Ground Rules & Tips for Tailgate for Nothing 8 | Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m.

We hope to see you at Tailgate for Nothing 8 this Saturday from 11 a.m. to ??? in Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot. The theme: Pot Food! More details here.

Here are the ground rules for the event and some tips for you if you're going to attend:

- Weather. We all know that the weather in Indiana is unpredictable. Therefore, regardless of Saturday's weather forecast, we recommend that you bring a canopy if you have one in case the weather decides not to cooperate. Here's hoping that we have sunny skies and warm temperatures.

- Travel. The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is taking place on Saturday morning. The Race course is limited to the IUPUI campus. So if you avoid that part of downtown, you should be fine in getting to Sun King. If for some reason you're coming from the west side and would normally travel through campus to get to the brewery, maps of the Race course can be found here so you can plan your detour accordingly. And if you're participating in the Race, don't let that stop you from coming to TFN8. We'll be tailgating into the evening hours.

- Parking. When you arrive, please park your car in Sun King's back lot if there are spaces available there. Do not park in the main lot in front of the brewery. If there aren't any spaces open in the back lot when you arrive, plenty of parking should be available on the surrounding streets.

- Victuals. We don't have many rules for this thing, but one rule we expect everyone to follow is this: Please bring beer and food to share. The beer and food don't have to be anything super-rare or of gourmet quality. Just bring something tasty. Don't be a freeloader.

- Courtesy. Please pick up your trash before you leave. Our friends at Sun King are doing us a big favor by letting us hold TFN8 at their place. Therefore, please return their kindness by not leaving a mess behind. Trash bags will be provided by the brewery to make the job easier.

- Keep off the hill. The hill behind the parking lot is off limits. Please don't go there. If you do, you'll have to suffer Jason's naked hugs. And believe me, you don't want to suffer them.

- I gotta pee. A portalet will be provided on site. Please use it if you have to go to the restroom. Do not go inside the brewery to use their restroom. Of course, it's okay to go inside the brewery if you want to buy more beer, but don't go in just to use their crapper.

We hope that you'll come out and enjoy a day of beer-sharing and food-sharing with us!

Random Beer Roundup - The I Need a Beer Edition

Hoosier Beer Calendar

Events are subject to change

From the Brewers

From David at Triton Brewing in Indianapolis:

TRITON HOUSE BREWS

Fieldhouse Wheat, Four Barrel Brown, Magnificent Amber Ale, Deadeye Stout, Railsplitter India Pale Ale, Sin Bin Belgian Pale Ale, McQueenie’s Scotch Ale, BJava Brown, Bourbon Barrel I-65 Baltic Porter, 2012 Muletide (BJava Bourbon Barrel 1-65 Baltic Porter) , O’Rye-N Galaxy Pale Ale and Wit or Wit-Out You

GUEST BREWS

Crispin Cider (bottle), Brooklyn There Will be Black IPA, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Rivertown Death, Schlafly Coffee Stout and Widmer Omission Lager (bottle)

TRITON BREWING EVENTS

• #Clustertruck, Wednesday, April 17, 6-9 pm!  Join us and our friends from the Food Truck Alliance.

• Corks & Forks at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse to Benefit Second Helpings, April 18, 7pm. Join us at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for an evening of delicious hors d'oeuvres prepared by many of the city's top chefs, fine wines, a silent and live auction, and entertainment... while transforming lives through the power of food. 

•  Melting Pot Beer Dinner, May 9, 7pm tickets available in advance.  For more information call 317.841.3601.

 Watch for exciting events for American Craft Beer Week, May 13-19.  Look for special events and specialty beer releases from your friends at Triton Brewing Company!

From Shane at Daredevil Brewing Co:

Upcoming Events
Daredevil Brewing Co tap take over @ The Root Cellar | FARMbloomington
Friday, April 12th, 6 to 9 pm

Daredevil Brewing Co @ The Bloomington Craft Beer Festival
Saturday, April 13th

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

Muse Belgian Golden Ale: The first of our Belgian seasonal beers
A delicate Belgian perfume of pears and apples compliments complex spicy phenolics and lightly sweet alcohol with an inspiring clean, bright finish.

Rip Cord Double IPA: Our newest limited seasonal release
An abundance of American hops balanced with a hint of malt to produce an exhilarating experience of intense hop flavors and aromas of citrus, floral and resin that combine to provide a satisfying crisp finish.

Remember a full list of where you can find our beers is on our website and we continue to add new locations weekly. Also, you can keep up with the latest news and learn about new locations to find our beers first by following us on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Want to know what people are saying about our beers? Check out our profile on Untappd.

From Bob at Flat 12 Bierwerks in Indianapolis: 

-Bloomington Craft Beer Week: Events all week. 8th-13th
-Bloomington Craft Beer Festival: April 13th
Special: Flat 12/People's Brewing Collab - release date, April 12th at Nick's English Hut. Bloomington Craft Brew Fest, April 13th.
Also:
Saturday, May 4th: TAP at TAF Craft Brew Fest in Lafayette (Tippecanoe Arts Federation) 

From Beth at Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis: 

• April 17th – The Time for Three Sun King Collaboration tapping party at the Catacombs in City Market – Tapping of Eternal Promise of Spring
• April 13th – Bloomington Craft Beer Fest
• April 18th – Chef JJ's Sun King Brewers Dinner at Sun King - look for an upcoming giveaway!

From Ryan at Thr3e Wise Men Brewery in Broad Ripple:

 Thr3e Wise Men is now pouring three Seasonal Beers. We have our Old 59 Barley Wine, Two Sisters Carolina Saison & Saint Slater’s Irish Whiskey Stout. Come by and try one of these tasty seasonal or one of our 6 house beers!

Come check out our booth this Saturday April 13th at the Bloomington Beer Festival. We will be serving our Snow Bunny Blonde, @Brewhouse Brown & Centennial Martyr Double IPA! We will also have some special tapings at 3pm it will be our Old 59 Barley Wine, at 5pm our Stong Ale and at 6pm Two Sisters Carolina Saison. See you all there!!

Did you know that Thr3e Wise Men is now distributing to other Bars & Restaurants? We are offering our Snow Bunny Blonde, Centennial Martyr Double IPA and @Brewhouse Brown through Cavalier. Talk to your local Cavalier rep. Click here for more info.

From Roger at New Albanian Brewing Company:

NABC is seeking a full-time brewery representative - apply online. 

At Bars, Restaurants, & Carry Out

From Ryan at Scotty's Brewhouse: 

Scotty’s Brewhouse Muncie is now pouring Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy! Stop by on Wednesday and get a 48oz Pitcher for only $9!

Scotty’s Brewhouse Bloomington is serving Bell’s Oberon! Come try a refreshing pint on Thrusday’s for only $4.00!

From Mike at Yogi's in Bloomington:

http://www.yogis.com/index.php/about/blog/beer-blog

http://www.yogis.com/index.php/about/blog/events-blog/218-4-8-13

Beer Events/Fundraisers

Bloomington Craft Beer Week & Festival 

BCBW 2013 is April 6-13, leading up to Bloomington Beer Fest on 4/13. Local breweries, restaurants, bars, and retail establishments will be hosting events all week. http://www.facebook.com/btowncraftbeerweek for more information on events and the festival.

Brew Bracket Tasting Tournament featuring Belgian Style Beers

Date: Saturday, April 27th
Time: 6-9PM
Place: Tomlinson Tap Room
Participating Brewers: Upland, Bloomington, Bier, Triton, Brugge, Twisted Crew, RAM, and Evil Czech Brewing.
Tickets details: $40 participant (4 pack for $35/ea), 150 will be sold
Where can I stock up:  http://bbbelgians-es2005.eventbrite.com/?rank=1

 Second Annual Midwest Sour Wild Funk Fest

Upland Brewing Company will host their second annual Sour Wild Funk Fest, the Midwest's premier wild ale festival, on Saturday, May 11, 1:00-5:00pm, at Developer Town, 5255 Winthrop Ave, Indianapolis, IN. This year over 20 breweries will be included from across the country and world, with over 50 beers to enjoy.

The focus of this festival is to celebrate the wild ale category of beers, focused exclusively on Lambic, Flanders, Farmhouse, and Saison style beers and ales. These beers are finely and carefully crafted, taking months and sometimes years to produce. Some have a distinct tart or sour flavors, other have vinous qualities, while other have uniquely funky characteristics. This rapidly growing category of beers has had a tremendous impact on the craft beer community, and Upland is directly in the midst of that trend.

VIP tickets are sold out. General Admission is $45 and includes a commemorative sampling glass, and samplings of delicious craft wild ales, with paired meats, cheeses, fruits, and desserts provided by event partner Smoking Goose Meatery. Designated Driver tickets will also be available and include food and non-alcoholic beverages. Tickets can be purchased at www.UplandSourFest.eventbrite.com.

HBG + Black Market Beer Brunch Recap

We at Hoosier Beer Geek are firm believers in occasionally enjoying a pint or two or more before noon. Indeed, some of our events, such as the Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch with Brugge Brasserie and Tailgate for Nothing, feature forays into morning beer-drinking.

This past Sunday, we continued our tradition of beer-themed events in the a.m. with our first ever Hoosier Beer Geek + Black Market Beer Brunch. The HBG + BMBB featured our beer selections (and one mead selection) with Chef Micah Frank's exceptional cuisine. A full house of attendees were treated to a menu consisting of a warm-up beer followed by five paired courses that presented traditional breakfast fare, but with Chef Micah's unique spin on each dish. Meals of this sort can leave one feeling bloated by the time the dessert course is over. But the brunch's portion sizes were perfect and, of course, delicious. So everyone left comfortably full and (hopefully) happy.

Our thanks go out to everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed the brunch as much as we did. We also thank Chef Micah, Ed Rudisell, and the rest of the crew at Black Market for the amazing meal. We feel fortunate and honored that you hosted the event. And we thank Flat12 Bierwerks, Sun King Brewing Company, Daredevil Brewing Company, Black Acre Brewing Company, New Day Meadery, and Bjava Coffee for their outstanding contributions to the brunch. We hope that the future holds more brunches like this one.

Finally, we extend a special thanks to our favorite Manchester City FC fan and friend-of-HBG Don, who has attended every Hoosier Beer Geek Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch and was with us on Sunday morning at Black Market. Thanks for sticking with us, Don!

Don instructing us on the correct pronunciation of "Brugge." Take heed, Ted Miller.

Here's a rundown of Sunday's menu--

Flat12's Raspberry Walkabout - Our warm-up beer

Course One: Sixpoint Brewery's 3Beans Porter paired with French toast bites in crème Anglaise

Course Two: Sun King Brewing Company's Pink Taco Sour Ale with Scotch eggs and bacon

Course Three: Daredevil Brewing Company's Muse Belgian Golden Ale with biscuits and sausage gravy

Course Four: A beer float pairing Black Acre Brewing Company's Raspberry Blonde with cream cheese ice cream

Course Five: New Day Meadery's Breakfast Magpie Black Raspberry Mead, which is made with Bjava Coffee, paired with chocolate-toffee saltines

Vegetarians, you need not have despaired because Black Market cooked up fantastic vegetarian substitutions for the meat-based dishes--

Course Two, vegetarian-style -- A lovely tomato sauce and grilled green onions substituted for the bacon

Course Three, vegetarian-style -- Mushroom gravy with tofu substituted for the sausage gravy