¡Olé! ¡Crowñ Beer Fest Tickét Giveaway!

I know you are in the middle of celebrating Cinco de Mayo, but Dieciséis de Mayo (that's May 17 to all y'all gringos) is also a great day to celebrate because that is the date of the Crown Beer Fest. Crown Beer Fest is hosted by Crown Brewing and is held during American Craft Beer Week every year. The event is made up of sampling booths of craft breweries from Indiana, Illinois, and other surrounding states. Your ticket covers all of your beer samples.

Breweries attending will include:

Destihl

Goose Island

Tapistry

Three Floyd's

Transient Artisan Ales

Tin Man

Figure Eight Brewing

One Trick Pony

BrickStone

Backroads 

18th Street Brewery

Ironwood

Argus

Sun King 

Lafayette Brew Co 

The Devil's Trumpet Brewing Co.

Four Father's 

Powerhouse

Flat 12

Shoreline Brewery 

Black Acre Brewing Co.

Hunter's Brewing

Cutters Brewing Company

Bloomington Brewing Company

Bulldog Brewing 

Iechyd Da Brewing Company

Burn 'Em Brewing

Triton Brewing 

Crown Brewing

Wildrose 

Founder's

Black Swan

Bier Brewery

People's

Evil Czech

Barley Island

Founder's

General admission tickets will get you four hours of access. That's $35 for 2p-6p central. You can get them at www.crownbeerfest.com. But we have two pairs of VIP tickets to give away. 

To join: Post a comment on this article and tell us either who you would CROWN as your king or queen of beers or tell us what you think the POINT is of drinking craft beer. Do it by Thursday at noon. We will toss the responses in a sombrero, do a little dance around it, and draw two names. We will notify you if you win.

World Beer Cup - Indiana Winners

Congratulations to the Indiana breweries taking home WBC awards yesterday.

Category 41: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock, 44 Entries - Bronze: Dominator Dopplebock, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN

Category 61: Belgian-Style Dubbel, 39 Entries - Silver: Belgian Dubbel, Bier Brewery, Indianapolis, IN

Category 64: Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale, 41 Entries - Gold: Batch 333: The Velvet Fog, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN

Category 71: Scottish-Style Ale, 26 Entries - Bronze: Beltaine Scottish Ale, Shoreline Brewery, Michigan City, IN

Category 72: English-Style Mild Ale, 27 Entries - Gold: Crown Brown, Crown Brewing, Crown Point, IN

Category 77: Oatmeal Stout, 49 Entries - Gold: Naked Oat Stout, Rock Bottom College Park, Indianapolis, IN

Category 83: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout, 30 Entries - Silver: Ring of Dingle, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN

Illiana Mayfest Ticket Giveaways - VIP and General Admission!

It is that time again!  We have two pairs of tickets to give away for this festival that is quickly approaching, thanks to our friends at Crown Brewing!

Crown Brewing Co. is hosting their 3rd annual Illiana Mayfest on May 26th up in Crown Point, Indiana and we want you to join in the fun! To register for the General Admission tickets, leave a comment in this post and include your name and some way to get a hold of you. To register for the VIP tickets,  leave a comment in this post and include your name and some way to get a hold of you along with a little extra something about why you would like to go.  You have until 5pm EST on Monday, May 7th to register. We will then randomly select a winner and contact you to get a mailing address.

If you don't win, don't worry; tickets are on sale now at www.IllianaMayfest.com. General Admission tickets are $30 and designated drivers are $5 (VIP tickets are sold out). Illiana Mayfest occurs during American Craft Beer Week and will feature breweries from Indiana and Illinois.

Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Brown Ales

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 third installment of this series, we reveal our picks from Indiana's brown ales.

Barley Island Dirty Helen. Let's face it - when it comes to picking a beer from the menu, many craft beer aficionados don't immediately go for a brown ale. But brewers would do well to have a well-made brown ale in their beer stable for those times when their patrons want something agreeable and sessionable yet flavorful. Barley Island's award-winning Dirty Helen is just such a brown ale. Back in 2009, we sat down with some very special guests for a roundtable that included Dirty Helen. Here's what our guests had to say about this excellent beer:

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps: "I like it. It’s a good beer for everybody. Malty for the malt heads. But hoppy enough for hop heads like me. Did you know that hops and marijuana come from the same family?”

U.S. Women's National Soccer Team goalkeeper Hope Solo: "It's not over the top like me, but it is very drinkable with flavors of slightly bitter coffee, caramel, and malt. I could see myself drinking several after one of my matches, where I am the best goalkeeper ever."

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford: "This dark brown ale had a nose redolent of bread, flowers, and metal (that’s right—metal). It was heavier in hop character than the brown ales I’ve enjoyed in across the pond, but in my opinion, heavy is good. The flavor was a pleasant combination of caramel, chocolate, and malty sweetness. There’s no question that Barley Island is delivering the goods with this beer. I predict that it will become the rage in craft beer circles."

Danzig frontman Glenn Danzig: "Woooaahahh Dirrrrty Helllllen. She's a deep mahogany devil."

Crown Brewing Crown Brown. One criticism we often get is that we don't focus enough on beers and breweries from northern Indiana. We think this criticism is a fair one. And as it so happens, one of our favorite brown ales in the state comes from the Calumet Region. The most sessionable of our brown ale picks at 4.1% ABV, Crown Brewing's Crown Brown is what a good brown ale should be: roasty, malty, a bit chocolaty and nutty, with a hint of caramel, backed by the mild fruitiness and woodiness of Fuggle hops. This is a beer that you'll be reaching for more than once in a sitting. We'd love to see Crown Brown more widely available on draft here in Indianapolis.

Sun King Naptown Brown. Sun King has become the big macher of central Indiana breweries. So a fair question may be whether they indeed make any beers that qualify as unsung heroes. We think so. The lone India brown ale entry in our brown ale picks, Sun King's Naptown Brown is a seasonal brew released each February by the brewery in honor of Indy's own Naptown Roller Girls. It carries an enticing chocolate and molasses sweetness balanced by an aggressive pine hop presence. I can't speak for my fellow Knights of the Beer Roundtable, but I would love to see this beer become one of Sun King's flagship beers.

Previously:
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Pale Ales & IPAs
Unsung Heroes of Indiana Craft Beer - Lagers

HBG5 featuring Crown Brewing Company

You may have thought we'd given up on posting these - but no! To be honest, we still aren't 100% sure about some of the remaining beers. But we do have a few more details. Next up:


Crown Brewing


DerALEr
Crown's version of an American Wheat is brewed for all of the thirsty 1st and 3rd Monday bikeriders. It has the same grain bill as our German Style Weizenhammer Weiss (over 50% wheat malt), however it is made with our house ale yeast instead of imported Hefe-Weiss yeast. The only other thing different is it happens to have 100 IBU's of Summit hops. What that means is that it is very hoppy, just like the sweaty cyclists.
4.8%ABV 100 IBU's

Please remember that this list is tentative and subject to change based on availability. We will keep you updated if anything changes.

About HBG5:
It will be held Saturday, August 27th, starting at 6pm. Sun King Brewing will again be hosting us at their brewery at 135 N. College Avenue, Indianapolis. Tickets are $30 (plus $1.99 for online fees) for regular tickets and $15 (plus $1.99 for online fees) for designated drivers. Tickets are available online only and limited to just 150 paying customers. Like beer festivals? Don't like crowds? This is your event. And yes, the tickets are on sale now.

If you didn't attend last year, you can see what you missed here. But if you did attend last year, you'll find it to be similar. We can't promise that Jason will be performing from Cats (or will have a mustache). But here is what we have so far (please note that all of this is subject to change).

Regular attendees will receive a commemorative tasting glass that can be used to sample various quality beers from our favorite Indiana breweries as well as a few other breweries. Additionally, you'll be able to select a few larger pours of your favorite beers. Designated drivers will have a selection of non-alcoholic beverages such as soda, pop, cola... whatever regional term you like. And bottled water, of course.

All attendees will get to enjoy food from Papa Roux. Menu coming shortly. There will be vegetarian options.

And what's a party without gifts? And by gifts, I mean us giving stuff to you! That's right, prizes and giveaways and all sorts of stuff.

We're still filling in all the details, but if you've been to our events, you know it is a good time. And all tickets will be sold online. Tickets are not available at Sun King nor will they be available at the door. So don't miss out.

There are more details coming soon, but here's a reminder of the participating breweries/distributors to wet your whistle -

Barley Island Brewing Company - Barrel-Fermented Rust Belt Porter
Bee Creek Brewing Company - Alien Abduction Wheat
Bier Brewery - Farmgirl Saison and Calypso IPA
Broad Ripple Brewpub - Wobbly Bob OR Dual Citizenship
Brugge Brasserie - Superkitty Fantastico!
Cavalier Distributing
Crown Brewing Company - DerALEr
Flat12 Bierwerks - 12 Cycle IPA and Nunmoere Black
Lafayette Brewing Company
New Albanian Brewing Company - Naughty Girl (Struise Colab)
People's Brewing Company
RAM Brewery - Bjava Disorder Porter
The St. Louis Brewing Company aka Schlafly - Raspberry Coffee Stout
Sun King - House Lineup (Osiris, Bitter Druid, Cream, Wee Mac)
Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company - Hoosier Beer Geek Double Brown
Upland Brewing Company - Rad Red and Mother's Milk
World Class Beverages

We appreciate that you follow us for the latest and craziest in the Indiana craft beer world. And we hope you'll come out and celebrate with us our fifth and perhaps best year of better beer buffoonery.

KOTBR #106: Taking Indianapolis by Force

In 2006,a crack commando blogging unit
was stuck drinking beer
that pretty much tasted like piss.

These men and women
promptly escaped
from a bland beer stockade
to the Indianapolis
craft beer underground.

Today, still wanted by macrobreweries,
they survive as soldiers of good taste.

If you can't find a good beer,
if no one else is serving beers with flavor,
and if you find their website,maybe you can follow...

The IPA-Team.


Indiana's craft brewing industry has been growing at a great rate, with 33 in operation right now and at least six more in Indianapolis alone planned for the next year or two. We haven't been able to make it to every brewery to roundtable their beer. But thankfully, they have been making their way to us.


We were happy to hear that Shallos Antique Bar on Indy's southside became the first bar (that we know of) in Indianapolis to have Crown Brewing's Special Forces IPA on tap and decided to make our way down for our first roundtable of this Crown Point-based brewery.


Jason: This is not my first experience with Crown Brewing. I've had an opportunity to drink their beers over the past year or more. I'm happy to say that brewmaster Steve Mazylewski has been doing some great things with Crown's beers and that the ownership and management team have been very enthusiastic about their brewery and the craft brewing community in general. They took the initiative to form the 1st annual Illiana Mayfest in Lake County this past May, a craft beer festival that exceeded everyone's expectations.

The Special Forces IPA is named in honor of a local Special Forces Army Ranger and is available on draft and in 22 ounce bombers. Special Forces pours with a cloudy amber color and has a hoppy nose with citrus notes. The hops cover the mouth and the back of the throat. Along with the hops is a strong malt backbone that doesn't overpower the hops, but isn't overpowered by the hops.

It is a great example of a by-the-book IPA, which I enjoy a lot. It isn't like many of the West Coast-style pale ales and IPA's and the popular DIPA's that we've all been enjoying, but that's okay. It holds it own against the other beers. I still find it to be a spectacular beer and am very happy that this special force has found their way into Indianapolis.


Mike:
My analysis:
Reddish copper color.
Very little lacing, malt malt malty.
More hoppy in finish than front.

Upon initial tasting, my first thought was "this is not a very hoppy IPA". Considering that an IPA should always be hoppy, I ordered a Bell's Two Hearted IPA (the first off the keg, actually) for comparison's sake.


What we ended up with was a study in what Double IPAs can do to a person's perception of what is hoppy. We've spent so much time drinking Double IPAs as of late that maybe we forgot what the milder, regular IPA taste like. The bitterness here - in both beers for that matter - wasn't nearly as prevalent as we might have expected. In fact, Rodney refused to believe that the comparison beer was Two Hearted. So we got another sample, and achieved the same results.

Regardless, Crown Special Forces IPA is a tasty beer that stood up well against Bell's Two Hearted - a beer that is perhaps one of the gold standards of the IPA style.

It just wasn't what I expected.


Matt: I am pretty excited that we now have access to another Indiana brewer in Indianapolis. I am an admitted hop head and I like big hop presence IPAs that have big floral noses on them and a hop flavor profile to match. This beer though is what I think the style originally started out to be instead of what most brewers have evolved their IPAs into (not a bad thing at all). This beer had very little lacing on the pour, and the nose had rather light scents of grapefruit and pine. The flavor profile has a great deal of malt going on with plenty of sweetness that almost overcomes the hop flavors at some points, but overall, there is a good malt/hop balance. I liked this beer, but I would just prefer a bigger hop bite on it. I might think differently about this one in the winter though.


Rod: Special Forces IPA is a balanced IPA. It has a lot of hop power, but it also has a lot of sweetness to balance things out. For this reason, despite the huge hop presence, the bitterness will not slap you in the face. I won't say it's a love it or hate it kind of beer, but a lot of hardcore IPA fans definitely have their preferences. I prefer balanced IPAs. From the start, the caramel in the nose greatly subdues the presence of pine and grassy hops. The mouthfeel of the beer is almost sticky, with tons of pine, grapefruit and orange coming through in the massive amount of hops. Plenty of caramel fills in around the bitter sensations to create a hefty, though not overpowering sweetness. A bit of an herbal sensation, maybe basil, also shows up in the background.

I like this beer, and I would definitely order this again.


Okay, the A-Team didn't have any chicks, except as occasional guest stars. So I made them Charlie's Angels. Smart, strong, sexy, stylish. Yes, real women enjoy craft beer.

Gina: I pity the fool that doesn't drink this beer. Jason promised that I could be B.A. Baracus, but I guess it is okay that I am a Charlie's Angel, but which one?

Jess: I taste cilantro.

Crown Special Forces IPA
Mike: 3.72 Mugs Jason: 4.0 Mugs Gina: 3.35 Mugs Matt: 3.60 Mugs Rodney: 3.90 Mugs Jess: 3.20 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 3.62 Mugs

Beer Diary: Crown Brewing

The Calumet region has become an enjoyable pocket of craft beer goodness. Everyone on the planet knows that Three Floyds is located there, but other towns have good microbreweries too. Shoreline in Michigan City. Brickworks in Hobart. Back Road in LaPorte. And coming soon: Figure 8 in Valparaiso.

Crown Brewing is another one of those breweries. Located in downtown Crown Point, Crown Brewing has come a long way in its short life with seven beers on tap. Brewmaster Steve Mazylewski has been putting together some impressive recipes during his year at the helm.


On this particular trip, I ordered a flight of six samplers:

-Crown Light is a blonde ale. It is light bodied, clear gold in look, easy on hops, and has a touch of lemon in the flavor profile. Definitely a session beer. And it's a good start for macro drinkers, yet won't make a geek gag.

-Crown Brown is light in mouthfeel but full on flavor. Caramel sweetness comes through. Its nutty nose is enjoyable. I like a fuller mouth in my browns, but its lightness makes it highly sessionable.

-Marzen is copper in color and crisp in flavor and mouthfeel. It has a malty nose, and there is a hop kick that shows up in the back of the throat.

-Celtic Pride Oatmeal Stout is dark and black with roasty malt nose. Roasted malts are very strong in the flavor profile. The mouthfeel is very milky. I find some coffee-like bitters in back of throat.

-Coffee Stout starts out as the Celtic Pride. It looks the same, but it has slight coffee nose. The Oatmeal Stout has some coffee notes to start off with. The additional coffee gives this beer a big coffee flavor. I think Gina would like it.

-Special Force Ale is an IPA with a light copper color. I find that it has a light citrus and flowery nose, but the hops are tamed in the nose. They are, however, much bigger in the mouth. There is a dry mouthfeel that you commonly find in hoppy beers. In this beer, they use Summit, CTZ, Centennial, and Cascade hops. No one hop overwhelms the others. They play really well together and create a nice balance of hop characteristics. Crown has been bottling this beer in 22 ounce bombers.


In additional to the flights, I ordered a Grand Poobah, which is a Russian Imperial Stout. It is darker than dark. Big and rich with a thick, full mouthfeel. Is that dark chocolate in the nose? There's something else there, something familiar. Roasted malts and chocolate come through. And creamy. Its 10 percent ABV is kinda hidden, as this beer is not boozy at all. So be careful.

The Crown Brewing taproom has a nice relationship with the adjacent Carriage Court restaurant. I visited on 30 cent hot wings day, which are on Tuesdays. I ordered the hot wings, which are sweet and flavorful with heat building up over time. The wings are meaty and not overly breaded. I also ordered the Irish nachos which are battered fries topped with melted cheese, bacon crumbles, and ranch dressing. They use bagged, frozen fries, but I don't care. The fries are tasty and even better with the toppings. It is big enough for two and at $3.25, it is a great deal.

Other notes from Crown Brewing:

-They plan on bottling the Crown Brown and then, hopefully, the dopplebock. The bock is aging right now and will be served at Three Floyds Dark Lord Day. Some will be served at Crown.

-Coming up in Crown Point: The St. Patty's Day parade. Apparently it is a big deal. Crown Brewing will have a float in the parade and a root beer stand on the streets. Back at the brewery, corned beef and cabbage pizza will be on special. And along with the stouts, they will be serving Patrick, an American red ale. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Patrick Tillman Foundation.

-And on May 22, the Illiana Mayfest will host area breweries, including Crown Brewing. The plan is $25 in advance, $30 at the door. The fest will be held indoors in a Lake County Fairgrounds building. But if the weather is nice, they will have the big doors at each end opened up. More details to come.

Winterfest 2010 Update #3

The Brewers of Indiana Guild's Winterfest 2010 tickets are on sale now online and will soon be available at breweries across the entire state. Winterfest will be held in the Ag/Hort building of the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 from 3pm to 7pm. Tickets are $30.

As we receive information from the breweries as to what they are bringing, we will let you know. Our first Winterfest update provided the beer lists for Upland, Great Crescent, Mad Anthony, and Brugge. Our second second Winterfest update included Bee Creek Brewery, Lafayette Brewing Company, Two Brothers, Rust Belt, Bell's Brewing Co., and Atwater Block. This is our third update to the beer list, including some out of state breweries...


Crown Brewing
Crown Point, Indiana
On draft at their booth:
Special Force Ale I.P.A.
Crown Town Brown Ale
Xtacy Of Gold Blonde Ale
Industrial Porter

In the outdoor beer garden:
Grand Poobah Imperial Stout (pin)

Big Woods Brewing Co.
Nashville, Indiana
On draft at their booth:
Stout
Pale
Winter Ale

Power House Brewing
Columbus, Indiana
On draft at their booth:
Diesel Oil Stout
1436 Dark Wheat

In the outdoor beer garden:
TBD (pin)

Rock Bottom North
Indianapolis, Indiana
On draft at their booth:
Oatmeal Stout
Old Curmudgeon Imperial IPA
Tripel Trouble

In the outdoor beer garden:
Old Curmudgeon Imperial IPA (pin)


Look for more updates in the coming weeks. Plus, we'll be giving away two tickets to Winterfest 2010, so stay tuned!

DLD Eve - "And it begins..."

Jess and I just officially retired from Dark Lord Day Eve. Here's our beer diary from the night...

Crown Brewing

Jess and I were the first of the HBG crew to show up at Crown (around 5) and things were still fairly slow. Bob O's posse was already hanging out on the patio. We inquired about the HBG special and by doing so, helped educate all the wait staff on tonight's special. Turns out it's 20 cent wings and $5 off an extra large pizza. Still not too shabby. We started off with a Celtic Pride Stout and a Crown Town Brown.



The Celtic Pride Stout was opaque black in color with a toffee colored head. The nose contained coffee, roasted malts and chocolate. Fairly characteristic of an Irish Stout. The flavor of the beer was filled with roasted flavors and a touch of caramel. This Irish Stout weighed in at 5.5% ABV.

The Crown Town Brown had toasted hazelnuts, walnuts and coffee in the nose. This beer was surprisingly sweet with a lot of brown sugar notes and sweet malt. The finish was slightly nutty with a hint of herbal hops.



The Smokestack Amber was surprisingly hoppy. The nose was quite odd, with metallic characteristics similar to that of well water in addition to pine hops. The flavor was very prominently dominated with pine and grassy hop notes. Reminiscent of Troegs Nugget Nectar but lower ABV at about 5%.





We're not really Hoosier Wings and Pizza Geek, but if you're curious what was on special tonight, here's a quick rundown of what we ordered. The wings were fried and tossed in a decently spicy traditional buffalo sauce (I'd guess hot sauce and butter). The sauce was pretty good and we managed to consume most of the excess. We had a thin crust Vegetarian pizza with added pepperoncinis (the peppers in the Papa Johns' box). The crust was very cracker like and there was at least twice as much cheese as a regular pizza loaded on this thing. Quite tasty, but very filling with all of the cheese. We took half of it back to the hotel with us... and we're snacking on it now. It's good cold too!

Flossmoor Station



In case you haven't heard, Flossmoor recently turned over brewers. Matt Van Wyk has moved on to the great state of Oregon, leaving Bryan Shimkos at the helm of Flossmoor Station. This is the first time we've been up since Bryan has taken over, and for the most part everything seems to be business as usual. Although in previous years Matt has hosted an amazing Dark Lord Day Eve party (or so we hear), this year things seemed to be fairly casual. The crowd was mostly beer geeks and the bar was very busy, but not over-crowded.



In addition to their typical lineup, the special Flossmoor beers on tap included the Shimko's Simcoes IPA, Farewell Pale, Killer Kapowski, Recession Ale and Belgian Wit. Guest taps were occupied by Two Brothers' Cane and Ebel and Great Lakes' Blackout Stout. We decided to go for a double shot of hops, with Jess trying out the Shimko's Simcoes IPA and I went with the Farewell Pale.



Shimko's Simcoes poured a deep copper with very slight white head. The nose contained hints of juicy fruit gum, citrus, grapefruit and pine. All signs pointed towards Simcoe hops. The mouthfeel was very pillowy with predominantly sweet, sticky hops and a nice caramel balance. This was a sugary sweet IPA with spice notes. For those of you playing along at home, this IPA carries a white wax finish on the bottle.

I wish I could elaborate more on the Farewell Pale, but it honestly was a fairly standard Pale. Good hop balance, but not much stood out. Pine and grassy notes in the nose with a matching pine flavor. Hints of mint, with a creamy milk character and the sweetness of caramel and orange cream rounded out this easy drinking Pale.



I finished out the night with a Great Lakes Blackout Stout, only because I had never seen it on tap. This beer was amazingly sweet compared to the bottled edition. Great Lakes is no longer available in Indiana, but you can still pick it up in Illinois and Indiana. The Blackout Stout is their Imperial Stout, brewed in honor of the big northeast blackout of 2003. On tap, this beer has a nice roasted malt nose with big portions of chocolate, coffee, molasses and cocoa powder. The sweetness of this beer was surprising. Maple syrup came out first, followed by honey, toffee and peanut brittle. Then, as if out of nowhere, chocolate covered bananas came to mind. This was verified by Jess, so it is clear that I am not insane. The alcohol was well hidden in this one and didn't come out until the end of the snifter.

I think we had a pretty great DLD Eve overall. We grabbed a bottle of Shimkos' Simcoes (I have no idea where that apostrophe is supposed to go) to go. Not sure if we'll open it up tomorrow or not. We have the Downtown Indy Rock Bottom's Hacker Schwarz and Fire Chief Red in growlers to share with the Dark Lord crowd tomorrow. If you can find us we'll be glad to share!

Random Beer Roundup - Make a Weekend Of It Edition

Only one more week until Dark Lord Day. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but at Hoosier Beer Geek, we like to turn our beer drinking into weekend long events. So several of us will be heading to the region on Friday and staying through Sunday, drinking lots of beer along the way. There are plenty of great options too.

In Crown Point, there is a new option available for pre- or post-DLD drinking. June 13th of last year, Crown Brewing opened and they have been receiving favorable reviews during these first 10 months of operation. But nobody at Hoosier Beer Geek has been there yet. We're going to change that soon.

On Friday, April 24th, Hoosier Beer Geek will be roundtabling at Crown Brewing. And we'd like you to roundtable with us. It will be the first day of having their patio open for the summer, so it should be a fun time. All day they will be serving $3 beers. On tap right now:

"Crown Brown Ale" - This ale is malty and sweet on the palette and will prove to be one of our best yet!

"Celtic Pride" - Move over Guinness, this 12 malt Irish Stout is to die for.

"Exstacy of Gold" Blonde Ale ~ This "blonde" will surely meet the expectations of all beer loves. Smooth, crisp and hoppy.

"Smokestack Amber Ale" ~ This exceptionally balanced beer offers a perfect combination of malts and hops

Also, in the taproom, if you mention "Hoosier Beer Geek", you can order 10 cent wings and $5 off all pizzas. So hit exit 247 off of I-65, head west on US 231 for less than three miles, a left on East Street and in the words of John Madden, "Boom! You're there!". Crown Brewing is located at 211 S. East Street in downtown Crown Point. Look for the smokestack with the crown on top.

The food and beer specials are all day Friday, so come early to eat and drink. We will be roundtabling at 9pm central (local time)/10pm eastern and we want to hear what you think.

Here is your weekly Random Beer Roundup. Remember, if you have beer news that you want to share, drop us a line at hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com.

Beer Events:
Dates and lineups subject to change

Friday, April 17 - Sunday, April 19 at Mad Anthony in Fort Wayne:
11th Anniversary Celebration

Friday, April 17, at Parti-Pak Liquors in Indianapolis:
Free Beer Tasting POSTPONED to April 24; see below

Friday, April 17, at Deano's Vino in Indianapolis:
Tapping of Dark Horse Brewing Co. Crooked Tree Double IPA

Saturday, April 18 in Jeffersonville:
2nd Annual Craft Beer Extravaganza; $75; (details under the News heading of RBR v.2009.04.10)

Saturday, April 18 at the Heorot in Muncie:
Stone Levitation kick-off party; (details under the News heading of RBR v.2009.04.10)

Monday, April 20, 5-7 p.m., at Kahn’s in Indianapolis:
Brooklyn Brewing Company tasting

Monday, April 20, 6pm, at Rock Bottom in downtown Indianapolis:
Fire Chief Ale tapping

Tuesday, April 21, 6:30pm, at Patrick's Kitchen and Drinks:
Spring Festival Beer and Wine Tasting: Five course buffet menu paired with five wines and five beers. $35 per person in advance, includes tax and tip, $45 at the door. Call 733-8755 for reservations and information.

Thursday, April 23, 6-8pm, at Big Red Liquors in downtown Bloomington:
Free Beer Tasting

Friday, April 24, 4:30-6:30pm, at Parti-Pak Liquors in Indianapolis:
Free Beer Tasting featuring Cavalier Distributing Beers: Founders, Stone Brewing Co., Two Brothers, Berghoff Artisan Series, & BB Burgerbrau

Friday, April 24, 9pm central/10pm eastern, at Crown Brewing in Crown Point:

FRIDAY DETOUR: Hoosier Beer Geek public roundtable; $3 beers all day; 10 cent wings, and $5 off pizzas all day when you mention "Hoosier Beer Geek"

Saturday, April 25 at Three Floyd’s Brewery in Munster:
Dark Lord Day

Sunday, April 26, 12:00pm at Great Fermentations in Indianapolis:
Spring All-Grain Class, $25 per person or bring a friend and pay only $20 each. Details and registration on website.

Sunday, April 26th, 6 p.m. at Zing! in Indianapolis:
Beer Tasting Dinner, $30 per person, Reservations required at (317)636-7775; (details here)

Wednesday, April 29, 6-7:30pm at Great Fermentations in Indianapolis:
Beginning Brewing Class, $15 per person or bring a friend and pay only $10 each. Details and registration on website.

Thursday, April 30, 6pm at Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette:
Firkin Thursday featuring a sneak preview firkin- Dry-Hopped Maifest

Saturday, May 2nd: National Homebrew Day

Monday, May 4th at Granite City in Indianapolis:
Blueberry Ale tapping

Tuesday, May 5th at Rock Bottom - Downtown in Indianapolis:
Cinco de Mayo Brewer's Dinner; Four course authentic Mexican dinner paired with four lagers; 317-681-8180 to reserve

Friday, May 8th at Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington:
Entries for the UpCup Competition are due.

Saturday, May 9th, 4pm, at Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown Indianapolis:
High Gravity Summer Kickoff, a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (details under the News heading of RBR v.2009.04.03)

Monday, May 11th - Sunday, May 17th: American Craft Beer Week:

Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora will be open everyday this week, noon-8pm (details under On Tap heading below)

Monday, May 11th at Old Town Ale House in Fishers:
Stone Levitation Celebration; no cover

Saturday, May 16th, noon-8pm at Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora:
Open House; (details under On Tap heading below)

Saturday, May 16th at Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington:
UpCup judging and ceremony.

Monday, June 22nd at Beer Sellar in Indianapolis:
Big Bell's Brewing tapping, a record breaking 30 different Bell's beers on tap at once.

News and Rumors:

Metromix interviews Cari Crowe from Kahn's Fine Wine in Indianapolis about Bacon Beer.

Alastair Hook of Meantime Brewing was awarded the 2008 Brewer of the Year award by the British Guild of Beer Writers.

Brewers Association Releases Top 50 Breweries List

NABC's Roger Baylor writes about Indiana's alcohol laws for LEO.

David Pierce joins NABC as Director of Brewing Operations.

Now on tap:
Price and availability are subject to change

From Dan at Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora:

The Great Crescent Brewery will be open Monday through Saturday from noon to 8pm for American Craft Beer Week - May 11-17. We will have our regular lineup - Blonde Ale, Mild Ale, Wit, Stout, Cherry Ale. In addition we plan to have IPA and Coconut Porter ready for our Open House on Saturday, 16 May. Please join us for the Open House - we will have complimentary food and available and drawings for small prizes.

From John at The Legend Irvington Cafe in Indianapolis:

New on tap at The Legend in Irvington in addition to Three Floyds Robert the Bruce and Bluegrass Brewing Bourbon Barrel Stout is Spaten Mai Bock (traditional German spring beer) and Breckenridge Brewery 471 IPA (double hopped IPA at 9.2% ABV).

Also, new in bottled beer is Founder's Porter and Left Hand Bock with Bell's Oberon back in stock as well as all the other micros and imports.

From Elizabeth at Old Town Ale House:

Here's what we're pouring this week:
Founder's Pale
Berghoff Lager
Upland Wheat
Magic Hat # 9
Bell's Two-hearted
Bell's Oberon
Founder's Porter
Left Hand Milk Stout
Two Brothers Domaine Dupage
Original Sin
Victory Prima Pils
Heavy Seas Holy Sheet
Founder's Cerise
Goose Island Matilda
Breckenridge 471 ESB
Victory Hop Wallop
Mojo Risin Double IPA
Left Hand Oak Imperial Stout
Dogfish Head Red & White
3 Floyd's Dread Naught

From Lauren at Scotty's Brewhouse with various locations around Indiana:

Just wanted you to know that Scotty's Brewhouse is rolling out some new beers at all 5 locations! Check them out here.

From Mike at Granite City Brewery in Indianapolis:

Granite City is tapping a Blueberry Ale May 4. Also adding an American Wheat year-round at some point this Summer.

Now on the shelf:
Price and availability are subject to change

From Cari at Kahn's in Indianapolis:

omfg, I got so many goodies!

New this week/back in stock -
Schlafly Summertime Helles-Style Lager
Dieu de Ciel Solstice d'Hiver
Dieu de Ciel Rosee d'Hibiscus
Dieu de Ciel Route des Epices
Dieu de Ciel Corne Du Diable American IPA
Dieu de Ciel Derniere Volonte Abbey Ale
Nogne O Dark Horizon
Nogne O Toschi Double IPA - collaboration with Yoho Brewery in Japan
Mikkeller Jackie Brown - now in a new format
Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasal
Mikkeller Single Hop Cascade IPA
Mikkeller Single Hop Warrior IPA
Two Brothers Bare Tree Weiss - now in a new format

Specials-
Bell's Oberon $8.99/pack ; $31.49/case
Best of Belgium Sampler - a six pack each of Leffe, Hoegaarden and Stella
for $19.99
Samuel Smith Winter Welcome 18 oz. $2.99
Three Floyds Alpha Klaus 22 oz. $5.99

New Belgium Presale -
Today through Saturday, Kahn's is offering a presale of all New Belgium products before they arrive on Monday. Payment is due at the time of reservation.
Fat Tire Amber Ale 12 pack cans $15.99 reg. price $17.99
Fat Tire Amber Ale 22 oz. bottles $2.99 reg. price $3.99
Mothership Wit 22 oz. bottles $2.99 reg. price $3.99
1554 Black Ale 22 oz. bottles $2.99 reg. price $3.99

From Greg at Cavalier Distributing in Indianapolis:

There are a couple exciting new beers hitting the market this and next week:

Stone Levitation Ale will officially start hitting store shelves next week!! That's right, the highly anticipated arrival of Stone's Levitation Ale is finally here. Levitation Ale is Stone's version of a session ale. An Amber Ale by stylistic definition, Levitation is truly a style unto its own. It is very complex and balanced with a wonderful fresh dry-hop aroma, wonderfully balanced taste and lingering, smooth finish. Levitation has the hop content to satisfy the cravings, but is perfectly balanced with malt sweetness, is incredibly complex and is very smooth and clean on the finish. With the release of other highly (over) hyped Amber Ales to the Indy market around this time, make a point to grab the GABF Gold Medal Levitation and compare it on TASTE & QUALITY to other new Amber Ales and judge for yourself. Levitate your senses!

Two Brothers Bare Tree Weiss (Barley Wine style Weiss Beer/Wheat Wine) just arrived to Indiana in very limited quantities for the year. Only a very small amount of this rare, exquisite special release Wheat Wine from Two Brothers hits the state each year, so get it quickly while you can. This is yet another vintage of a much herralded 2 Bros creation and a must get. Make sure to grab a bottle for now and some for year(s) from now.

Two Brothers Dog Days of Summer just arrived and will start hitting stores and draft lines around the state in the next weeks as well. A Dortmunder style Lager, Dog Days of summer is a complex, flavorful Lager perfect for the long, hot days of summer. Dog Days is a highly decorated beer, having won best of show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds a couple of years ago. This year's supply is limited, so enjoy it early and as often as you can. Enjoy!

Keep an eye out for some amazing Stone brews on draft at Dark Lord Day next Saturday as well. I am just going to list them and you work on keeping your jaw off of the floor: Brandy Barrel Aged '06 Double Bastard, Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard, Red Wine Barrel Aged '08 Old Guardian, 10th Anniversary, '07& '08 Imperial Russian Stout, '07 Old Guardian, Vertical Epic 08-08-08, and Levitation Ale. The folks at 3 Floyds have put together an incredible line-up in addition to their own fantastic brews, enjoy!

From Big Red Liquors in Bloomington:

New at Big Red Liquors:

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy
Goose Island Summertime Kolsch
Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager
Berghoff Summe Solstice Wit
Michelob Wheat beer Sampler 12pk
Abita Strawberry Lager
Magic Hat Variety 12pk
Stone Imperial Stout
Founder's Cerise -Cherry Fermented Ale
Dark Horse Crooked Tree Double IPA
Guinness 250th Anniversary

From Mike at Crown Liquors in Carmel:

Crown has gotten the motherload of special orders....again! Can't wait to start tasting all these new brews!!!:)

Amager Batch One 12/500
Amager Hr. Frederiksen 12/500
Amager Sundby Stout 12/500
Baird Angry Boy Brown Ale 24/12
Baird Kurofone Porter 24/12
Cantillion Fou'foune Pure Apricot Lambic 6/750
Cantillon Rose' de Gambrinus 6/750
Cantillon Saint-Lamvinus 6/750
Dieu du Ciel! Equinoxe du Printemps 24/341
Dieu du Ciel Solstice d' Hiver 24/11.5
De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis (Russian Stout) 6/750
De Molen Storm and Averij 6/750
Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze 6/750
Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek 12/375
Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek 6/750
De Ranke Cuvee de Ranke 6/750
Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura 12/750
Nils Oscar Coffee Stout 20/330
Panil Barriquee 12/750
St. Somewhere Lectio Divina 12/750
St. Somewhere Saison Athene 12/750
Nogne-O Toshi Double IPA 12/500

Random Beer Roundup - Every Friday Edition

Liquor/Better Beer Stores:

The cellar at Goose the Market is featuring the following new arrivals and seasonal beers:

Brugge Black, White and Tripel de Ripple have arrived in the sexy new 750 mL bottles.
A few bombers of the following are available, but going fast:
Stone Vertical Epic 08.08.08
Stone XII Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
Three Floyds XI Anniversary Fantabulous Resplendence
Two Brothers Oh Brother! Tripel
Shmaltz Brewing Coney Island Albino Python White Lager and He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's RIPA.
Saison DuPont Belgian Farmhouse Ale in 375 mL singles and 4 packs of 330 mL bottles.
Founder's Rubaeus Ale in 4 packs.
These are all available for a limited time in addition to our regularly rotating craft beer selection.

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Bars/Breweries/Brewpubs/Restaurants:

Mike DeWeese of J. Gumbo's let us know that they are currently featuring a "live crawfish boil every Saturday night. It starts at 8pm until the crawfish are gone. Reservations aren't required but recommended. They are $17 for a single portion with all the fixins and $25 to pig out (all you care to eat). There is a 3 five ounce beer flight of Abita drafts included."

Also, "current freaky beers we have on tap other than the usual awesome selection are:"

Two Brothers Domaine Dupage
Brugge Tripel
Victory Hopdevil
Magic Hat No. 9
Founders Red's Rye

Chris notes that Shallos Antique Restaurant has Stone 12th Anniversary on tap. Matt R. also saw St. Bernardus 12 on tap there.

Matt R. took down the beer list at Chumley's in Broad Ripple:

Two Brothers Oh Brother! Tripel---while supplies last
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Magic Hat #9
Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA
Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale
Founders Reds Rye
Bell's Consecrator Dopplebock, Two Hearted, Oberon
Three Floyds Alpha King
Upland Preservation Pilsner & Wheat
Goose Island Matilda
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Victory Prima Pils

The following beers are coming soon to Chumley's:

Ommengang Rare Vos
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
Sierra Nevada Double DeBOCKel Beer
Left Hand Oktoberfest
Victory Hop Wallop
Brugge Tripel de Ripple
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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Random Beer News/Events:

Founders will be hosting their 2008 Breakfast Stout Breakfast on Saturday, Semptember 20th from 10am to 1pm. Tickets are $25 and go on sale August 27th at 11am. Only 200 tickets will be sold. For more information see Founders website.

There's a new brewery in town. Well, actually in The Region. Let's give a hearty welcome to Crown Brewing! Manager Mike Goodfellow and Brewer Jim Cibak have several years of experience working at Three Floyds Brewery in Munster and decided to branch out on their own. Their initial beer lineup includes Special Force Ale, Weizenheimer and Bodacious Brown Ale.

Hoosier Beer Geek and Big Car Gallery will be teaming up for the next B+ART on Friday, September 19th. As always, festivities will kick off at 8pm at Big Car in Fountain Square and the theme for next month will be Oktoberfest Beers.

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Interested in having your events, taps, or new beer inventory listed on Hoosier Beer Geek? It won't cost you anything. Drop us a line at hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com.

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