HBG3 Details: Guest Beer #1 - Schlafly India Brown Ale

I'm well aware that this kind of thing can get old quick if you're not interested or haven't bought tickets for our anniversary party. We're growing closer to our goal for ticket sales (which will be capped at 150), and we once again want to remind you that there will be no day-of tickets for the event. In fact, ticket sales will be closing Friday, August 21st at 6PM. If you haven't bought by then, you're out of luck. If you haven't bought before tickets run out, you're also out of luck. We're trying to do our best to warn you.

Here we go.


Schlafly India Brown Ale

We've had a very good relationship with the folks at Schlafly for a few years now, so we were delighted to hear that they'd be helping us out with our anniversary event. Schlafly’s Tap Room brewer Brennan crafted India Brown to celebrate his marriage to Natasha in 2008. It’s brown in color, but hopped more like an IPA, especially in aroma, as it was dry hopped with Cascade and Willamette. 40 IBUs, 5.2% abv.

Our friend and Schlafly rep Scott says: "I know you all got to try it last year, but we tweaked the recipe this year. It's now dry-hopped with Simcoe Hops. I had it last week and it is amazing!!!"

This beer is listed as a Schlafly Tap Room Only single batch series beer on their website, and was be released there on August 7th. We'll have it for you at the Hoosier Beer Geek Third Anniversary Roundtable at Sun King Brewing on August 22nd.

Beer Diary #14 - Jim | No Pictures, Please

Date: 31 July 2009
Location: Ye Olde Family Homestead
Valparaiso, Indiana

Compared to my fellow Knights of the Beer Roundtable, I lag behind when it comes to beer consumption. My routine essentially goes like this--I go to the store. I see lots of beer that I like. I buy it. Then, it languishes in the closet and/or the fridge. I'm lucky if I drink one beer per week at home. If I wrote my own beer blog, it would probably be called Hoosier Beer Miser and would have one post per month.

The main reason that I have such a huge beer cache at home is that I like to share what I have with others, and that opportunity doesn't come along as often as I'd like (well, aside from the occasional pitch-in roundtable among the KOTBR). An opportunity to share arose when my cousins came back to Indiana for a visit. They're IU grads, but they now live in Maine. They also love good beer and are homebrewers to boot. However, there are a number of beers that they can't get in New England, so I decided to raid the closet/fridge and bring along some of the good stuff to share. Among the beers we consumed were these:

Three Floyds Brian Boru

The KOTBR featured this beer at the St. Patrick's Day party we hosted in 2008 (you know, the one that no one came to). A few weeks ago, I went to Parti Pak and snagged a bomber of Three Floyds' contribution to the Irish Red Ale style (5.9% ABV). This one had been sitting on the shelf at Parti Pak since its release this past winter, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of it. It poured with the reddish brown color you'd expect from the style. The nose evoked brown sugar with a faint metallic hop presence. The flavor was lovely--roasted malt, caramel, and sweet toffee, with a fair amount of hop bite but not as much as you'd expect from a Three Floyds beer. This one met with the cousins' seal of approval.

Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale

The world needs more craft beer in cans, especially if they taste as good as Southern Star's Pine Belt Pale Ale (6.3% ABV). This beer, which comes in tallboy four-packs, is relatively new to Indiana. I picked it up at the Whole Foods store on 86th Street in Nora. Pine Belt Pale Ale is an unfiltered American Pale Ale. It poured with an orange-amber color and was a bit cloudy with a few floaties. The nose was not as floral as one might expect from an APA; a piney hop presence was there, but not in spades. The flavor was quite roasty and malty for an APA, backed with a hint of citrus. There was also a nice sweetness with each sip. The cousins loved this one, too. KOTBR, we need to review this beer. Kudos to Mat Gerdenich and Cavalier Distributing for bringing Pine Belt Pale Ale to Indiana.

Date: 13 August 2009
Location: Shoreline Brewery
Michigan City, Indiana

Back in the Region again with a return trip to Shoreline Brewery (208 Wabash St., Michigan City, Indiana, 219.TRY.HOPS), which was featured in my first beer diary. I needed something to drown my sorrows after the USA lost yet again to Mexico at Azteca Stadium. One day we'll win there and cause the Mexican fans to go into a complete meltdown. Alas, not this time. . . .

A quick note about Shoreline--They have a knowledgeable staff, friendly clientele, and a menu that makes a vegetarian like me very happy. Plus, they have the most unique mugs for their mug club that I have ever seen (Bob O. from Indiana Beer took a snapshot of them a while back--scroll down about 3/4 of the way down the page). Check out Shoreline if you ever make a trip to Indiana's Lake Michigan shore.

Since I drove up to Michigan City from Valparaiso, I didn't want to overdo it with the drinking. Therefore, I opted to sample only two of Shoreline's beers--

Singing Sands Oatmeal Stout

This oatmeal stout was on nitro. It poured with a creamy tan head, had a good chewy mouthfeel, and carried the classic oatmeal stout characteristics in the flavor profile, with cream, chocolate and coffee notes dominating. A really solid offering in the style. I could drink a hell of a lot of these on a cool fall day. Don't know what the ABV is, but I'm guessing it's in the 4.5 to 5.5% range.

3 Sum IIPA

Yeah, I know--gimmicky name. I don't much like it either, but it is funny in a sort of juvenile way to say to the bartender, "Hey, I'll have a 3 Sum." This beer is Shoreline's contribution to the Imperial IPA style and clocks in at 10.5% ABV. The "3 Sum" name comes from the fact that it's brewed with Summit hops and two other hop varieties that slip my mind at the moment (I'm pretty sure that one of them was Nugget). It was served in a 10.5 ounce glass and was too cold upon pouring. Consequently, I let it sit for a while before I tried it. The nose was ruled by pineapple notes; there wasn't much pine there. The mouthfeel was almost viscous, as the beer literally slid across my tongue. As for the taste--If I didn't know any better, I could swear this was Bell's Hopslam, because that is precisely what 3 Sum reminded me of. The flavor was heavy with peach, pineapple, and malt characteristics. An excellent IIPA.

Hoosier Beer Geek Classics: KOTBR #1 - Dark Horse Sapient Trip Ale

As you may be aware, we're slowly creeping up on the third anniversary of the creation of this site. In those three years we've gained quite a few readers.

We've grown to our current status from pretty ordinary roots - Jason (who is still with us), Chris, and Colleen (who are not longer with us) sat down at Chris' house and had a beer. And they wrote about it. No mug scores, no clever lyric writing - just straightforward beer writing. Well, kinda...

The article below originally ran on August 13th, 2006.

Sapient Trip Ale is belgian tripel (three times the amount of malt used in a regular beer) and a summer seasonal from Dark Horse Brewing Company, located in Marshall, Michigan.

Interesting fact: Sapient means wise & intelligent. Also, it is made with a trappist yeast strain (which means the yeast originates from one the six remaining Trappist - monk - breweries in the world).

The following are the reviews given by HBG's own Knights of the Beer Roundtable:

Chris: This beer has a rather deep amber/golden color, though certainly not opaque. It presents a fresh, fragrant bouquet – something of competing hints of apple/cherry/wood/clove. It appears to be lightly carbonated, though definitely effervescent.

The first taste is very sweet, very fruity, and just a little bit spicy. It has a potent cherry taste to me, giving it a passing resemblance to Unibroue’s Quelque Chose, though not as strong of as that one. The aftertaste is still sweet & fruity, and lingers somewhere in the middle taste buds of my tongue. It feels thin & watery in the mouth, and it is an easy drink.

I must admit that I’m not a big fan of “fruity” beers, so while I wouldn’t put it high on my list, that comes from a personal bias. For someone who likes the sweet and fruit, I would recommend it. I am most intrigued by the label design - what is that? A monk wielding a mailbox like an axe?

Jason: When it comes to beers, I tend to prefer them light and crisp or dark and malty. When it comes to wheat beers, I tend to turn them away on account of the often fruity hints that I find. Banana is my least favorite fruit in the world and it seems to be the most common fruity flavor I find in wheat beers.

While a Tripel isn't necessarily a wheat, it tends to have some similar characteristics, mainly the fruity aroma and taste. The Sapient Trip Ale from Dark Horse Brewing Company is no exception. In the aroma, you find a bit of citrus and a bit of banana. The taste, however, is a little surprising. While I could definitely find some fruity flavors hiding in the back, the taste of clove really overwhelmed them. There is a spiciness found in the back of the throat when you drink it. I also found a great deal of bitterness. Both senses were left as part of the aftertaste, which I did not find appealing.

What I also found was a sweet, sugary flavor left on my lips. The sweet finish isn't surprising since Tripels use Belgian candy sugar in the brewing process. This sweetness balanced out with the spiciness and bitterness. All together, it creates a beer that slightly more light than heavy, slightly more chewy than watery, and slighty more smooth than coarse. Really, and surprisingly, a very balanced beer.

Visually, it was reddish gold in color with a bit of cloudiness to it, a kind of visual mix of wheat and a red ale. It did not have much head or Belgian lace to it though Tripels normally have plenty of both. The label had a monk (makes sense with it being a Belgian style beer) carrying a mailbox (which makes no sense to me).

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good Belgian beer. It harmonious mix of flavors creates a great balance for the beer drinkers palate. While I prefer porters, stouts, and lagers, I wouldn't turn this beer down if it was offered to me again.

Of course, it wouldn't be wise to turn down any beer that's offered to you.

Please note before reading Colleen's review that Jason and I respect the beer. That's Rule #1 of the Hoosier Beer Geek - Respect the Beer. Colleen, obviously, does not respect the beer. Therefore, Colleen is, from this point forward, banned from Roundtables.

Colleen: It tastes good. It tastes like chicken. Chicken is good.