Hoosier Beer Geek: A Beer Blog for Indiana, from Indianapolis

would love to make it....just not gonna happen...b...

2012-05-30T18:55:03.898-04:00

would love to make it....just not gonna happen...bummer!!

Well snap. Can't make it this year. I'll b...

2012-05-30T18:15:21.421-04:00

Well snap. Can't make it this year. I'll be in Cleveland.

The numbers are in barrels.

2012-05-29T09:39:41.239-04:00

The numbers are in barrels.

Fountain Square sold very little beer in 2011. The...

2012-05-29T09:39:06.968-04:00

Fountain Square sold very little beer in 2011. The report that was faxed over to me had them listed in a table for 2011 - below breweries that did 10 bbls. I don't have the number because the edge of that page of the fax was cut off in transmission.

Hmm, Fountain Square Brewery sold beer in 2011 and...

2012-05-27T23:31:36.008-04:00

Hmm, Fountain Square Brewery sold beer in 2011 and isn't on the list...

I am pretty sure it is barrels.

2012-05-27T15:54:20.368-04:00

I am pretty sure it is barrels.

Maybe it's a dumb question given the context, ...

2012-05-27T10:25:01.010-04:00

Maybe it's a dumb question given the context, but what do the 2010 & 2011 columns represent? Barrels? Gallons? Did I miss something?

Room for growth indeed. Indiana sold somewhere aro...

2012-05-25T16:34:49.218-04:00

Room for growth indeed. Indiana sold somewhere around 65 million cases of beer in 2011. Indiana brewers produced about 942,276 cases based on these numbers. Which means that Indiana brewers produced about 1.5% of the beer consumed in Indiana - not accounting for how much Indiana beer was shipped out of state.

In any case, it's a great time to be an Indiana beer drinker!

Brad Gates Catering is a little slice of heaven.

2012-05-24T17:02:17.762-04:00

Brad Gates Catering is a little slice of heaven.

I think some of these "rare" beers do li...

2012-05-24T01:27:54.697-04:00

I think some of these "rare" beers do live up to the hype. Does that mean I will chase a truck and try to grab ten bottles? Absolutely not. Will I occasionally purchase a $40 Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek and enjoy it? Absolutely. I do not believe such aspects of the industry degrade beer culture at all. I have been a Dark Lord tastings in which the "beer of honor" was no where near the best beers tasted. That was not necessarily the point though, it was a fun tasting. I am also a fan of the pomp and circumstance associated with release parties like Hunahpu's Day. I do not like the opportunistic people who purchase tickets and scalp them, but believe that is the individual who chose to try and make a profit off such things, fault not the beers fault. Collecting things is fun, within reason. Luckily, there are enough great beers that are not rare that quality drinking has to only be focused on the special releases. I do believe the obsession and emotions associated with hunting down rare beers can be detrimental if left unchecked but do not think the rare beer seeker is inherently evil or destroying beer culture.I think the two ends of the spectrum can be complementary. Ultimately, drinking beer, whatever kind of beer, should be fun and if chasing rare beers becomes a hassle or unsustainable, there are hundreds of excellent, less expensive and common choices in nearly any US city.

I think it's a fair point to make, but one tha...

2012-05-23T20:50:07.161-04:00

I think it's a fair point to make, but one that is almost always made by someone who has already reached this point by trying lots of expensive and/or rare beers already.

Craft beer is an exploratory endeavor. Drinkers are going to naturally seek out the next best thing until they reach this tipping point where the effort to find the next big thing is not worth the payout.

It's easy for those of us who have already reached this point to try to convince those that haven't to just give up the chase but I think it's in vain. It's a realization that every drinker must come to on his/her own.

I have felt this way for a while now, but it was t...

2012-05-23T20:29:10.097-04:00

I have felt this way for a while now, but it was the hype over this years Darklord day that really brought it to the fore front for me. Tickets were selling for $400 and more on Ebay. This is insane. I have kegs of beer I made myself for a fraction of that price that I would rather drink any day.

I've been touting this position for a while no...

2012-05-23T19:40:11.015-04:00

I've been touting this position for a while now, and I'm not changing my mind any time soon. Screw these $20-40 bottles, limited releases, waiting lists, 1 bottle limits, truck chasers, etc. I'd much rather give money to home-grown businesses who are producing killer products. If I could reliably get Upland Lambics like the good old days, I wouldn't need anything from out of state.

I wholeheartedly agree. I can think of at least 8...

2012-05-23T18:10:29.660-04:00

I wholeheartedly agree. I can think of at least 8 active craft brewers within 15 miles of the circle that have excellent products. The availability of good, fresh, local beers in Indy right now is a blessing. Why spend big bucks searching for the most obscure quaff when I can fill a growler for $5 or $10? I'm enjoying a nice Moundbuilder IPA for $3.50 with my dinner at La Margerita right now. Yum!

Down with competitive drinking! Great article.

2012-05-23T17:18:52.197-04:00

Down with competitive drinking! Great article.

If I wasn't already familiar with their brandi...

2012-05-17T16:28:36.922-04:00

If I wasn't already familiar with their branding I would like the artwork, but as others have said these just don't fit their current branding. Current stuff brings racing to mind and this doesn't reflect that at all. The other problem is that there's a lot going on here and the main points (brewery and the style) gets lost in all the other unessential text.

sad to report no 'hop anonymous' available...

2012-05-15T13:43:29.171-04:00

sad to report no 'hop anonymous' available at Ram in Fishers (I went with a growler fill of Maibock instead)... fyi

2012-05-15T05:26:32.615-04:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Another post-script-- I've had people ask me ...

2012-05-10T20:52:24.231-04:00

Another post-script--

I've had people ask me why I didn't write about New Albanian or BBC. The reason is that we were in Louisville for only 2 days, so there was only so much time to get around the city. Therefore, we didn't have time to visit either brewery. Besides, we've written about both breweries on this blog before. That being said, we'll be visiting both places on our next visit to Louisville, so perhaps there's a blog post in that.

Love it, Jim! I'd take that coffee beer chall...

2012-05-09T15:14:41.039-04:00

Love it, Jim! I'd take that coffee beer challenge any day!

Didn't have time to make it over to Sergio'...

2012-05-09T14:17:57.175-04:00

Didn't have time to make it over to Sergio's. That's on the agenda for the next trip, which will be this summer.

Great post, but I'm a little surprised at the ...

2012-05-09T13:56:17.821-04:00

Great post, but I'm a little surprised at the zero references to Sergio's World Beers.. http://sergiosworldbeers.com/

"Maybe he should focus on his own beers."...

2012-05-09T07:16:09.843-04:00

"Maybe he should focus on his own beers."

Obviously, Internet comments do not always reflect intended subtlety and intonation. Choosing my words with more care: I'm refraining from interpreting this comment as snarky, as though suggesting that my focus somehow does not fall on my own beers.

Rest assured it does. Thank you for bringing this problem to our attention, although we've already spent quite a lot of time investigating what appears to be an infuriatingly random issue, sparing neither brewing process nor bottling technique, and neither bottling machine nor the bottles themselves.

As noted, albeit belatedly, there are reasons apart from infection and carbonation that can prompt this unwelcome phenomenon. Happily, we have been able to rule out Al Qaeda as the source.

Cheers.

Nice! I won't be getting beer that I can't...

2012-05-08T16:25:00.207-04:00

Nice! I won't be getting beer that I can't pronounce, or even come close in butchering, the name though...never know what the hell I might end up drinking if I try. Hell of a job Sun King! And congrats to the other Indiana brewers!

Actually it was part of there bottling machine was...

2012-05-08T13:18:04.268-04:00

Actually it was part of there bottling machine was not clean. Over carbonation is not the only reason for a bottle to explode. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Can_beer_bottles_explode%3F