B+ART @ Big Car Gallery | Friday, September 19, 8:00 p.m.

Join us at Big Car Gallery in Fountain Square this Friday night at 8:00 p.m. for this month's edition of Beer + Art, or "B+ART" as we like to call it. As for the Beer part of this equation, we'll have some Oktoberfest style beer available for free tasting (courtesy of World Class Beverages). And as for the Art part of the equation, Big Car will be showing Lynch (One), a documentary about iconoclastic film director David Lynch. Dancing dwarves may be in attendance.

Because the beer never stops flowing at Hoosier Beer Geek

Our next B+ART at BIG CAR Gallery is coming up this Friday, August 15th at 8pm. An international selection of brews will be offered for sampling in honor of the ongoing 29th modern Olympics. You will see beers representing the nations of Canada, England, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Greece, and India.

We will discuss the beers and their countries of origin. It will be followed by a viewing of John Cage's film "Variations VII". And as if that weren't enough, Judith G. Levy's art show "How We Remember: Images Found and Made" will be all around the gallery. And it's all free!

"B+ART" is short for Beer and Art, and is an event meant to highlight creative crafts and bring together art people (to introduce them to craft beer) and beer people (to introduce them to art). It is surprising the number of parallels that there are between the audiences. B+ART is presented by Hoosier Beer Geek, World Class Beverages, and BIG CAR artists collaborative.

The BIG CAR Gallery is located in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Fountain Square at the Murphy Art Center, 1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215.

Going for the gold

Haven't you heard? Hoosier Beer Geek is turning two! And to celebrate, there will be a two week international sporting event called the Olympics preceding our 2nd anniversary party at Brugge Brasserie on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 8pm. It is free to attend and everyone is welcome.

In case you don't know, Brugge Brasserie is located in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Broad Ripple at 1011a East Westfield Blvd. Their phone number is 317-255-0978. We'll have Brugge's selection of fine, hand crafted Belgians on tap along with a guest beer or two. More details to come.

During the middle of the international sporting event, we will also have our next B+ART at BIG CAR Gallery. B+ART is short to Beer and Art, and is an event meant to highlight creative crafts and bring together art people (to introduce them to craft beer) and beer people (to introduce them to art). It is surprising the number of parallels that there are between the audiences.

Be sure to stop by on Friday, August 15th at 8pm for a free tasting of an international selection of beers (we'll hopefully have a line up for you soon), a viewing of a John Cage film ("Variations VII"), and viewing of art by Judith G. Levy (the show is called "How We Remember: Images Found and Made"). BIG CAR is located in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Fountain Square at the Murphy Art Center, 1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215.

B+ART Friday night: join the funeral procession

There are a ton of Indiana Beer Week events, so having our first B+ART (Beer and Art) event at Big Car this Friday may be challenging. But we're doing it anyway. A Requiem for American Beer (or at least as we know it) is the title for the free beer tasting and eulogy. Look for Indiana beers at the tasting (no, way, Indiana beers during Indiana Beer Week?!?). It will be followed by the documentary "Henry Darger: In the Realms of the Unreal".

If you can't make it this month, we won't hold it against you, but mark your calendars:

3rd Fridays at Big Car Gallery
B+ART
1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215
In the Murphy Art Center in Fountain Square

Photo Recap: Carbonation Day Tasting at Big Car

Once again we had a nice crowd out for our beer tasting at Big Car Gallery in Fountain Square. The sampled beers - Bell's Lager, Bavik Pilsner, Birra Moretti, Zatec Pilsner, Spaten Lager - provide a surprising amount of variation on tastes. A piece of art being shown featured a very loud buzzer, which lead to us doing "shots" every time someone hit the switch.

Probably not the best idea. Anyway...

Carbonation Day...a free beer sampling

Okay, so the poster on our site says "Surftastic Beersplosion". But based on our lineup of beers tomorrow, I think something themed to the Indy 500 would be appropriate. So that's why I renamed the free beer sampling at Big Car:

CARBONATION DAY

The starting grid of pilsners and lagers: Bell's Lager, Bavik Pilsner, Birra Moretti, Zatec Pilsner, Spaten Lager.

The details, in case you don't know:
Big Car Gallery at the Murphy Arts Center in Fountain Square
1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215
Indianapolis , IN 46203
Friday, May 2nd, 6pm-9pm

And I recommend you stick around after, as the retro cowboy band The Round Ups will be playing at Big Car. Oh, and there will some art. Or something. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

We'll see if Mike can come up with a new poster...

What you missed...

Wheat beers. Good wheat beers. Barley Island's Sheet Metal Blonde. Three Floyd's Gumballhead. Bell's Oberon. Flying Dog's Tire Bite. And Franziskaner's Weissbier.

Don't want to make the mistake of missing again? Then mark your calendar:
Big Car Gallery at the Murphy Arts Center in Fountain Square
1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215
Indianapolis , IN 46203
Friday, May 2nd, 6pm-9pm

Thanks to World Class Beverage for giving us beer, thanks to Big Car Gallery for giving us space (and a liquor license), and thanks to all who came for giving us reason to do what we do. See you in May!

Been a long time since we got our free beer on

We don't know what beers we are serving yet, but hey, free beer. How could it go wrong?

Big Car Gallery at the Murphy Arts Center in Fountain Square
1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215
Indianapolis , IN 46203
Friday, April 4th, 6pm-9pm

You should see Kelly and myself there. Stop by and say hi and have a drink on us (and World Class Beverages).

Phil saw his shadow, no free beer for six weeks

Don't blame us, blame it on the man! We just want to give away good beer!

Okay, you can blame it on us. A misunderstanding of the law put us in a position where we would have been dispensing alcoholic beverages without a proper permit. Could we have gotten away with it? Perhaps. But on the off chance that excise were to bust our party (I haven't said that since college), we are postponing tonight's beer tasting at Big Car.

Stay tuned for more free beer events that we will then cancel. Because we like to tease you like that.

Christmas is coming early

I just talked with World Class Beverages, and here is our lineup for Friday's tasting:

Avery Jubilation
Bell's Winter White
Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale
Sam Smith Winter Welcome
Brooklyn Chocolate

So I think it is safe to say that beer won't be a disappointment. Here are the details for the event:
Big Car Gallery at the Murphy Arts Center in Fountain Square
1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215
Indianapolis , IN 46203
Friday, December 7th, 7pm-9pm

So come out into the cold, enjoy some tasty beverages, check out the "Under the Weather" art exhibit, and cheer up man, cuz Christmas came early!

Recap: 'Vote For Beer' tasting at Big Car

Last Friday's beer tasting at Big Car Gallery's First Friday art opening was an absolute blast. The show, "That Time of the Month", featured art/photography/crafts by the Naptown Roller Girls (if you don't know who they are, go right now to their website and get acquainted!). The girls are amazing athletes, artists, and friends - I can say that since I used to be one of them.

The crowd was strong at 6:00 and the gallery stayed packed through the entire evening. We served up lots of samples of our featured beers: Trois Pistoles from Unibroue and Duvel from Duvel Brewery (the Belgian selections) and Brass Knuckles from Barley Island and Kalamazoo from Bell's (the stout offerings).

It's hard to pick a single beer as the best crowd-pleaser, though I think the top two were the Brass Knuckles Stout and the Trois Pistoles. We had a great time talking to the crowd, and hopefully convinced more than a few people to search out some quality brews. Thanks to the following: Jim Walker and Audrey Barcio of Big Car for their hospitality as always
Matt Clapesattle from World Class Beverages for providing the beer
Deano's Vino for storing the beer before the event
Bud's Supermarket for being our indispensable ice supplier
Naptown Roller Girls for just being so damn awesome

We hope to hold another successful tasting next month! More photos of the night can be found at the Big Car Flickr page.

Come out and vote for beer!

The ballot has been set. The candidates for beer this year are:
Barley Island's Brass Knuckles
Bells Kalamazoo Stout
Bell's Double Cream Stout
Duvel
Unibroue Trois Pistoles

So come out and try a Stout or a Belgian. We'll be at Big Car Gallery, which is located in the Murphy Arts Center in Fountain Square at 1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215 , Indianapolis , IN 46203.

The beer tasting is officially scheduled from 7pm to 10pm. We may start a little early. We may run a little late. Who knows. Come out and vote anyway!

Free Beer is Good!

Everybody wants free beer, and for the past two months, Hoosier Beer Geek has worked with World Class Beverage and Big Car Gallery to provide it to you, our loyal readers.

We won't be having a free tasting this month. Something about a free beer tasting at a children's art show not being exactly appropriate. But mark your calendar for November 2nd when our free beer giveaway returns. More details to come...

Reminder: HBG at Big Car tonight

In case you've somehow missed the ad to the left, we'd just like to remind you that Hoosier Beer Geek, in association with World Class Beverages, is hosting a free beer tasting at the First Friday event at Big Car this evening.

The First Friday event is titled "Who Knows, Micah?", and features the work of Anna Rae Landsman and Robyn Engel. The event runs from 6pm to 10pm. The beer tasting, which runs from 6pm to 9pm, will feature beers from Germany (Spaten, Paulaner, and Ayinger), as well as several from American craft breweries (Brooklyn, Harpoon, Flying Dog, and Bell's).

Along with the Oktoberfest beers, some pumpkin ales will also be sampled. These beers will be from American craft breweries such as Buffalo Bill's, New Holland, and Dogfish Head.

We at Hoosier Beer Geek are extremely excited for the opportunity to once again work with Big Car and World Class Beverages, and we hope to see you there.

Bier! Bier! Bier! tasting update

Some more info as sent out in a press release:

“Bier! Bier! Bier!” - a free beer tasting presented by Hoosier Beer Geek and World Class Beverages

September 7th, 2007, 6pm-9pm
at Big Car Gallery located in the Murphy Arts Center in Fountain Square
1043 Virginia Avenue, Suite 215 , Indianapolis , IN 46203

Members of the beer appreciation blog “Hoosier Beer Geek” will host a free beer tasting of Oktoberfest and Pumpkin ales distributed by World Class Beverages. The tasting is titled “Bier! Bier! Bier!” and will be held at Big Car Gallery in the Fountain Square neighborhood in Indianapolis from 6pm to 9pm. The event will coincide with the opening of “Who Knows, Micah?" featuring the art work of Anna Rae Landsman and Robyn Engel. The art opening is also a free event.

Oktoberfest beers are traditionally tapped in September at Oktoberfest, a 16 day festival held in Munich , Germany that concludes on the first Sunday of October. The event is also duplicated world wide from late August through late October. Oktoberfest beers are usually brewed in the Märzen style, making a dark copper-colored full bodied beer with a mild hop profile. Beers likely to be sampled on September 7th include some from Germany (Spaten, Paulaner, and Ayinger), as well as several from American craft breweries (Brooklyn, Harpoon, Flying Dog, and Bell 's).

Along with the Oktoberfest beers, some pumpkin ales will also be sampled. Pumpkin ales are usually produced in the fall, coinciding with the harvest, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. This beer type varies greatly from one brewery to another but typically is mild in bitterness and sometimes contains spices often found in pumpkin pie. American craft breweries Buffalo Bill's, New Holland, and Dogfish will likely be sampled.

For information, visit http://www.hoosierbeergeek.com or email hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com

Hoosier Beer Geek at Big Car - Details

Hoosier Beer Geek, in association with World Class Beverages, will be hosting a free beer tasting at the August 3rd First Friday event at Big Car in Fountain Square.

The First Friday event, featuring artworks from Visionaries & Voices, the Cincinnati, Ohio studio for artists with disabilities, runs from 6pm to Midnight. The beer tasting, featuring beers from Barley Island, Bell's Brewery, Lindemans, BBC, and Ommegang, will run from 7pm to 9pm.

We at Hoosier Beer Geek are extremely excited for the opportunity to work with Big Car and World Class Beverages, and hope to see you there.

Hoosier Beer Geek at Big Car

Things are moving fast and details are still a bit sketchy, but we can safely announce that Hoosier Beer Geek and World Class Beverages will be making an appearance at the August 3rd edition of First Friday for Outsiders Unite! at Big Car in Fountain Square.

What brought this on? Our interview with Jim Walker of INtake/Big Car:

I'm working on making a really big and fun event out of our First Friday art opening on aug. 3 at Big Car in Fountain Square and thought it would be cool to make it a beer opening where people can learn about better beers and your group. I've just been so into beer since working on the story and hanging out with you guys that I want to spread the word to others.

Jim's beer-related excitement is exactly the sort of attitude we're trying to foster at Hoosier Beer Geek - and we couldn't be more thrilled about the event at Big Car.

More details about the event will be forthcoming next week. We hope to see you there.