Random Beer Roundup - Make a Weekend Of It Edition

Only one more week until Dark Lord Day. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but at Hoosier Beer Geek, we like to turn our beer drinking into weekend long events. So several of us will be heading to the region on Friday and staying through Sunday, drinking lots of beer along the way. There are plenty of great options too.

In Crown Point, there is a new option available for pre- or post-DLD drinking. June 13th of last year, Crown Brewing opened and they have been receiving favorable reviews during these first 10 months of operation. But nobody at Hoosier Beer Geek has been there yet. We're going to change that soon.

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.

Here is your weekly Random Beer Roundup. Remember, if you have beer news that you want to share, drop us a line at hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com.

Beer Events:
Dates and lineups subject to change

Friday, April 17 - Sunday, April 19 at Mad Anthony in Fort Wayne:
11th Anniversary Celebration

Friday, April 17, at Parti-Pak Liquors in Indianapolis:
Free Beer Tasting POSTPONED to April 24; see below

Friday, April 17, at Deano's Vino in Indianapolis:
Tapping of Dark Horse Brewing Co. Crooked Tree Double IPA

Saturday, April 18 in Jeffersonville:
2nd Annual Craft Beer Extravaganza; $75; (details under the News heading of RBR v.2009.04.10)

Saturday, April 18 at the Heorot in Muncie:
Stone Levitation kick-off party; (details under the News heading of RBR v.2009.04.10)

Monday, April 20, 5-7 p.m., at Kahn’s in Indianapolis:
Brooklyn Brewing Company tasting

Monday, April 20, 6pm, at Rock Bottom in downtown Indianapolis:
Fire Chief Ale tapping

Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm, at Patrick's Kitchen and Drinks:
Spring Festival Beer and Wine Tasting: Five course buffet menu paired with five wines and five beers. $35 per person in advance, includes tax and tip, $45 at the door. Call 733-8755 for reservations and information.

Thursday, April 23, 6-8pm, at Big Red Liquors in downtown Bloomington:
Free Beer Tasting

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)

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

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

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 (details under On Tap heading below)

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.

News and Rumors:

Metromix interviews Cari Crowe from Kahn's Fine Wine in Indianapolis about Bacon Beer.

Alastair Hook of Meantime Brewing was awarded the 2008 Brewer of the Year award by the British Guild of Beer Writers.

Brewers Association Releases Top 50 Breweries List

NABC's Roger Baylor writes about Indiana's alcohol laws for LEO.

David Pierce joins NABC as Director of Brewing Operations.

Now on tap:
Price and availability are subject to change

From Dan at Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora:

The Great Crescent Brewery will be open Monday through Saturday from noon to 8pm for American Craft Beer Week - May 11-17. 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.

From John at The Legend Irvington Cafe in Indianapolis:

New on tap at The Legend in Irvington in addition to Three Floyds Robert the Bruce and Bluegrass Brewing Bourbon Barrel Stout is Spaten Mai Bock (traditional German spring beer) and Breckenridge Brewery 471 IPA (double hopped IPA at 9.2% ABV).

Also, new in bottled beer is Founder's Porter and Left Hand Bock with Bell's Oberon back in stock as well as all the other micros and imports.

From Elizabeth at Old Town Ale House:

Here's what we're pouring this week:
Founder's Pale
Berghoff Lager
Upland Wheat
Magic Hat # 9
Bell's Two-hearted
Bell's Oberon
Founder's Porter
Left Hand Milk Stout
Two Brothers Domaine Dupage
Original Sin
Victory Prima Pils
Heavy Seas Holy Sheet
Founder's Cerise
Goose Island Matilda
Breckenridge 471 ESB
Victory Hop Wallop
Mojo Risin Double IPA
Left Hand Oak Imperial Stout
Dogfish Head Red & White
3 Floyd's Dread Naught

From Lauren at Scotty's Brewhouse with various locations around Indiana:

Just wanted you to know that Scotty's Brewhouse is rolling out some new beers at all 5 locations! Check them out here.

From Mike at Granite City Brewery in Indianapolis:

Granite City is tapping a Blueberry Ale May 4. Also adding an American Wheat year-round at some point this Summer.

Now on the shelf:
Price and availability are subject to change

From Cari at Kahn's in Indianapolis:

omfg, I got so many goodies!

New this week/back in stock -
Schlafly Summertime Helles-Style Lager
Dieu de Ciel Solstice d'Hiver
Dieu de Ciel Rosee d'Hibiscus
Dieu de Ciel Route des Epices
Dieu de Ciel Corne Du Diable American IPA
Dieu de Ciel Derniere Volonte Abbey Ale
Nogne O Dark Horizon
Nogne O Toschi Double IPA - collaboration with Yoho Brewery in Japan
Mikkeller Jackie Brown - now in a new format
Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasal
Mikkeller Single Hop Cascade IPA
Mikkeller Single Hop Warrior IPA
Two Brothers Bare Tree Weiss - now in a new format

Specials-
Bell's Oberon $8.99/pack ; $31.49/case
Best of Belgium Sampler - a six pack each of Leffe, Hoegaarden and Stella
for $19.99
Samuel Smith Winter Welcome 18 oz. $2.99
Three Floyds Alpha Klaus 22 oz. $5.99

New Belgium Presale -
Today through Saturday, Kahn's is offering a presale of all New Belgium products before they arrive on Monday. Payment is due at the time of reservation.
Fat Tire Amber Ale 12 pack cans $15.99 reg. price $17.99
Fat Tire Amber Ale 22 oz. bottles $2.99 reg. price $3.99
Mothership Wit 22 oz. bottles $2.99 reg. price $3.99
1554 Black Ale 22 oz. bottles $2.99 reg. price $3.99

From Greg at Cavalier Distributing in Indianapolis:

There are a couple exciting new beers hitting the market this and next week:

Stone Levitation Ale will officially start hitting store shelves next week!! That's right, the highly anticipated arrival of Stone's Levitation Ale is finally here. Levitation Ale is Stone's version of a session ale. An Amber Ale by stylistic definition, Levitation is truly a style unto its own. It is very complex and balanced with a wonderful fresh dry-hop aroma, wonderfully balanced taste and lingering, smooth finish. Levitation has the hop content to satisfy the cravings, but is perfectly balanced with malt sweetness, is incredibly complex and is very smooth and clean on the finish. With the release of other highly (over) hyped Amber Ales to the Indy market around this time, make a point to grab the GABF Gold Medal Levitation and compare it on TASTE & QUALITY to other new Amber Ales and judge for yourself. Levitate your senses!

Two Brothers Bare Tree Weiss (Barley Wine style Weiss Beer/Wheat Wine) just arrived to Indiana in very limited quantities for the year. Only a very small amount of this rare, exquisite special release Wheat Wine from Two Brothers hits the state each year, so get it quickly while you can. This is yet another vintage of a much herralded 2 Bros creation and a must get. Make sure to grab a bottle for now and some for year(s) from now.

Two Brothers Dog Days of Summer just arrived and will start hitting stores and draft lines around the state in the next weeks as well. A Dortmunder style Lager, Dog Days of summer is a complex, flavorful Lager perfect for the long, hot days of summer. Dog Days is a highly decorated beer, having won best of show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds a couple of years ago. This year's supply is limited, so enjoy it early and as often as you can. Enjoy!

Keep an eye out for some amazing Stone brews on draft at Dark Lord Day next Saturday as well. I am just going to list them and you work on keeping your jaw off of the floor: Brandy Barrel Aged '06 Double Bastard, Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard, Red Wine Barrel Aged '08 Old Guardian, 10th Anniversary, '07& '08 Imperial Russian Stout, '07 Old Guardian, Vertical Epic 08-08-08, and Levitation Ale. The folks at 3 Floyds have put together an incredible line-up in addition to their own fantastic brews, enjoy!

From Big Red Liquors in Bloomington:

New at Big Red Liquors:

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy
Goose Island Summertime Kolsch
Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager
Berghoff Summe Solstice Wit
Michelob Wheat beer Sampler 12pk
Abita Strawberry Lager
Magic Hat Variety 12pk
Stone Imperial Stout
Founder's Cerise -Cherry Fermented Ale
Dark Horse Crooked Tree Double IPA
Guinness 250th Anniversary

From Mike at Crown Liquors in Carmel:

Crown has gotten the motherload of special orders....again! Can't wait to start tasting all these new brews!!!:)

Amager Batch One 12/500
Amager Hr. Frederiksen 12/500
Amager Sundby Stout 12/500
Baird Angry Boy Brown Ale 24/12
Baird Kurofone Porter 24/12
Cantillion Fou'foune Pure Apricot Lambic 6/750
Cantillon Rose' de Gambrinus 6/750
Cantillon Saint-Lamvinus 6/750
Dieu du Ciel! Equinoxe du Printemps 24/341
Dieu du Ciel Solstice d' Hiver 24/11.5
De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis (Russian Stout) 6/750
De Molen Storm and Averij 6/750
Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze 6/750
Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek 12/375
Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek 6/750
De Ranke Cuvee de Ranke 6/750
Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura 12/750
Nils Oscar Coffee Stout 20/330
Panil Barriquee 12/750
St. Somewhere Lectio Divina 12/750
St. Somewhere Saison Athene 12/750
Nogne-O Toshi Double IPA 12/500