Random Beer Roundup- Chaos Rules Edition

Over the past few months, you've probably become accustomed to seeing Jason's face leading off this column. But your beloved Jason is sick, which means you're stuck with me. MUWAHAHAHAHA.

Now watch as I destroy everything he's worked so hard to create. First off, that header image.

LIGHTNING! CHAOS! DESTRUCTION! PINK (OR PURPLE)!

That's better. Next up, the news - in a completely different order than Jason does it. CHAOS!

Remember, if you have beer news that you want to share, drop us a line at hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com.

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Firstish: (That's not even a word!)

On Friday, April 24th, Hoosier Beer Geek will be roundtabling at Crown Brewing. And we'd like you to roundtable with us. It will be the first day of having their patio open for the summer, so it should be a fun time. All day they will be serving $3 beers. On tap right now:

"Crown Brown Ale" - This ale is malty and sweet on the palette and will prove to be one of our best yet!

"Celtic Pride" - Move over Guinness, this 12 malt Irish Stout is to die for.

"Exstacy of Gold" Blonde Ale ~ This "blonde" will surely meet the expectations of all beer loves. Smooth, crisp and hoppy.

"Smokestack Amber Ale" ~ This exceptionally balanced beer offers a perfect combination of malts and hops

Also, in the taproom, if you mention "Hoosier Beer Geek", you can order 10 cent wings and $5 off all pizzas. So hit exit 247 off of I-65, head west on US 231 for less than three miles, a left on East Street and in the words of John Madden, "Boom! You're there!". Crown Brewing is located at 211 S. East Street in downtown Crown Point. Look for the smokestack with the crown on top.

The food and beer specials are all day Friday, so come early to eat and drink. We will be roundtabling at 9pm central (local time)/10pm eastern and we want to hear what you think.

Beer Events:

Friday, April 24, 4:30-6:30pm, at Parti-Pak Liquors in Indianapolis:
Free Beer Tasting featuring Cavalier Distributing Beers: Founders, Stone Brewing Co., Two Brothers, Berghoff Artisan Series, & BB Burgerbrau

Friday, April 24, 9pm central/10pm eastern, at Crown Brewing in Crown Point:

FRIDAY DETOUR: Hoosier Beer Geek public roundtable; $3 beers all day; 10 cent wings, and $5 off pizzas all day when you mention "Hoosier Beer Geek"

Saturday, April 25 at Three Floyd’s Brewery in Munster:
Dark Lord Day

Sunday, April 26, 12:00pm at Great Fermentations in Indianapolis:
Spring All-Grain Class, $25 per person or bring a friend and pay only $20 each. Details and registration on website.

Sunday, April 26th, 6 p.m. at Zing! in Indianapolis:
Beer Tasting Dinner, $30 per person, Reservations required at (317)636-7775; (details here)

Monday, April 27, 5-7 p.m. at Kahn's:
Scandanavian Tasting, featuring Olfrabrikken, Mikkeller, and Nogne O

Wednesday, April 29, 6-7:30pm at Great Fermentations in Indianapolis:
Beginning Brewing Class, $15 per person or bring a friend and pay only $10 each. Details and registration on website.

Thursday, April 30, 6pm at Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette:
Firkin Thursday featuring a sneak preview firkin- Dry-Hopped Maifest

Thursday, April 30th at Half Moon in Kokomo:
Oatmeal Stout tapping

Saturday, May 2nd: National Homebrew Day

Monday, May 4th at Granite City in Indianapolis:
Blueberry Ale tapping

Tuesday, May 5th at Rock Bottom - Downtown in Indianapolis:
Cinco de Mayo Brewer's Dinner; Four course authentic Mexican dinner paired with four lagers; 317-681-8180 to reserve

Thursday, May 7th at Half Moon in Kokomo:
Amber Wheat Tapping

Friday, May 8th at Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington:
Entries for the UpCup Competition are due.

Saturday, May 9th, 4pm, at Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown Indianapolis:
High Gravity Summer Kickoff, a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (details under the News heading of RBR v.2009.04.03)

Monday, May 11th - Sunday, May 17th: American Craft Beer Week:
Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora will be open everyday this week, noon-8pm

We will have our regular lineup - Blonde Ale, Mild Ale, Wit, Stout, Cherry Ale. In addition we plan to have IPA and Coconut Porter ready for our Open House on Saturday, 16 May. Please join us for the Open House - we will have complimentary food and available and drawings for small prizes.

Monday, May 11th at Old Town Ale House in Fishers:
Stone Levitation Celebration; no cover

Saturday, May 16th, noon-8pm at Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora:
Open House; (details under On Tap heading below)

Saturday, May 16th at Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington:
UpCup judging and ceremony.

Monday, June 22nd at Beer Sellar in Indianapolis:
Big Bell's Brewing tapping, a record breaking 30 different Bell's beers on tap at once.

Now On Tap:

From Jerry at Rock Bottom Downtown comes their latest tap list:

Seasonal Wheat
Hefeweizen-South German
Wheat Ale. Banana aroma,
citrus and clove flavors
Hops: Mt. Hood Malts: Canadian Pale, Winter Wheat
ABV. 5.3% O.G. 12°

Hoosier Ma Stout
Milk Stout-
sweet and creamy.
Udderly delicious!
Hops: Golding Malts: English Pale, Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Rolled Oats
ABV. 4.6% O.G. 13.8°

St. James Irish Red
Malty sweet garnet colored ale
with a spicy, dry finish.
Hops: English Fuggle Malts: English Pale, Rye, Crystal
ABV. 5.7% O.G. 12.7°

Naughty Scot
Strong Scotch Ale-
very malty sweet
garnet coloured strong ale.
Hops: Willamette Malts: English Pale, Crystal, Chocolate
ABV. 9.3% O.G. 20.2°

Schwarzhacker
German Black Lager-
Roasty and smooth.
Hops: Mt. Hood Malts: Pilsner, Munich, Carafa
ABV. 5.4% O.G. 12.7°

Fire Chief Ale
American Red Ale.
$.25 from every pint goes
to Survive Alive, our local
fire charity.
Hops: Centennial Malts: English Pale, English Crystal
ABV. 5.3% O.G. 12°

From John at Half Moon in Kokomo:

Current seasonals are a Blueberry Wheat and a Strong Ale.

Now On Shelves and at the Bar:

From Cari at Kahn's:

New this week:
New Belgium Fat Tire 12 pack cans
New Belgium Fat Tire 22 oz.
New Belgium 1554 Black Ale 22 oz.
New Belgium Mothership Organic Wit 22 oz.
Stone Levitation Amber Ale 6 packs
Jolly Pumpkin Madruga Obscura
Schlafly Raspberry Hefeweizen
Schlafly Kolsch-Style Ale
Oxford Organic Amber Ale

From Patrick at Patrick's Kitchen and Drinks:

Brewdog Punk IPA.
Mikkeller Stateside IPA
Shipyard IPA
Are you sensing a theme here? We have Fat Tire Amber available in 12oz bottles for $4.25, and on tap currently is..
BBC Nitro Stout
BBC Quarrymen's Pale
BBC Ruby Bloom Amber
Victory Hop Wallop
Gaffel Kolsch
Coming soon..........as in it is in the cooler and waiting to be tapped, we have Founder's Double Trouble on deck.
Several cool beers booked for delivery later this summer.

From Kirk at Mr. G's:

New Belgium Fat Tire
New Belgium 1554
New Belgium Mothership
Stone Levitation Ale
Two Brothers Dog Days of Summer
Two Brothers Bare Tree Weiss
Great Divide Dunkel Weiss

From Dustin at Spencer's Stadium Tavern - current tap list and a little news:

Taps
Old Style
Spaten Lager
Dog Fish Head 60 Min
Stone Levitation Ale
BBC Bourbon Stout
Dirty Helen Brown
Brugge White
Sawtooth ESB

Beer Menu
I am working on putting together a Beer Menu. Yes, you read that right. We will be averaging 60 beers and rotating many of them every couple of months. So maybe the next time you stop in and ask what we have you might just have to read it for yourself.

News and Rumors:

Pyramid Breweries has recently undergone a packaging facelift. Here's some analysis of the redesign.

Jason, of Hoosier Beer Geek's Knights of the Beer Roundtable, is giving up beer and meat, and taking up an all-spritzer diet exclusively.

From Mat at Cavalier Distributing:

As I am heading out of town today to Boston for the Craft Brew Conference, cases and kegs of Stone Levitation that was bottled on 4/17/09 is arriving to Indiana for the first time in mass quantity! Yes that is correct it was bottled last Friday, two days after tax day! Since there is no good reason in letting the beer sit in the warehouse, we are going to push up the release date a bit and get it out to Hoosier beer drinkers ASAP!

http://www.stonebrew.com/levitation/

Please save some for me for when I return from Boston.

From Greg at Cavalier, a little follow up to Mat:

We have a plethora of incredible new brews this week:

This is the official release week of Stone Levitation Ale! This 2007 GABF winner is an incredible Amber Ale and the perfect session beer! You can find it in retail stores and bars around the state.

Great Divide Saison and Dunkle Weiss are making their debut in the Indy market. Both are incredible beers that are a must try.

Clipper City Red Sky @ Night Saison is making its annual debut this year in both 6 packs and draft in select locations.

From Lauren at Scotty's Brewhouse came a lot of news, but here's the stuff that pertains to what we do. I'm picky like that:

First and foremost We now serve FAT TIRE BEER!

ALSO SCOTTYS BREWHOUSE INDIANAPOLIS GRAND OPENING IS THIS WEEKEND!!! (A lot more details on the other side of this link.)

Tuesday April 28, 2009

$7 48oz Sam Adams Draught Pitchers
$3 12 oz Select Microbrew/Import

Broad Ripple Brewpub is now listing what's new on tap on their twitter feed. Here's a link. We still love you, BRBP.

Here's a video by Greg Koch of Stone Brewing:



From Jeffrey T of The Good Beer Show comes this video of the KBS tapping at the Fickle Peach in Muncie:


Lastly, from our very own Rodney comes a link to a beer review generator. The next time you're reading a weird HBG beer review and wondering why we went that route..

Enough CHAOS for one day? This roundup stuff is hard work. Consider yourself lucky to have lived!