Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Miscellaneous Session Beers

On January 28, the Brewers of Indiana Guild will stage the fourth annual Winterfest, which will of course feature offerings from Indiana's craft breweries. In honor of Winterfest, we've decided to focus most of our posts this month on Indiana beers.

As part of this focus, we thought it would be a good idea to shine the spotlight on Indiana beers that are overlooked or underrated--the unsung heroes of Indiana craft beer, if you will.

Admittedly, our methods in picking these beers were not scientific. Indeed, some of the beers that we'll talk about have won awards, so calling these beers "unsung heroes" might be a bit of a stretch. Moreover, our list is going to focus on only one beer from each Indiana brewery we discuss, and we may have omitted breweries who brew beers worthy of unsung hero status. So leave us a comment noting any beer that you think should have been included in the list.

In our last installment of this series, we reveal our picks from Indiana's session beers of miscellaneous styles.

Brugge Brasserie White. In our opinion, there's nothing quite like a well-crafted Belgian witbier. Brugge Brasserie's White exemplifies the style, with its melding of citrus tartness and coriander spiciness. We wish the brewery would have this beer on more often, particularly during the summer months when the heat calls for a crisp, thirst-quenching beer. Forget Hoegaarden--Hoosiers have Brugge White.

Lafayette Brewing Tippecanoe Common Ale. If you're looking for a hoppy session beer, Lafayette Brewing's Tippecanoe Common Ale should be high on your list of Indiana beers. We reviewed this flagship brew when we visited the brewery a few years ago. In short, we were quite impressed:

"The Tippecanoe Common Ale is LBC's best selling beer, and it's easy to see why. Hints of grapefruit-like hops are nicely balanced with a tasty caramel back, giving you a hoppy yet complex and extremely sessionable red ale. We all liked this one, and luckily it's bottled, so we were able to bring some home."

"There is a reason why Tippecanoe Common is so popular: it is delicious. This is one of those beers that is well balanced between hops and malts. But it isn't lacking in Amarillo hops, even in the bottle."

New Albanian Community Dark Mild Ale. Not many American breweries are doing an English dark mild ale. Fortunately for Hoosiers, New Albanian is with its medal-winning Community Dark. This is a true session beer, clocking in at 3.7% ABV. What's more, Community Dark does not lack for flavor with its malty chocolate, nut, and molasses notes. Along with Beak's Best, this is one of our go-to beers when we visit the Bank Street Brewhouse. If only NABC sold this beer in bottles.

Previously:
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Porters and Stouts
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Brown Ales
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Pale Ales & IPAs
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Lagers

Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Porters and Stouts

On January 28, the Brewers of Indiana Guild will stage the fourth annual Winterfest, which will of course feature offerings from Indiana's craft breweries. In honor of Winterfest, we've decided to focus most of our posts this month on Indiana beers.

As part of this focus, we thought it would be a good idea to shine the spotlight on Indiana beers that are overlooked or underrated--the unsung heroes of Indiana craft beer, if you will.

Admittedly, our methods in picking these beers were not scientific. Indeed, some of the beers that we'll talk about have won awards, so calling these beers "unsung heroes" might be a bit of a stretch. Moreover, our list is going to focus on only one beer from each Indiana brewery we discuss, and we may have omitted breweries who brew beers worthy of unsung hero status. So leave us a comment noting any beer that you think should have been included in the list.

In our fourth installment of this series, we reveal our picks from Indiana's porters and stouts.

Bee Creek Clay County Coffee Stout. The little brewery from Brazil is best known for its signature beer, Hoosier Honey Wheat. While Hoosier Honey Wheat is delicious, it's Bee Creek's Clay County Coffee Stout that really hits our palates in the right spot. Malty, chocolaty, and full of java boldness, Clay County Coffee Stout goes down especially well in the January cold (though we also enjoyed it quite a bit in the August heat).


Great Crescent Coconut Porter. Aurora's Great Crescent Brewery is currently one of two Indiana breweries offering its beers in cans. While Central Indiana beer drinkers might not be used to frequently seeing Great Crescent beers anywhere aside from the Brewers of Indiana Guild's festivals, that is changing. Kahn's is now carrying Great Crescent beers, and the brewery recently received recognition from CraftCans.com for its Bourbon's Barrel Stout. The brewery's Coconut Porter, however, is the beer we really crave. Brewed in the English porter style, Coconut Porter has the classic roasted malt and chocolate notes you'd expect from this sort of beer. And the coconut note is just hinted at rather than emphasized.


Ram Total Disorder Porter. As we've noted before, Ram's brewmaster Andrew Castner is one of the coolest people in the Indianapolis craft beer community. In our experience, his seasonal beers are definitely worth seeking out. When it comes to Ram's flagship beers, Total Disorder Porter is the one that we consistently reach for. The most sessionable offering in our list of unsung porters and stouts, Total Disorder Porter offers a moderate mouthfeel with smooth chocolate and coffee notes. Definitely a multiple pint beer.

Rock Bottom Downtown Hoosier Ma Stout (Oatmeal). Hoosier Ma Stout is my default beer at Rock Bottom's downtown location, even though the brewery rotates styles for this beer. Indeed, that's part of the allure for me. When Brewmaster Jerry Sutherlin puts Hoosier Ma on as an oatmeal stout, the beer rivals the best stouts in the state. The nose on this beer is wonderful, full of chocolate and toffee notes. The flavor is a deluge of malt and chocolate with a subtly sweet finish. I adore the mouthfeel of this beer; it's one of the creamiest stouts I've ever had.

Previously:
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Brown Ales
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Pale Ales & IPAs
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Lagers

Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Brown Ales

On January 28, the Brewers of Indiana Guild will stage the fourth annual Winterfest, which will of course feature offerings from Indiana's craft breweries. In honor of Winterfest, we've decided to focus most of our posts this month on Indiana beers.

As part of this focus, we thought it would be a good idea to shine the spotlight on Indiana beers that are overlooked or underrated--the unsung heroes of Indiana craft beer, if you will.

Admittedly, our methods in picking these beers were not scientific. Indeed, some of the beers that we'll talk about have won awards, so calling these beers "unsung heroes" might be a bit of a stretch. Moreover, our list is going to focus on only one beer from each Indiana brewery we discuss, and we may have omitted breweries who brew beers worthy of unsung hero status. So leave us a comment noting any beer that you think should have been included in the list.

In our third installment of this series, we reveal our picks from Indiana's brown ales.

Barley Island Dirty Helen. Let's face it - when it comes to picking a beer from the menu, many craft beer aficionados don't immediately go for a brown ale. But brewers would do well to have a well-made brown ale in their beer stable for those times when their patrons want something agreeable and sessionable yet flavorful. Barley Island's award-winning Dirty Helen is just such a brown ale. Back in 2009, we sat down with some very special guests for a roundtable that included Dirty Helen. Here's what our guests had to say about this excellent beer:

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps: "I like it. It’s a good beer for everybody. Malty for the malt heads. But hoppy enough for hop heads like me. Did you know that hops and marijuana come from the same family?”

U.S. Women's National Soccer Team goalkeeper Hope Solo: "It's not over the top like me, but it is very drinkable with flavors of slightly bitter coffee, caramel, and malt. I could see myself drinking several after one of my matches, where I am the best goalkeeper ever."

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford: "This dark brown ale had a nose redolent of bread, flowers, and metal (that’s right—metal). It was heavier in hop character than the brown ales I’ve enjoyed in across the pond, but in my opinion, heavy is good. The flavor was a pleasant combination of caramel, chocolate, and malty sweetness. There’s no question that Barley Island is delivering the goods with this beer. I predict that it will become the rage in craft beer circles."

Danzig frontman Glenn Danzig: "Woooaahahh Dirrrrty Helllllen. She's a deep mahogany devil."

Crown Brewing Crown Brown. One criticism we often get is that we don't focus enough on beers and breweries from northern Indiana. We think this criticism is a fair one. And as it so happens, one of our favorite brown ales in the state comes from the Calumet Region. The most sessionable of our brown ale picks at 4.1% ABV, Crown Brewing's Crown Brown is what a good brown ale should be: roasty, malty, a bit chocolaty and nutty, with a hint of caramel, backed by the mild fruitiness and woodiness of Fuggle hops. This is a beer that you'll be reaching for more than once in a sitting. We'd love to see Crown Brown more widely available on draft here in Indianapolis.

Sun King Naptown Brown. Sun King has become the big macher of central Indiana breweries. So a fair question may be whether they indeed make any beers that qualify as unsung heroes. We think so. The lone India brown ale entry in our brown ale picks, Sun King's Naptown Brown is a seasonal brew released each February by the brewery in honor of Indy's own Naptown Roller Girls. It carries an enticing chocolate and molasses sweetness balanced by an aggressive pine hop presence. I can't speak for my fellow Knights of the Beer Roundtable, but I would love to see this beer become one of Sun King's flagship beers.

Previously:
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Pale Ales & IPAs
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Lagers

Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Pale Ales & IPAs

On January 28, the Brewers of Indiana Guild will stage the fourth annual Winterfest, which will of course feature offerings from Indiana's craft breweries. In honor of Winterfest, we've decided to focus most of our posts this month on Indiana beers.

As part of this focus, we thought it would be a good idea to shine the spotlight on Indiana beers that are overlooked or underrated--the unsung heroes of Indiana craft beer, if you will.

Admittedly, our methods in picking these beers were not scientific. Indeed, some of the beers that we'll talk about have won awards, so calling these beers "unsung heroes" might be a bit of a stretch. Moreover, our list is going to focus on only one beer from each Indiana brewery we discuss, and we may have omitted breweries who brew beers worthy of unsung hero status. So leave us a comment noting any beer that you think should have been included in the list.

In our second installment of this series, we reveal our picks from Indiana's pale ales and IPAs.

Broad Ripple Brewpub Lawnmower Pale Ale. Some craft beer aficionados tend to overlook English-style beers because of their mellow flavor profile. But sometimes, an in-your-face hop bomb simply doesn't suit the occasion. Brewed by the granddaddy of Indiana craft breweries, Broad Ripple Brewpub's Lawnmower Pale Ale is an easy-drinking brew that is admittedly tailor-made for those new to drinking craft beer. But if you're looking something sessionable, flavorful, and subtly citrusy, you cannot go wrong with this beer. Perfect for the pub's patio in the July and August heat.

Flat12 Bierwerks Walkabout Pale Ale. This beer originated at the Indiana Microbrewers Festival last summer as part of the ReplicAle program. Under this program, all participating breweries brewed a single-hop pale ale according to the same recipe, but each brewery chose a different hop. For its ReplicAle, Flat12 chose Galaxy hops, a high-alpha hop from Australia--hence, the name "Walkabout." Walkabout was so well-liked that Flat12 decided to brew it again after Winterfest. You'll undoubtedly be seeing more of it around town. We'll have a more detailed write-up on Walkabout soon because we recently reviewed it at a roundtable. For now, know that the citrus and passion fruit notes of this sessionable beer will leave you craving more. We wouldn't be surprised if this beer becomes a local favorite.

Three Floyds Pride & Joy. You may be wondering why a Three Floyds beer is on a list of underrated beers. Doesn't the brewery get enough attention already? Mike recently enjoyed a Pride & Joy on draft at the Tomlinson Tap Room. He explains why we've included this beer as an unsung hero of Indiana craft beer--

While Three Floyds certainly needs no hype, Pride and Joy seems to be an often overlooked selection from their stellar lineup. It's probably no surprise that if you stick your nose in the general vicinity of the beer, a pungent hop aroma jumps out at you. Despite being a "mild ale", the beer has all the big and bold characteristics you'd expect from Three Floyds, but like Gumballhead or Zombie Dust, it rewards the drinking sip after sip, providing full flavor without ever overwhelming the palate.

Pride and Joy slots in between Alpha King and Gumballhead on the IBU scale, and if you're a fan of Floyds in general, the beer won't let you down. I've heard that the bottled version isn't as great - probably due to traffic/freshness if anything - but on tap it's a beer with very few competitors. If Pride and Joy were the only Floyds beer you knew, it would still be worthy of the throne. It's odd to think that the recipe may be 14 years old, and yet the beer is still unique and sort of aggressively yet agreeably great.

While it's hard to call any Floyds beer underrated, Pride and Joy is surely often-forgotten, despite the fact that it's as good or better than many other breweries' flagship beers.

Mad Anthony IPA. When you think of IPAs from Indiana, Mad Anthony is probably not the first beer that comes to mind. Yet we like this beer quite a bit. We tend to think of Mad Anthony IPA as a "workhorse" IPA--steady, dependable, never disappointing. Indeed, it's probably one of the most well-balanced IPAs produced in the state; it toes the line between malty sweetness and citrusy, bitter hoppiness quite nicely. Take it from us: you should not turn your nose up at this beer.

Oaken Barrel Superfly IPA. A 100+ IBU explosion of citrus and pine hop character supported by a toasty and sweet malt backing. What's not to like about this beer? Along with the brewery's Snake Pit Porter (which also could easily be classified as an unsung craft beer hero), Superfly is our go-to beer when we visit Oaken Barrel. If you dig this beer as much as we do, make sure you get a growler before you leave the pub. We've never reviewed Superfly, but that's going to have to change soon.

Rock Bottom College Park Simcoe IPA. Unfortunately, chain brewpubs sometimes get a bad rap. People automatically assume that if it's corporate, it's not worth having. Definitely not so with Rock Bottom. Among the other beers she brews, Rock Bottom College Park's brewmaster Liz Laughlin has a gem with her Simcoe IPA. Yes, we realize that Simcoe IPA is an award-winning beer, so maybe we're cheating by calling it an "unsung hero." And yes, we realize that the beer is a seasonal beer, so its availability is limited and you probably can't get it right now. But we wanted to emphasize that just because it's corporate doesn't necessarily mean that it's not worth having. In other words, you should order this beer when it's on.

Here's what we had to say when we reviewed Simcoe IPA back in 2010:

Mike: 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.

Rod: 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.

Gina: 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.

Previously: Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Lagers

Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Lagers

On January 28, the Brewers of Indiana Guild will stage the fourth annual Winterfest, which will of course feature offerings from Indiana's craft breweries. In honor of Winterfest, we've decided to focus most of our posts this month on Indiana beers. After all, this blog is called *Hoosier* Beer Geek.

As part of this focus, we thought it would be a good idea to shine the spotlight on Indiana beers that are overlooked or underrated--the unsung heroes of Indiana craft beer, if you will.

Admittedly, our methods in picking these beers are not scientific; some of the beers that we'll talk about have won awards. Yet these award-winning beers are often left out of the conversation when beer geeks in this state discuss their favorites, which is why these beers are on our list of unsung heroes. In addition, our list of unsung heroes is going to focus on only one beer from each Indiana brewery we discuss. This means that other beers from the same brewery that aren't on our list may be worthy of being included as an unsung hero. Further, we may have omitted a brewery who brews one or more beers worthy of the unsung heroes list. In that case, please leave a comment noting the beer/brewery that you think should have been included.

First up, we'll focus on a style that many beer geeks seem to overlook, dismiss, and sometimes malign: lagers. Let's face it--many if not all of the most acclaimed beers in this state are ales, not lagers. But Indiana breweries are producing some fantastic lagers. We'd like to focus your attention on two: Upland Preservation Pilsner and People's Pilsner.

We reviewed Upland's Bohemian-style pilsner a few years ago and were left craving more.

Here's what we had to say about Preservation Pilsner at the time:

Jim: Preservation Pilsner had the classic golden lager hue, biscuity nose, and sweet and grassy finish. It carried a nice hop bite as well, which lent it a good heft that kept it from coming across as watery. All in all, an impressive pilsner, and one that I wouldn't hesitate to stock my fridge with for hot summer days.

Gina:: The beer's lightly citrus aroma led to a bready flavor and finished crisp and dry. This is a fine beer worth revisiting again, preferably outside when it's hot...maybe with some barbecue.

Chris: Count me among those who generally aren't too keen on beers made with lager yeast. I'll admit that's a broad stroke, but I find the wide range of flavors produced by ale yeasts much more interesting. Given my prejudice, Upland Preservation Pilsner had a hill to climb. I have to say, though, this is one mighty fine pilsner. Crystal clear, bready and crisp with a dose of grassy hops, this is a beer that can really quench your thirst . . . .

You can drink Preservation Pilsner with a good conscience as well because the brewery donates 10% of the profits from the sale of the beer to environmental causes.

As for People's Pilsner, we met for a roundtable last week in which we reviewed this spicy Dortmunder-style pilsner, so our complete thoughts on the beer are forthcoming. Suffice it to say for now that like Upland's pilsner, People's Pilsner is among the best Indiana lagers out there. Indeed, this beer makes us feel lucky that the good folks at People's make this beer fairly-widely available in Indianapolis.