Stop In And See Us

This is just a reminder about the little party we'll be putting on tomorrow night. Remember: THERE'S NO COVER. So even if you just stop in on your way somewhere else, we'd be happy to see you.

The beer list:

Koningshoeven Quadruple - A 10% Koningshoeven Quad

Boulder Hazed and Infused - A dry hopped Pale Ale

Sun King Java Mac - The coffee infused version of Sun King's Wee Mac Scottish Style Brown Ale has been a huge hit with Indianapolis area drinkers.

Sun King Pale Ale firkin - Cask beer! A beer geek's delight.

Buffet (Starting at 10:30pm) - $15
Navy Bean and Prosciutto Ham Soup
Chicken Jambalaya with Rice
Stewed Moroccan Vegetable Soup
Fried White Fish (Pollack)

See you there!

New Years Party at Deano's Vino - Recap

Thanks to everyone who came out to our New Year's party at Deano's Vino. We hope you had a good time, and we'd love to hear your thoughts.

We'd also like to thank Bob Ostrander from IndianaBeer.com, and the folks at Brugge Beer, who once again came through for us in a big way with the gift of THUNDERMONKEY. You're better to us than we deserve.

Reminder: HBG New Year's Party at Deano's Vino tomorrow

Hopefully you're already planning on attending, but just in case you're not - don't forget our New Year's Party at Deano's Vino (1112 Shelby St, Indianapolis (317) 423-3154) tomorrow night! Even if you're on your way somewhere else, no cover means it's easy to stop on in and have a pint or two.

We'll be kicking things at off at 9PM in our special way with limited pours of Dogfish 120 Minute IPA and Delirium Tremens ($10/pour), an all you can eat buffet ($15), and DJ Phil.

Hope to see you there.

Details of the Hoosier Beer Geek New Years Party at Deano's Vino

We know you've been anxiously awaiting the details of our New Years party at Deano's Vino.

This just in!

Michael,

We finally have the beers worked out for New Year's Eve. I hope it is to your liking:

On tap at opening:
Brugge White
Bells Two-Hearted
Dogfish India Brown Ale

At 9 PM we will take the Brugge and the Bells off and put on Delirium Tremens and Dogfish 120 Minute IPA

These are both mini-kegs (about 60 pours each), so once they are gone, we will put the Brugge and the Bells back on.

Looking forward to seeing everyone. If you have any other questions, just let me know!

So there you have it - our new year's party will have two limited run huge beers. A word of warning: these will be $10 pours.

I know what you're thinking: "Ten dollars!?!?!?" I was thinking that too, at first. A few things to consider: 1) It's New Year, and our party has no cover charge. 2) Dogfish 120 and Delirium Tremens normally go for a pretty steep price - a bottle of 120 at a local retailer shows $8.99 on their website. In fact, 120 goes for $10.50 at Dogfish Head's own alehouse in Falls Church, VA. And Delirium Tremens retails for near $10 a bottle¹.

These are not normally cheap beers. And it's new year! Have one big beer, and enjoy the $4.50 Brugge, Bells, and Dogfish India Brown for the rest of the night. Or drink yourself into a stupor. It's New Year!

Another thing to remember - Deano's has an extensive and very reasonable priced beer list. So no matter what you're after (even if it's PBR...), Deano's can take care of you.

So that's it - No excuses! Come on out - 9 PM, December 31st, Deano's Vino, Fountain Square.

Beer details:

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
Too extreme to be called beer? Brewed to a colossal 45-degree plato, boiled for a full 2 hours while being continuously hopped with high-alpha American hops, then dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month & aged for another month on whole-leaf hops!!! Our 120 Minute I.P.A. is by far the biggest I.P.A. ever brewed!

At 20% abv and 120 ibus you can see why we call this beer THE HOLY GRAIL for hopheads!

20% abv
120 ibu
In case you care... the average 12 oz. serving has 450 calories.

Delirium Tremens
On December 26th 1989, the famous "Delirium Tremens" was born. The particular character and the unique taste of "Delirium Tremens" result from the use of three different kinds of yeast. Its very original packing, which resembles cologne ceramics, and the colourful label contribute to its success. The label depicts the different phases of the production of "Delirium Tremens" the "Pink Elephant" was up and ready to conquer the world. To celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1989, the topical beer "La Guillotine" was launched.

9.0% abv

Brugge White
Brugge White has a quenching tart background with sweet fruity finish reminiscent of tangerine and lemon.

Seafood on the menu? Pasta night? Or maybe you just finished mowing the lawn?
White is the answer to all these questions.

Ted’s Take: “This beer is ridiculously delicious!”

4.5% abv

Bell's Two-Hearted
India Pale Ale style well suited for Hemingway-esque trips to the Upper Peninsula. American malts and enormous hop additions give this beer a crisp finish and incredible floral hop aroma.

7.0% abv

Dogfish Head India Brown Ale
A cross between a Scotch Ale, an I.P.A., and an American Brown, this beer is well-hopped and malty at the same time. It is brewed with Aromatic barley and caramelized brown sugar.

7.2% abv

* * * * *

¹Granted, it's a big bottle.

Sint Sylvester Vooranvond - A HBG Commemorative Ale - The Day After

Last week when Gina and I were in St. Louis, after our tour of AB, we stopped in at Schlafly's Tap Room. We've been to the Tap Room twice, and had a great experience both times - and while we were there we picked up a growler of their Coffee Stout. The stout was a fantastic Christmas treat, but we were really after the growler; I knew we had a free half barrel of Brugge's Sint Sylvester coming at our New Year's Party.

In case you missed the party last evening, we gave away that entire half barrel of beer as a special New Year's surprise - Thanks to Ted and the folks at Brugge, of course - and Gina and I walked out with a growler-full for later contemplation.

As you can see in the picture, this is a cloudy orange brew, with no head and a sweet sharp nose. There's a hint of alcohol in that nose, a dry, tight front, and a smooth mouthfeel with a bit of alcohol bite. It reminds me of Bell's Winter White - a beer we reviewed just a week or two ago. Mild, extremely drinkable, but not the sort of knock out punch you might expect from a Brugge beer. A highly agreeable drink, and one we're proud to have our name on. It's my understanding that this beer is currently on tap at Brugge - so if you want to give it a shot, stop by the restaurant, and let us know what you think.

Exceeding all expectations

As it appears that I'm the first of us awake on this first morning of 2008, I'll also be the first to offer my thanks for the amazing generosity shown to us at last night's New Year's Eve party at Deano's Vino. Before I do that, however, I think my colleagues would agree with me when I say that we had an incredible time at the party and were truly heartened to see so many people turn out to celebrate the arrival of the new year with us (and sorry about the lack of live blogging last night--we figured no one was at home reading anyway, and we couldn't get the wireless to connect).

My thanks go to--

- faithful Hoosier Beer Geek readers and fellow beer geeks who came out last night. You are the reason we do what we do here at HBG, and we are extremely grateful for your camaraderie and support.

- my fellow Knights of the Beer Roundtable. I feel truly blessed to have become friends with you over the past year. Whether it's an argument with Jason over whether The Breakfast Club is a chick flick, a geeky chat with Matt about our mutual zombie movie fetish, a talk with Mike and Gina about Fulham Football Club, a discussion with Kelly about the best indie rock acts of the year, or a soliloquy by Chris on the finer points of a certain kind of cinema (ahem), you all keep me endlessly entertained. As Chris is fond of saying after having a few, "I love you, man!"

- Deano, Jody, Paul, Nick, Laura, and the rest of the Deano's Vino crew for hosting us. Your hospitality and, shall we say, unpredictability (in a good way, of course) always keep us coming back to you for more fun. And thanks especially to Deano for not showing his ass to the crowd as he did at Oktoberfest.

- Ted, Charlie, and everyone else at Brugge Beer for the Brugge swag and the phenomenal Sint Sylvester Vooranvond Ale. We all marveled at the silky and mellow drinkability of this outstanding blonde Belgian ale. A beer geek couldn't ask for better beer friends than you guys. You are brewers par excellence and a huge asset to the Indiana craft beer community.

- Bob Mack of World Class Beverages, who was our beer savior last night when he was able to procure more Delirium Tremens and Bell's Two Hearted Ale after the first kegs of these beers were blown. Bob, we owe you big time.

- DJ Brian Jones for spinning his trademark '80's punk and new wave hits for us and for packing the dance floor with partygoers. I think all will agree with me as I now dub Brian, "The Official DJ of Hoosier Beer Geek" (TM).

- lastly, Tyler Durden and Project Mayhem for providing us with the tagline for the night ("Welcome to Fight Club!"). Don't ask me why this became the tagline. I still don't understand it, but ask anyone who knows us or who has read our reviews and they'll tell you that we're bizarre like that. Maybe Kelly, who was the progenitor of this catch phrase, can give you some reason why we shouted this when people walked into the bar last night.


And of course, I've just broken the first two rules of Fight Club ("You DO NOT talk about Fight Club.").

May you all have a prosperous and sweet New Year!

Real Time Updates from NYE Party Tonight

For those of you that are bigger dorks than we are and are actually staying home tonight instead of coming to our kick-ass party, keep an eye on the site after 9pm. We've decided to try a first tonight - realtime updates. The posts may be really hard to read by midnight, but it should leave us with some stuff that we'll actually be able to have some sort of recollection of. Starts at 9pm. Now you can really see which Knight passes out first!

Our New Year's Party keeps getting better

Not long after I sent out the New Year's invite, I received an email from Ted Miller of Brugge Beer/Brasserie, in which he suggested that maybe we'd like to try on a "delectable little pilot brew from the TH plant. It's a Strong Belgian Blonde thing. I know you've got another Strong Belgian Blonde thing on that night, but I thought that might be kinda fun."

I'd agree.

So near midnight we'll introduce a Hoosier Beer Geek first - A Hoosier Beer Geek 2007 Commemorative Ale - Sint Sylvester Vooranvond from Brugge Beer.

What's the "Sint" about? Let's consult the sacred-texts.com

In Belgium, New Year’s Eve is called Sint Sylvester Vooranvond, Saint Sylvester Eve. The réveillon, or New Year’s Eve family party is thrown. At midnight everyone kisses, exchanges good luck greetings, and drinks toasts to absent relatives and friends. The cities, cafés, and restaurants are crowded with people who bid farewell to the Old Year.

"Sylvester" is the nickname popularly applied to the lazy boy or girl who rises last on the final day of the year. Since "Sylvesters" traditionally have to pay a forfeit to their brothers and sisters, each child tries to be first to bound out of bed on the morning of December 31.

Girls, especially, try to be industrious on this day because of the old saying that one who does not finish her handwork by sunset will remain an old maid throughout the year.

New Year's Party Info

Most of you who are subscribed to our email list got this invite in your mailbox yesterday:

Hello again, fellow beer geeks!

This may sound familiar to some of you because I started our last invitation email the same way. You are receiving this email invite because we consider you a friend. If you've been out of the loop lately, or haven't been reading www.hoosierbeergeek.com, we won't hold it against you. Instead, we'd like to bring you back into the fold and invite you to our New Year's party - The Beer Inspired New Year's Party To End All Beer Inspired New Year's Parties - at Deano's Vino on December 31st at around 9PM.

As you can see from the attached flyer, we'll have the right beer on tap - The rarely-on-tap and Hoosier Beer Geek requested Three Floyd's Alpha Klaus, the wonderfully tasty Delirium Tremens, and a choice from a favorite brewer located just north of the Indiana border - either Bell's Hopslam (cross your fingers!) or Bell's Two Hearted.

In addition to what's on tap, Deano has a fine selection of bottled beers, a wide selection of wines , and a menu of fine food. For this special New Year's event, Chef Jody is also planning a special late night menu of tasty treats to keep you on an even keel. And remember that Deano's staff is always happy to call a cab for you.

Our anniversary party at Deano's was a smashing (and overwhelming) success, and we hope to see you there again on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year in the same festive atmosphere.

Deano's Vino is located at 1112 South Shelby Street, Indianapolis. Admission is free (food/drink are not included), and the action starts at 9pm. The flier for the event is attached. Further info can be found at www.hoosierbeergeek.com, and feel free to email if you have any questions.

Let's bring in 2008 right! We hope to see you there!

Chris, Jason, Jim, Kelly, Mike, Gina, and Matt
The Knights of the Beer Roundtable

I'm reposting the invite because not everyone that reads Hoosier Beer Geek subscribes to the email list. But everyone that reads Hoosier Beer Geek is invited to the party. Hell, bring 100 friends if you want. The more merrier.

All this sounds pretty good, right? Well, today we got some really great New Year's party news involving a local brewer and a special beer.

You see...

That's all I can tell you right now. Stay tuned.

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.

"Hoppy" New Year's

We don't have all the details yet, but we just confirmed that Hoosier Beer Geek will be hosting a New Year's Eve Party at Deano's Vino in Fountain Square. We're picking the keg again, a la Anniversary Party, so you know it's going to be good! Go ahead and plan on joining us as we bring in the next Leap/Summer Olympics/Presidential Election Year!

Any suggestions on the beer? Options can be found by typing the word "keg" into World Class Beverages' Indiana Beer finder.