23 September 2011

Random Beer Roundup - The Welcoming Fall Edition



Hoosier Beer Calendar
Events are subject to change


From the Brewers
From Bob at Flat12 Bierwerks in Indianapolis:

-Saturday, Sept. 24th. Valpo Beer Fest
-Sunday, Sept 25th. All Beers Considered at The Fickle Peach, Muncie
-Sunday, Oct. 1, Taste of Germany @ The Rathskeller. Samples.
From Skip at Fountain Square Brewing Co. in Fountain Square:
I have brewed the first 4 batches the past couple of weeks.  Have a pale, porter, amber and blonde coming soon.  We are tapping our first beers at Tavern on South this Sunday and many other bars in the next couple of weeks.
From John at Half Moon Brewery in Kokomo:
It's Octoberfest time!
It has an orangish-amber color that reminds you of autumn, and it’s
rich caramel and toffee like malt flavors fill your mouth and give
you that warm fuzzy feeling inside.  There is a gentle finishing balance
from the imported hops.  This Marzen style German lager is a traditional
fall offering done our way!
ABV=6.25%  O.G.=1.062  IBU=25

From Clay at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis:

We're gearing up for our trip to the GABF next week! We've got several beers in the competition this year and if you happen to be lucky enough to have tickets and be traveling to Denver for the event, you can find Sun King at Booth H11. We will be pouring Sunlight Cream Ale, Wee Mac Scottish Ale, Osiris Pale Ale, Grapefruit Jungle and Pappy Van Muckle (Wee Muckle aged in a 20 year old Pappy Van Winkle Barrel). 
We've also got some new beers in the works for you... Cowbell, our milk porter, will be returning to the Tasting Room and hitting the streets this Friday. Batch 444 aka Colt's 444, a malt liquor that was brewed with Indiana Masa (corn flour) is bubbling away in the Pig and will make its debut after it has had sufficient time to lager... and rumor has it that Dave is working on a recipe for an imperial version of Grapefruit Jungle, called Jungle Room, that we will be brewing next week!

Upcoming Events:

Herron Morton Place Oktoberfest
Saturday, Sept. 24th 3-10 p.m.
Herron Morton Place Park - 1900 Alabama St.
The Sun King Truck will be on hand pouring Fresh•Local•Beer

Carmel International Arts Festival
Saturday/Sunday - Sept. 24th/25th
Main Street in Carmel

Colt's Pre-Party at the Conrad
Sunday, Sept. 25th 4-8 p.m.
Free Admission

Great American Beer Festival
Thursday, Sept. 29 - Saturday, Oct. 1
Denver Convention Center
Sun King Booth: H11

1st Friday at the Harrison Center
Friday, October 7th  5-9 p.m.
Fresh•Local•Beer & Local Art

Big Green Bistro Brewer's Dinner at Sun King
Wednesday, October 12th  7-9:30 p.m.
4 Courses paired with Fresh•Local•Beer - $40 

El Gallo Negro Tapping
Thursday, October 27th 6-9 p.m.
Sun King Tasting Room
Food from Big Green Bistro / Music TBA

From Ryan at Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. In Broad Ripple:
Come to Thr3e Wise Men on Monday night to watch the game and get one of our beers for a $1 off. Also we now have our new seasonal beer on tap Fat Bastard Scotch Ale.

From Mike at Triton Brewing Company in Indianapolis:
Triton Brewing will have its Magnificent Amber and Four Barrel Brown on tap this weekend in addition to Fieldhouse Wheat. Don't forget we are open 11-5 on Sundays for growler fills and pints. 
Guest taps:
Rivertown Helles
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Founder's Centennial IPA
Barley Island Dirty Helen Brown 
Bell's Double Cream Stout
Sun King Oktoberfest
Three Floyds Pride and Joy
Unibroue Trois Pistoles                
At Bars and Restaurants
From Jordan at Beer Sellar in Castleton:
New on tap as of 9/22/11
 
Bells Double Cream Stout and Q-Falls
Founders Breakfast Stout
Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin
Hobgoblin
Rogue Double Dead Guy
Flat 12 Lacto-Matic Milk Stout
Bee Creek CoffeeStout
Upland Oktoberfest

From Patrick at Patrick's Kitchen and Drinks in Zionsville:
Here at Patrick's we have been selling lots of Grapefruit Jungle from Sun King and even have another one in reserve...come see us....in addition, we have Stone Ruination, Flat 12 Half cycle....and while we are almost out of Sun King Pale Ryder, next up is People's Pilsner.....and did we mention more Grapefuit Jungle?

From Ryan at Scotty's Brewhouse in Various Locations:
Join us at Scotty’s Brewhouse Muncie, Bloomington or West Lafayette location and enjoy a $5 48oz. Select Microbrew on Tuesday evenings.

Visit our locations in Indianapolis on Tuesday evenings for our new $6 48oz Select Microbrew Pitcher Special.

Visit Scotty’s Lakehouse on Wednesday evening and enjoy our new rotating tap Sun King Grapefruit Jungle for only $9 for a 48oz pitcher or any of our other Microbrew taps.

From Martin at Tavern on South in Indianapolis:
This sunday we our proud to be tapping two new beers from Fountain Square Brewing. We will be tapping Hop for Teacher Pale Ale and Backyard Porter at 3pm. Congratulations to Skip and the guys and welcome to the neighborhood. 
We will also be hosting a Goose Island Beer Dinner on Wednesday October 5th. (Call for Details)


For Carry-out
From Josh at Payless Liquors on 135 in Greenwood:
New arrivals -
 
Boulevard Nommo
New Albanian Tunnel Vision, Yakima Rye IPA & Jaxson Barleywine
Bell's Best Brown
Post Road Pumpkin Ale
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin ale
New Holland Ichabod
People's Mound Builder IPA & Pilsner
Rivertown Oktoberfest
Two Brothers Heavy Handed "wet hop" IPA & Atom Smasher Oak aged Oktoberfest
Coney Island Freaktoberfest
Thirsty Dog Barktoberfest
Tyranena Hop Whore

From Jake at United Package Liquors County Line Rd:
Seasonal Brews in stock:Weihenstephaner Fest BierBreckenridge AutumnHofbrau OktoberfestHarpoon OctoberfestWarsteiner OktoberfestUpland OktoberfestBells OktoberfestPaulaner Oktoberfest WiesnShipyard PumpkinBrooklyn Post Rd Pumpkin Special Release in stock:People’s PilsnerPeople’s Moundbuilder IPANew Albanian Yakima Rye IPANorth Coast Grand CruSierra Nevada Ovila Series SaisonFounders Breakfast StoutRivertown Brewing Hop BomberRivertown Hop Baron Double IPARivertown Oatmeal Stout


From the Distributors
From Jen at Cavalier Distributing in Indianapolis:


NEW TO THE CAVALIER WAREHOUSE THIS WEEK

Two Brothers Heavy Handed - Fresh Hop IPA; limited seasonal release; 6 packs and draft

Two Brothers Atom Smasher - Oktoberfest Marzen-Stlye Aged in Oak Foudres; limited seasonal release; 6 packs

New Albanian Yakima - Rye IPA; limited realease; 22oz bottles

New Albanian Tunnel Vision - Belgian White; limited release; 22oz bottles

New Albanian Jaxon - Barley Wine; limited release; 22oz bottles

Tyranena Painted Ladies Pumpkin - Spiced Pumpkin Ale; limited seasonal release; 6 packs and draft

UPCOMING EVENTS

Birdy's Monthly Beer Tasting ; 10/4/11 ; 6pm-8pm ; $10

Binkley's Brew Club Event featuring Tyranena Brewing Co ;10/6/11 ; 7pm

Monon Food Co/North Coast Brewing Co Dinner ; 10/12/11 ; 6pm

Birdy's Monthly Beer Tasting ; 11/1/11 ; 6pm-8pm ; $10

Monon Food Co/People's Brewing Co ; 11/16/11 ; 6pm

Birdy's Monthly Beer Tasting ; 12/6/11 ; 6pm-8pm ; $10
 
NABC Special Tapping at The Sinking Ship ; 12/14/11 ; 7pm

9/23 - Craft Beer Tasting @ Duneside Liquors; Portage 4-6pm (CST)

9/24 - Evansville Museum of Art, History & Science 14th Annual Brew Ha Ha featuring New Albanian; Evansville 6-10pm (CST); $25 advance ticket & $30 day of event

9/29 - Feast of Fall Beers @ Keg Liquors; Clarksville 5-8pm

10/15 - Porter Perfect Pint Festival  1-5pm

11/5 - Fiddler's Hearth thebeerisgood.com Tap Takeover; South Bend (ALL DAY)

Upcoming Events:
Herron-Morton Place Oktoberfest
We are holding an Oktoberfest on Sept. 24th at our park (1900 block of Alabama). It is $5 for advanced tickets and $10 at the door- all proceeds will go towards an endowment to maintain the HMP Park (event location). So far we will be serving Upland Beer, Fountain Square Brewing samples, and Schlalfy Beer samples as well as featuring live music from Hero Jr. Food vendors include Ivey Spice and Sweet Cakes by Ronda. You can get additional information from the following: 
@oktoberfestHMPF
Facebook Event: Herron-Morton Oktoberfest




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Third Indpls Liederkranz Oktoberfest


October 01, 2011
Location: Liederkranz Hall - 1417 East Washington Street, Indpls. Free parking at Indiana FOP and Ivy Tech. 
Imagine a smaller Oktoberfest inside a dry building decorated as a German Beer Hall. Band is the Original Alpine Express that has appeared at German Park, Sun King Brewery and many other area locations.  A fun evening with dancing and gemutlichkeit!
Octoberfest will be held again on the first floor in a room that resembles a German Beer Hall. No concert, but a great band, food, and bar. An RSVP helps us serve you better. Call 782-9216.
Door open at 6:00 PM
Food is served 6:00 PM 
Entertainment: 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM 
Entrance: $8 per person non-members. $4 for members
Menu: Claus' Bratwurst, Knockwurst $3.50. German Potato Salad, Sauerkraut, Green beans $1.50. Desserts $1.00. Coffee 50 cents. Draft German beer 12 oz $3.00. Pitcher $11.50. Domestic beer in cans $2 


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 Brew Bracket is back!
 The tournament of craft brews returns to the Indiana State Fairgrounds this fall, with an event featuring Stouts on the afternoon of Saturday, October 8th. Come join us to taste 16 different Indiana Stouts and vote for your favorites in a blind, head-to-head comparison.
 
Tickets are available at www.brewbracket.com ($35 participant and $7 for DD). Only 400 tickets will be sold.

22 September 2011

Beer and Cheese - September Edition


This month, we feature old and bleu.  The beer is North Coast Old Stock Ale, from North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, California and the Cheese is from Onetik, located in the Aquitaine Province of France, in Basque Country.  It is made with 100% Sheep Milk and has a natural rind.  

You may not think of Old Ales when you think of a great beer, but they are certainly worth your time and attention.  The nose on the beer is heavy on the malt, with a sweet, almost fruity tinge.  It comes in at a whopping 11. 7% ABV, but the alcohol heat seemed subtle to me, both in smell and taste.  The body of the beer was pleasant, as it seemed to match the sweet flavor, which was apparent but not cloying.  

I thought the cheese was spectacular (I don’t know much about cheese, but I know what I like).  It presented a nice bleu flavor without being overwhelming, as some varieties of bleu can get.  It is smooth and creamy with nice bits of bluish green.  Normally, I am not a fan of the rind, but I usually like to try it anyway.  In this case, I was completely surprised at how much I liked it.  Rinds can resemble burnt tree bark in some cases, but this one was soft and didn’t change the flavor of the cheese, instead it lends a pleasant, nutty addition.
Both the beer and cheese were fantastic on their own, and I am pleased with the combination also.  They carry their own flavors well when together, just like they do when they are on their own.  Only slight textural differences occur, as the beer lightens the creaminess of the cheese. 

Thanks to Jordan and Vinnie for interesting conversation and good company!




Old Stock Ale - grapey nose, sweet malt, german dopplebock time. Alcohol up your nose, warming, but not messy, not loud, just bold and rich.


Cheese - wow this is the most flavorful cheese we've had yet. Extremely funky, but the beer stands up - all in all a very rich combination.


Late addition to the party...


I found the Old Stock Ale to be rich in the aromas of slightly burnt brown sugar, caramel, raisins and figs.  Definitely the signs of a barley wine.  The beer itself didn't carry any surprises, following up with the same tell-tale description of brown sugar and figs.  A balanced alcohol warmth let you know that the beer was strong, but not undrinkable.  This Old Ale carries many similarities with English barleywines, which are known for their ability to be equally enjoyed fresh or aged.


Barley wine and blue cheese could be a chapter in itself in the book of beer and cheese pairings.  The two go notoriously well together.  The Bleu des Basques was simultaneously strong and mellow.  The traditional blue flavor from the mold was in perfect harmony with the salty, creamy cheese that encased it.  This definitely stood out among blue cheeses that I've had.  When matched with the Old Stock Ale, the creaminess and tang of the mold helped thin out the warm alcohol and bring out almond and macadamia flavors that would otherwise be unnoticeable.  The sweetness of the beer is reduced and many bread-like qualities emerge as well.  Overall just a great example of how barley wine (or old ale) and blue cheese compliment each other so well.


To join the Beer and Cheese Club at Goose the Market (in conjunction with Hoosier Beer Geek), check out this PDF and then either call Goose the Market at 317-924-4944 or stop in the shop at 2503 N. Delaware St.

HBG's Tailgate for Nothing 5 | Saturday, November 5, 11 a.m.

You may recall hearing about the first Tailgate for Nothing, which we threw in November 2009. You may recall reading about Tailgate for Nothing 2: DIPA Dischord, which took place in May 2010. You may have learned about and even attended Tailgate for Nothing 3: Tricks & Treats, which we held in October 2010. And then, of course, there was Tailgate for Nothing 4: Something for Everyone, which happened last May.

Well, we're doing it all again.

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


TFN5: Gravyfest
Saturday, November 5, 11 a.m. - ???
Back parking lot of the Sun King Brewery
135 N. College, Indy
 

What's Tailgate for Nothing (TFN)? All seven 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 everyday great beer, or the beer they never have an excuse to drink 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, hamburgers, wings, falafel, cod dogs, fried pork bungs, and stuff like that), and in the end, clean up after yourself. The main ideas are to share food and drink, hang out, and have a good time. You're also welcome to bring kids and/or dogs. We especially welcome dogs that bring beer. Unfortunately it's illegal for kids to bring beer. Someday...

Why the theme of "Gravyfest"? Because we're weird. Because we like gravy in all forms and flavors. I'm building a gravy fountain to facilitate my serving of that wonderful Quebecois delicacy, poutine. I'm not sure what the other Knights of the Beer Roundtable are doing with gravy, but I'm sure that it will be creative. And we welcome you to do something gravy-related too. Or not. Whatever makes you happy.

Nota bene: This is a no freeloaders event; please bring food and beer with you. 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, it won't cost you anything to attend.

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.

A canopy - At TFN4, there was a chance of rain, so there were canopies aplenty. Fortunately, mother nature cooperated with us and we ended up having a sunny day. We're not saying that it's going to rain at TFN5, but you never know. So if you don't want to get wet or sunburned, bring a canopy if you have one.

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 name tags to make things easier. We encourage you to be nosy because it's the best way to make friends. Well, that and drinking.

Finally, we know that the date of TFN5 is also the date of various and sundry other events. That being said, based on past TFNs, the event probably won't end until sundown at the earliest. Therefore, even if you have something else going on that day, please come out and celebrate with us.

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.