Commentary/Conversation: Ruminations of the Potable Curmudgeon

For a very long time, some of the best Hoosier Beer Geek content never made its way to the public. We regularly have very lengthy email conversations about any number of topics going on in the world of beer. Here is one such example.

Did anybody read (New Albanian Publican) Roger Baylor's latest musings?





I just did. We're in that same boat. We all know there's bad beer being served, and we're saying nothing.




This isn't a new problem. This is a problem that has been there as long as I've been drinking craft beer - which, admittedly, is only a fraction of the time Roger has been drinking craft beer. I cannot name a single brewery that I've never tasted a flawed beer from. And I mean a "the recipe is off and/or the end product has an issue" flaw, not "I don't like this beer" which happens sometimes too. I'm serious about this. If I've had a decent sampling of the brewery's catalog, I've had at least one beer that I can tell they shipped because they can't afford to dump it.

Much like Roger, I don't choose to write about it. Honestly it's because I don't think it does anyone any good. I certainly won't encourage you to drink that beer, but I'm also not going to rain on your parade and tell you why it's bad if you actually like it. If you approach me and point out that the beer is bad, sure, I'll offer constructive input and commiserate with you. Where it gets difficult is that I truly believe no one is intentionally brewing bad beer. Everyone is creating a product that they're proud of. Maybe you can't afford a Quality Control team. Maybe you can't afford to flush 10 barrels of beer. Maybe by the time you've attempted to save the beer through additional hops and malt you've just created a beer 3x more expensive that you can't afford to dump even more than you couldn't afford to dump the original product. Brewers know that serving bad product results in consumers having a bad opinion of your product and therefore not buying it in the future.

So why waive the red flag and say "Brewery X is selling you bad beer"? Unless you have some sort of personal vendetta against Brewery X, why would you want them to fail? Wouldn't it be more constructive to talk to a brewer with Brewery X and let them know your findings? And even if you do, remember that you're talking about their baby. Just as you probably wouldn't walk up to someone and tell them that their baby looks messed up, you shouldn't walk up to a brewer and tell them that their beer tastes messed up. It's a delicate matter and it needs to be addressed as such. And posting on the internet that Brewery X's baby looks messed up isn't going to fix Brewery X's baby.

I think I see two axes to Roger's post.

When we started writing this blog, we didn't know any brewers or industry people, and we reviewed from strictly the standpoint of "Do I like this beer?", and some beers got less favorable reviews. If folks have been paying attention, they can probably see that it's been a very long time since we torched a beer, and that it only happens in cases where the beer is undeniably bad.

Instead, like Roger, we're guilty of self-censorship, or maybe even sins of omission. But it depends on your definition of omit. If your definition is as straight forward as to leave out, then we're all guilty. If your definition has more to do with something left out, not done, or neglected - have we neglected to insult someone's baby? Is that really a sin?

But at what point do you look at that baby and finally say to the parent, "You know, you should probably have had that rash looked at months ago"?

On the other hand Roger writes "I find myself dreading those occasions when I must stand up in front of people and preach the gospel of craft beer. Why am I being bothered?"

You might think he got there by not believing in the gospel anymore. But I think "Why am I being bothered?" points somewhere else. It's like when we started the website - we were out there waving a flag as hard as we could. And then one day we looked down and realized that someone built a castle under us.

"A castle! They've built us a castle!"

And then we take a tour of the castle and realize that it's not the way we would have built it. Maybe we'll skip a few rooms when we're giving the tour. And the castle has multiple flagpoles already, so why bother climbing a turret to wave ours? And come to think of it, how much of this castle is really ours anyway?

Maybe it's better to just go home and plant your flag there?

Does it do anyone any good to call someone out for making bad beer? What are the repercussions of a place making bad beer? A place can hide behind the moniker of "support local" for only so long, but ultimately it is about the beer in the long run.

I certainly don't want to put words in Roger's mouth, but his musings to me represent something I've been thinking about for quite some time. Craft beer really isn't all that much fun for me anymore. I really want it to come back around, but it just hasn't. The more I put myself on the fringe and then come back into the fold the more that things piss me off. I've only been in the craft beer scene for about 10 years, and so many people have been drinking and making beer for decades longer than me, but I feel we (an entire craft beer collective) are ruining the chance to truly create an amazing beer culture right now. I was one of the worst offenders. I let a brewery get bigger than beer, and I let it stay that way for a very long time, but I've come to the point where I resent much of the beer culture we are building. Places tried to run with the Us vs. Them mentality for so long, but now that we have nearly 2000 breweries online it has become an Us vs. Us issue. I'm a firm believer in a rising tide lifts as ships, and protectionism is a proven way to kill your brand, your market share, and your product. I'm bothered by things like tap takeovers, breweries twitter feeds, RateBeer, BeerAdvocate, Ebay and the constant flow of marketing B.S. that flows from places. So many breweries and craft beer fans rip on BMC's marketing practices, but I don't see much difference than what they are doing than many craft breweries are doing. I don't fault anyone for making a buck and trying to grow their business, but ultimately it must come down to making great beer. That means not pushing shitty beer to the market in the first place. I understand the economics behind that doesn't make sense, but if a new consumer to your brand is behind that sip the economic damage over the life of that consumer is much more painful than dumping a batch of beer. It means not adding ingredients to a terrible batch of beer and then try and pull the wool over your consumers heads by claiming you brewed a new beer. Consumers are more intelligent than that.

I look at a place like Three Floyds. They don't have a marketing budget, and they knock it out of the park on just about every single beer they make. They have built a reputation with me that would take something quite awful to sway. But if they did stop making great beer I wouldn't support them anymore (That had better not happen, but I'm just using that as an example). I've had way too much bad beer in this town from places pushing beer to market. Does that hurt craft brewing or help it? When the numbers come out people all like to point out that craft beer is growing, but they neglect to point out that overall beer consumption is down. What does that mean? BMC people are coming over to craft, but are new drinkers coming into the fold? The numbers for the faux alcho-pops would say no. Is craft still rising, but just setting the stage for its collapse? I don't know, but I do know what we are building as a culture is not the reason I got into great beer. I do indeed lament the days of people just bonding over some great beer. It isn't enough now to just be drinking a beer, but now it matters who you are drinking.

Perhaps I've just got sand in my cheeks lately, but I do know I resent the culture I was part of building. I just want to get back to drinking good beer with my friends. I plan to do just that.

From the Pages of the Indianapolis Star: Beer Label Art

The following is the unedited version of an article ran in the Indianapolis Star on March 15th.

With names like Hoptimus, Moloko, and Osiris, craft beers from New Albanian, Three Floyds, and Sun King leave a memorable impression on the minds of drinkers. But along with their names might come another impression, that of their container art.

Prior to labeling, breweries relied on glassware with embossed lettering to advertise their wares. The process of placing a paper label on the bottle became common practice in the mid-19th century, with Guinness adopting the process as early as the 1840s.

“The first aspect (of a beer label) is to establish some kind of identity,” said leading British beer writer Jeff Evans. “A brewery needs to put its thumbprint on a bottle so that customers can easily see where the beer comes from and can quickly identify beers from breweries they like.” Label art allows a brewery to establish an identity to customers, in addition to suggesting if the bottle’s contents are traditional or adventurous. “The concept of quality is tied in closely with the image,” said Evans. “How much more appealing does a beer with a classy label look than one with a cheap cartoon?”

At New Albanian Brewing Company, those labels are created by graphic designer Anthony Beard, 31, who began his career with the brewery behind the kitchen doors. "I was working here a year before anyone knew I could draw," said Beard. Although Beard has a background in creative arts - he earned a film production degree from Webster University - he never expected to draw for a living. "I just drew as a hobby," he said.

With a constant stream of new projects coming from the brewhouse, Beard finds plenty of work to keep himself busy. "We do a lot of different beer with a lot of different influences," he said. "There's also a lot of festivals, tap handles, promo items, and that kind of stuff." Among his favorite work was the label for the recently released Bonfire of the Valkyries Smoked Black Lager, “because i like Norse mythology and (the art) played into my interests.”

Beard is given complete control over his design choices, and said that although his employers might not always get the idea behind his work at first glance, they've never vetoed his ideas. "The brewery was started by people that are passionate about what they do, and they understand art on that level," he said.

Jim Zimmer, 36, has worked as a graphic designer with Munster's Three Floyds Brewing Company for four years, finding the position through a friendship with the brewery's sales manager. Zimmer's background in studio arts came from Depauw University, and in addition to his work for Floyds, he works full time at a Chicago ad agency. "I don't get to do super creative stuff," he said. "Being an artist by trade, I like to get out there and do some wild stuff whenever I can."

Three Floyds provides that opportunity. In addition to work on bottle art, Zimmer is largely responsible for all promotional materials from the brewery - everything from playing cards, hockey jerseys, and the highly sought “golden tickets” for the company's annual Dark Lord Day beer release.

"I love doing the stuff for Dark Lord Day because it's a big event," he said. The ticket for the 2011 event featured the the prominent use of skulls and the sort of kill-markings familiar to military aircraft. "I got a text from (brewery president) Nick Floyd that said 'We want the theme to be space marines'," said Zimmer.

It was Zimmer’s first label for Three Floyds - a brightly colored piece combining imagery from the film “A Clockwork Orange” with elements of the brewery's logo - that he might be most proud of. "I always show the Moloko label when i show my portfolio," he said.

If there’s a brewery whose packaging echos the techniques used on the glassware of the 1800s, perhaps it’s the embossed cans at Indianapolis’ Sun King Brewery. Can designs are provided by Indianapolis based-artist Shane Brown, 33, who got his start painting murals while attending Muncie Central High School, eventually studying at Columbus College of Art and Design. After leaving college he found work as a traveling artist for a nationally-distributed brewery, painting murals in bars throughout the country.

When burnout set in, Brown returned to Indiana, working as a server and chalk artist for the now-defunct Alcatraz Brewing Company. There he often crossed paths with Rock Bottom brewer Clay Robinson, who eventually went on to help found Sun King Brewery. When Robinson needed art for his startup brewery, he turned to Brown.

“We had a few beers and came up with the concept for the Sun King logo,” said Brown. “I started searching on the internet for ideas based on Aztec features, with hard angles, sharp type - things that we set in stone. Clay had these ideas based on the Mayan calendar, with the four seasons.” In finding a natural correlation between the four seasons and the four ingredients in beer - water, malt, hops, and yeast - a brewery logo was born.

Riding the crest of what has become a nationwide canned beer revolution has provided Brown’s work a larger audience than he’d ever imagined. Features such as Men’s Health’s list of best canned beers brought Brown’s imagery to magazine pages across the country. “I thought ‘Ok, this is big time’,” said Brown. “I had never worked in can art, and I was told that I couldn't do a lot of things to start with,” he said, “but now that we're established I've got more free reign. With the technology now I can go a lot further with it.”

Struise In Indiana

Two Indiana breweries were recently visited by De Struise Brouwers' Urbain Coutteau. HBG readers may know of Mr. Coutteau from our January 2008 interview, or perhaps by his reputation as part of the brewery that was named RateBeer.com's 2008 best brewery in the world.

Urbain's visit wasn't just a vacation (though he did attend the Kentucky Derby) - his brewery visits lead to collaboration. Both Three Floyds and New Albanian played host, and it's safe to assume that we can expect fantastic beers as a result.

We contacted New Albanian's Jared Williamson to get more details about the New Albanian/Struise efforts.

How'd Struise contact you? Did you have a prior relationship or did they just sort of ask out of the blue?

The B'Urban Trail 2011 was the brainchild of Lori Rae Beck and Tyler Trotter, owners of The Louisville Beer Store and Holy Grale. On recent trips to Europe, Lori and Tyler became friends with Urbain and hatched a plan to bring him to the Midwest for a week of collaborations, travel, and The Kentucky Derby. Being good friends with Lori and Tyler, they asked if myself and NABC would be interested in hosting Urbain for a brewday, which turned into 2 brewdays.


Who worked on the beer? Which of your breweries did you use?

The first beer, Naughty Girl, was brewed at Bank Street and recipe design was by Urbain, David Pierce (NABC Director of Brewing Operations) and myself. The exact recipe was still being tweaked during the brewday and morphed into a hybrid style, as it should in true collaboration spirit.

The second beer, B'Urban Trotter, was brewed at our R & D brewery located at our Pizzeria and Public House. Recipe design was by Urbain and myself, and again we were tweaking as we brewed.

What styles were you looking at? Who contributes what? Did you do anything new or different than your normal processes? New ingredients/that sort of thing?

Naughty Girl started as a Belgian Blonde in malt bill, then took an American turn with the type of hops and the hopping rate. We used 13lbs of whole leaf Cascade in the 15BBL mash, and then used Galena, US Goldings and Cascade in the kettle. I then dry hopped it with 15lbs of Cascade pellets in the fermenter once terminal gravity was reached, after only 28 hours of primary fermentation due to using Urbain's house Struise yeast. It was the first time mash hops and warm pellet dry hopping has been used at Bank Street (both techniques are regularly used at our R & D brewery) and of course the first time using Struise yeast. In the end, we have a Belgo India Blonde Ale, 6% ABV, and 69 IBU.

B'urban Trotter is a huge Double IPA featuring American base malt and European specialty malts. All American hops were used: Summit, Chinook, Northern Brewer (Domestic), Cascade and Simcoe. Mash hops were used, a splash of Kentucky honey, a tiny amount of vanilla, and it was dry hopped at a rate of 2 lbs per barrel. Some bourbon oak and a microscopic amount of mint will age briefly in the bright tank. 9.2% ABV, 208 IBU.

What happens to the beer when it's finished? Will this be bottled? When will it be finished?

We will bottle Naughty Girl but not B'Urban Trotter. Draft will be exclusive to The Louisville Beer Store, Holy Grale and both NABC locations.. and perhaps some appearances at certain summer festivals.

How familiar were you with Stuise? Do you have a favorite Struise beer?

We started to have draft from Struise years ago at the Public House and they were the first to use key kegs, so they were memorable before I tried the beer. But the distribution channels dropped the ball and its been quite awhile since we've had Struise draft or bottles. Favorite Struise beer: Black Albert.

(Dumb question, but...) Why do a collaboration?

Why not? One of my favorite parts of the brewing industry is the camaraderie and exchange of ideas and techniques. It was an honor, an educational adventure, and a party with Urbain in town for a few days. Memories I will cherish all my days. I am deeply grateful to Lori and Tyler for their friendship and for the opportunity they presented us.

The Hoosier Beer Geek Six Pack: Jared Williamson, New Albanian Brewing Company

For each Brewers of Indiana Guild festival, a ReplicAle recipe is selected. For the 2011 Winterfest, the recipe was created by New Albanian Brewing Company's Jared Williamson. In advance of the ReplicAle tapping at the Tomlinson Tap Room on February 23rd (see details below), we decided to ask Jared about the recipe and the ReplicAle program:

What can you tell us about the Ackerman brewery?

Ackerman’s, also known as The Southern Indiana Brewing Company, operated from 1933 to 1935 at the site of the former Paul Reising Brewing Company premises on the corner of West 5th and Spring Streets in New Albany. NABC has recreated several of the historic beers created at that location including Kaiser Pre-Prohibiton Pilsner and Hop-O Common.

How did you find out that Ackerman did a Double Imperial Stout?

We have had a copy of the label for as long as I have worked at NABC, and it is also mentioned in Louisville Breweries: A History of the Brewing Industry in Louisville, Kentucky by Peter R. Guetig & Conrad D. Selle.

How did you determine the recipe for the re-creation?

Based on info found in the book, and what types of malt were common in that era, the recipe design was meant to replicate American brewers going extreme during that time period. So several specialty malts were chosen to provide a depth of character to the body. The inclusion of smoke malt was not to make a smoked stout, but rather to add the notion that dark roasted malts inevitably had a bit more smokiness back then due to the roasting techniques than their modern counterparts. With the hops, I figured that brewers of that era often had to use what they had available instead of being able to pick and choose varieties like modern brewers, so it was left to the participating brewers to decide. And for a final touch, I decided to cask condition the entire NABC batch to keep with the historical nature. I also have a Bourbon barrel filled with Ackerman's, because being as close to Kentucky as they were, they probably had a few Bourbon barrels hanging around.

What did you think of the final result?

The beer has a full, robust body with just a slight hint of smoke lingering in the background. It has the characteristics of what would have been a very big beer by historical standards, but more tame by modern extreme beer standards. Which for me was the intent. Yes, we could have made a 14% monster stout, but that would have been taking the original idea way out of its historical context. In the end, I am quite pleased with results and feel the stout is a honorable tribute to our brewing forefathers.

Have you had a chance to try others' ReplicAles?

I did get to try several of the replicales at Winterfest and was impressed at the overall similarities found in each. Of course my palette was overloaded that day so I look forward to tasting these again at the Tom Tap room event.

What do you think about the ReplicAle program? Why is it a good program to have? And what should the drinking public discover with ReplicAles?

I'm a big fan of looking back and recreating historical beers, and was honored that the Guild wanted to go with my suggestion. Indiana has a wonderful brewing history and there are so many beers that could and should be recreated. With our ever expanding Guild, it may be some time before NABC gets to design another, but I look forward to seeing what my fellow brewers dig up and bring to the table for future replicales.

And to me that is the essence of the project: knowing and replicating our past brewer's achievements, and allowing the public to share in our collective celebration of brewing treasures of yesteryear. We really have an amazing brewing culture here in Indiana.

There will be a tapping of Indiana Winter 2011 ReplicAles on Wednesday, February 23rd at 6pm at the Tomlinson Tap Room in the City Market, 222 E. Market Street, Indianapolis. The recipe is a recreation of the Imperial Double Stout that was brewed by the defunct Ackerman’s Brewery in New Albany. Jared Williamson from New Albanian Brewing Company will be on hand to talk about recreating historical beers.

Along with tapping a firkin of New Albanian’s Ackerman’s Imperial Double Stout, other versions will be on tap, including: Broad Ripple Brewpub, Crown Brewing, Great Crescent Brewing Company, People’s Brewing Company, Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant – both College Park and Downtown, Sun King Brewing Company, Upland Brewing Company, and other Indiana breweries to be confirmed.

The Indiana ReplicAle program is presented by the Brewers of Indiana Guild with support from Brewers Supply Group and Briess Malt & Ingredients Company.

***

Ackerman’s Imperial Double Stout recipe, as recreated by Jared Williamson and Jess Williams:
Original Gravity: 20 degree Plato
Alcohol By Volume: Circa 8%
International Bittering Units: 35 – 40

Grist Bill: 80% Rahr 2-row Pale Malt
5% Briess Aromatic Malt
5% Briess Dark Chocolate Malt
5% Briess Roast Barley
2.5% Briess 80-degree Caramel Malt
2.5% Briess Cherry Smoked Malt

Hops: Single addition at boil of your choice of hop, to achieve 35 - 40 IBU

What Gravity Head Is, and Why You'd Want to Take a Bus There

We at Hoosier Beer Geek may be guilty of assuming too much from time to time, and it recently occurred to me that perhaps a deeper explanation of what this whole Gravity Head Bus Trip is all about.

About NABC Pizzeria & Public House:

Currently #10 on RateBeer.com's Best Beer Bars list, Rich O's/NABC Pizzeria & Public House is undoubtedly Indiana's finest beer bar. It's not just the regular list that makes the Public House such a special place - it's the list of regular events that aim to explore all areas of better beer. Like sour and funky? The public house has an event for you. Like smoke beer? They've got that covered. Are you a hop head? Try on Lupulin Land Harvest Hopcoming. Want to celebrate the Hoosier Beer Geek 100 Knights of the Roundtable session? Join us on the bus and help us enjoy Gravity Head.

About New Albanian Brewing Company:

It started with a pizzeria, then they added a bbq joint, and in 1994 they officially became New Albanian Brewing Company. Actual on-site brewing didn't start until 2002, and in 2009 we finally started seeing NABC's kegged beer in Indianapolis bars. We'll see more of NABC in 2010, when they move into bottling or canning.

We should mention what, exactly, they'll be putting in those bottles. New Albanian's Beak's Best, Old 15-B, Elector and Hoptimus have endeared themselves to Indiana drinkers over the past few months. In addition to those standard offerings, we'll be able to sample from New Albanian's seasonal rotation as a Gravity Head apéritif while stopping in for lunch at the Bank Street Brewhouse.

About The Bank Street Brewhouse

It would have been easy enough to put together a bus trip that headed directly to the Public House for Gravity Head, but previous experience with the Bank Street Brewhouse lead us to believe that it shouldn't be missed.

Of course Bank Street has an extensive lineup of New Albanian beer, but the food is equally deserving of the spotlight. NABC says:

Bank Street Brewhouse takes its inspiration from Europe’s brasseries and gastropubs. Chef Joshua Lehman’s kitchen offers fresh, creative, locally sourced dishes ideally suited for pairing with NABC’s legendary lineup of house-brewed ales and lagers.

Your ticket gets you not only the bus trip, but also your choice of meal from a specially created menu just for our guests.

About Gravity Head

They don't refer to Gravity Head as "The Liver Olympics" for nothing. Here's that beer list - keep in mind that these aren't all on at once - they rotate through during the month. So what will be on when we attend? It's kind of a surprise. In any case, with this many options, there will be plenty of good choices available.

Here's that list:

AMERICAN AMBER / RED LAGER
Coney Island Human Blockhead … 10% abv

AMERICAN BARLEYWINE
Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine … 9.2%
Boulder Killer Penguin Barleywine … 10%
Dogfish Head Olde School Barley Wine … 15.04%
Left Hand Oaked Aged Widdershins … 8.8%
Rogue Old Crustacean 2004 … 11.5%
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale 2004 … 9.6%
Stone Old Guardian … 11.3%

AMERICAN BROWN ALE
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron … 12%

AMERICAN DOUBLE / IMPERIAL IPA
Bell’s HopSlam … 10%
Boulder Mojo Risin’ … 10.5%
Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA … 18%
Founders Double Trouble … 9.4%
Founders Hand of Doom … 10.4%

AMERICAN DOUBLE / IMPERIAL STOUT
Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) Jurassian Imperial Stout (Cuvée Alex Le Rouge) … 10.28%
Founders Breakfast Stout 2008 … 8.3%
Founders Canadian Breakfast … 9.4%

AMERICAN PORTER
Two Brothers Red Eye Coffee Porter … 9.2%

AMERICAN STRONG ALE
NABC V – 5th Anniversary Ale 2007 … 10%
New Holland Dragon’s Milk … 10%
Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale … 9%
Shmaltz He’Brew Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah (13) … 13%
Sierra Nevada Life & Limb … 10.2%
Sun King Cream Dream (Imperial Cream) … circa 8.5%

BALTIC PORTER
BBC (St. Matthews) Kick in the Baltic Porter … 8.9%
Rogue Imperial Porter 2008 … 8.2%

BELGIAN IPA
Brugge Brasserie Artemis 2IPA … 9.5%
NABC Oaked Le Douche Mentale (firkin) … 8.5%
Regenboog t’Smisje + (Plus) … 10%

BELGIAN STRONG DARK ALE
Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM)
La Mandragore …8%
De Dolle Stille Nacht … 12% abv
Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale … 8.6%
Unibroue La Terrible … 10.5%
Van Steenberge Klokke Roeland … 11%

BELGIAN STRONG PALE ALE
Baladin Elixir (Al-Iksir) … 10%

BIERE DE GARDE
Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien 2007 and 2008 … 11%

DOPPELBOCK
Ettaler Curator Doppelbock (enhanced export version) … circa 11%
Samichlaus Bier Helles … 14%

DUBBEL
Regenboog t’Smisje Dubbel … 9%

EISBOCK
Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock (CO2 and special Anstich wooden cask) … 12%

ENGLISH BARLEYWINE
JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale 2008 … 11.5%
JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale (Sherry Cask) 2008 … 11.5%
Pausa Cafè Tosta … 12.5%

FOREIGN / EXPORT STOUT
Regenboog t'Smisje Catherine the Great ... 10%

MYSTERY STYLE
Three Floyds Brewing Company … what will Nick send?

OLD ALE
BBC Brandy Barrel Queen’s Knickers … 12%
Founders Curmudgeon … 9.3%
Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special 18 Reserve 2008 (firkin) … 8%
NABC Malcolm’s Old Setters’ Ale 2007 … 12%

RAUCHBIER
Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche ... 8%

QUADRUPEL
Avery “The Reverend” … 10%
Schlafly Quadrupel … 12%

RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Founders Imperial Stout 2008 … 10.5%
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout … 9.5%
NABC ThunderFoot … 11%
Schlafly Reserve – (Barrel Aged) Imperial Stout ... 10.5%
Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2008 … 10.5%

SCOTCH ALE / WEE HEAVY
Founders Backwoods Bastard … 10.2%

TRIPEL
Maredsous 10 … 10%

So we hope you'll join us on March 6th for about 12 hours of tasty food, hearty beer, and worry-free transportation. Tickets are on sale now at Brown Paper tickets - your $40 gets you the bus trip and lunch. Drinks are not included in your ticket price - we'll leave that end up to you.

Click here for tickets.

Winterfest 2010 Update #5 and Ticket Giveaway

The Brewers of Indiana Guild's Winterfest 2010 tickets are on sale now online. Ticket sales will also begin at breweries soon (hopefully...printer issues). We will inform you as soon as that is available. Winterfest will be held in the Ag/Hort building of the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 from 3pm to 7pm. Tickets are $30.

As we receive information from the breweries as to what they are bringing, we will let you know. Our first Winterfest update provided the beer lists for Upland, Great Crescent, Mad Anthony, and Brugge. Our second Winterfest update included Bee Creek Brewery, Lafayette Brewing Company, Two Brothers, Rust Belt, Bell's Brewing Co., and Atwater Block. Our third Winterfest update included Crown Brewing, Big Woods Brewing, Power House Brewing, and Rock Bottom Brewery North. Our fourth Winterfest update included Back Road Brewery, Mishawaka Brewing, Broad Ripple Brewpub, Sun King Brewing, Schlafly Beer, Goose Island Brewing Co., North Coast Brewing Co., Left Hand Brewing Co. This is our fifth update to the beer list...


Oaken Barrel
Greenwood, IN
On draft at their booth:
Razz-Wheat
Indiana Amber
Superfly IPA
Snake Pit Porter

Rock Bottom Downtown
Indianapolis, IN
On draft at their booth:
The Hammer Baltic Porter
Hop Bomb IPA
Naughty Scot Wee Heavy

In the outdoor beer garden:
The Hammer Baltic Porter (firkin)

Turoni’s Main Street Brewery
Evansville, IN
On draft at their booth:
Rudolph’s Revenge Strong Dark
Pumpkin Ale
Vinny’s Lager

In the outdoor beer garden:
Barrel Aged Rudolph’s Revenge (firkin)

New Albanian Brewing Co.
New Albany, IN
On draft at their booth:
Elsa Von Horizon Imperial Pils
Solidarity Baltic Porter
ThunderFoot
Hoptimus
WinterFest 2010 Replicale

Three Floyds Brewing Co.
Munster, IN
On draft at their booth:
Ham on Rye
Robert the Bruce
Admiral Lord Nelson

In the outdoor beer garden:
Behemoth Barleywine (pin)

Ram Restaurant and Brewery
Indianapolis, IN
On draft at their booth:
Buttface Amber Ale
Big Red IPA
Indy Blonde Ale
Winterfest Replicale

Barley Island Brewing Co.
Noblesville, IN
On draft at their booth:
Sheet Metal Blonde
Dirty Helen Brown
BarFly IPA
Brass Knuckles Oatmeal Stout
Java Stout
Dirty "Old" Helen Flanders Brown
Barrel Aged BarFly IPA
Beastie Barrel Stout

In the outdoor beer garden:
Belgian-style Black IPA (pin)

Tyranena Brewing Co.
Lake Mills, Wisconsin
On draft at their booth:
Bitter Woman IPA
Rocky's Revenge American Brown Ale (barrel-aged)
Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter aged in Rye Barrels

Schmaltz Brewing Co.
Brooklyn, NY
In bottles at their booth:
Coney Island Human Blockhead
Coney Island Lager
He’brew Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA
He’brew Origin
He’brew Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah 13th Anniversary
He’brew Rejewvenator

Bluegrass Brewing Company - Shelbyville Road
Louisville, KY
On draft at their booth:
4 drafts TBA

In the outdoor beer garden:
ESB (firkin)
Bearded Pats Barley Wine (pin)

New Belgium Brewing Co.
Fort Collins, CO
On draft at their booth:
Fat Tire
Might Arrow Pale Ale
Ranger IPA


Here it is, the ticket giveaway...
We have two tickets to give away. How do you get in on the fun? It is this simple. Leave a comment on this post that includes your name, either an email address or your twitter ID so that we can reach you if you win, and just for fun, what beer listed over the past five weeks you are most looking forward to trying at Winterfest. You must post a comment by Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. We will draw a name and announce the winner in the Winterfest 2010 Update #6. Thanks for playing.