07 May 2010

Random Beer Roundup - The Mini Edition



Good luck to all you crazy people running the Mini tomorrow. Let us know what beer you are celebrating with!

Speaking of celebrating, don't forget your Mom on Mother's Day this Sunday. Your mom likes beer, right?

Mark your calendars for May 22nd for our Tailgate for Nothing 2. We hope you'll join us as we attempt a Double IPA double blind test. More information can be found here. We hope you'll be there!

If there is something coming up that is not listed, we would love to hear about it. News, reviews, info, etc., to share for our next Random Beer Roundup can be submitted tohoosierbeergeek@gmail.com. Don't see your favorite craft beer establishment? Let them know you'd like to see them here!

Hoosier Beer Calendar
Events are subject to change

Friday, May 7th: Entries for Upcup are due

Friday, May 7th at Power House Brewing Co. in Columbus: Holy Cow Stout (firkin)

Tuesday, May 11th from 5-7 pm at Parti Pak in Greenwood: Sun King Can Release party

Friday, May 14th at 21st Amendment Broad Ripple: Sun King Can Release party

Friday, May 14th at M. Moggers in Terre Haute: Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner $25/advance

Monday, May 17th - Sunday, May 23rd - American Craft Beer Week

Tuesday, May 18th at Rock Bottom - Downtown: Brewers Dinner

Saturday, May 22nd at the Lake County Fairgrounds Industrial Building: Illiana Mayfest

Saturday, May 22nd - HBG Tailgate for Nothing 2

Saturday, June 5th at Keg Liquors in Clarksville: Fest of Ale (more info below)

Saturday, June 5th at Upland Brewery in Bloomington: Radfest

Sunday, June 13th at Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory in Ft. Wayne: Botanical Brew & Q (more details below)

Saturday, July 10th at the Indiana State Fairgrounds: Brewer's Cup

Sunday, July 11th - July 17th - Indiana Beer Week

Saturday, July 17th at Opti Park in Broad Ripple: Indiana Microbrewers Festival (VIP Ticketsare available NOW, regular admission/DD on sale May 17th)

More news and events can be found on Indiana Beer

What's Brewing

From Roger at New Albanian Brewing Co. in New Albany:
For the first time ever, NABC will have beer pouring in Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Triple-A Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds affiliate). Our Louisville wholesaler, River City Distributing, shipped four kegs of Beak's Best (American Bitter) to Centerplate, the stadium concessionaire, this week. The current homestand runs from May 6 - 13, including an 11:00 a.m. game on Wednesday, May 12, when we're planning a ballpark bash. Details to be determined, so check our Facebook early next week.

From Greg at Lafayette Brewing Co. in Lafayette:
On tap at Lafayette Brewing this weekend: Prophet's Rock Pale Ale; East Side Bitter; Pipers' Pride Scottish Ale; Tippecanoe Common Ale; Eighty-Five; Black Angus Oatmeal Stout; How Now Brown Ale; Star City Lager and our latest release, Maifest. We've also got just a bit more cask-conditioned Digby's Irish Stout that we're dispensing from the hand pull.

On the entertainment front: On Friday, we'll host our monthly show with local improv artists, One Size Fits All. On Saturday, things will really be hoppin' around LBC! First, we've got a Friends of Bob production featuring The Holmes Brothers on our 2nd floor with an 8 pm show time. In addition, we've got the season kick-off of Mosey Down Main Street. This series of free street fairs runs from 2nd St. to 11th St. on Main and features live music, dancing, food vendors, crafts, kid's areas and much, much more! Stop by for a growler to sip while exploring the unique atmosphere that downtown Lafayette has to offer.

From John at Half Moon Brewery in Kokomo:
New on tap at Half Moon:
The Slump Buster – Raspberry Cream Ale It’s been a while since the last fruit beer at Half Moon. Well, the slump is over! This raspberry cream ale is a light bodied ale flavored with lots and lots of raspberries. It has a deep raspberry red color, a wonderful raspberry aroma, and a sweet-tart fresh raspberry flavor. Bring your friends to enjoy this nice warm weather beer and who knows, you might just bust a slump of your own! O.G.=1.046 ABV=5.0% IBU=16

Coming Soon!:
Suzie's Sweet Stout - This oatmeal/milk stout was the Best In Show at last years Brewer's Cup Homebrew Competition at the Indiana State Fair. Homebrewer Larry Barnhart came to the Half Moon and brewed his outstanding Sweet Stout for us all to enjoy here in Kokomo. The release of this beer will be Thursday, May 20th as part of the American Craft Beer Week celebration. Make your plans now, this one won't last long.

From Jon at Power House Brewing in Columbus:
Friday, we will tap a Firkin of Diesel Oil Stout, cask conditioned with lactose and Simcoe hops. I'm calling it Holy Cow Stout!

From Jerry at Rock Bottom - Downtown, Indianapolis:

Brewer's Dinner May 18

From Charles at Upland Brewing Co. in Bloomington:

Entries for the UpCup Homebrew Competition are due Friday, May 7th. This is your chance at beer stardom, so don't forget! Visit uplandbeer.comfor details.


From Dan at RAM Brewery Downtown and Fishers:
Hey guys, as you know American Craft Beer Week is the 17th through the 23rd and both RAM locations, Downtown Indy & Fishers, will be offering $4.99 growler fills all week!

Carry Out

From Todd at Keg Liquors in Clarksville:
Here is the latest from Keg Liquors in Clarksville:
Fullers - London Pride 4 packs of 16.9oz cans (England)
New Holland - Dragon's Milk Strong Ale Now in 4 Packs! (Michigan)
Ommegang - Witte (New York)
Tyranena - Scurvy IPA (Wisconsin)

Events:
5th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale, June 5th from 3 - 7 PM. 30+ Breweries, 3 Craft Beer Distributors, 4 Fine Wine Distributors, over 150 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity silent auction and beer raffle and more! http://www.kegliquors.com/fest_of_ale.html for more details

From Bill at Crown Liquors Downtown Indianapolis (Ohio and Delaware):
New this week at Crown Wine and Spirits- Ohio and Delaware - Downtown Indy

Mad River Brewing Double Dread Imperial Red
Harpoon Single Hop ESB
Dogfish Head Burton Baton

Friday's tasting (3pm-7pm) will feature an exploration of the mighty Humulus lupulus - beer hops!

From Eric at 21st Amendment in Broad Ripple:
Fresh on our shelves, Brooklyn Summer Ale. This is a light, refreshing English-style ale, similar to a bitter, designed to be enjoyed in hot weather with summer fare. In addition we still have Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, a beautiful wood aged, large brown ale, ready to drink now but happy to be aged for up to five years. Don't forget to swing by for our free beer tasting, Fridays at 5. We'll be tasting Goose Island all this month, today we'll be sampling Sophie. Come by and give it a try.
5/14 - Sun King can release party
From Kyle at Parti Pak Liquors in Greenwood:
We will be holding a tasting on the 11th of May from 5-7PM. Clay will be there from Sun King to represent them and their beers as we do our launch party for the sell of their cans.
Beer Dinners

M.Moggers in Terre Haute - Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner - May 14th. Tickets $25

Rock Bottom Downtown Indianapolis Brewers Dinner - May 18th

From the Distributors:

From Greg at Cavalier Distribution:
Cavalier is proud to announce that we are officially distributing People's Brewing Co. beers throughout the entire state!! We will start with two everyday offerings on draft, People's Pilsner & IPA. Both styles will be available in draft only in both 1/2 & 1/6 bbl kegs. People's Brew is already in several fine craft beer establishments in metro Indianapolis & Lafayette, and is soon to be in many more throughout the state. Support local beer and enjoy some People's Brew soon!!
News around the web:

Rita Kohn's upcoming book, True Brew, is available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

Upcoming Event:

From Ben at Mad Anthony Serious Homebrewers (MASH):
Botanical Brew & Q in Fort Wayne

The Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory will be holding the annual Brew & Q on June 13th. Some changes to the program, the addition of some demonstrations and a live Best of Show judging will be great improvements to the event. Tickets are only $5 and include sample tickets. I'm not sure what breweries have committed at this point. I'm sure that MABC is involved, though. They're doing the barbecue.

Details: http://www.botanicalconservatory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:botanical-brew-a-q&catid=10:events-a-exhibitions&Itemid=1

This is the first year that the homebrew competition will be sanctioned. Registration ends on May 21st. Judging is June 12th. We will have a strong BJCP judge roster. Entries are $8 for the first entry and $4 for each additional entry. The first entry includes admission to the Conservatory's Brew & Q event on June 13th when winners will be announced and the Best of Show judging will be done as part of the activities.

Judge Registration:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dG44WmxOVHRRX3FZRW1PNU5pVktpTVE6MQ
Additional News:

Brugge discusses expansion plans
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06 May 2010

Hoosier Beer Geek's Tailgate for Nothing 2 (TFN2): DIPA Dischord

A few nights ago, Gina and I were out at a Sun King/Zing beer pairing dinner, where we met a nice couple who asked "So those events you do.. can anyone come to them? We weren't really sure how that works."

The answer: Yes. Please come to our events. Like the one you're about to read about, which is free to attend.

You may recall reading about Tailgate for Nothing (1), an event we threw back in November of last year. We had beer and unhealthy food and a good time, so we're doing it again, this time with a twist.


The Hoosier Beer Geek Knights of the Beer Roundtable invite you to join us for..

TFN2: DIPA Dischord
Saturday, May 22nd, starting at 11AM
Back parking lot of the Sun King Brewery
135 N. College, Indy

What's Tailgate for Nothing (TFN)? All nine HBG Knights of the Beer Roundtable are fans of the act of tailgating. It occurred to us that tailgating usually revolves around sporting events - but why should it have to? Getting together with friends, eating hearty and/or unhealthy foods, drinking beer, and just hanging out - these are ideas we can all get behind.

TFN is exactly that - a tailgate for nothing. It's an opportunity for people to wheel out their rare beer, beer they never have an excuse to drink, or just big ABV beers, and to share it with like-minded individuals who are sure to appreciate what they are drinking.

TFN will be done in a traditional tailgate manner - bring your own everything (tailgate, beer, food, trash bags, chairs, bbq grills, games, whatever), cook and eat in a parking lot (pots of chili, brats and hamburgers, and stuff like that), and in the end, clean up after yourself. The main idea is sharing food and drink, hanging out, and having a good time.

What's DIPA Dischord? Well if you read our site you know that we rate beer in non-traditional ways. We're sitting on a pile of Double IPAs, and we're going to break them into brackets, taste them blind, and rack up some scores, in hopes of finding out which one is best. This is a task that's bigger than any of us, and we want you to help.

Are they all fresh? No, not exactly. Does it really matter? No, because we're just doing this for fun. In some cases we have just one bottle. This is Hoosier Beer Geek. We wing it.
SITTING ON MY COUNTER TOP (Where they'll stay fresh. Whatever.)

Good to go:
Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree (12 oz)
Lagunitus Hop Stoopid (22 oz)
Yulesmith Holiday (22 oz)
Southern Tier Unearthly (22 oz)
Green Flash Imperial IPA (22 oz)
Hoppin' Frog Mean Manalishi DIPA (22 oz)
Bell's Hopslam (4 12 oz)
Sun King Cream Dream 2 (four pack cans)
He'Brew Lenny's Bittersweet RIPA
Oskar Blues Gubna

DON'T HAVE YET:

Local and Easyish:
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Stone Ruinaton
Three Floyds Dreadnaught
Founders Double Trouble

Local and Requiring Effort:
Brugge DIPA
New Albanian Hoptimus
Barley Island Count Hopula

Will Consider Acquiring:
Heavy Seas Big DIPA
Victory Hop Wallop
Harpoon Leviathan IIPA
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Mad River Steelhead DIPA
Great Divide Hercules
Avery Maharajah
If you're planning to attend and have something in the DON'T HAVE YET list, and are willing to throw it in the pile, let us know.

If you're planning to attend and don't like Double IPAs, that's ok too, as we'll have other beer as well.

In addition to the beer, we'll have unhealthy foods. Jason is bringing sausages. There have been rumors of a KFC Double Down recreation. Jim will bring lettuce because Jim is a rabbit. This is a bring your own food event, but there's plenty of sharing (and daring) going on.

If you don't have a giant special beer, that's not a problem. Just make sure you bring something tasty. This isn't a rare beer contest. It's just a good time. Also this won't cost you anything to attend.

You can even bring well behaved kids. You cannot give them beer, though. This isn't Wisconsin. And drunk kids are never well behaved, unless they're passed out. I'm guessing. I don't have kids.

What to bring (aside from food and beer)

Tasting Glasses - If you have any tasting glasses from former beer events, bring them along. There should be a lot of beer to share, and the smaller glasses are the best way to go about sharing.

Chairs - There won't be seating unless you bring some.

Friends - BRING FRIENDS. Hopefully you'll be making some, but it never hurts to have a posse.

We'll do our best to be social butterflies, but this is just gonna be a bunch of people hanging out. We're thinking maybe we'll bring nametags to make things easier. We encourage you to be nosy, it's the best way to make friends. Well, that and drinking.

Once again: TFN2 takes place on Saturday, May 22nd, starting at 11AM in the back parking lot of the Sun King Brewery (135 N. College, Indy).

ANY QUESTIONS? Leave a comment. Planning to attend? Leave a comment. Don't want to leave a comment? Don't let that stop you from attending. We'll be there no matter what.
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04 May 2010

KOTBR #104: Brugge Spider



For Brugge's fifth anniversary, the legendary Diamond Kings was brought out for all to try. If you've ever had this beer, it's a powerful and complex sour ale that ranks right up there with what Russian River is doing. We've reviewed it before, so we won't be visiting it again in this post. Instead, we chose to take on Spider, a newcomer to Brugge's sour beer portfolio. At first look, Spider is not a sour beer. Spider is a pitch black ale. When you draw closer, the sharp, tart, vinegary fragrance of a sour ale jumps right out, complemented by a sweet concord grape sensation. Spider now has the definitive aroma of a Belgian lambic, despite its odd hue. At first sip, the sourness is puckering, much like Diamond Kings. Sour grapes and a citric acidity are the notable fruit sensations. A roasted, cocoa middle lies just beneath the dominating acetic experience, which is quite unique in this beer. Continuing on the transition from sour fruits to roasted elements, a dry coffee and oak finish cleanses the palate leaving only a faint sour twist on the tongue.

Spider is certainly a sour ale unlike any I've had before. If you're a fan of lambics and sours and enjoy their underlying complexity, Spider offers up an enjoyable pairing of sour yeast, Belgian fruits and chocolate undertones. I would highly recommend this beer and hope that it becomes a yearly offering.

4.5 mugs.



My own history with Brugge runs parallel to my history with Hoosier Beer Geek. My first KOTBR review was of Brugge's Quadripple, and over the course of six reviews - Quadripple, Impérial, Thunder Monkey, Tripel de Ripple, Bad Kitty and Diamond Kings - the lowest score I've ever given one of Brugge brewer/owner Ted Miller's beers is 3.85 mugs. Truth be told (and no offense meant to any others), Brugge is not just my favorite brewery, but perhaps (along with Pizzology) my favorite restaurant. Getting to know the people behind the effort has been extremely rewarding.

It wasn't so long ago that we reviewed Brugge's Diamond Kings - a beer that carries so much hype amongst the group that it's possible that there's nothing we'd rather (collectively, and not counting Jason) have a bottle of.

Well, until now.

Ted's latest effort continues and expands upon the ideas established in Diamond Kings. Spider, a 1/3 Tripel de Ripple + 2/3 Hibernal Black blend aged in a chardonnay barrel on the same Brettanomyces yeast used in Diamond Kings, is a sour beer unlike any I've had before. A chocolate nose gives way to oakey flavors, accompanied by tart chocolate, a hint of maple syrup, and a vanilla finish.

Ted calls Spider "one of the three best beers I've ever made", and from my three plus years of Brugge experience, I'd agree. He promises that someday these beers will be bottled for public consumption - sure, you've heard that before - but however long it takes, it's worth the wait. 4.8 Mugs.



On first glance Brugge Spider pours dark and thick, not unlike their Black. It has a very slight toffee colored head and has a big chocolate nose with a sour tang to it. It's very funky, very Belgian. On first sip I'm overwhelmed with the chocolaty sweetness of this beer that is balanced with the lactic acid kick of a nice lemonade. I mean this in the nicest way possible - the boys at Brugge have somehow combined Nestle's Nesquik and Lemonade into a Belgian taste experience that leaves me craving more.

This Spider is one that is totally delicious but completely wacky. I give it 4.6 mugs.



Brugge Spider
Jess: 4.6 Mugs | Rodney: 4.5 Mugs | Mike: 4.8 Mugs | Gina: 4.5 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 4.6 Mugs
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