Random Beer Roundup - The Nearly World Cup Edition

A short PSA before we get going...

- We're looking for volunteers for the Microbrewers Festival! The online form can be filled out here.

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 to hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com. Don't see your favorite craft beer establishment? Let them know you'd like to see them here! Work for an establishment that serves craft beer? We want to hear from you too!

Hoosier Beer Calendar
Events are subject to change



What's Brewing

From Greg at Lafayette Brewing Co. in Lafayette:

On tap at LBC this weekend: Star City Lager; Prophet's Rock Pale Ale; East Side Bitter; Pipers' Pride Scottish Ale; Tippecanoe Common Ale; Eighty-Five; Black Angus Oatmeal Stout; Maifest and our latest release, I Am An American IPA.

From Jerry at Rock Bottom Brewery in Downtown Indianapolis:

Hop Bomb is back! Bottom's Up Kolsch tapping Thur. 10th at 6pm.

From Andrew at The Ram Brewery in Fishers/Downtown:

My first RAM tapping at the downtown location will be taking place Wednesday the 9th of June at 6 p.m. I will be releasing a Dusseldorf Altbier which features compliments of noble hop flavor and caramel and bready malt. This beer will also be available at the Fishers location around the same time.

We have just tapped a summer seasonal, Barefoot Wit, which is available at both locations - Downtown and Fishers. This belgian wit was brewed with powdered orange peel, ground coriander, and whole chamomille flowers. It is a great addition to the warm weather this week.

Hope to see you guys Wednesday!

From New Albanian Brewing Co in New Albany:

From Cari and Charles at Upland Brewing Co. in Bloomington:

Monday, June 14, 6:30 pm - Beer & Wine Dinner at Pizzology featuring Upland Brewing Co. and Italian wines from Crossroad Vintners

Reception at 6:30 pm, with crudites, Preservation Pilsner and Prosecco.

Dinner at 7:00 pm with four courses paired each with an Upland beer and Italian wine.

More details to come once the menu is finalized. All of the courses will be dishes you will not find on the regular Pizzology menu. Neal Brown and Co. will be putting together a great menu for us.

Cost is $60 plus tax and tip. Seats are limited to 35. Please contact (317) 844-2550 for reservations.

In addition to the Pizzology dinner , here are some tappings I'm doing, more to come:

In celebration of the joyous return of the Nut Hugger Brown Ale and introduction of Double Dragonfly Imperial India Pale Ale, we are conducting a few tapping parties around Central Indiana. There are more to come so stay posted to Hoosier Beer Geek or my Twitter account (@uplandindy), the official Upland Facebook Page(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bloomington-IN/Upland-Brewing-Company/54066034015) or my Upland Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/uplandindy)

Wednesday, June 9
6:00 pm - Scotty's Brewhouse 96th St. - Nut Hugger Tapping
7:30 pm - Scotty's Brewhouse Downtown - Nut Hugger Tapping

Thursday, June 10
6:30 pm - Scotty's Brewhouse Muncie - Nut Hugger Tapping
8:00 pm - Fickle Peach, Muncie - Double Dragonfly Tapping

*****
What's more Rad than a beer festival featuring craft brewers from across Indiana pouring samples to the sounds of heavy metal and KISS Army...? The fact that your $25 ticket includes beer for the duration of the event, snacks, and a commemorative RadFest sample cup.

Visit uplandbeer.com for details.

RadFest isn't the only place for good beer this weekend. Upland and other great craft brewers will also be at Keg Liquor's Fest of Ale in Clarksville, IN this Saturday.

If you were lucky enough to get tickets, find Upland at Savor! We're bringing ourNut Hugger Brown Ale paired with pecan crusted chicken and garlic mashed potatoes and Raspberry Lambic paired with key lime truffles.

At the Bar

From Lauren at Scotty's Brewhouse in various locations:

BBC Quarrymen Pale Ale and BBC Ruby Bloom Amber will be on tap starting June 3, 2010 at Scotty's Brewhouse Indy North.

Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is now available at Scotty's Brewhouse West Lafayette.

Carry Out

From Todd at Keg Liquors in Clarksville:

Here is the latest from Keg Liquors in Clarksville. We got a load of great beers in this week:
Stone - Imperial Russian Stout (California)
Cantillon - Classic Geuze (Belgium)
De Dolle - Extra Export Stout (Belgium)
De Dolle - Oerbier (Belgium)
De Graal - Tripel (Belgium)
De Glazen Toren - Winterscotch Canaster (Belgium)
Geants - Goliath Tripel (Belgium)
Mikkeller - Beer Geek Brunch Weasel (Denmark)
La Choulette - San Culottes (France
Schlenkerla - Weizen Rauchbier (Germany)
Uerige - Doppel Sticke (Germany)
Hofstettner - Granitbock (Germany)
North Coast - Brother Thelonious (California)
Bieres23 - Ambree (France)
Malthus - Birolla (Italy)
t Smisje - Catherine the Great Imperial Stout (Belgium)
Fantome - Printemps (Belgium)
Jandrain-Jandrenouille - IV Saison (Belgium)
Hitachino - Sweet Stout (Japan)
Brew Dog - Dogma (Scotland)
Dundee - Summer Wheat (New York)
Paulaner - Munich Lager (Germany)
Sierra Nevada - 2010 Southern Hemisphere (California)

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 Josh at United Package Liquors at Countyline & Meridian (southside):

Stone IRS
Three Floyds Blackheart
Heavy Seas Bourbon Barrel Below Decks, Big DIPA & Red Sky at Night
Dogfish Head Squall IPA
Founders Cerise
Upland Double Dragonfly & Nut Hugger brown ale
Cantillon Classic gueuze
Dieu du Ciel Peche Mortel

From Patrick at Crown Liquors:

We are pleased to welcome Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2010 which just arrived yesterday!

We also got a small amount of Brooklyn Sarachi Ace saison as well so make sure to come and secure your bottle.

As always we will have a tasting Friday from 3-6 P.M. downtown 150 N. Delaware.

The Carmel store (126th and Meridian) will have a Friday tasting from 4:30-6:30 hosted by Cavalier distributing rep Ryan Pierce featuring:

Tyranena scurvy and Rocky's Revenge
Breckenridge Summer bright
Clipper City Red sky at Night and Loose Cannon
Stone IRS and Pale ale
Founders Cerise
Original Sin Cider
Mikkeller It's Alive

Thanks to all that came out for our Pre ratebeer Caroline Symmes celebrity softball challenge charity event at our downtown location! We really appreciate the support and donations. All who couldn't make it missed out on some really tasty brews and giveaways.

From Eric at 21st Amendment in Broad Ripple:

I was happy to see a lot of new faces checking out our new high end canned beer section last week. Don't forget that it's now a year-round fixture in our store. That means any time you need good beer for the pool, the lake, the track, the golf course or even just tailgating, we've got you covered!

New beer this week: Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Ale. It's the only fresh hop beer available during the summer months. How do they do it you ask? They go to New Zealand to harvest the hops and ship them back to their brewery in Chico, CA so you don't have to go the whole summer without a Harvest Ale. We've also gotBrooklyn Local 2. It's a Belgian-inspired bottle-conditioned strong dark abbey ale, with sweet orange peel and raw wildflower honey from a local family apiary.

Don't forget I've got 10 offerings from Dogfish Head. I Love their Indian Brown Ale. It's a big brown ale with a nice hop presence that makes it a cross between a Scotch Ale, an I.P.A. and an American Pale. We've got it in 6-packs and single 12oz bottles. Give one a try this weekend.

From the Distributors:

From Greg at Cavalier Distribution:

BREWS NEWS

An extremely limited amount of Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch arrived for the state of Indiana! Look for it only in accounts that support all Mikkeller Brews regularly, because there was only a tiny amount to go around this year.

Stone Brewing Co. 2010 Imperial Russian Stout is finally here!!!! Everyone's been eagerly anticipating this year's IRS, especially with the temporary delay. Well wait no longer, it's here....enjoy!!

We have a slew of incredible special release/seasonal beers currently available:

• Boulder Cold Hop British-style Pale
• Breckenridge Summer Bright American Wheat
• Clipper City Red Sky @ Night Saison
• Clipper City Big DIPA Double IPA
• Clipper City Letter of Marque Hop Rye Porter **NEW**
• Founders Cerise
• Great Divide Belgica Belgian-style IPA
• Great Divide Chocolate Stout
• Great Divide Dunkle Weiss
• He'Brew Rejewvinator 2010 -- "The Year of the Grape"--1/2 Dopplebock & 1/2 Dubbel brewed w/Concord grape juice!! -- He'Brew's answer to Manischewitz!!
• Left Hand Good JuJu -- Beer brewed w/organic Hawaiian Ginger
• Mad River Double Dread Red Ale
• Mendocino Summer Blonde Ale **NEW**
• Stegmaier Summer Stock Pils **NEW**
• Stevens Point Nude Beach American Wheat (Bottles & Cans) **NEW**
• Two Brothers Dog Days of Summer Dortmunder-style Lager
• Tyranena Scurvy IPA -- IPA brewed w/orange peel **NEW**

EVENTS

Keg Liquors Fest of Ale this Saturday, June 5th, 3 - 7 pm at Keg Liquors in Clarksville, IN. The even is a charity tasting to raise money for WHAS Crusade for Children. Brewery Representatives will be there from Founders, New Albanian, North Coast & Stone Brewing Co as well several other featured beers from Cavalier & other suppliers.

News (and rumors) around the web:

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

From Twitter:

weavr: did you see there was a filing for a microbrewery permit at 402 Dorman St?

OakenBarrel: California Common is now on tap. And American Wheat is coming soon!

NewDayMeadery: Boom! New sign board is painted! http://twitpic.com/1t3hyd

BeerBaron_Indy: Triton is on FB at http://tinyurl.com/27p5qwn

gr8fermentation: Brewers Cup is getting close. Entries due to @sunkingbrewingbetween 6-12 & 6-26. www.brewerscup.org for all of the details.

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

We Need Volunteers!

Are you interested in volunteering for the 2010 Brewers of Indiana Guild Microbrewers' Summer Festival on July 17, 2010?  Are you interested in drinking beer while volunteering and getting free admission to the Summer Microbrewers' Festival?  All you need to do is fill out our volunteer form located here so we can get you a shirt and assign you a volunteer position:

2010 Volunteer Form for BIG Microbrewers Festival

Due to several changes to the festival this year there will be two volunteer orientation sessions to be held in July.  These sessions will be chock full of information such as what position you've been assigned and your volunteer t-shirt (and are usually held at an Indiana Brewery or Tap Room).  You must attend one of the two volunteer sessions and the dates/locations will be announced shortly. 

IMPORTANT: If you represent a larger group (i.e., a significant other, group of friends, people you like to drink beer with) feel free to send the link out to the group; but the volunteer form must be filled out by each person in your group so that we can ensure that everyone is assigned a volunteer position and has a volunteer t-shirt.  In order to volunteer we MUST have a form filled out prior to the date of the orientation sessions; we will be ordering shirts based on form submissions and won't have extras.  

KOTBR #105 - The Zoo That Is Fountain Square

There are a number of locations around Indianapolis where you can do some serious craft beer drinking. Broad Ripple comes to mind. Downtown. Mass Ave. But a favorite neighborhood for my drinking pleasure has been Fountain Square. While we recently lost our beloved Deano's Vino, several other restaurants and bars have come in with craft beer lists. The majority of joints enjoyed by the artistic and bohemian population have forgone the traditional B/M/C for craft beers from Indiana and from all over America. I would almost nominate Fountain Square as the beer capital of Indiana, except there are no breweries to be had here. Though from what we hear, that will be changing very soon.

But to take a page out of the Mark McGwire playbook, I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about the zoo that Fountain Square has. In particular the lion and rabbit exhibits.


The Red Lion Grog House is the latest British Isles-themed restaurant in Indy. The venue is a long narrow space with high, pressed tin ceilings and a long line of booth spaces along one side. The place was about 3/4 filled but the sound was very lively (i.e. I had a hard time holding a conversation with my companions). The waitresses wore plaid skirts and seemed very attentive. For food, we were only in a munching mood so we just ordered the Scotch eggs (which aren't as good as others, but still damn tasty; it's sausage around an egg, so how could you go wrong?) and the chips and spicy curry sauce (the fries were outstanding and the spicy curry sauce was top notch; if the rest of their food is as good as the fries, this place will be great).

On this night, we opted to go with Indiana beers. And the Red Lion, with their 8 taps, has 5 Indiana beers flowing: 3 Sun King and 2 Upland (plus Jenkins' Ear, which may be from Indiana, or it may not; depends on the day). We opted for the Indiana beer that went best with the Grog House's theme: Sun King's Wee Mac Scottish Ale. The clear copper/amber beer has a malty nose (I get hints of coffee) with a roasted malt flavor. Because the Sun King boys like their hops, you end up with a slight bite in the back of the mouth and throat. It has a clean mouthfeel, so it is an easy beer to drink. There are not a whole lot of Scottish Ales from Indiana readily available. The most well known is probably Three Floyds Robert the Bruce, which Hoosier Beer Geek reviewed early on. It did not rate favorably. And honestly, it is not a favorite beer of mine. Or a favorite style for that matter. But this is probably my favorite Scottish Ale.


This is the first of the four regular Sun King beers we have reviewed. Of the four, this is my least favorite. But it is still enjoyable, especially with the fried foods of the Red Lion.

The next stop of the evening is the petting zoo of Fountain Square, where interaction with others is a requirement, along with an ID that states you are 21 years of age. The White Rabbit Cabaret is, in fact, a functioning performance venue as well as a bar. The wide space has some comfortable chairs and couches as you enter, followed by a couple dozen round tables with chairs, and then a stage. There is a bar along one wall. We just so happened to arrive on Burlesque Bingo night, which adds even more to the zoo theme we had going. Bingo was called by a dirty clown with a Beetlejuice vibe. He was assisted by his brother, a mime, and between songs, a burlesque dancer did her thing. I could go on and on about how funny this shit was. But again, to paraphrase the Big Mac, I'm not here to talk about that.


The White Rabbit has four taps pouring three craft beers and PBR (at damn fine prices, I might add; the bottle list is great too). Sticking with Indiana beers (and continuing the zoo theme), we opted for a New Albanian Beak's Best (you know, beak... bird... birds have beaks...okay, I'm reaching. So what?). This American take on the English Bitter style has become one of my favorite go-to beers. It has a clean nose, a sweet first taste, and a hop punch that follows. Much like Sun King's Wee Mac, it is a highly sessionable beer. Especially if you drink like an elephant.

No, I don't even know what that means.

Although I consider myself an equal opportunity neighborhood visitor, it seems that more often than not, when sitting down for a beer, I'll find myself in Fountain Square. The impending death of Deano's pushed Gina and I across the street to Imbibe, a perch from which we regularly discuss the further development of the neighborhood and the ongoing influence of craft beer in the area.

On such development is/was the Red Lion Grog House - first noticed back in October of 2009 - a bar/restaurant that now has a few months under its belt. Previously known as the Red Lion Grog-less House due to a liquor license mix-up, the Red Lion now has a fully filled-out beer menu that focuses mainly on the typical suspects from across the pond.

The prospect of a god-knows-how-old Newcastle isn't enough to draw me into a place, and although Fountain Square's English pub box was previously unchecked, the Red Lion has plenty of worthy competition throughout the city - MacNiven's, Chatham Tap, Union Jack, and the Broad Ripple Brewpub all come to mind. Nevertheless, the formula has proven to be a good one, and I'll never complain about having another place to watch the English Premier League.

Does the Red Lion stand out? I'm not sure. The food was fair (though we didn't eat much), the beer menu is true to style but lacking in variety or creativity, and the space seemed loud. On the plus side, our server was more than attentive and the beer from Sun King hit a sweet spot. As a Fountain Square regular, I will revisit the Red Lion. I just don't know that I'd go out of my way for it.

As for the beer, if you're reading this site you've heard plenty about Sun King already. There's even a pretty strong chance that you've had SK's Wee Mac Scottish. The beer is the color of sweet tea, with very light lacing and a minimal head.

I picked up elements of tootsie roll sweetness from the nose, which was followed up with a malty sweetness throughout. The beer is highly drinkable - I'm not generally a fan of Scottish Ales, but I am a fan of this beer. 3.91 Mugs.

From the Red Lion we headed across the street and around the corner to The White Rabbit Cabaret. Going in, I knew nothing about the Cabaret, apart from the fact that I thought, "I don't like Cabaret". So once we settled in and realized that we were about to see an act, my first thought was "let's drink this beer and get the hell out of here."


But before we knew it, Burlesque Bingo started.

My notes aren't extensive, but feature the line "this is the most bizarre thing I have ever personally witnessed, and that's a good thing." Gina and Jason will cover the evening's events further than I will, but it's safe to say that I won't miss the next round of bingo at White Rabbit.


To accompany the entertainment we settled in for a pint or two of New Albanian's Beak's Best. The beer features a sweet malty front that's immediately chased off by a bitter bite. The nose is malty grainy goodness, and the beer tastes like a good brewery smells. It's a beer that's bitter in the best way. 3.99 Mugs.

I have a confession. I am head over heels in love with Fountain Square. You might even say that I am happy as a lark to be talking about it. It has an amazing collection of cool bars, super-friendly people, and an extremely cool art scene. We experienced all of that in our most recent trip.

At the Red Lion Grog House, none of us were hungry as horses so we grabbed a few appetizers and settled in to pick our beer for review. We decided that it was time to review a beer from our friends at Sun King Brewery and this time, we picked the Wee Mac. This beer holds a special place in my heart not just because it is the base for the Java Mac, but because I had the most awesome opportunity to brew a batch of this beer with Dave Colt one day last December.

The Wee Mac is a deliciously sessionable Scottish ale that is easy to find around town and is pretty consistently found in the tasting room at the brewery. The flavor is rich and malty with a sweet zing. It makes me proud as a peacock to be friends with the wonderful people behind this brewery. 3.45 Mugs.


After the Grog House we made our way over to the White Rabbit Cabaret. I didn't know a single thing about this place before we set foot in the door. To be completely honest, I felt meek as a lamb in there, a little uncomfortable even. If we had drunk our beer and got out of there as quick as a fox, it wouldn't have bothered me at all. The first thing I noticed as we sat down was that there was going to be an event starting any minute. Something called Burlesque Bingo.

By the time the show was less than an hour in, the crowd was getting wild and the host was being mean as a snake! If you told me he was somehow the bastard child of Emmett Kelly and Beetlejuice, I wouldn't be surprised. The show continued on and I found myself completely in love with the atmosphere. Seriously, like shout it from the mountaintops kind of love. I can't wait for the next Burlesque Bingo. If you're as wise as an owl, you'll join us next Wednesday (6/9 at 9pm) and see for yourself!


The taps at the Cabaret were as impressive as the show. A small group of taps, but enough choices available for any need. We chose Beak's Best from New Albanian Brewing Co. Another brewery that we Hoosiers can be proud to call our own, NABC regularly serves up one of the best collections of beer in the state.


The bitterness in Beak's Best reminds me of a refreshing glass of iced tea. The citrusy hops dance with the caramel malt, and the beer finishes with a balanced mix of the two. At 5.5% ABV, it's sessionable like Wee Mac, but it's so tasty that it could get you drunk as a skunk if you're not careful. 3.3 Mugs.

We didn't though. It was late, but we were enjoying the night. The only thing that would have made me as mad as a wet hen would be if we had left without stopping to see Brian at Imbibe. We took a spot at the bar and sipped our last nightcap as slow as a snail.

Sun King Wee Mac Scottish
Mike: 3.91 Mugs | Gina: 3.45 Mugs | Jason: 3.65 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.66 Mugs

New Albanian Beak's Best Bitter
Mike: 3.99 Mugs | Gina: 3.3 Mugs | Jason: 4.3 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.86 Mugs