Random Beer Roundup: The Let It Snow Edition

Hoosier Beer Calendar

Events are subject to change

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The Brewers


From Ryan at Thr3e Wise Men Brewery: 

Join us next week at one of the following upcoming tap takeovers:
· Simeri’s Italian Restaurant on Monday December 9th at 6pm. Will be tapping our Rocky Ripple Pale Ale, Breaking Barn Milk Stout & Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale!
· Old Pro’s Table on Thursday December 12th at 8pm. Will be tapping our Centennial Martyr Double IPA, Two Lucys Blackberry Wheat, Bulldog Brown, Breaking Barn Milk Stout & Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale.

Here are the other beers that we are pouring at Thr3e Wise Men:
· Snow Bunny Blonde
· Two Lucys Blackberry Wheat
· Bulldog Brown
· Hubbard & Cravens Porter
· Rocky Ripple Pale Ale
· Golden Zoe IPA
· Centennial Martyr Double IPA
· Seasonal: Mount Crumpit Christmas Ale

Our list of great establishments pouring our beer keeps growing. You can find a full list of locations on our website.

Are you a bar/restaurant owner and interested in Thr3e Wise Men Beer? Let us know and we will come speak with you about our great list of beers and support that we can offer.

From David at Triton Brewing: 

TRITON HOUSE BREWS 

Fieldhouse Wheat, Four Barrel Brown, Magnificent Amber Ale, Deadeye Stout, Railsplitter India Pale Ale, Sin Bin Belgian Pale Ale, Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Nitro Dillinger’s Extorter Porter, Gingerbread Brown, Headsplitter­­ Imperial IPA, Bourbon Barrel Railsplitter IPA, Nobody’s F’Alt Oktoberfest, Perked-Up Porter & Three Tine Triple

GUEST BREWS

Crispin Hard Cider, Country Boy Brewing Right Good Wheat with Blackberries, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Moinette Belgian Blonde, New Belgium Yuzu (Lips of Faith Series), New Day Meadery Southcider, Widmer’s Omission Lager and Widmer’s Omission Pale Ale

TRITON BREWING EVENTS 

Wednesday, December 18, 5-9pm, #Clustertruck at Triton

Thursday, December 19, 5pm, Midnight Rail Black IPA Tapping with KG’s Slider Station 

Tuesday, December 24, Triton Brewing will be open for Holiday Growler fills, 3-7pm!

Wednesday, December 25, Triton Brewing Company will be closed! Merry Christmas! 

Thursday, December 26 (Canadian Boxing Day), 5pm, Alt Lang Syne with KG’s Slider Station

From Bob at Flat12:

Events:

12/06/2013 Mike Altman - December Art Show 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
12/07/2013 12 South Winter Warmer (TN) 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
12/07/2013 Fill the Truck 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
12/14/2013 12 Chefs at City Market 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

BEERS: Lacto-Matic Milk Stout - Bottles and Draft
            12 Beers of Christmas and Glazed Ham Porter

From Chris at the RAM:

Our tapping for 2 Hats Brown Ale will be next Wednesday, 12/11/13, at 6:00 P.M. at our downtown location. You will also be able to find 2 Hats at our Fishers location. 

From Beth at Sun King Brewing:

Upcoming December Releases:

• Sink the Clipper - growler fills
• Chaka - growler fills & cans
• Westy - growler fills
• Bourbon Barrel Timmie - Next up in the Sun King King's Reserve Series, Bourbon Barrel Aged Timmie Imperial Stout. The heady cocoa, dark chocolate, and molasses flavors of our Timmie Imperial Stout are rounded out with subtle but distinct smoky oak notes brought on by bourbon aging. ABV: 10% | IBU: 70

Bourbon Barrel Aged Timmie is now available in 2-packs. There is a limit two 2-packs per person. Cans can be purchased at the brewery only. No reservations. Cost: $17.50 each 2-pack

From Shane at Daredevil Brewing Co:

We are approaching our first anniversary and have a lot going on at the brewery. This week we announced our upcoming Aggressively Fun Appreciation Tour which will be happening in January. The tour will take us across the state with six locations. Read more on our Facebook page or our blog.

The appreciation tour stops will include the following locations so mark them on your calendar.
Twenty Tap, Indianapolis, Wednesday, January 8th
Buckhead Mountain Grill, Jeffersonville, Thursday, January 9th
Tomlinson Tap Room, Indianapolis, Friday, January 17th
The Tap, Bloomington, Saturday, January 18th
Black Market, Indianapolis, Monday, January 20th
Pizzology, Carmel, Tuesday, January 21st

We are hiring! Are you an aggressively fun Sales Account Manager? Come join our team. Read more on our blog and apply by sending an email to shane@daredevilbeer.com
Looking for new locations to try our beers? Here are a few of our newer locations.

• Lawrenceburg: Hops House 99
• Indianapolis: Divvy, Siam Square, ROOK, Late Harvest Kitchen, Iaria's Italian Kitchen
• Speedway: Barbeque and Bourbon 

Daredevil Brewing Co. | Current beers available
Lift Off IPA: Our flagship beer available year round.
A bounty of American Hops delivers the signature clean and crisp finish of a perfectly balanced West Coast style IPA.

Carnival Saison: Our current seasonal Belgian style
A creative and artistic balance of spicy phenols, fruity esters, noble hops and Belgian malts with a classic dry and thirst quenching finish.

Bars, Restaurants, Carryout, & Distributors

From Eric at Zink Distributing:

This week, we’ve got two beers of note. One is an exciting new offering from an old friend. The other is a time tested favorite from a new member of the Big Woods Brewing family.

Goose Island Ten Hills Pale Ale: Ten Hills Pale Ale is the first in a new line of hop-focused specialty beers coming from our friends at Goose Island. The backstory begins in Idaho at Elk Mountain Farms. This farm is known for growing exceptional hops. Hops from the “first ten hills” grown exclusively for Goose Island give this beer a citrusy feel of apricot and mango with an herbal finish. Look for Ten Hills in 6pks and 12pks at your favorite beer store.

Quaff On! Brewing Company Busted Knuckle: Busted Knuckle is the flagship beer from Quaff On Brewing out of Nashville, IN. Quaff On is the new production facility for Big Woods Brewing. They’re employing Mark Haven, formerly of Oaken Barrel, to hand craft their cherished recipes on a larger scale. Busted Knuckle is a hard beer to describe but I’d say it’s an Imperial version of a Brown Porter. The beer tastes of roasted malts and caramel, with just enough hops to keep it balance and Quaffable! Available now on draft and soon in 12oz bottles.

From Patrick at Patrick's Kitchen & Drinks in Zionsville:

Patrick's Kitchen in Zionsville has 10 taps of craft brewed choices....currently including:
Gaffel Kolsch, Triton Railsplitter, Bloomington Brewing Co. Quarrymen Pale, Flat-12 Pogue's run Porter, People's Hop Killa, La Trappe Quad, Bier's Trippelle, Lexington's Bourbon Barrel ale, and Sun King's El Gallo Negro (black ipa)...More fun to follow!

From Ryan at Scotty's Brewhouse:

Scotty’s Brewhouse Bloomington is now pouring Tenacious Traveler! Come by on Thursday and get a pint for only $2.50!

Scotty’s Brewhouse West Lafayette has just tapped Founders Breakfast Stout! Come by and enjoy a pint with us. 

From Mike at Yogi's:

 Visit www.yogis.com and check out our updated draft list on the homepage

Beer Events/Fundraisers

End of Movember Gala

§ Friday, December 6, 2013 

§ Time: 7:00pm – 11:00pm 

§ Location: The Speak Easy in Broad Ripple
(5255 North Winthrop Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46220) 

§ Featuring: Auctions, Raffles, Contests, and much, MUCH MORE 

§ Local Indiana Craft Beer to quench your thirst!
Hard Hat Tour Lager and multiple other styles from Sun King
Moustache Ride Red and multiple other styles from Flat 12
Curious Tenacious Traveler Shandy 

§  Food Trucks on site to fill your belly (Scribble & Caveman Truck)! 

§ Live entertainment to move your feet! 

§ $10 Entry Fee – ONE HUNDRED PERCENT goes to charity – tickets available at door!
Sorry we’re unable to honor Official Movember.com-provided Gala certificates 

§ NO MUSTACHE REQUIRED TO ATTEND – We’ll have loaners at the front door if you need one for the night! 

§ This is a 21+ event

Tis' the Season to Drink Good Beer

Girls' Pint Out Event

Wednesday, December 11th

6-8:30pm

Our favorite all-Indiana beer bar, Tomlinson Tap Room is getting together with Circle City Soups to create quite the pairing for us!

Circle City Soups & Tomlinson Tap Room will be offering a flight of 4 Indiana beers with 4 small plates from Circle City Soups for $20. If you bring a toy for Toys for Tots, the pairing is only $15. No advanced tickets are required, but there will only be a limited number of pairings available. Circle City Soups and Junonia Fish Market will both also have their regular menus available that night. Join us for a pint or for the pairing!

Guys are welcome at this event! Let's raise a pint to celebrate the holidays!

Your Better Beer Story

One of the things I always enjoy talking to people about is where they are in their craft beer adventure. You get to meet people who have been drinking better beer for decades as well as people just getting into better beer along with all points in-between.

 I know that some people find the amazing choices we have right now a little intimidating when getting into better beer. I was in a Binny's in Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend, and for some reason it hit me how hard I think it would be for someone to start getting into better beer now. I was stopped by a very nice and humble gentleman who asked me for help when he saw me taking far too long to decide what to buy. His nephew had brought "some Chicago beer" to Thanksgiving that he really enjoyed, and he was now looking for it in the store. I took him over to the Chicago beer section, and he quickly saw the label for the beer he was looking for: Revolution's Eugene Porter. His exact words to me were, "This is all overwhelming." We got to talking about his beer preferences and how he stuck to what he knew when he went to the liquor store or to the bar. It wasn't that he didn't want to try other things, but the selection process was a little daunting to him. He also didn't want to spend 8 to 12 bucks for a beer he might not like. I was at that point not too terribly long ago, and I forgot how I was the same way. I'm still very hesitant to pull the trigger on a $10+ four pack or sixer of something that I've never tried. It just got me thinking about my own craft beer journey, and I often forget truly how much is out there right now. It is hard for me to choose most of the time, and I know what I like!

I got into better beer before I was in 21 and was still in college. I got a job at the local Sears and worked with a guy who was a beer nut. I had been drinking cheap keg beer and the cheapest case from the liquor store at that point. I wonder if people look at me the way I looked at him when I first met him? He was crazy about beer. He talked about it, attended beer tasting events, bought all kinds of crazy beers I had never heard of, and took special trips to breweries on the weekends just to taste their beer. I remember thinking, "Man, this guy is crazy. It's just beer." Lucky for me, I told him just that and he invited me over frequently to try new beers. He showed me how to taste a beer, what I was looking for in the beer, how the brewing process worked, and he helped me to begin thinking about quality over quantity. I was bitten by the beer bug right there.

I still had a problem at this point though, and I looked at beer like Beavis and Butthead looked at life. Either it sucked or it did not suck. I didn't know much about the beer I was drinking. The style, IBUs, brewer etc... I didn't really have a clue about the difference between a lager and an ale or a pale ale and a Russian imperial stout. I owe that honor to two places in Muncie. Every Wednesday you could find me and a few friends at Scotty's for $5 dollar pitchers of anything on tap. Scotty's always had a really good selection of better beer even 10 years ago before the beer boom really happened. Each round we would try something different, and I began to understand the differences between pales, porters, and browns etc... I began to enjoy hops, and at the time I didn't enjoy heavily malt forward beers. What really changed me though was when I discovered the Heorot. Every Friday you could find me in there for $2 pizza and usually $2 something on tap. I can't remember how many taps they had back in 2002/2003, but it was 40+ at least and they didn't have any Bud, Miller, or Coors beers. I was really impressed, and I still am by the Heorot. I simply started at one side of the tap list, and by the end of the school year, I had worked through most of their draft list and repeated my favorites many times. I would have a beer that I really liked and when I got back home would find out anything I could about the beer and the brewery. I began reading more about styles, the brewing process, and anything else I could get my hands on. I'm certainly not saying you have to do that for enjoyment reasons, but that is part of how I got into beer.

I didn't drink much beer after I graduated from college, and I didn't really miss it honestly, but one fateful day my best friend gave me a bottle of Bell's Two-Hearted Ale. It was the moment that pushed me back down the rabbit hole. I have not really looked back since then.

If you are just getting into better beer or have ever felt overwhelmed with the selection available around town, I offer these few pieces of advice that worked for me:

• Try flights when you go to a brewery or tap room. This will give you a great sample of what the brewery has to offer and an easy way to try small samples of many beers instead of ordering an entire pint of something you may not enjoy. Some bars now even offer the opportunity to do flights. It's a great way to try many things. I still do this today at every single new brewery that opens up. You can tell a great deal about the quality of a place by running through their beers.
• Ask for a sample before you order. Most places are usually happy to do it from a customer service standpoint. I've seen places charge to do this, but I would much rather pay 25 cents or 50 cents for a sample than 6 bucks for a pint of something I may not like.
• Find a liquor store that lets you break up six or four packs. When I moved to Indianapolis, I went to a place on the south side called Parti-Pak. They still allow you to break up anything and buy it as a single. That is a great and economical way to sample many things without having to go all out on a full six or four pack. I used to create a mix six in the same styles. I would do a sixer of IPAs, pales, Scottish ales, and anything else I wanted and would sample them that way.
• Go to beer festivals and events. The great thing about a beer festival is that you can try many things, talk with the brewer, and get information on beers and styles you enjoy
• Come to a Hoosier Beer Geek Tail Gate for Nothing. This is a great opportunity to talk with fun beer people that truly enjoy sharing the beer experience. You can see the twinkle in someone's eye when they hear, "I'm just getting into better beer." You say those words, and I know you will have plenty of things to sample in no time flat. 
• If you really want to take your knowledge further, I think the best book ever written on beer is Randy Mosher's Tasting Beer. That book changed the way I look at beer and the tasting experience for the better. (*Disclosure: I wasn't given anything to say that. I really think it is the best beer book I've ever read on tasting and understanding beer). 
• Indiana has a number of groups doing great things in the beer community as well. Check out Girls Pint Out, Indiana Beer, Indiana Beer Barons, and many more that I'm not aware of. 
• Have fun! Even though I can be a crusty curmudgeon sometimes, better beer is still a ton of fun for me, and it is the people and experience involved in the beverage that keep me coming back. It helps that we have more breweries than ever before brewing some of the best beer that I've had the pleasure of drinking. 

Ultimately, beer can be whatever you want it to be. It doesn't have to be pretentious, stuffy, or require an encyclopedic knowledge for enjoyment. It is as simple as either it sucks or it doesn't to some and for people like me I want to dive in and know about the style, brewery, ingredients, and any other background knowledge. 

If you have the time please let me know about your beer journey.  How did you get into beer and what keeps you in the beer community? Any advice for others? 

Cheers!

Matt 

What's on Deck in Indiana? A List of New Indiana Breweries...at Least the Ones We Know Of

If anything is certain right now in Indiana craft beer, it's that the number of new breweries slated to open in the state is exploding. And if the results of our currently-open annual readers' survey are an accurate gauge of your interests, you really want to know which Indiana breweries are in the pipeline.

So in the interest of doing what we can to best serve our readers, we've put together a list of upcoming and new Indiana breweries that we know about. This list contains only basic information, primarily because things are in flux for most of the listed breweries. Some of them don't even have a location pinned down yet; some don't have websites; some are already brewing, and some are not. We've also listed some that recently opened for business. And we're fairly sure that this list isn't complete. So if you know of a planned Indiana brewery that's not listed here, please leave a comment and we'll do our best to update the list as soon as possible.

Here they are in alphabetical order:

18th Street Brewery
5725 Miller Avenue
Gary, Indiana 46403
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Opening December 2013

Bent Rail Brewery

5301 Winthrop Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
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Books & Brews
9402 Uptown Drive, Suite 1400
Indianapolis, Indiana 46256
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Bow Bar at Strongbow Inn (beers brewed at County Line Orchard)
2405 East U.S. 30
Valparaiso, Indiana 46383
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Open since December 2013. House beers not yet available.

Burn 'Em Brewing
718 Freyer Road
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
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Carson's Brewery
2404 Lynch Road
Evansville, Indiana 47711
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Open since September 2013

Cartel Brewing Company
5778 U.S. 40
Plainfield, Indiana 46168
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Chapman's Brewing Company
300 Industrial Drive
Angola, Indiana 46703
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Open since September 2013

Crooked Ewe Brewery & Alehouse
1047 Lincoln Way East
South Bend, Indiana 46601
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The Devil's Trumpet Brewing Company
8250 Utah Street
Merrillville, Indiana 46410
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Donum Dei Brewery

234 Maevi Drive
New Albany, Indiana 47150
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Flix Brewhouse Carmel
2160 East 116th Street
Carmel, Indiana 46032
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Four Day Ray Brewing Company (formerly Notch 8 Brewery)

Westfield Boulevard
Westfield, Indiana 46074
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Four Fathers Brewing Company

1555 West Lincolnway, Suite 105
Valparaiso, Indiana 46385
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Function Brewing

108 East Sixth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47408
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Goshen Brewing Company

315 West Washington Street
Goshen, Indiana 46526
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Hammond Station Restaurant & Brewery (new Indiana location for Illinois' Flossmoor Station Brewery)
SE corner of Kennedy Avenue & I-80/94
Hammond, Indiana
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Ironwood Brewing Company
6 Roosevelt Road
Valparaiso, Indiana 46383
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Open since August 2013

Liberty Highway Brewing Company
North Liberty, Indiana 46554
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Outliers Brewing Company

534 East North Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
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Mash Craft Brewing Company
Greenwood, Indiana

New Oberpfalz Brewing Company

121 East Main Street
Griffith, Indiana 46319
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New Paradigm Brewing Company
600 South Main Street
Elkhart, Indiana 46516
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Open since October 2013. House beers not yet available.

Point Blank Brewing Company
105 East Beaver Street
Corydon, Indiana 47112
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Open since October 2013. House beers not yet available.

Pokro Brewing Company

311 North Broad Street
Griffith, Indiana 46319
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Red Yeti Brewing Company
256 Spring Street
Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130
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Round Town Brewing Company

Indianapolis, Indiana

Scarlet Lane Brewing Company

7724 Depot Street
McCordsville, Indiana 46055
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Summit City Brewerks

1501 East Berry Street
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46803
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Taxman Brewing Company

13 South Baldwin Street
Bargersville, Indiana 46106
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Tell City Beer Company
Tell City, Indiana
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Tow Yard Brewing Company
501 South Madison Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46225
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Two Deep Brewing Company

Indianapolis, Indiana
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Underground at Twenty Tap

5408 North College Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46205
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Open since November 2013

Wild Hare Brewing
410 Wall Street
Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130
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Wildrose Brewing Company
1104 East Main Street
Griffith, Indiana 46319
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Wooden Bear Brewing Company
21 West North Street
Greenfield, Indiana 46140
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