KOTBR #107 - Re-dedication at Rock Bottom College Park

If you've been following Hoosier Beer Geek for a while, you may have noticed that lately we've been a little slower on the content. The efforts we've undertaken as festival organizers have certainly taken their toll on our blogging output.

We're hoping to rededicate ourselves over the coming months, with reviews from new or never before covered locations, drinking new or newer beers, perhaps with even a new voice behind it all (we've cast a unanimous secret vote to replace Jason with a human-sized talking wallaby named New Zealand Orlo).

Despite our almost four years of covering beer, we've yet to set our focus on the output of 2010 Indiana Brewer's Cup Best of Show winner Liz Laughlin, brewer at Rock Bottom College Park. That was obviously a mistake.

Liz's prizewinning Simcoe IPA is a cloudy copper colored beer, with a creamy head and lacing that seem to say "have more". A sweet nose with just a hint of candy grapefruit elements gives way to a middle that's lightly woody, piney, and perfectly balanced. The beer finishes chewy and bitter, but with a subtleness that begs for repeated drinking. 3.75 Mugs.


Simcoe hops are very popular with the Rock Bottom chain, especially in Indiana. I don't know if they have a great contract on them, but one thing is for sure; Simcoes make a damn good IPA. Liz' 2010 Brewer's Cup Best of Show award winning Simcoe IPA starts begins with the aroma of grapefruit and pine and a hefty dose of sweet caramel which lets you know that this IPA is going to be well balanced. Although we've repeatedly ruined our palates with DIPAs (see: TFN2), hop bombs are not what I typically expect when I see the label "IPA." I personally prefer a more balanced IPA, and the Simcoe IPA delivers. The first thing that jumps out in this IPA, as with most IPAs, is the strong hop bitterness. Strong bitterness, yet moderate for the style. Caramel and sugary sweetness round off the edges of the hops and a soft carbonation level gives it a creamy mouthfeel. Grapefruit and lemon zest are the most prominent, and probably most expected bitter flavors in this beer. Pine and juniper hints give it a pleasantly spicy compliment. I can't speak for the rest of the beers in this year's Brewer's Cup, but this one is certainly worthy of a title like Best of Show. 4.00 Mugs.


One whiff of this IPA and I was in heaven. The super strong nose of pine and grapefruit gave way to a sweet, chewy mouthfeel reminiscent of a Double IPA. This beer was big but the flavors playfully remained balanced. There is a line at which hop flavor goes from complex and flavorful to harsh and bitter and this beer seems to walk right up to that line without crossing it. By the time I finished my sip, I was already looking forward to the next. This beer is enjoyable and delicious, absolutely deserving of its awards. Fantastic work by Liz! 4.5 Mugs

Rock Bottom College Park Simcoe IPA
Mike: 3.75 Mugs | Rodney: 4.00 Mugs | Jess: 3.70 Mugs | Gina: 4.5 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.98 Mugs

Indiana Brewers' Cup 2010

Saturday, July 10th marked the reception for the 13th Annual Brewers' Cup.

Judges worked Friday and Saturday afternoon deciding which beers, both professional and homebrew, fit best into the categories assigned by the Beer Judge Certification Program. These beer judges work hard to earn their rank and they take the job of judging seriously. We had the pleasure of sitting in on the Best of Show judging and thoroughly enjoyed the proceedings. It seems that a judging session relies on individual scoring and collaboration between the table of judges.

These guys know their stuff and it was a really great experience to see how it is really done. It's like a KOTBR roundtable, except they all know what they are talking about!

The ceremony started with the homebrew awards and a wonderful presentation of food. There was no doubt that MECA Homebrewers were going to walk away with a few awards, as they submitted almost twice as many entries (148) than the next highest homebrew club, Foam Blowers of Indiana (FBI) (77). Entries were placed in one of 24 categories including the Woodford Reserve Challenge. At Winterfest back in January, Woodford Reserve offered barrels to interested Indiana homebrew clubs. The homebrew clubs worked together to come up with a beer to age in the barrels until the Brewers' Cup competition where a winner would be selected. The winner of this challenge was the Duneland Homebrew Club from Northwest Indiana.
In the other 23 categories, MECA ended up going home with 34 of the 72 medals awarded. Not to mention Homebrew Club of the year. There were a lot of familiar faces being called up for awards and we congratulate all of them!

As the professional awards were being presented, you could easily see how supportive many of the brewers were for each other. Congratulations to the 13 Indiana brewers who took awards home to their breweries. Special congratulations to Mark at Oaken Barrel for taking Brewery of the Year for the third straight year and Liz Laughlin from Rock Bottom College Park for winning the Best of Show award for her Simcoe IPA. A full list of awards can be found at the Brewers' Cup website.

Mark Havens, brewer - Oaken Barrel Brewing Co.

Liz Laughlin, brewer - Rock Bottom College Park

Visit Indiana Beer for more information on the homebrew clubs in the state.