It was fun, but I'm glad that's over with

Saturday, 10:35 AM, Somewhere on Interstate 465:

A phone rings.

"Did you hear the news?"

"No, Chris... what?"

"Hot Shotz burned down last night."

"Oh come on."

"..."

"You're serious?"

"Yeah, Bob Mack called me this morning."

"Okaaaay.... see you there."

"I'm at the storage shed, we'll be there shortly."

11:40 AM, Outlots of the burned out Hot Shotz, 96th and Gray Road

A few Knights of the Beer Roundtable stand under a tent, setting up tables.

"Go figure he tells us to get here at 11 and Chris isn't here yet."

I dial Chris up on his phone.

"Hey, I've got some good news."

"What?"

"I just saved a bunch of money on car insurance. Where are you?"

"I'll be there in a minute."

"I'm getting lunch."

3:00 PM

Six men are standing in a circle, holding vinyl signs, some rope, duct tape, and a knife

"I think we can just tape it to the rope."

3:30 PM

"Our power just went out."

"Maybe we shouldn't have everything plugged in right next to the water spout?"

4:00 PM

"Now what?"

"I'm drinking."

6:00 PM

"Buy a raffle ticket. That bottle of beer is like $70 on Ebay. But if you sell it there I'm going to kill you."

"..."

7:00 PM

"Chris, I'm surprised you were able to pull off this many brewers this late. Especially with Brew Ha Ha last week..."

"Well, I dropped Hoosier Beer Geek a lot. I think that helped."

"Well I hope they're happy.."

8:30 PM

"Can I have some of that beer?"

"You know what? We've been closed for a half hour, you won a trip to Great American Beer Fest... I think you did well enough today. We're done serving."

"Ok, I'll just drink the bottle in my pocket."

8:45 PM

"Chris, you need anything?"

"I think we're good."

"Bye."

* * * * *

I was lazy all day Sunday, so pictures we'll have pictures here tomorrow. Bob Ostrander from Indiana Beer has a few, including some of the fire damage at Hot Shotz.

For those of you that attended, thank you. We'd love to hear whatever comments or suggestions you have.

Hops for Pops

As I mentioned last week, The Hop Shop and Dads Inc. were planning to team up to offer a large charity beer festival in the spring, with all proceeds going to Dads Inc. Courtney and I met on Monday to finalize some ideas and start some others.

Hops for Pops (only the working name - please, please suggest some others!) will take place on the afternoon of Saturday, April 19, 2008, most likely in the outlots of where The Hop Shop is located. We know this is the same day as the Race for the Cure, but their thing is in the morning, so we're hoping that after all the walking and running, those people will want to come up and drink some good beer! We're going to try for all the in-state breweries, and some of our favorites from the midwest, the nation, and one or two foreigners.

We want to do a few things differently than most beer fests - we really want to use this event for good beer education, too. One idea we're kicking around is having a Brewers Roundtable, and some other events that highlight the craft beer industry.

Tickets for the event will probably be $25 in advance, $30 at the door, with a special low price for DDs. We will also probably do I VIP ticket that will get you into the Roundtable and few other things. Just put it on your calendars, and as I get more info, I'll pass it on.

New Beer Festival on the Horizon

This isn't official yet, but both parties will be meeting next week to talk logistics and are interested in moving forward. It looks like Dads, Inc. - as you all know is my non-profit - is going to team up with The Hop Shop again, but this time to host a microbrew festival sometime in the early Spring of next year. This would be a charity event, similar to this Saturday's Brew-Ha-Ha is for The Phoenix Theater, with proceeds from the event going to Dads, Inc. Again, I don't have many details as of right now and it isn't official, but as soon as it is, I'll post the specifics.

From Jason: A Stop at The Hop Shop

I have great admiration for young adults who are not afraid of taking a chance and investing in themselves and their ability to make a concept work. My college friend Adam is 29 years old and has his own successful urban planning and design firm. My drinking buddy Chris is also 29 and has helped create a not-for-profit that focuses on fatherhood in Central Indiana . And then there’s my new hero, Mr. Courtney, who is 27 and owns and operates a specialty liquor store.

I’m referring to him as Mr. Courtney because a.) a success like this deserves the respect of being constantly referred to as “mister” and b.) Courtney is his first name and you should not mistake him for a woman. Mr. Courtney is the proprietor of the Hop Shop on 96th Street . And being the generous man that he is, the Hop Shop hosted a fundraiser for Chris’s not-for-profit Dads Inc. The fundraiser was a beer sampling event and silent auction. I’m hoping they make this a monthly event.

The samplings include 8 beers from Cavalier Distributing and World Class Beverages. These beers were: Founders Black Rye, Breakenridge Christmas Ale, Bison Gingerbread Ale, Cumberland Pale Ale, Bell ’s White Ale, Barley Island Black Majic Java Stout, Anchor’s 2006 Christmas Ale, and Avery Old Jubilation. My favorite were the Black Rye, the Java Stout, and the Anchor Christmas. Also at the tasting were fellow knights Jim and Kelly. We all agreed that events like there are great opportunities to expand your tastes in beer.

There were also wines and liqueurs to sample. I sampled the three whiskeys that were available: a California single malt, a blend scotch, and a single malt peaty scotch. The single malt scotch burned like hell, the California single malt was okay, and the blended scotch was my favorite. In general, I prefer bourbons and blends. I don’t have enough chest hair to drink single malt scotch, especially of the peaty variety.

The event was a success, beating attendance and dollars raised expectations. It is almost certain that we will see this become an annual event.

Chris and Mr. Courtney had invited the Good Beer Show to come down and do their show live from the Hop Shop after the event was over. GBS is an award winning podcast based in Muncie that includes beer reviews by a group of intelligent beer geeks and music. And Chris, Mr. Courtney, and I were invited to sit in, drink, and contemplate with them.

As a warm up, Chris and I started with 3 Floyd’s Dreadnaught, a hoppy IPA with a strong citrus smell and flavor. On the show, we reviewed six beers. Unibroue 10 and 11 were the first beers. These are anniversary beers that contained 10 and 11 percent alcohol respectively. Both remind me of good, sweet, bubbly wines with the 11 being the better drinking beer of the two. That was followed by Samichlaus and Olde Suffolk, both great old-world style beers that are better served at room-temperature. And it was followed with Bell ’s Hopslam and Devil Dancer. Quite a bit of time was spent comparing Hopslam and Dreadnaught. While some said they tasted almost the same, I argued that the Dreadnaught’s fruity taste and smell was more overpowering than the Hopslam’s. And the Devil Dancer was also a very hoppy beer, but with no overpowering fruit flavors or aromas. The last two beers consumed were my favorite of the six. Mr. Courtney was very generous with his beers last night (he did stop short of my recommendation that we open a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s 20 Year Aged Bourbon. Can’t say I blame him; it’s $139 a bottle).

I learned several things from last night. There are many people with more ambition and guts than I. There are many people who are more intelligent about beer than I (the crew from the Good Beer Show were great…we’ve been invited up for future broadcasts). I’m not anti-hop as much as I am anti-fruity. And when I go out for beer “tastings”, I should always have a D.D.

Last Chance For Beer!

This is the final reminder about tomorrow night's A Taste of Good Beer & Fine Wine (& a Silent Auction) at The Hop Shop. Tickets are only $10, and you can get them at the door. Included in the ticket price is the alochol you sample and some light snacks. All proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction will go to benefit the programs of Dads, Inc. All Knights of the Beer Roundtable will be in attendance, as well as Jeffrey T. and the gang from The Good Beer Show. It's also a great opportunity to get a jump start on your holiday shopping with some very unique and interesting packages at the silent auction. Hope to see you there!

It's Not Too Late!

Tickets are still on sale, or you can purchase them at the door. The Good Beer Show is going to be doing an on-location show from the event, so if for no other reason, come out and meet Jeffrey, Traci and the gang!

We have some really kick-ass items for the silent auction, including an Indiana Pub Crawl package, worth over $250, that includes a homebrewing kit and some gift certificates to some of the best bars and breweries in the state, as well as a private, in-your-home beer or wine tasting for you and 9 of your friends conducted by Courtney, the owner of The Hop Shop.

A Taste of Good Beer & Fine Wine

This is a little bit of shameless self-promotion. I get to do that since I run the site :)

Tickets are now on sale for an outstanding charity event coming up on Thursday, November 16 (one week before Thanksgiving). The Hop Shop is hosting a good beer and fine wine tasting, with a silent auction, to benefit my non-profit organization, Dads, Inc. Tickets are only $10, which includes the alcohol and food. All proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction items goes back into supporting programs to build better dads in Central Indiana. The event begins at 6:30 at The Hop Shop. We have some amazing silent auction items, including a private beer tasting in your home conducted by Courtney (owner of The Hop Shop), gift certificates for an Indiana Pub Crawl, overnight stays at Belterra Resort & Casino with free golf, and a great Colts pack, just to mention a few items. Like I said, tickets are now on sale, and you can purchase them directly at The Hop Shop, or you can purchase them from Dads, Inc. For more information, please call Chris at Dads, Inc. at 317-506-8499.

This is an excellent opportunity to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping, and you can get some unique gifts for the hard-to-buy-fors.