30 October 2008

KOTBR #58 | Bacon in a glass @ Old Town Ale House



For KOTBR #58, we headed to Fishers to check out the Indianapolis area's latest entry into the gastropub race, the Old Town Ale House. We'd been eager to visit the Ale House ever since we got word of the pub and its wide selection of craft beers. We were joined by Randy, Mikey, Bill, Ty, and Kevin from the Good Beer Show, who were fresh off recording a podcast at Ram's Fishers location (Mike and Gina sat in on that show, which you can catch here).



By our count, the Ale House has 18 taps and around 40 craft bottles on their menu (their current tap list is here). Those of you who are craft beer newbies might indulge in one of the Ale House's themed beer flights. Each flight offers five sample beers of a similar style at the very reasonable price of $8.00. Several of us ordered flights before we hit the feature beer. The most decadent flight appeared to be the one that Chris ordered, which is called "A Shot in the Dark." As you might suspect, this flight consisted of five stouts.

The Ale House's food menu features some intriguing selections as well. For example, Kelly had the mac and cheese, which was made with penne bathed in four different cheeses and was served in a unique way: inside of a sourdough bread bowl. Add a few beers and you have a full-fledged Atkins diet nightmare. For pork lovers, the Ale House offers bacon in a pint glass. Yep, that's right--a half-pound of applewood-smoked bacon served in a pint glass. And when the glass is empty, it apparently serves as a nice receptacle for Stone Smoked Porter according to some of the other Knights. I wouldn't know, however, because just like Jules Winnfield, "I just don't dig on swine."



For our feature beer, we chose a crème de la crème selection from Garrett Oliver's beer stable: Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout. This Russian Imperial Stout clocks in at 10.6% ABV and is one of Brooklyn's winter seasonal offerings.

Here's what we thought of the Black Chocolate Stout:

I've had this beer a few times here and there, and it's never been a favorite - too much dark chocolate, too much roasty malt, too overpowering and unbalanced. This time around my complaint would be that it was too punchy - my notes read, "This is like a vodka spiked beer. BOOOOZY." Any beer that reminds me of vodka spiked anything (we used to go with Gatorade) should bring up bad memories of the summer after high school. But somehow the creamy mouthfeel and dark chocolate put up enough fight to make this beer a winner. As it warmed, I started picking up strange flavors - grape, maybe? Odd. But good. 4.00 Mugs



Nose - Boozy, chocolaty, malty with a roasted toffee finish. Almost like a mocha from Starbucks, less burnt smelling

Look - Very dark, light doesn't escape, nice lacing on top of the glass from the minimal head.

Taste - Coffee, chocolate with fruit (raspberry) sweetness on the finish. Bourbon barrel aged taste on the back of the tongue. There is a nice alcohol finish, but it's not overpowering.

Mouthfeel - Smooth and syrupy - almost doesn't feel carbonated.

3.90 mugs.



Jim. Wow, this beer is much boozier than I remembered (I had one last year). A lot of alcohol burn. Unlike some of the other Knights, I really don't get much chocolate out of this. In fact, I get more vanilla, licorice, and bourbon highlights. A bit too powerful for my taste on the first few sips, but becomes more pleasing at it warms, which brings out a buttery character. A nice sipping beer, but I don't think I could handle more than one of these per sitting. 4.10 mugs

Everyone else's scores:

Gina: 3.85 mugs
Chris: 4.10 mugs
Rod: 4.20 mugs
Matt: 3.92 mugs
Kelly: 3.90 mugs

This is one of the few roundtables were we came to a pretty broad consensus on the quality of the beer, as you can see by the consistency of the ratings. Average rating: 3.99 mugs.

4 comments:

  1. I see a pack of cigarettes on the table. What is the smoking status of this establishment?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe that smoking is allowed in the bar area.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The purpose of this email is to make certain accusations against the Chinese government and my
    cry for help. Thank you for your time and your help will be highly appreciated.


    http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/shun-chuan

    Are you aware that the news you are watching is interlaced with Communist China's propaganda,as
    Communist China maps a realm of news with innocent lives?
    Communist China is scheming a millennial terrorist activity by manipulating people's behaviors
    through electromagnetic waves to contain criticism and harm innocent human lives.

    1. The anomaly in community traffic of cars and motorcycles and drag racing,and reckless honking by
    cars and motorcycles is exceeding an unprecedented level.
    2. Communist China has the technology to scan the human brain waves through military satellite and
    to discern and decipher their thoughts,scheming to instill individual interference focusing on
    each individual in need using the satellite electromagnetic waves.
    3. Deploying electromagnetic waves is poised to project onto the human brain with certain
    sounds for the perception of grossly traumatizing or startling pain,or deploying the broadcast
    of noise via electromagnetic waves in sleeping humans with edited clips of films or through
    voice or image signals onto our brains or besiege our sensory functions with fabricated
    audible and sensory illusions.
    4. It manipulates one's moods,such as smiling,nervousness,disgust,panic,anger,sorrow,
    desires,appetite,and so forth.
    5. It interferes the human brain's thinking capability,memory or linguistic capability,to name a
    few,causing spasms of muscles and fingers in the left and right hands,stinging aches
    throughout the body,coughing,yawning,trembling,involuntary blinking of the eye,runny
    nose and so forth.
    6. Electromagnetic waves are deployed to hinder the motoring functions of the body and neck,
    disrupt the heartbeat or respiration,manipulate dizziness,deprive one's sleep,spasm,saliva
    gland,dental neural pain,etc.
    7. Watch out that Communist China is infiltrating the news media by deploying electromagnetic
    waves to besiege the broadcast media,map out viral disillusion or erroneous perception,and
    investigate threats of brainwashing in viral spreading.
    8. It further moved to deploy various symptoms in what one sees of media icons,gesture terms,
    adding a skewed interpretation to one's cognitive awareness,misleading an individual to
    hallucinate or suffer,such as the North Korean's rigid smile,which is a tactic Communist
    China often deploys to counter the people.
    9. By observing the resolution accuracy of Communist China's sound and image (scenario)
    interference projected onto the human's brain,this can only be achieved with a certain level
    of frequencies at the source of interference,hence there is no doubt that it has to be the
    electromagnetic wave. Yet questions remain as to what range of frequencies the source of
    interference deploys,or what kind of electromagnetic waves insulation chamber would suffice
    to provide an insulation yield? Communist China might deploy specific metal alloys as small scale
    molecular antennas, which are attached to the human brain in large number,creating
    electromagnetic waves when the human brain is in function,where the current created by
    Communist China's electromagnetic interference would poise to amplify in a staggering
    number of multiplication,which Communist China can detect at all times to discern and
    muscles would excel the generation of electrode,which in turn create a corresponding
    electromagnetic wave within.
    10. Some of Communist China's intimidation experiences in 2002:6.9 "Hey,are you tired of living?"
    6.14 "We had concocted the bombing incident at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan"
    "Jiang Zhemin ordered us to kill you,but without creating scenes"6.16 "The Pakistani
    civilian troops confessed that they had schemed the bombing of the U.S. embassy in
    Pakistan,which we had manipulated them to confess,so what are you going to do about it?"
    6.19 "Hey,why don't you just go ahead and commit suicide""We are going to scheme
    murder using the public bus"6.20 "Commit suicide by burning charcoal,get it?"6.25 "Jiang
    Zhemin just does not like you,go hit your head against the wall".
    11. I reckon that there are victims abound out in the street,no less alarming than wars,and those
    not in the know or did not understand that Communist China's simple electromagnetic design
    could easily turn people against each other,create moving incidents,little lese to say mislead
    the youth to broach down the wrong path,suicidal prompting,design and fabrication of a host
    of society news (which Communication China refers to as movie making),as Communist China has had a
    decade long of the technology,and has long abused its technological advantages to scheme up design
    of abusing human lives by arranging fabricated news to poison and infiltrate the free
    world,manipulate and misguide the contents of the media,and deploy brainwashing and malicious
    spread of viruses,done with insinuation and riddles.The fact that Communist China's slaughtering
    the innocent had been the result of a high level of calculation,and a high level of rationalization,
    where the threats are in existence,and cannot be ignored of their detrimental severity.
    12. Communist China often coerce people to watch news compiled by the reporter Lu Yuling of the cable
    news in order for them to be saved,but few are aware that Communist China had merely deploy the
    reporter to entrap many people. I do envision that those that turn to committing crime as framed
    by Communist China,the extra sufferings by the ordinary people,and the deaths of many innocent
    lives will not go unnoticed as hindered by a condoning attitude.
    13. Nazi Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Chinese Liberation Army, security police and armed police have committed suppression and massacre on their own civilians. Hu, Jiang and the other atrocious butchers owe these innocent civilians! More horrible and serious is that they are using mysterious killing technologies to cause harms to human brains around the world, making advantage of numerous international politicians and journalists to help them commit atrocities and beautify their actions, aiming to overturn and suppress those innocent people and cover up their terrorist acts and win fame by cheating the world. Securing in the knowledge that they have strong backing, these arrogant and shameless butchers have committed tortures and mass killing cruelly to those innocent ones around the world. Unfortunately, neither these politicians and nor journalists knowing what is what would dare to express their conscience.
    14. The inhumane acts and atrocities committed by Nazi China are far more vicious than that of Nanjing massacre in China during WWII committed by Japanese army, as Chinese government is using mysterious technologies to commit massacres to masses of bare-handed civilians around the world as well as launch violence and terrorist activities to suppress these completely unarmed people’s freedom of speech. These demons, like Hu, Jinag and Chinese Liberation Army, despise the chastity, dignity and precious life of those innocent ones and suppress the emotions of their beloved. Meanwhile, relying on the condition that most of people in the world will not be able to witness their vicious acts of violence and behaviors they have committed unscrupulously and shamelessly, these Chinese Liberation Army enjoys using cruel ways to torture, massacre and trample on these innocent people, physically and mentally, in one free world. The arrogant Hu, Jiang and those jackals nurtured under such ferocious power treat themselves as the symbol of benevolence and hero, as they fail to learn their gutless and vicious acts to trample on those innocent people. If these demons, butchers and dregs of human, such as Hu, Jiang and Chinese Liberation Army who have become frenzied and conscienceless appeared in the site of Nanjing massacre in WWII, they definitely would be the leading roles to act atrocities!
    15. We don’t want to see masses of innocent people to fall victim to the hell on earth built by red China where they will be susceptible to tortures and massacres for thousands of years.
    16. Despite being even unable to fend for themselves in face of the high-tech detriments and attacks from China, we can not tolerate the fact that these politicians and journalists will become the accomplices to help China commit its terrorist acts and suppression on these innocent people in the current era or an unknown future.
    17. In view of the notorious, vicious and sinister Hu, Jiang, Chinese Liberation Army with blood-stained hands, we just cast doubt over whether these greats of knowing what is what who have negotiated with these demons will show their conscience to save these innocent civilians or will act just for the sake of their profits, or are under the control of China. In this current drowned world, how will these innocent lives be treated in face of the atrocious acts committed by these diabolical figures, or when these innocent people will witness the practice of democracy in China? Will these phenomena turn out to be the joint efforts and endeavors achieved by China and those powerful figures in the world? Are we really dedicated to overturning such adversity? Our goal is to eliminate the vicious power one day with our strenuous efforts, and we absolutely will achieve it!


    Chen,Shun-Chuan 2002.10.13* Republic of China (Taiwan)

    ReplyDelete
  4. My first thought was that I should delete the comment above (or is it an email?), but then I started reading it. And I think it's important that we help Shun-Chuan promote his message of Communist Chinese human brain wave technology and reckless honking.

    It's our duty as Americans.

    ReplyDelete