCoors.” Prices from $8 to $17. article – more pictures. Charlie Papazian doesn’t like the idea on either the quality or collateral damage front. article

Abita’s going to cans (and keeping bottles).

Buddhist temple and even an entire village made from beer bottles. article

Wouldn’t you like to be a distillery cat?

Indiana Beer News – July 20

The Black Swan Brewpub in Plainfield is coming along nicely. Nick Carter’s food has always been top notch, original, and tasty. D.J. Macallister’s beer is now available and that, of course, adds to the experience. Right now a Porter, Double Pale, Porter, German Hefeweizen, and Scottish are on tap, to be followed by a British ESB and a Centennial/Cascade/Challenger IPA.

Flat 12 Bierwerks gets bit ink at Hoperatives blog.

Bier Brewery and Taproom gets an interview about the Brewers Cup on WISH-TV. Rob Schneider seems to do the interview.

Upland’s Sours have sold out. That was quick. About eight hours. Maybe on the back of the Persimmon Lambic earning Best of Show at the 2011 Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup.

Hops, hops, everywhere. BRBP’s sign looks like a kudzu explosion. Dave and Lori Maddrill’s back yard in Indy has Nugget, Centennial, Sarachi Ace, and Cascade climbing and the SA has flowers already.

 

New Brit beers target women. Carling Chrome – less carbonated and lighter. 4.8%. Carling Animee – bloat resistant, lighter tasting, 30 months in development, available in standard, rose, and citrus. Carlsberg Eve. Carlsberg Copenhagen – “refreshing taste delivered in a stylish design”. article

Brew Haven Event Update - July 19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Award-Winning Local Homebrew Club Co-Hosts New Craft Beer Festival

July 18, 2011 – New Haven, Indiana – Fort Wayne’s Homebrew Club, M.A.S.H.
is co-hosting the First Annual “Brew Haven” Craft Beer festival with Trion Tavern in New Haven, Indiana. M.A.S.H. members recently brought home nine ribbons from the Indiana State Fair Brewers’ Cup and some of these awarding-winning brews will be among the 50 handcrafted beers the club will be pouring for people to sample at the festival. From light and crisp to thick and rich, these homebrews will provide a taste of what can be accomplished independently.

“We are excited to partner with Trion Tavern in order to put on a festival that we believe will be unique for our area,” said M.A.S.H Club President, Brian Spaulding. “We all appreciate craft beer and are just hoping to share that with others in a fun, outdoor atmosphere,” Spaulding added.

The “Brew Haven” Craft Beer Festival will be held on Saturday, August 6th from 2pm to 6pm. Downtown New Haven, Indiana, will be the site of northeast Indiana’s newest and largest craft beer festival. Attendees will have the opportunity to taste over 100 different beers as samples are poured from more than 30 breweries. The festival tent will be located on Main Street just east of Broadway Street along the north side of Trion Tavern.

Advance tickets cost $25 and include: unlimited samples, a souvenir tasting glass, a meal and water. Tickets can be purchased at Trion Tavern or through www.triontavern.com. A limited number of tickets will be sold the day of the event for $30. Designated driver tickets will also be available for $5 at the door. A portion of the proceeds will go to the New Haven Downtown Improvement District. This will be a smoke-free event both under the tent and inside the bar.

Indiana Beer News – July 17

The tanks from Alcatraz haven’t seen this much room since 1995.

 

Rumors heard at the Microbrewers Fest:

• Big Woods Brewing is adding another restaurant and a bigger brewery cattycorner across the alley. This will let them bottle beers. John Middleton (right) is the new brewer assisting Tim O’Bryan. They have a bottling line to install there and plan to put Busted Knuckle Red Ale on store shelves.
• Dad’s Inc. which was trading pretzel necklaces for donations, raised $1,300 at the Fest.
• Three Floyds has made their first sour. “I <3 Deesko” is a Berliner Weiss.
• Organizer Jason Larrison estimates there were 4600 tickets plus 700 VIP tickets and 700 workers at the Fest.
• The B.I.G. may be looking for a full-time Executive Director but don’t apply for the job quite yet.
• Cutters Brewing Co. in Bloomington has label approval for five 22oz bomber labels, Half Court IPA, Full Court IIPA, Lost River Summer Ale, Monon Wheat, and Empire Imperial Stout. They are self-distributing and will be in the local Big Red Liquors next week.

  

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OK, I promise never to post an animated Homer ever again.

Coke can collectors seem to be even more fanatical than beer can collectors.

Microbrewers Festival 2011

Jason and the Beer Geeks did it again. Pulled off a massive (6,000 people) Microbrewers Festival at 90° heat. They did it with plenty of portapotties – most in the shade, more room used than last year, a great program again, a good variety of good food, hundreds of volunteers, and of course, great beer, made here.

Picture time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Rivertown from Cincinnati is new and new to Indiana.
Finch’s from Chicago hopes to be distributed in Indiana in their 16oz cans.

 

 
T-shirts available included Microbrewers Festival, Hoosier Beer Geeks (plus muffler),
Yesterbeer’s large lineup, Hopapalooza ($10), and many breweries had their own for sale.

The Keg Toss continued all afternoon.
Winners were, in the women’s division, Holly Bing,
and in the men’s, Kurt Eckstein – a 3-time winner.

Our two observations for the organizers to use next year are:

1. The lines were too short. Yes, that can happen. The increased space gave everyone more horizontal room to serve more beers at one time. Quite a few were pouring 6, 8, or more beers – Flat 12, Bier, Sun King, Mad Anthony, People’s, etc. Some serving stations had no line at all sometimes.
   
   This meant people could drain their 2(+) oz taste and move directly to the next. This meant some people were more inebriated than usual - the people who don’t have a lot of experience with craft beer but more experience with inebriation.
   
2. The security forces were the other problem. Past Microbrewers Festivals and Winterfests have had adequate uniformed symbols making the unmistakable message “keep yourself sane”. These particular rental cops spent much of the day standing in the shade in the ivy at the 67th St. crossing but when the 7:00pm bell rang and all (!) the vendors shut down, they continued to stay in place rather than do what needed to be done – sweep the field. Move slowly, go from one end to the other, gently urge the punters to leave. The field will be emptied in 15 minutes. This is how it’s been done for years and it works.
   
   These guys didn’t do that. They just stood around until the shouting of the second near fight roused the whole blue group to run across the baseball diamond brandishing a sparking taser and shouting. It added to the confusion. Very nearly an arrest. Very nearly a hospital visit. And surely hopefully a violation of police policy about the use of weapons, at least while off-duty.
   
   Of course the punter was in the wrong. He was drunk. His friends were trying to move him to the gate but the volunteer pourers (in both near fights) were the physical aggressors. Yelling “get out of here, you MF”, jumping over the table, and trying to lay hands on the drunk isn’t the way to handle begging for a last after-hours pour or even someone trying to steal souvenirs from the table. 
   
   These volunteers should be identified and not asked back. The off-duty officers should also be identified and not hired again. It was their lack that caused the incidents.