Random Beer Roundup: The Happy Birthday Ross Edition

Hoosier Beer Calendar

Events are subject to change

The Brewers


From David at Triton Brewing: 

TRITON HOUSE BREWS 

Fieldhouse Wheat, Four Barrel Brown, Magnificent Amber Ale, Deadeye Stout, Railsplitter India Pale Ale, Sin Bin Belgian Pale Ale, Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Nitro Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Gingerbread Brown, Headsplitter­­ Imperial IPA, Bourbon Barrel Railsplitter IPA, Nobody’s F’Alt Oktoberfest, Perked-Up Porter & Three Tine Triple


GUEST BREWS

Crispin Hard Cider, Country Boy Brewing Right Good Wheat with Blackberries, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Moinette Belgian Blonde, New Belgium Yuzu (Lips of Faith Series), New Day Meadery Southcider, Widmer’s Omission Lager and Widmer’s Omission Pale Ale
TRITON BREWING EVENTS 

Thursday, December 5, Celebrate Repeal Day, the end of prohibition, with a special 4 course dinner inside the brewery of Triton. Sit in the brewery and talk with Jon Lang, Co-Founder/Master Brewer, and enjoy a four course meal with appetizers. Learn about the historical significance of the building and the day. We will also have the Big Green Eggs fired up and on display with the Big Green Bistro. Don't miss out on your chance at this unique dining experience! $65 per person. To RSVP:http://chefjjs.com/repeal-day-beer-dinner.html 

Wednesday, December 18, 5-9pm, #Clustertruck at Triton

Thursday, December 19, 5pm, Midnight Rail Black IPA Tapping with KG’s Slider Station 

Tuesday, December 24, Triton Brewing will be open for Holiday Growler fills, 3-7pm!

Wednesday, December 25, Triton Brewing Company will be closed! Merry Christmas! 

Thursday, December 26 (Canadian Boxing Day), 5pm, Alt Lang Syne with KG’s Slider Station

From Bob at Flat12:

We're tapping Lacto-Matic Milk Stout today with a side of leftovers.*** Come on over. It should be fun. Cheers! Also, this is the last weekend for earlybird tix to "12 Chefs.

Events:

11/27/2013 Thanksgiving Beer - Special 'Eve' Hours 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
11/29/2013 "Shop" Black Friday at Flat 12 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm***
12/01/2013 Tailgate Tap Takeover at Tavern on South 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
12/05/2013 - 12/22/2013 The Flat 12 Beers of Christmas 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
12/05/2013 Indianapolis Monthly - Best of Indy Party 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
12/05/2013 Reel to Reel, Flat 12 hosting monthly local film night 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
12/06/2013 Mike Altman - December Art Show 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
12/07/2013 12 South Winter Warmer (TN) 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
12/07/2013 Fill the Truck 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
12/14/2013 12 Chefs at City Market 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

BEERS: Coming Friday (above). Lacto-Matic Milk Stout. Bottles and Draft. Bottles should be showing up in stores as early as this weekend. Some won't get delivered til early in the week though.
12 Beers of Christmas (above) kicks off on the 5th with Glazed Ham Porter.

From Ryan at Thr3e Wise Men Brewery: 

Come celebrate the kick off of Holiday Season with us this coming Tuesday December 3rd for the tapping of our Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale. Enjoy a pint of this or one of our other beers for only $2.50 that day!

Here are the other beers that we are pouring at Thr3e Wise Men:
· Snow Bunny Blonde
· Two Lucys Blackberry Wheat
· Bulldog Brown
· Hubbard & Cravens Porter
· Rocky Ripple Pale Ale
· Golden Zoe IPA
· Centennial Martyr Double IPA
· Next Up: Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale will be released on Tuesday December 3rd.


Join us at one of the following upcoming tap takeovers:
· Simeri’s Italian Restaurant on Monday December 9th at 6pm. Will be tapping our Rocky Ripple Pale Ale, Breaking Barn Milk Stout & Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale!
· Old Pro’s Table on Thursday December 12th at 8pm. Will be tapping our Centennial Martyr Double IPA, Two Lucys Blackberry Wheat, Bulldog Brown, Breaking Barn Milk Stout & Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale.


Our list of great establishments pouring our beer keeps growing. You can find a full list of locations on ourwebsite.


Are you a bar/restaurant owner and interested in Thr3e Wise Men Beer? Let us know and we will come speak with you about our great list of beers and support that we can offer.

From Beth at Sun King Brewing:

Upcoming December Releases:

• Sink the Clipper - growler fills
• Chaka - growler fills & cans
• Westy - growler fills
• Bourbon Barrel Timmie - Next up in the Sun King King's Reserve Series, Bourbon Barrel Aged Timmie Imperial Stout. The heady cocoa, dark chocolate, and molasses flavors of our Timmie Imperial Stout are rounded out with subtle but distinct smoky oak notes brought on by bourbon aging. ABV: 10% | IBU: 70

Bourbon Barrel Aged Timmie will be available in 2-packs on Thursday, December 5th at noon. There is a limit two 2-packs per person. Cans can be purchased at the brewery only. No reservations. Cost: $17.50 each 2-pack

Congratulations to the Sun King Brewers for bringing home a Gold Medal from the 2013 Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers in Chicago! Afternoon Delight won Category 4: Classic Styles.

Bars, Restaurants, Carryout, & Distributors

From Stuart at MacNiven's Restaurant & Bar:

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Tapping this Friday Nov. 29th at 5pm.

From Eric at Zink Distributing:

Now that the turkey coma is wearing off, it’s time to wash away the Thanksgiving hangover with a couple of seasonal, holiday-style, winter beers. These two beers fit the bill.
Goose Island Sixth Day: Sixth Day is a malt-forward brown ale that at 8.3% ABV is large enough to warm you on the coldest winter’s day. It’s a mildly hoppy, deceptively light bodied beer that leads with toffee and brown sugar followed by hints of plum, nutmeg, mint, and allspice. No spice is added to this beer. The depth of flavor and spice notes come from Goose Island’s creative use of hops.

New Holland Cabin Fever: This brown ale has a balanced malty approach that showcases caramel notes with nutty undertones and hints of dark chocolate. It’s perfect for pairing with heavier winter meals full of roasted meats, dried fruits and smoky cheese.

Both are readily available and make for an affordable specialty beer experience.

From Mike at Yogi's:

 Visit www.yogis.com and check out our updated draft list on the homepage

From Ryan at Scotty's Brewhouse:

Scotty’s Brewhouse Muncie is now pouring Kona Brewing Pipeline Porter! Come by on Thursday and get a pint for only $2.50!

Scotty’s Brewhouse Mishawaka has just tapped Fat Head Holly Jolly! Join us on Wednesday for a $7 48oz Pitcher.

From Chelsey at Union Jack Pub - Broad Ripple:

Friday, November 29: BLACK OUT Black Friday!
We will tap 10+ dark brews and have them on as long as they last. The lineup is impressive (and it’s growing!) … we’re most excited about Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

Founder’s Breakfast Stout
Dark Horse Too Cream Stout
New Holland Dragon’s Milk
Brewery Ommegang Take The Black
Upland Teddy Bear Kisses
Bell’s Expedition Stout
Bell’s java Stout
Oskar Blue’s Ten Fidy
Kona Pipeline Porter
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

We always have an updated tap list on our homepage at www.unionjackpub.co so check it out for the latest!

From Patrick at Patrick's Kitchen & Drinks in Zionsville:

Our bottle list has been updated with several of the Oskar Blues cans, (just trying to be supportive local guys)...in addition we have some interesting Belgians...The draft list continues to rotate and right now we are pouring: Bier's Chinookalicious, Flat-12's Pogue's Run Porter, BBC's Quarrymen Pale, Bier's Belgian Trippelle, BBC's Ruby Bloom Amber, Sun King's El Gallo Negro, FFF Dreadnaught (it's gone soon), Bier's Megladon Strong Ale, and of course the ever present La Trappe Quad.
Waiting in the wings we have got Triton's Railsplitter, Gaffel Kolsch, and Daredevil's Carnival... with more arriving this week.

Beer Events/Fundraisers

End of Movember Gala

§ Time: 7:00pm – 11:00pm 

§ Location: The Speak Easy in Broad Ripple
(5255 North Winthrop Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46220) 

§ Featuring: Auctions, Raffles, Contests, and much, MUCH MORE 

§ Local Indiana Craft Beer to quench your thirst!
Hard Hat Tour Lager and multiple other styles from Sun King
Moustache Ride Red and multiple other styles from Flat 12
Curious Tenacious Traveler Shandy 

§  Food Trucks on site to fill your belly (Scribble & Caveman Truck)! 

§ Live entertainment to move your feet! 

§ $10 Entry Fee – ONE HUNDRED PERCENT goes to charity – tickets available at door!
Sorry we’re unable to honor Official Movember.com-provided Gala certificates 

§ NO MUSTACHE REQUIRED TO ATTEND – We’ll have loaners at the front door if you need one for the night! 

§ This is a 21+ event

Tis' the Season To Drink Good Beer 

Our favorite all-Indiana beer bar, Tomlinson Tap Room is getting together with Circle City Soups to create a 4 beer 4 course pairing for us for $15. 

Join us Wednesday, December 11th from 6-8:30, for some good beer and good food. Let's raise a pint to celebrate the holidays!

I'm filled with holiday cheer!

Hoosier Beer Geek's 2013 Year-End Readers' Survey

It's the holiday season again, and that means it's time for our sixth annual Year-End Readers' Survey. With this survey, we hope to find out what you're drinking, your thoughts on Indiana beer, and if you think we suck, are cool, or are somewhere in between.

This survey will be open until Friday, December 20, 2013. That gives you over three weeks to give us your thoughts. Then we'll compile the survey results and share them with you and the breweries and bars that you've chosen as your favorites. Everyone wants to be a winner, and we're going to work to make that happen for some deserving folks. With your help, of course.

So here's the link. Go to it, folks.

Is Hoosier Beer Geek Unintentionally Killing Craft Beer Culture?

Jason writes...

Is Hoosier Beer Geek unintentionally killing craft beer culture?  If you find Jake’s statements regarding Untappd to be true, you could easily assert that Hoosier Beer Geek is guilty of the same.

Point 1: The time it takes to write down notes and the impact that it has on conversation.

Most people probably have not been to a gathering of the Knights of the Beer Roundtable.  In general, it involves sitting around with a beer or two or ten (more on that later).  We sniff the beer.  We swish the beer.  We say some snarky things.  And we write about the beer.  We write in our books or our iphones or on a scrap piece of paper.  Whatever venue, we take notes because if don’t, we will forget.  We are drinking, after all.  But in order to write something about the beer later, we have to write now.  And that takes time away from the conversation.

So does the TV in the bar showing the football game that you are interested.

Or the band playing in the corner.

Or the girl or guy across the room that you are thinking about buying a drink.

The reality is that every social situation is full of conversations.  It is what fills the lulls in conversation.  Odds are if somebody is spending a lot of time on their smartphone that you are honestly not that interesting.

Point 2: Roundtables often involve multiple beers and sharing of bottles.

Take a look at the collection of KOTBR reviews.  There are reviews that include one or two beers.  There are reviews that include 6 or 8 reviews.  And no, we do not drink 72 ounces of beer to review 6 beers.  We frequently buy a 22 ounce bottle and share it between 6 or 8 of us.  It is our own mini-beer festivals.  And then we rate them.  How fair is that?  Thankfully, our reviews are rarely serious so we are rarely taken serious.

Point 3: The made-up-word attitude that HBG encourages via its blog.

Roger Baylor often ribs us (in jest or otherwise) when Hoosier Beer Geek reviews beers that are not Hoosier beers.  But we often do.  We review beers from other states and countries that we can get in Indiana.  We review beers from other states and countries that we can’t get in Indiana.  Again, look at the collection of KOTBR reviews and see how many beers are available at your favorite local beer bar. 

Not only that, but there are beer traders amongst us.  There are those that travel to beer festivals with hard to get tickets or hard to get beers.  Dark Lord Day.  Darkness Day.  Great Taste of the Midwest.  The Great American Beer Festival.  But we’re humble.  We never write about our adventures to these far flung corners of the craft beer world.

Oh wait, that’s a search function on our blog, isn’t it? 

The reality is that Untappd, like Blogger, like WordPress, like Twitter, like Facebook, like Instagram, like Pinterest… they are all ways to connect with people you know and people you don’t know. 

Reality check: how many of you, including myself and my fellow Knights of the Beer Roundtable, would know 90% of the craft beer people you know without social media? 

I met Jim through his blog.  I met Mike through his blog.  I met Chris through his blog.  I met Rod through his blog.  I met Jake through Twitter.  I met Meg through Twitter.  I met Kristen through Twitter.  The only reason we knew to meet each other in person was by blogging or tweeting and saying “hey, I’m going to drink some awesome beer here.  Who wants to join me?”

It’s not disrespectful to beer.  It’s a part of the discussion.  It’s a way to reach out to others.

(Though I agree with Matt regarding badges and what those badges may promote)

In short, Jake and Matt, we are a part of the social media culture that surrounds beer.  Checking in to Untappd is no more douchey than taking notes to write about later or taking pictures to post later.  Untappd, if anything, is a more efficient way to track what you have had to drink and what you thought of it.  It allows you to get back to drinking with friends faster than any of our roundtables ever have.

That is what I think.  How about you? 

Is Untappd Unintentionally Killing Craft Beer Culture?

Jake Wrote:

The original title of this blog was "Why Untappd is Killing Craft Beer", but I would rather offer my view and have you offer yours, if you desire. I think Untappd is unintentionally killing craft beer culture with a three pronged approach:

1) The time it takes to check-in and the impact that has on conversation
2) The usage of the app to check-in beers during festivals and provide a quick rating
3) The braggadocious attitude that the app encourages via social media

Point 1: The time it takes to check-in and the impact that time has on conversation
When Untappd launched, I was excited. Partially because four weeks before they launched, I mentioned to a few friends that I was considering an app that was "The Foursquare for Craft beer". Problem solved. The issue that I quickly realized was when I was dining with a friend and went to check-in the beer I was drinking. As we are constantly reminded in PSAs regarding texting and driving, humans can only process visual and audio using one channel in the brain. Therefore, to check-in, I had to stop the conversation we were having, search for the beer I was drinking, and check-in. I made a few more attempts when I was out with beer drinking friends, but the result was always the same. I was picking an app check-in and interrupting the flow of conversation with my friends. Which, to me, is what beer should be; a conversation.

I know that there have been improvements in the database response time by using the native phone apps, but I have recently challenged a few drinking friends to check-in while we discussed a beer they were excited to try. They eventually gave up trying to check-in when the conversation stopped and silence festered.

Point 2: The usage of the app to check-in beers during festivals and provide a quick rating
Point 1 carries into Point 2. In my opinion, beer festivals are time to spend with friends trying new beers, talking about the beer (and life outside of beer), and asking questions to the brewery reps (until you fail to form logical sentences). Therefore, interrupting that conversation with a higher frequency than getting half-pint pours at your local bar, bothers me.

Point 2 is specific because 2-4oz pours are proven to be a terrible volume to rate a beer. Additionally, the average drinking palate is good for maybe the first ten samples and then it is fried (Gross generalization, but you get the point). Therefore, the remaining 20-30 samples that you are attempting to take quick notes on, and assign a star value to, are not going to be memorable nor correct. It is not fair to you and it is even less fair to the brewery. I have never seen someone add, "This was beer 15, so my palate may have been off, but..." to a review. There was a reason that the original version of Untappd had a time cap on how quickly people could check-in beers. Sure, part of it was technical, but my hope is that they wanted to prevent this use.

Point 3: The braggadocious attitude that the app encourages via social media
Point 2 transitions into Point 3 when all 40 festival check-ins are also shared on Twitter. Typically, this happens in rapid succession once you are able to get data service after you leave the fest or the crowd thins. Bonus points are when the festival is on Saturday and the stream of check-ins happens on Sunday morning. Not only does that action say, "I got so drunk yesterday that I couldn't operate one of the most simple apps that exists." it also says, "I feel the need to brag about all the beer I drank yesterday." To me, if you live in Indiana and are drinking Pliny the Elder (or Blind Pig) at Russian River in Santa Rosa (Or Toronado in San Francisco), that's awesome. Check it in. You made it to one of the beer meccas. But, if you had a sip of Dark Lord from your buddy's 2oz pour, don't check that in. That is annoying.

The main part of Point 3 that bothers me is the following scenario: You're taking it easy on a Friday night and scanning twitter when the same rare beer gets checked-in by a number of accounts. It is bad enough that I can visualize everyone on their phone racing to check-in, but the back-to-back check-in from a person using multiple accounts is just atrocious. Second, you're combining Point 1 and Point 2 in this post because you are taking time to tell people that are not present about the beer that you just drank 2-4 ounces of and you probably will never have again instead of enjoying the beer and discussing it.

In no way do I hold the guys from Untappd responsible for the use of their app. For two guys to get an app to 1 Million+ check-ins and 500,000+ users averaging 70,000 tweets per month in three years is incredible. I just think that the app is a vehicle for the degradation of craft beer which, to me, should be about sharing some beers with your friends and talking about what you like and dislike.


I agree on all of your points Jake.

I actually think that Untappd is a pretty cool idea to track the beers you've drank quickly and easily.  From what I've read from the two founders, I don't think they thought it would morph into what it is, but nothing ever does.  I just want to expand on one idea and add another of my own.

Untappd's slogan is drink socially.  I would contend the App is making people extremely unsocial in social situations. This is in complete agreement with Jake's points above.   I can't tell you how many times I've seen people with phone-in-hand as the barman hands them a pint of something or the number of people that are taking the time to create news beers at Beer Festivals on their phones.  It is a beer festival people!  Put down the fucking phone and talk to the people around you.  There is a reason that beer is the greatest social lubricant every invented.  It helps to encourage conversation, but all I tend to see is the warm glow of a lit up phone and the people behind it are staring into like a 14 year old boy about the time they first discovered internet porn.

The braggadocious attitude that Untappd drives in consumers is beyond me.  When you have people with multiple twitter handles that take the time to post Untappd check-ins under multiple screen names, and then tell Untappd to post it to Twitter and Facebook, that isn't about beer culture anymore. That is about trying to make yourself look cool while drinking beer, but honestly if you are doing all of that you have already lost. People have turned Untappd in a virtual pissing contest, but to be fair that isn't Untappd's fault, but the beer community that has sadly been shaping up over the last few years. All it takes to understand that people are using the platform to showoff is look at the beers that show up on Twitter and Facebook.  I think 75% of the time they will be beers that are not easy to get or one off beers.  You don't see many check-ins on other social media platforms that are house beers of brewpubs and breweries.  If you want to post it to social media that is great, but Untappd posts what you are drinking and is normally void of any opinion or any actual beneficial information to anyone. If you want to post to social media I personally think you should just compose your own tweet and add value to the conversation and include your thoughts or personal opinion about the beer.  That will drive at least a little bit of conversation I think.  Some people I follow on twitter are at least good to provide an opinion with each Untappd check-in, but the vast majority do not. As my favorite Beer Curmudgeon put it on twitter: "But how will I get self-validation via beer elitism and exclusion if I don't post across multiple social media platforms?" The Beer Curmudgeon always speaks the truth.

My biggest issue with Untappd is that I believe is encourages binge drinking and overall disrespecting what Craft beer is all about.  The founders of Untappd have repeatedly said they are not about binge drinking, but they load these badges into the system that for some reason people feel the need to obtain. Think about that for a second. People are drinking when they don't want to simply to get an electronic badge on the internet and then share it with their social media network.  I don't fully believe they are not promoting binge drinking though. They put badges into the system that you get for 5+ check-ins for beers with ABVs above 10%, a badge that encourages people to check into 5 beers in a single day, a badge that toasts you with "drinking your paycheck badge," one that encourages drinking 10 beers from the same brewer in 30 days, one that encourages three check-ins after 8PM, and an entire assortment of badges that can only be obtained on a single day by drinking a beer. Untappd has helped turn craft beer into a drinking contest, and that isn't what I think craft beer is all about.

I've had people say "Well, what about multiple check-ins at tastings?"  Let's not kid ourselves here: Tastings is another word for day binge drinking with like minded people that won't judge you for it.

TL:DR: Don't be a douche-bag with Untappd. It isn't a competition or pissing contest. If you post to social media add some value to the conversation, and please leave the check-ins far away from social situations.


Those are our thoughts. What are yours? Of course, not all of us at Hoosier Beer Geek are of the same mind. For a HBG counterpoint, read Jason's response to this post.

Random Beer Roundup: The Happy Thanksgiving & Hanukkah Edition

Hoosier Beer Calendar

Events are subject to change

The Brewers


From David at Triton Brewing: 

TRITON HOUSE BREWS
Fieldhouse Wheat, Four Barrel Brown, Magnificent Amber Ale, Deadeye Stout, Railsplitter India Pale Ale, Sin Bin Belgian Pale Ale, Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Nitro Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Gingerbread Brown, Hatchblower Pepper IPA, Headsplitter­­ Imperial IPA, Bourbon Barrel Railsplitter IPA, Nobody’s F’Alt Oktoberfest &Three Tine Triple

GUEST BREWS
Crispin Hard Cider, Country Boy Brewing Right Good Wheat with Blackberries,  Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Moinette Belgian Blonde, New Belgium Yuzu (Lips of Faith Series), Widmer’s Omission Lager and Widmer’s Omission Pale Ale

TRITON BREWING EVENTS 

Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 28, Triton Brewing Company will be closed! Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, December 18, 5-9pm, #Clustertruck at Triton

Thursday, December 19, 5pm, Midnight Rail Black IPA Tapping with KG’s Slider Station

From Chris at RAM Restaurant & Brewery:

Ghost King IPA

Don't forget to look for the highly anticipated return of Ghost King IPA!  The new batch will hit the taps downtown this Friday, and it will be tapped in Fishers next Tuesday just in time to pickup a growler for your Thanksgiving festivities!

On Tap Now

Barrel-aged Olaf, Jr. the Bock:  Olaf, Jr. has been resting comfortably in a W.H. Harrison oak bourbon barrel for 9 months, and he's ready to give your taste buds a ride with rich flavors of raisin and plum backed by oak, coconut, and a touch of chocolate from the barrel.

 Pie'd Piper Pumpkin Ale

 S'no Angel Weizenbock: This year's Weizenbock is shaping up to be a special treat with rich  flavors of dates and subtle chocolate alongside the delicate banana and clove notes contributed  by our Bavarian yeast strain. 

From Ray at Indiana City Brewing: 

Taproom Draft List:
Mimi's Tabernacle, Breakfast Stout
Harvest Gold, Wet-Hopped American Wheat
Shadow Boxer, Oatmeal Stout
Yacht Rock, Belgian Wit
Beyond the Pale, American Pale Ale

Events this Week:
Kate Lamont L I V E @ I C B w/ Devon Ashley and Mike Graves 

Saturday, 11/23/13 @ 9pm

The taproom will host musician Kate Lamont on Saturday, November 23rd along with Devon Ashley and Mike Graves. + opening & closing sets by DJ Dicky Foxxx $10 cover at the door starting at 9PM. Performance starts at 10PM.

From Matt at Cutters Brewing:

Cutters will be taking over the taps at Bazbeaux Pizza on Mass Ave beginning at 3 pm Friday, November 22. A special pin of Bacon Maple Empire Imperial Stout will be tapped at 4 pm.

We'll also be hosting a tap takeover at End of the Line Public House in Fountain Square on Wednesday, November 27. Five beers will be on tap including the Cutters/Union Brewing collaboration, Rye on the Scarecrow 2xRIPA. You can see the full beer and dinner menu here:

http://imgur.com/RdpG9ug

Lastly, our brewery will be open as usual for samples and carryout sales from 1 pm until 5 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Lost River Blonde, Monon Wheat, Half Court IPA, Floyd's Folly Scottish, Empire Imperial Stout, Pumpkin Porter, General Brown's Sour Brown, Pentagon Porter, and Vanilla Bean Empire are all on tap this weekend. We also have a limited number of Bourbon Barrel Aged Empire 22oz bombers still available at the brewery.

From Bob at Flat12:

With Black Friday, Lacto-Matic Milk Stout in bottles, 12 Beers/12 Chefs and Indy Monthly's Best of Indy happening in the next few weeks, there's plenty of fun to go around. Hope you can join us.

Events:

11/23/2013 TurkeyFest 2013 at Sullivan Hardware 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

11/23/2013 Cranksgiving 9:30 am - 12:45 pm

11/27/2013 Thanksgiving Beer - Special 'Eve' Hours 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

11/29/2013 Black Friday at Flat 12 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm

12/05/2013 - 12/22/2013 The Flat 12 Beers of Christmas 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

12/05/2013 Reel to Reel, Flat 12 hosting monthly local film night 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

12/06/2013 Mike Altman - December Art Show 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm

12/07/2013 12 South Winter Warmer (TN) 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

12/14/2013 12 Chefs at City Market 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

12/14/2013 Heorot Pub & Draught House - 12/14/13 12 + 2 8:00 pm

Flat 12 Anniversary #3. 11-8pm, 1/4/2013

BEERS

Next special tapping: Glazed Ham Porter (Sullivan's Turkeyfest 11/23. Brewery Taproom 12/5)

From Ryan at Thr3e Wise Men Brewery: 

We have just released our Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Ale! This is a very limited release so make sure to stop in very soon to have some. You can get a 10oz pour for $5.50!

Here are the other beers that we are pouring at Thr3e Wise Men:
· Snow Bunny Blonde
· Two Lucys Blackberry Wheat
· Bulldog Brown
· Hubbard & Cravens Porter
· Rocky Ripple Pale Ale
· Golden Zoe IPA
· Centennial Martyr Double IPA
· Seasonal: Breaking Barn Milk Stout
· Seasonal: Hot For Teacher Ms. Doppelbock
· Limited Release: Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Ale
· Next Up: Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale will be released on Tuesday December 3rd.

Our list of great establishments pouring our beer keeps growing. You can find a full list of locations on our website.

Are you a bar/restaurant owner and interested in Thr3e Wise Men Beer? Let us know and we will come speak with you about our great list of beers and support that we can offer.

From the Oaken Barrel Brewing Company:

APPLE BUZZ IS GONE!
Our most popular beer, the Apple Buzz is gone. We like to thank all of
our regulars who are crazy about the Apple Buzz and came out to support
our best selling seasonal beer. We also like to thank the Adrian’s
Orchard for supplying us with the best Apple Cider, and the Greenwood’s
Hool’s your Honey for the great local honey.

Oaken Barrel will be closed for Thanksgiving. We will be doing our
Thursday’s $5 growler refill specials on the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving. Stock up on Oaken Barrel beers for the Turkey Day!

From Beth at Sun King Brewing:

Upcoming SKB Tasting Room Releases:

Moonlight Serenade – Oatmeal Stout
Malus π
Chaka
Sink the Clipper
BBL Aged Timmie will be released in 2-packs – more information coming soon!
Contest/Community Help:

We will be starting our Save Your Tabs Collection Holiday Challenge for Ronald McDonald on November 13th and it will run until January 11th. Updates soon on the drop off date at the brewery and all of the prizes you can get for collecting.

Bars, Restaurants, Carryout, & Distributors

From Eric at Zink Distributing:

Goose Island is holding Black Friday release events for Bourbon County Brand Stout and all of its variations. Sara Cleary from Goose Island will be in town to kick off these events and pour samples of their vintage series. She’ll start the day at Kahn’s on Keystone at 9:00am before stopping in at Big Red Liquors on Broad Ripple Ave. at 1:00pm. After that it’s time to kick off the draft parties with Union Jack’s in Broad Ripple and Shoefly Public House in Fall Creek Place.
Bourbon County Brand Stout will also be available at most of your favorite craft friendly liquor stores. Be sure to call ahead to plan your day. In addition to the BCBS family, Goose Island is releasing their latest series of sour beers, Juliet, Halia, Gillian, and Lolita. These beers, known as the “Four Sisters,” are extremely limited. The only advice I can give is happy hunting!
Our friends at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. in St. Louis are producing wonderful beers. Indianapolis is the only market outside of Missouri to sell Urban Chestnut. Right now we’re featuring their 8 bottle sampler pack. Each one has four different styles with two 16.9 oz. bottles of each style. This round includes:

 Zwickel: A classic German Lager that’s as delicious as it is crisp and thirst quenching.

Hopfen: A Bavarian Style IPA. They use German/European ingredients to make a delicious American Style IPA.

Pierre’s Wit: Urban Chestnut’s take on the classic Belgian Wit. Brewed with locally sourced wheat, this beer pays homage to its namesake, Pierre Celis, the man who revived the modern style known as Belgian Wit.

Winged Nut: A “nutty” beer through and through, it starts with a simple malt base then adds chestnuts before finishing off with a Bavarian Weissbier yeast strain. 

What does this combination of 4 beers mean to you? It means that you’ve got a one-stop package with something for everyone at your Thanksgiving festivities. Where can you find this sampler pack? Find it at one of these locations with more locations coming soon:

Marsh (320 N New Jersey St.)
Marsh (5830 W 86th St.)
Marsh (2350 Broad Ripple Ave.)
Marsh (5151 E 82nd St.)
Kahn’s Fine Wines & Spirits (All 3 Locations)

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

From Scott at Best Beers:

Limited quantities of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Bourbon County Coffee Stout, and Bourbon County Barelywine will be available in Indiana on Black Friday, November 29th.

From Mike at Yogi's:

 Visit www.yogis.com and check out our updated draft list on the homepage

From Ryan at Scotty's Brewhouse:

Come to Scotty’s on Sunday to watch your favorite NFL team play and drink a Thr3e Wise Men pint! All Thr3e Wise Men beers are only $2.50 a pint on Sunday.

Scotty’s Brewhouse Muncie is now pouring Kona Brewing Pipeline Porter! Come by on Thursday and get a pint for only $2.50!

From Chelsey at Union Jack Pub - Broad Ripple:

Friday, November 29: BLACK OUT Black Friday!
We will tap 10+ dark brews and have them on as long as they last. The lineup is impressive (and it’s growing!) … we’re most excited about Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

Founder’s Breakfast Stout
Dark Horse Too Cream Stout
New Holland Dragon’s Milk
Brewery Ommegang Take The Black
Upland Teddy Bear Kisses
Bell’s Expedition Stout
Bell’s java Stout
Oskar Blue’s Ten Fidy
Kona Pipeline Porter
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

We always have an updated tap list on our homepage at www.unionjackpub.co so check it out for the latest!

Beer Events/Fundraisers

Tis' the Season To Drink Good Beer 

Our favorite all-Indiana beer bar, Tomlinson Tap Room is getting together with Circle City Soups to create a 4 beer 4 course pairing for us for $15. 

Join us Wednesday, December 11th from 6-8:30, for some good beer and good food. Let's raise a pint to celebrate the holidays!

I'm filled with holiday cheer!

Indy Beer News Panel: Quick Thoughts

Jake Wrote:

Last night (Nov 20th, 2013), I had the opportunity to talk as part of the first Indy Beer News "Indy Beer Talks" panel. Thankfully, Bill Jimmerson picked market saturation as the topic which was convenient since I recently researched the topic and wrote a post on it. I wanted to share a few quick thoughts on the experience.

1) The venue worked well. We were in the north end of the city market and there was plenty of room for people to hang out before and after. Tom Tap had a solid lineup going (Happy Anniversary today) which made it easier to calm some nerves. Aside from the brief interruption of some guys starting overnight construction work a little early, I thought the venue was great.

2) The panel was awesome. We got to hear from Clay Robinson, the Co-founder of Sun King, and Clay Robinson, the president of the Brewers of Indiana Guild. Jon Lang stepped in on the key issues and some of the strategies Triton has employed. Also, Chris Sikitch shared some insight on Sunday sales in the legislature and that his dad lives near Munster (Hello, new Three Floyds hook-up).

3) It is really hard to be on a panel and make eye contact with the audience. I found myself looking at the moderator, Bill, or at the table in front of me unless I was sharing part of a story with someone specific.

4) I'm glad I printed off the statistics that I wanted to share. I had them on my phone and made a Last-minute decision to print them in case something happened with my phone. It was easier to read off paper.

5) With a single exception, we had a respectful audience that was receptive. It was really cool to see the  a number of breweries that are in the planning stages and watch them nod with a couple of the points that were being made. But, seriously, don't heckle a panel of people that aren't really being that controversial.

I will update the post when Bill publishes the podcast, but I wanted to get some thoughts out based on the experience. Thanks to everyone that came out to support the panel and, especially Bill for inviting me to speak.

If you weren't able to attend, keep downloading Bill's "Indy Beer News" podcasts, published every Wednesday on iTunes, and stay tuned for the next one.

Why Do Brands "Skip" Indiana?

Jake Wrote:

Recent news that Deschutes will distribute to Ohio and Kentucky in 2014 conjured familiar emotions from a few people that I follow on twitter: "Do they not own a map?" "Why the hell does Kentucky get them and we (Indiana) don't!?" Green Flash, Crooked Stave, and Oskar Blues launching in Indiana during the past year, plus news that Dogfish Head will be back in the market in the near future, has given local drinkers a stronger sense of entitlement. There are a number of potential reasons for breweries to choose the states that they do (and don't). This post will explore four of the points that I keep in mind when asked why a brand might not come to Indy.

The first point that I often repeat when asked for my thoughts, is to remember that the market share for craft beer in Indiana is smaller than the national average. The last number I heard was ~3%. As a national business, if you tell me that the average is 6.5%, but the market is less than half that, it is a tough justification. Yes, we have seen some crazy growth in the past couple of years, but remember the larger picture.

The second piece is the time it takes to get into a new market. Take the Deschutes announcement as an example. They are announcing a 2014 distribution start three months in advance. I am sure they have been working with distributors for at least the twelve months before that press release. Let's assume it takes 12-14 months for a brewery to get into a new market, and then look at this Advertising Age article from June 2012 from a brewery owner's viewpoint. The Great Lakes region has the largest jump in Craft beer $ sales from 2011 to 2012 (21.1%), but we are still sixth of the eight regions in market share (8.0) and four other regions grew their share faster. If I, as the owner, only have one or two states, due to my production volume, that I can target, why would I pick the Great lakes region for 2013?

The third point is the available volume and expansion efforts of breweries. I will always go back to the first time that I watched Beer Wars, specifically the moment when Sam and Maraiah Calgione talk about all of the personal guarantees they have had to put on loans to expand production. Also, consider that New Glarus has put $38 Million  into the hilltop facility since mid-2008 and Surly just broke ground on a $20 Million facility. I'm not an accountant, but I am willing to bet a bottle of Raspberry Tart or Darkness that those two breweries don't have that amount of money in cash. All three of those breweries, plus Lagunitas, Oskar Blues, Sierra Nevada, and New Belgium, have made choices to try and keep pace with demand for their beer. It has to be a frustrating chase as they have the desire to get into new markets, but can't. Expansion costs money which lead to loans which lead to owing more money. At some point, it stops making sense to take on more debt.

I want to give an example of the amount of time it takes to add a new tank verses the volume impact adding that tank has in the market. It takes 4-6 months to get a new tank manufactured, delivered, and ready for production. A 60BBL Fermenter costs ~$30k. The brewery pays $15k (50%) up front to have the tank made, then waits 4-5 months, and then pays $15k when it is delivered. Once it is delivered, they have to run glycol to the tank, test it, and run acid washes through it to get it ready for production. Then the first batch has to actually ferment. So, now they are 6-ish months invested to get 100 1/2BBL kegs OR 12,000 16oz cans (3,000 four packs, 500 cases) into the market. If the brewery has four distributors and allocates those new cases equally, that is 125 cases to each distributor. Big Red Liquor alone has 49 stores in Indiana, which would mean an increase of 2-3 cases per store just for Big Red. But, there are also Crown Liquors and 21st Amendment stores that need beer. So, an increase of 1-2 cases at some key stores. So, even if a brewery sees an increase in demand and wants to meet that, they are 6-7 months from being able to make an impact of 1-2 cases at your store per month which means 6-12 people get a 4-pack they didn't get before.

For a brewery to enter a new market, they must either get ahead of demand or be willing to pull some of the beer currently allocated to other markets and allocate it to the new market. If you listened to the Indy Beer News Episode from the Oskar Blues launch, you heard one of the Oskar Blues reps talking about how crazy their growth has been and how hard it was to find the beer to send to Indiana. I have a feeling that the brands people are currently coveting for Indiana (Deschutes, Avery, Ballast Point) are in a very similar situation. Meaning, they are struggling to meet demand in current markets or have already allocated the beer for the next set of markets.

The fourth point I keep in mind is the working relationship with the brewery and distributor(s). I know a few of the local breweries that have signed with distributors spend a large amount of time riding with the distributor's sales reps to help them sell the product into the market. I also know that our Indianapolis area distributors are working as hard as they can to service the market. But, a brewery and a distributor are "business married", so vetting that new boyfriend/girlfriend is key and doesn't always result in a match.

Did you know that most craft breweries are responsible for shipping costs to their distributors? Could be another factor.

As a community, we should be very proud of the market that currently exists in Indianapolis. We support craft beer locally and nationally with passion and hard-earned dollars. My hope is that this post helps build an understanding on why it generally takes longer for Indy to get a number of brands than our neighbors.

Random Beer Roundup: The Beer People Are Good People Edition

Hoosier Beer Calendar

Events are subject to change

From the Brewers:

From Beth at Sun King Brewing:

Upcoming SKB Tasting Room Releases:

Moonlight Serenade – Oatmeal Stout
Malus π
Chaka
Sink the Clipper
BBL Aged Timmie will be released in 2-packs – more information coming soon!
Contest/Community Help:

We will be starting our Save Your Tabs Collection Holiday Challenge for Ronald McDonald on November 13th and it will run until January 11th. Updates soon on the drop off date at the brewery and all of the prizes you can get for collecting.

From Chris at RAM Restaurant & Brewery:

Hello All - We have two new beers that will be ready for you over the next two weeks. Come out and enjoy them with us.

S'no Angel Weizenbock

A wonderful new batch of our winter seasonal, S'no Angel, is "chugging" along in the fermenter.  This year's Weizenbock is shaping up to be a special treat with rich flavors of dates and subtle chocolate alongside the delicate banana and clove notes contributed by our Bavarian yeast strain.  This tasty libation will be available for your enjoyment at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday, 11/20.  Join the brewers at the downtown Indy RAM location for the official tapping.

Ghost King IPA

We've decided to pull an old favorite out of the recipe vault.  Ghost King IPA has been one of our most requested seasonal releases here at the Indianapolis RAM, and we're pleased to be bringing it back for a glorious and triumphant return!  Its light malt body allows the citrus dry-hop flavors to shine, making it a wonderfully drinkable and refreshing India Pale Ale!  Look for Ghost King to hit the taps in the next couple of weeks.

On Tap Now

Pie'd Piper Pumpkin Ale 

Double Down 2xIPA (almost gone)

From David at Triton Brewing: 

TRITON HOUSE BREWS
Fieldhouse Wheat, Four Barrel Brown, Magnificent Amber Ale, Deadeye Stout, Railsplitter India Pale Ale, Sin Bin Belgian Pale Ale, 500 Monks Belgian Strong Ale, Barrel Aged Sour Bin Belgian Pale, Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Gingerbread Brown, Headsplitter­­ Imperial IPA, Bourbon Barrel Railsplitter IPA & Nobody’s F’Alt Oktoberfest

GUEST BREWS
Crispin Hard Cider, Founder’s Double Trouble, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Moinette Belgian Blonde, New Belgium Yuzu (Lips of Faith Series), Widmer’s Omission Lager and Widmer’s Omission Pale Ale


TRITON BREWING EVENTS 

Triton Brewing Company Beer is now available in Central & Southern Illinois! Look for us in Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Champagne-Urbana and more!

Wednesday, November 20, 5-9pm #Clustertruck! Some of your favorite trucks congregating at Triton!

Thursday, November 21, 5pm, Three Tine Triple Tapping with KG’s Slider Station! This traditional, Belgian-Style Triple is an 11.2% abv, 25 ibu ale. Big, malty & warming!

Indy Beer Talks-Presented by Indy Beer News, Wednesday, November 20th, 7:30 PM at Tomlinson Tap Room (Indianapolis’ City Market). It's no surprise that Indy's craft beer scene is exploding and it's hard to keep up with the newest, best and brightest of beer trends. Join Indy Beer News for the first in a series of panel discussions called Indy Beer Talks, where we'll tackle the big issues of Indy's craft beer scene. For our first discussion, we'll welcome the following panel to discuss the rampant industry growth, the question of saturation, and the increasing competition for tap handles. Clay Robinson - Sun King Brewing, Jon Lang - Triton Brewing Company, Chris Sikich - Indy Star and Jake Koeneman - Hoosier Beer Geeks.

Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 28, Triton Brewing Company will be closed! Happy Thanksgiving!

From Matt at Cutters Brewing:

Cutters Brewing is doing a tap takeover at Bazbeaux Pizza on Mass Ave, Friday, November 22. Starting at 3pm, Floyd's Folly Scottish Ale, Monon Wheat, General Brown Sour Brown Ale, and the new collaboration beer with Union Brewing Company Rye on the Scarecrow Double Rye IPA will be on tap for the first time outside the breweries. In addition to those, a brand new version of our Empire Russian Imperial Stout will be debuted. We infused bacon and maple syrup into our stout which is already big and sweet, making a truly unique and interesting combination.

Save the date - Tap Takeover at End of the Line on November 27. More details to come!

From Bob at Flat12:

We've got an exciting list of events at Flat 12 including several tappings, BlackFriday and 12 Beers of Christmas. Hope you have a great holiday season and that I see you soon.
Events:

11/16/2013
FoBaB
1:00 pm - 10:00 pm

11/18/2013
Matt the Miller's Tavern - Beer Dinner
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

11/20/2013
Girls' Pint Out with Flat 12 and Sarah Fisher at Lino's
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

11/23/2013
TurkeyFest 2013 at Sullivan Hardware
9:00 am - 3:00 pm

11/27/2013
Thanksgiving Beer - Special 'Eve' Hours
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

11/29/2013
Black Friday at Flat 12
12:00 pm - 8:00 pm

12/05/2013 - 12/22/2013
The Flat 12 Beers of Christmas
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

12/05/2013
Reel to Reel, Flat 12 hosting monthly local film night
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

12/06/2013
Mike Altman - December Art Show
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm

12/14/2013
12 Chefs at City Market
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm


In The Taproom

Fresh Mosaic Hop ’13
Penrod 22 – A Kolsch-style Ale
Red Oat-tober
Moustache Ride Red (Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Amber)
Walkabout Pale Ale
Flat Jack Pumpkin Ale
Half Cycle IPA
Upside Down Blonde
Hello My Name is Amber Ale
Pogue’s Run Porter

 At Bars, Restaurants, & Carryout: 

From Shannon at the Aristocrat Pub in Broad Ripple:

Schlafly Beer Dinner upstairs in the Oxford Room at the Aristocrat Pub
Friday November 15th 6:30pm
5212 N College Avenue Indianapolis IN 46220
(317) 283-7388

8 Schlafly Beers
(Biere de Garde, Kolsch, Dry Hopped APA, Tasmanian IPA, Bourbon Barrell Aged Imperial Stout, Tripel,Quadrupel)
7 Food Pairings
$30 per person in advance
$35 per person day of 

From Mike at Yogi's:

http://www.yogis.com/index.php/about/blog/beer-blog

Beer Events/Fundraisers:

Movember Bar Crawl

The Mo Bros of Indianapolis will be raising money for men’s health and celebrating the halfway mark of their hirsute journey on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the inaugural Movember Indy Bar Crawl. Beginning and ending at Tomlinson Tap Room, the bar crawl will also include stops at Mass Ave Pub, Bazbeaux, and more. With a glass of legendary brewed beer at each stop, participants will also receive Movember merchandise, a raffle ticket, and a good time.

To register, all you have to do is donate $25 to Movember. Advance sign-ups will be entered to win a VIP experience, courtesy of Sun King Brewery and The Handlebar Indy.

Indy Beer Talks

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EST)
Tomlinson Tap Room: 222 E Market St, Indianapolis, IN 46204

It's no surprise that Indy's craft beer scene is exploding and it's hard to keep up with the newest, best and brightest of beer trends. Join Indy Beer News for the first in a series of panel discussions calledIndy Beer Talks, where we'll tackle the big issues of Indy's craft beer scene. For our first discussion, we'll welcome the following panel to discuss the rampant industry growth, the question of saturation, and the increasing competition for tap handles. Featuring:
Clay Robinson - Sun King Brewing
Jon Lang - Triton Brewing Company
Chris Sikich - Indy Star
Jake Koeneman - Hoosier Beer Geeks

Only a few spots left - register here 

A Presentation of Indy Beer News and

Girls' Pint Out Events 

Race fans, start your engines! 

Join us on November 20th at Lino's Coffee located in the Dallara IndyCar Factory!


We'll start our engines at 5 pm with a special beer tapping from our friends at Flat12 Bierwerks.

At 5:30, we'll kick things into high gear as Sarah Fisher joins us! Sarah is the youngest woman to qualify for the Indy 500. After compiling the most Indianapolis 500 starts of any woman in history, in 2008, Sarah became a team owner in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Her team scored its first victory in October 2011 with driver Ed Carpenter, and Sarah became the first female team owner to win a race in the IZOD IndyCar Series. In 2012 Fisher’s race team, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, is competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series with rookie driver Josef Newgarden.

A special beer tapping PLUS a spectacular local Indy lady? This night is sure to be a win.

See you in Speedway!

Tis' the Season To Drink Good Beer 

Our favorite all-Indiana beer bar, Tomlinson Tap Room is getting together with Circle City Soups to create a 4 beer 4 course pairing for us for $15. 

Join us Wednesday, December 11th from 6-8:30, for some good beer and good food. Let's raise a pint to celebrate the holidays!

I'm filled with holiday cheer!

November HBG Pint Night | Thursday, November 21, 7pm, La Margarita

We've finally scheduled November's Hoosier Beer Geek Pint Night...

Join us at La Margarita in Fountain Square (Murphy Arts Center, 1043 Virginia Ave., Suite 1, 317.384.1457) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 21. The featured beer will be Widmer Brothers' Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout '13. As described by the brewery:

An extremely rich and complex beer, the addition of raspberries during the fermentation process results in an almost purplish opaque color with a beautiful brown head. Warm chocolate and roasty notes compliment the hop bitterness.

Beer specs:

IBUs: 70
ABV: 9.3%
Malts: Pale, Roast Barley, Caramel 60L, Midnight Wheat, Chocolate Malt
Hops: Alchemy, Willamette, Cascade

The following beers will also be on tap:

Three Floyds Zombie Dust (American Pale Ale)
Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail (Imperial IPA)
Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break Natale (Pretty Please With A Cherry On Top) (Imperial Stout)
Stillwater Folklore (Belgian Strong Ale)
Green Flash Grand Cru '12 (Belgian Strong Ale)

Come on out and join us for some beer designed to keep the autumn chill from setting in.

Scenes from Tailgate for Nothing Nein (9) . . . and a beer cocktail recipe

On Saturday at Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot, the ninth and best-attended Tailgate for Nothing took place. A time to share beer. A time to share food. A time to promote the spirit of camaraderie through the love of craft beer.

"Deutschland!" was the theme. That theme was taken quite seriously by TFN9 attendees. As one might expect, there was sausage galore. And pretzels. And lederhosen. And of course, plenty of bier.

Despite a windy beginning, the weather ended up being beautiful. Old friends came, and new friends were made. Folks came in from Ohio. People who had no idea about the event stumbled on to it and found themselves having a great time. The ladies of Girls Pint Out came. The gentlemen brewers from Balls Brewing and M.O.N.K. brought their delicious homebrewed wonders. And our friend Josh Hambright of Flat12 Bierwerks came up on the spot with an amazing beer cocktail recipe that we'll call "Deesko Pants Flanders Radler":

3 parts Stiegl Grapefruit Radler
1 part Berliner Weisse (in this case, Three Floyds Deesko!)
1 part Flanders red ale (in this case, The Bruery Oude Tart)

All in all, it was an outstanding day.

Now for the thank you's--

Our enduring gratitude goes out to the folks at Sun King for allowing us to hold TFN yet again at their place. We've done this nine times now and hope that we'll be able to continue the tradition next spring with our tenth TFN.

We also extend a hearty thanks to everyone who attended TFN9. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and seeing new ones as well. We hope you enjoyed the experience.

Now for the photo dump. Enjoy the scenes from the day.