Chef JJ's Hell Night IV

Chef JJ's Back Yard hosts a number of beer related events throughout the year, ranging from the recent Sun King GABF preview dinner to the yearly Make It Local dinner associated with the Microbrewers Festival.  Each one pairs craft beer with food prepared exclusively on the Big Green Egg.  While the Back Yard only hosts events, the Big Green Bistro takes food trucks to a whole new level with a tour bus sized mobile grilling facility.  One of the most unique events, and my favorite, is the annual Hell Night.

Hell Night wouldn't be possible without the chile growing prowess of Jim Campbell.  Jim is a firefighter on the northwest side who has a respectable side business of running a chile farm.  The chiles produced on Jim's farm are used by many hot sauce producers, including such big names as CaJohn's, Dave's and Blair's.  While the opportunity to sample the world's hottest peppers is worth the price of admission, Chef JJ's takes the event even further by donating half of the ticket price to Jim's charity - Step Up for Charity.  Step Up for Charity is an umbrella organization that benefits charities such as Lt. General Timothy J Maude Foundation, Jason M Baker Scholarship, Lt. Jim Cleek Scholarship, American Lung Association's "Fight for Air Climb" and Pike Fire Just Cause.

Now Jim's crop was not spared by this year's intense drought.  His harvest was weak and he wasn't able to bring the large spread he normally does.  Luckily, the chilehead community is strong, much like the brewing community.  CaJohn's stepped up and donated a variety of the world's hottest peppers for the event.  The most mild pepper on the table that night was the Red Scotch Bonnet Pepper.  Climbing up the scale, multiple variants of the Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper), Trinidad Scorpion, Trinidad Maruga Scorpion, 7-Pot and a new pepper hybrid, the Reaper.  The Trinidad Maruga Scorpion currently holds the world record at 2 million scovilles and the Reaper might take the title at the next judging.  These are serious peppers.

Rest assured that Hell Night is not simply 5 courses of meals that are unbearably hot and unenjoyable.  Chef JJ's crew does an excellent job of using these insanely hot peppers to create fantastic dishes.  In addition to the 5 courses, Triton and Sun King provided their own chile beers.  Triton's chile beer was an IPA named Hatchblower IPA.  The base was their Railsplitter IPA, which had green peppers (for aroma) and jalapeños added to create a flavor that complimented the hops and added a warming heat in the throat.  Sun King has done a chile beer each year for Hell Night, and this year was no exception.  Their offering was simply titled Hell Night and was based off of the Cream Ale with a blend of chiles created by Chef JJ's added.  The end result was a very spicy beer that brought out lots of fruity notes from the chiles.

The first course was a Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Dip over Chef JJ's traditional grilled bread starter. Underneath the bacon-infused artichoke dip was a house-made hot sauce named Blow Your Face Off, which provided a nice but subdued spicy kick.

The second course was a complex and involved Posole, which featured blood sausage from Claus's and pickled black radishes from Goose the Market.  A variety of spicy peppers were used in this one, and a side of house-made TED hot sauce could be added to adjust the heat level.  A couple teaspoons of the TED sauce brought the Posole up to a tongue spiking heat.

The third course was a large bowl of Shrimp Vindaloo Curry, thickened with tomato and pumpkin and spiced with Trinidad Scorpion peppers.  Depending on your tolerance of the type of capsaicin in the Trinidad Scorpion, this one may have brought tears to your eyes, but it was so good that no one could stop eating it.

The fourth course was a Grilled Tenderloin, which was rubbed with a house-made spice blend and placed on top of chipotle mashed sweet potatoes.  Compared to the previous dish, this one wouldn't even be considered spicy, which was probably a good thing.

To finish things off with a bang, Chef Jenna created Avocado Pops in push-pop molds that were filled with minced chocolate and green ghost peppers.  Just for clarification, chocolate ghost peppers are named for their color and do not have a sweet chocolately flavor.  If I had not just consumed a piece of Reaper, this would have been the spiciest dish by far.

Throughout the meal, Jim brought by chopped up samples of peppers that adequately filled the heat spectrum of peppers ranging from 200K scovilles to 2M scovilles.  Being the bull-headed individual that I am, I tried each one without the assistance of milk.  I shed many tears on Hell Night, and consumed much water, but it was worth it.  I consumed the Reaper and lived to tell the tale.  Until next year,  Hell Night.

Oh and as a footnote, Hell Night sells out very early, so start checking Chef JJ's website (chefjjs.com) in August for tickets to go on sale.  Or just attend one of their other events to experience some of their less spicy foods.

KOTBR #144 | Of Tridents and Horses

On Wednesday, August 29, beloved Indy beer bar Twenty Tap celebrated its first anniversary. And where were these ace reporters? We were...not there. While we heard that the party at Twenty Tap was fantastic, we were trying to broaden our craft beer experiences in this town. So we opted for a visit to the Winner's Circle Pub, Hoosier Park's off-track betting establishment, because we'd heard great things about their tap list. And besides, who doesn't want to experience the thrill of betting on horse races and the splendor of a lit bar top...that changes colors!

We were pleased to see that all of the tap handles save for one were reserved for craft selections, and most of them were local selections (among them Oaken Barrel, Flat12, and Sun King). Looking yet again to expand our local beer horizons, we decided to review one of Triton Brewing's flagship beers, Deadeye Stout. Triton's brewery also happens to be in a refurbished horse barn, so perhaps we just had horses on the brain.

When the HBG crew suggested that we have our next roundtable at Winner's Circle OTB downtown, I was a little more than apprehensive. Would we be reviewing Blue Moon while losing our paychecks on Space Jam and The Letter P? As it turns out, Winner's Circle has a great selection of local craft beer and absolutely no Bud, Miller or Coors on tap (although they may have had Blue Moon). While I was still empowered to lose my paycheck through off-track betting, the psychedelic colors of the bar held my attention long enough to avoid betting on Scorpion Juice. As if 100 TVs and a broad selection of Indiana beer wasn't enough, $4 pints certainly sold me on this place. And that wasn't even a special, the special was $3 pints on Sundays.

From the selections, we decided on Triton's Deadeye Stout. In retrospect, this was a terrible choice because the dark beer couldn't refract the colors of the bar. It's a good thing I enjoyed the beer enough to detract from my fascination with red, blue, and green. Deadeye Stout plays a convincing role of a chocolate stout before it reaches your mouth, with heavy aromas of dark chocolate and roasted malt. I'm pretty sure Deadeye Stout isn't a chocolate stout, but it certainly tastes like one, or perhaps a chocolaty sweet stout. Milk chocolate, cocoa nibs, and a hint of toast are all easy to pick out in the dark, sweet liquid. As dessert-like as I make it sound, Deadeye doesn't end up being too sweet, maintaining a nice drinkable balance in its sweetness and heavy body. It seems that many Indiana brewers have refrained from keeping a stout on their year-round tap list, so it's nice to find that Triton is bucking that trend. This was a very enjoyable beer and will be even more satisfying once the temperature starts to drop in a few months. 3.60 Mugs.

I've never been to Vegas and I'm not much of a gambler, but I'm guessing that many of the venues there have a similar vibe to Winner's Circle. Over the top colors and sounds and the occasional burst of excitement (or frustration, depending on the outcome) from the crowd keep you entertained even if you aren't betting on the ponies. Best of all, they keep a heavy rotation of local beer on tap.

Our selection for review was the Deadeye Stout from Triton. Seemingly a lighter stout as far as mouthfeel and texture, but a load of flavor really made this a pleasant and drinkable beer. Chocolate, roasty coffee, and caramel mingled about in a nice, black haze. 3.20 Mugs.

Triton Deadeye Stout
Gina: 3.20 Mugs | Jim: 3.20 Mugs | Jason: 3.80 Mugs | Rod: 3.60 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.45 Mugs

KOBTR #139 | 31 Flavors

When Kevin Matalucci's Twenty Tap opened last fall, we wasted no time in visiting for a roundtable. Back then, Twenty Tap had exactly what the name of the pub suggested: 20 taps devoted to craft beer. But recently, the pub added 11 new taps, expanding Twenty Tap's offerings to an impressive 31 craft beers. With the pub regularly posting its taplist on Facebook, we noted Twenty Tap's recent addition of beers from breweries new to Hoosiers, such as Sixpoint Craft Ales from New York and Triton Brewing Company from Indianapolis's east side. So we decided that a return trip to the pub for a roundtable was in order. What did we drink? Stuff from the new kids, of course: Sixpoint's Gemini, which is a double IPA, and Triton's Sweet Georgia Brown, a brown ale brewed with espresso beans from Indy's Bjava Coffee & Tea.

Triton Sweet Georgia Brown. This beer is for coffee lovers. My first thought when the bartender set this burgundy brown beauty in front of me was, "I can smell the java in this thing from a mile away." Yes, this beer had a powerful nose. As for the flavor, Sweet Georgia Brown was like a cup of the richest, darkest coffee with a good dose of turbinado sugar. 4.15 Mugs.

Sixpoint Gemini. I was excited to see Sixpoint's entry into the Indiana craft beer market. I'd never had a Sixpoint beer before trying Gemini, but I'd always heard great things about their beers. Gemini did not disappoint. The beer was unfiltered, pouring with a murky red-gold color. The predominant flavor was heavy citrus, with an aggressive grapefruit note hitting the palate hard. Nice work from the new boys. 4.00 Mugs.


Twenty Tap is absolutely one of the best pubs in the city.  They've only been open a short time and they have already expanded their tap list from twenty to thirty-one delicious offerings.  On my long list of things I love about the place, besides the great food (the Vegan Bahn Mi is outstanding), friendly staff, and never-ending list of beer options at some of the best prices in the city, is that they serve half pints.  This is a HUGE deal for me and one that I will never stop thanking them for.  This thoughtful option allows for more exploration of the beer list and that’s a big plus for any beer lover.

On this particular visit we sat down with one local, and one newly distributed brewery.  Our local option is the Sweet Georgia Brown, that comes from Triton Brewing in Lawrence.  Living on the southwest side and working on the northwest side means that trips to Triton are unfortunately few and far between, so it is nice to see them offered around town.  I really dug their Gingerbread Brown when it was out and I was hoping to like this one as much.  While I had no doubt that I would enjoy it, just how much went above and beyond my expectations.  As soon as the beer was set in front of me, I was smitten.  I could almost smell the coffee aroma before I even had the glass in front of me!  Juan Valdez wouldn't be able to get over how much coffee aroma was coming from this beer!  The rich aroma followed through into the flavor, blending coffee and malty sweetness together.  4.75 Mugs.

The next beer up was Gemini, a DIPA from Sixpoint Brewery out of Brooklyn.  This hazy, orange brew smelled fantastic.  Citrus and pineapple were on the forefront, just as I like it.  I’m guessing the keg was getting pretty low, because something in the texture of the beer reminded me of tomato juice.  No harm in that.  The flavors were excellent, of grapefruit and pineapple, maybe even a hint of pine in there.  At 7%, this leans towards the lower end of the ABV scale, as far as an DIPA is concerned but make no mistake, this packs some punch.  4.00 Mugs.

I could continue with telling you - like those before me - about how great 20 Tap is. But judging from the constantly busy status of the restaurant, you already know. There will always be a need for great food and great beer at a reasonable price in Indianapolis. There's no secret formula.

Triton has been in business for a few months now, making inroads into bars across the city, and continuing the trend of chasing the out of town one-off craft breweries from tap handles. This is a good thing, as any city that would like to be known for its beer culture has to start with a strong local brewery presence. Triton's Sweet Georgia Brown Java, with its cuppa joe nose, copper/amber color, and three dimensional (front, middle, and back) coffee flavor, may not be the best coffee beer you'll ever have, but it's not one you'd ever call weak. 3.75 Mugs.

After arriving in Indiana last month, Sixpoint immediately caught my attention with their solid lineup of offerings. Thanks to friends, I've now had most of those selections, and I can say that I was happy with them all. Gemini, their Double IPA, impressed me the least. The beer is cloudy to the point that it looks like applesauce in the glass, with a thick creamy head. This is a fruity DIPA, but unlike my fellow knights, I didn't pick up the overpowering citrus fruits you'd expect. Instead I found a hint of grape followed by a sliver of pineapple. There's definitely a bite of alcohol heat here, too - finishing a little hot. Don't let this scare you off Sixpoint, though - they're definitely worth checking out. 3.3 Mugs.


Triton Sweet Georgia Brown
Jim: 4.15 Mugs | Mike: 3.75 Mugs | Gina: 4.75 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 4.22 Mugs

Sixpoint Gemini
Jim: 4.00 Mugs | Mike: 3.30 Mugs | Gina: 4.00 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.77 Mugs

Beer Diary #22 - Mike - Triton, Barley Island, Perennial, and The Civil Life

The world of better beer is one in which nothing stands still. New breweries and new releases fill the calendar, making it impossible to keep things under our thumbs. Nevertheless, we soldier on, knowing that it's the journey, not the finish, that keeps us coming back.

Well it sounds noble, anyway.


18 September 11
Location: Triton Brewing Company, 5764 Wheeler Road, Indianapolis

Triton began operations a couple weeks ago, and have been bringing on their new offerings in quick succession even since. We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon to sample their Fieldhouse Wheat, which was the only house beer available at the time. (They've since added their Magnificent Amber, Four Barrel Brown, and Deadeye Stout to the lineup.)


Triton'S Fieldhouse Wheat is an Amarillo-hopped wheat beer, balanced, with medium body and a citrus hop flavor. It's bigger than your standard wheat beer, but not quite gumballhead either. Oftentimes, the first beer out of a new brewery shows flaws - not the case here. A really nice introduction to Triton.

And the space looks awesome.


18 September 11
Location: Barley Island, Noblesville

We had to return a used HBG5 keg to Barley Island, so a trip up north made sense. What we found inside was Barley Island's Barrel Fermented Rust Belt Porter on cask. A beautiful bourbon nose, brown sugar and molasses, flat cask front, then vanilla - not a lot of wood comes through, just balanced bourbon flavor. Very nice.


Part of the fun of HBG is taking photos of people who don't want their picture taken.
20 September 11
Location: Tomlinson Tap Room, Indianapolis City Market

As part of their first anniversary, local coffeehouse Bjava Coffee and Tea has worked with a number of brewers around the city to put together a series of coffee-flavored beers. An excellent idea!


Flat12 Bjava Blond - This is a straight up coffee flavored coffee beer, almost just a cold cup of coffee. Really nice coffee with cream nose - strong on the coffee, golden lemony color, cloudy body. Roasty from the coffee, not from the beer, leans more towards the blacker side of coffee.

If you really dig coffee, this might be the beer for you.


20 September 11
Location: La Revolucion, Fountain Square

I was in need of tacos. Rumor had it that Revolucion's veggie tacos were excellent. I decided to investigate.

Tacos need beer. Rogue Dead Guy - the first hbg review? No, the tenth. Nevertheless, there's something about a Dead Guy in Fountain Square.

This one is domestic light lager colored, sweet malty nose, surprisingly deep in flavor - expected less from the nose. Earthy on front, then an explosion of sweetness in the finish. Grassy earthy. The quicker you drink it, the less fruity comes through though, so it seems like maybe the palate needs time to reset in there, somewhere.


16 September 11
Location: Perennial Artisan Ales, 8125 South Michigan, St. Louis, MO

As one of the benefits of running a slightly successful beer blog, we've met many folks, amongst them the large crew that regularly associates with STLHops.com's Mike Sweeney. Some of them, like former Itap/Lohr Distributing manager Cory King, even help run breweries.


Perennial is a recently opened example. Situated in a warehouse turned apartment and brewery space, the brewery plans to focus on "production of farmhouse ales, seasonal styles, and cellaring varieties that are intended to improve with age."

We're always up for a different approach, so we stopped in to check it out.


Southside blonde - straight-ahead belgian blonde, reminiscent of barley island's sheetmetal blonde.

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart - big strawberry out front on the nose - smells like strawberry chapstick. Sippin' in, definitely bringing out the rhubarb. Interesting.

Hommel Bier - star of the show, hints of citrus, chewy, the hops really shine through - super drinkable.

Each of these beers are very early in their lifecycle - I'm excited by the approach, and will be back to Perennial in the future.


17 September 11
Location: The Civil Life Brewing Company, 3714 Holt Ave, St. Louis, Mo 63116
Website Highly Recommended. Like this page.

This was a brewery opening. An anxious crowd gathered about a mile from the brewery location, where we we treated to a re-purposed beer-influenced Gettysburg Address before the parade started.

Yep, a parade.


We walked a block and were given a beer. The crowd continued to grow. We continued to walk. We were given another beer. We turned a corner - now just a block away from the brewery - and were greeted by a band of bagpipers. They lead us down the street to the brewery, where a pirate climbed onto the roof and raised a pirate flag.

BREWERY OPEN!


This is Carl on the second story balcony/seating area.
The Civil Life aims to be a neighborhood brewery in a neighborhood in need of one. Brewing sessionable beers, I expect them to do very well. The space was beautiful. The beer was tasty. We left happy.

Triton Is Still Opening

The initial buzz accompanying Triton Brewing Company may have been lost in the excitement and continuing new brewery news, but David, Mike, and Jon aren't going away. They've just been tied up in the permitting process.

Does that worry them?

"Not at all," said David Waldman. "We're excited to see everyone opening up, and there's plenty of room."


The photos here were taken roughly a month ago. With the exception of some demolition work, not much has changed since then. But construction of the brewery is ready to begin as Triton received their final permit on Wednesday.

The ownership group has ambitious plans for the building. The painted brick on the exterior will be striped. New storefront windows and doors will grace the main entrance. A patio will be located on the north side of the building. Inside, metal and wood materials will finish the spaces that will eventually be a tap room with dining space and a catering kitchen to allow pint sales.


The space, a former horse barn, shows a ton of potential, and may prove to be one of the more unique brewery spaces you'll come across. The front of the building will house the tasting room, while brewing operations will take place near the rear. The clerestory windows that run the length of the building will provide ample natural lighting. And there's more than ample space for the brewery to grow with demand.


Click to view larger image


Click to view larger image
We look forward to following up with more details as the project nears completion.