#HBGWeek | New Indiana Brewery Night at Mass Ave Pub - Thursday, July 17

In the run-up to the Indiana Microbrewers Festival, we're celebrating HBG's Hoosier Beer Week. And we now have more details about one of the events for #HBGWeek.

When: Thursday, July 17, 6:30pm

Where: Mass Ave Pub, 745 Massachusetts Avenue, 317.974.0745

What: New Indiana Brewery Night - Celebrate Indiana's new breweries!

Featured Beers ($4 pours):

18th Street Brewery's Jade (5.5% ABV)

An American Pale Ale brewed with oats, Crystal Rye, and Pacific Jade hops.

Outliers Brewing Company's Hopes & Dreams VSOP (7.5% ABV

A specialty brew to be featured at the Indiana Microbrewers Festival, and you get a privileged first peek at this beer! A light-colored and light-bodied ale brewed with barley, wheat, rice wine yeast, and eight botanicals. Barrel-aged in Cognac barrels.

Outliers Brewing Company's Blau Machen Pilsner (5.5% ABV)

Brewed exclusively with premium European Pilsner malt and a blend of Vanguard and Sterling hops, this pilsner is crisp on the palate with malt sufficient to bolster the hops. Finishes clean with appropriate bitterness.

Scarlet Lane Brewing Company's Dorian Stout (5.1% ABV)

Distinctively ever changing and always unforgiving in its character, Dorian aims to change your thinking of Stouts. Each revolving Dorian Stout incorporates unique and artful approaches to the painting canvas of this traditional beer. A combination of carefully selected Northwest hops, masterfully selected malts and distinct additions will take you to a new discovery of Stouts. Don't go mad however, it's not you changing, it's the Dorian Stout constantly rediscovering itself. 

Taxman Brewing Company's La Maison Saison (7% ABV)

La Maison is our brewery standard that pays ample attention to aromatic hops but stays within the parameters of a French farmhouse style favorite. La Maison employs flavor and aroma hops from the Pacific Northwest. La Maison has a generous dose of Hunter’s honey, earthy undertones and fragrant notes of citrus, grapefruit and pine. The finish is dry with a mild hop bitterness.

Special Guest Beer ($10 pours):

2013 Goose Island Beer Company's Bourbon County Brand Stout (14.2% ABV)

Brewed in honor of the 1000th batch at our original Clybourn brewpub. A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer.

We hope you'll join us! In the meantime, spread the word, and use #HBGWeek on social media. An overview of the #HBGWeek calendar is here.

Indiana Lagers You Should Be Drinking

I've been saying for a while now that too many craft beer lovers ignore lagers. Yet I can understand why this is. Just about all of us started our beer-drinking lives with an American adjunct lager like Budweiser. When we graduated to craft beer, we did so because we were seeking more flavor. And over time, our palates craved more and more intensity.

I was once this kind of craft beer drinker. But now, I'm in the same camp as Jeff Alworth of Beervana when he says that some of us craft beer drinkers have unnecessarily confined ourselves to a love of radical beer styles when we should try to appreciate the simpler styles.

We're into freedom of choice in this country. I can't force you to like certain beers, nor would I even try. We all have different palates after all. However, I can encourage you break out of the rut into which you may have fallen. I can encourage you to give lagers another chance.

Like ales, lagers vary in flavor profile, from malt-forward Bocks to hop-forward Pilsners to smoky Rauchbiers. My favorite style is the Vienna or Amber Lager, which is a copper-colored beer with a prevalent caramel malt base and a crisp hop finish. This style is exemplified by Great Lakes Brewing's Eliot Ness Amber Lager (which unfortunately isn't available in central Indiana). I'm also partial to the straw-colored Bohemian Pilsner with its spicy hop notes and clean malt finish. Among the better American-brewed Bohemian Pilsners is Oskar Blues' Mama's Little Yella Pils.

Luckily for us Hoosiers, Indiana breweries are producing some excellent lagers. Here are a few that we think are worth seeking out:

Fountain Square Workingman's Pilsner - The 2012 Hoosier Beer Geek Beer of the Year.
Outliers Blau Machen Pilsner - One of the flagship beers from Ted Miller's new brewing venture.
People's Pilsner - A Hoosier Beer Geek favorite.
Sun King Oktoberfest - When Märzen season arrives, put this in your bier stein.
Three Floyds Gorch Fock - This seasonal Helles rolls out during the summer.
Thr3e Wise Men Hot for Teacher Ms. Doppelbock - Silver Medal Winner, 2014 World Beer Cup, Category 41: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock