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
