KOTBR #76 - Do This In Memory of Jim

The original plans for Roundtable #76 - a Fountain Square pubcrawl - were set in motion by none other than our beloved Jim:

Here are my thoughts--

6:30ish - Dinner and beer @ Siam Square.

Then to the Brass Ring (which, when I last checked, had Two Hearted on tap and some other craft stuff in bottles) and then a nightcap at Deano's. Sound okay? Feel free to disagree/make other suggestions.

--Jim

It sounds like a fine idea to us, so we ran with it. And everything was going smoothly until the day before the event:

My head is so full of snot from this cold that I'm going to bail on the roundtable this evening. I can neither smell nor taste at this point. Sorry all.

--Jim

Obviously, we were heartbroken. But instead of canceling the crawl, we soldiered on, keeping Jim in our hearts. And as we worked our way through the night, it almost felt as though Jim were with us the whole way. We also learned that absence really does make the heart grow fonder. It was with these stirring feeling in our hearts that we decided that KOTBR #76 would be a tribute to Jim.

* * * * *
KOTBR Jim was born a very long time ago somewhere in Indiana. Jim was a bright student, and quickly made his way through all levels of school, eventually earning his law degree. He had a stellar record in the courtroom, which helped pave his way to a career as a professor of law at Ivy Tech.


KOTBR Jim - Ewell vs. Robinson, 1812.
Much like Jim, Avery White Rascal appears cloudy, light yellow and banana-y looking. It has a scent of oranges, peaches, and a citrus grove reminding me of the air freshener that Jim likes to use in his classroom at Ivy Tech. Like the beers Jim loves, Avery White Rascal is fizzier than expected but just a hint of creaminess on the finish. This beer is a great representation of one of Jim's favorite styles, the Belgian White Ale brewed with Spices. Much like the doughy bread that Jim likes to eat during his favorite Jewish holiday season, Christmas, it is quite yeasty and highly spiced. It's an amazingly drinkable for Avery and I give it 3.8 mugs. A great accompaniment to my Red Curry with Tofu.



Avery White Rascal
Rod: 3.75 Mugs | Jess: 3.8 Mugs | Chris: 3.8 Mugs | Gina: 2.95 Mugs | Mike: 2.99 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.75 Mugs

* * * * *
Although Jim loved lawyering, he felt that work alone was no way to lead a fulfilling life. With that in mind, he began the next step in his life by becoming a devout follower of Jewishness.


KOTBR Jim - Jewish Place, 1971.
Our second stop of the evening was at the Brass Ring bar to review Bell’s Two Hearted Ale. When Jim is not celebrating his Jewishness, he loves to stop in this place because it reminds him of the time he spent as a swing dancer back in the 50’s. And he loves Two Hearted because its pine and citrus aromas are reminiscent of the time he spent as a lumberjack in the Cascade Mountains. Both of these activities were a solid foundation for Jim’s time with Manchester United. 4.25 Mugs.


Bell's Two Hearted
Chris: 5.0 Mugs | Gina: 4.25 Mugs | Rodney: 4.25 Mugs | Jess: 4.6 Mugs | Mike: 3.75 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 4.38 Mugs

* * * * *
Of course no man lives a life of servitude alone, and Jim found that watching football was a suitable escape. In 2008, his acts of devotion came to the attention of Manchester United Football Club. He joined his beloved Reds for their team photo, and served as an inspiration to the club as they earned their record 11th Premiership title.


KOTBR Jim - Manchester United, 2008.
When we arrived at our final destination for the night, we had three beers to choose from - Bell's Oberon, Spaten Lager and Franziskaner Hefe Weiss. Now those of you who don't know Jim might be interested to learn that he was big into punk music in the 80s. Punk is the American form of German Synthpop (think Dieter on Sprockets) and it's Jim's favorite music. On top of that, Jim also had an opportunity to play for his favorite German football team, Manchester United. For these two reasons, I was incredibly excited to see two German beers on tap at Deano's. I went with the summery Frankziskaner Hefe Weiss, which is brewed by Spaten as well. This beer smells like a fresh baked banana cream pie with slight hints of acetone. The mouthfeel is slightly heavy for a German Hefe Weiss. Flavors of banana chips, cream, simple syrup, cinnamon and orange all round out this classic, yeasty Hefe Weiss. Come to think of it, I don't even know if Jim likes bananas, so he might not like this. But I do know that he loves German Synthpop and German football, and that's good enough for me. This is a great summer beer and I give it 4.20 mugs.



Franziskaner Weissbier
Mike: 3.64 Mugs | Gina: 3.90 Mugs | Jess: 3.90 Mugs | Rodney: 4.20 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.93 Mugs

* * * * *
Our palates satisfied, and our hearts filled with love, we bid each other adieu. We went home with Jim in our minds, knowing that sometimes memories are almost as good as the real thing.

Here's to you Jim - Our favorite law-professing, Jewishness-studying, swing-dancing, cascade-mountain-lumberjacking, German-football-and-dance-music-enjoying Knight of the Beer Roundtable. You're a five mugger in our hearts.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Ed Wank geeks up the classic Black and Tan

With St. Patrick's Day quickly approaching (and the Beer Geek's St. Patrick's Day at Deano's Vino approaching even more quickly), it seemed like a good time to look at other traditions commonly associated with St. Patrick's Day and how we can geek them up a bit. Guest blogger Ed Wank takes a look at how a beer geek can get their black & tan on...

Greetings, fellow Beer Geeks! Wank here from ‘The Wank & O’Brien Show’, mornings on 97.1 HANK-FM. Listeners of the show or readers of the sadly-now-defunct ‘Indy Men’s Magazine’ might’ve noticed that I’m a micro/craft/import beer geek myself, hence my sudden appearance on the site as a guest blogger.

With Saint Paddy’s day mere moments away, and as if you NEEDED another excuse to quaff a pint, might I suggest a spin on the classic Black & Tan? The basic model is, for my money, one of the finest inventions ever to come out of, er, Britain. It’s not an Irish delicacy, although I’d consider it something of a sacrilege to float any other dark beer besides Guinness on top of a pale or bitter draw.

The name itself has been applied to coonhounds and Irish paramilitary troops from the early part of the 20th century, but most Yanks apply the moniker to a draught of Harp or Bass Ale with Ireland’s most famous stout drizzled atop to cascade gently down into the paler brew. Physics and appearance are not congruous in the Black and Tan – dark stout is, of course, in reality less dense that the lighter draw that lies beneath, hence the division of color in the middle of the pint.

For years I’d ordered Bass on the bottom and Guinness on top, since the Ale gave my personal palate a more satisfying finish than Harp. A few months back on a winter night at Binkley’s, a new inspiration suddenly struck. My tastebuds couldn’t make up their minds between a creamy Guinness or a snappy, Cascade-crisp Sierra Nevada. So I ordered a Sierra and Guinness Black and Tan.

The barmaid’s reaction belied the fact that I’d not been the first to propose this blend. The result was decent, but still a little thin on the finish. My second order put a Bell’s Two Hearted Ale in the lower half of the glass. Boom! This one ranked a ten on a scale of one through five. Further experimentations have led me to drop Three Floyd’s Alpha Kings (thank, you Munster, Indiana!) and Delaware’s Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA below the most famous of the Emerald Isles, both equally tasty experiments.

The results of layering the world’s most famous stout over any of these burly US micro-ales is downright symphonic: the gentle, almost mocha-tinged notes of the stout giving way to a crescendo of carbonation, hops, bitterness and body. Of all the combinations, though, the most satisfying had to be my second order: Kalamazoo’s Two Hearted with Vitamin G drizzled on top. My requested 60-40 mix of Michigan to Ireland made for the perfect Americanization of a drink from across the pond. Good medicine to steel oneself against an onslaught of snakes. Cheers!

There are going to be a lot of drunk people on NYE . . .

After talking with Nick at Deano's yesterday, I can tell you the draft line-up for our New Year's Eve Party - and I think a lot of you will be interested.

In Keg #1, we have the HBG special request - Three Floyd's Alpha Klaus.

In Keg #2, we will have something from Larry Bell - either Two-Hearted or Hopslam.

In Keg #3, direct from Belgium, Delirium Tremens.

Deano's will be serving dinner, too, so come eat some grub and get drunk with us. Or go eat elsewhere, then come get drunk with us. Chef Jody is planning to have some late-night sobering-up food out for consumption, too. They're also more than happy to call you a cab.