HBG's April Pint Night | Thursday, April 24, Tomlinson Tap Room, 5pm

We're looking forward to this month's HBG Pint Night because we're featuring a beer especially brewed for the coming of warmer weather (and damn, we need warmer weather after that bastard of a winter). We honored this beer last December as our Beer of the Year for 2013. And we're not featuring just one version of this beer; we're featuring four versions of it, along with a bonus beer that the brewery in question is bringing along.

The beers we're talking about are Bloomington Brewing Company's 10-Speed Hoppy Wheat, which was our 2013 Beer of the Year, and the brewery's Bière de Mars.

So join us at the Tomlinson Tap Room in the City Market (222 East Market Street, 317.423.2337) at 5pm¹ on Thursday, April 24. Along with Bière de Mars, BBC will bring the following versions of 10-Speed: regular 10-Speed, pineapple 10-Speed, vanilla 10-Speed, and coconut 10-Speed. Drafts will be $4.00 (full pint for regular 10-Speed and Bière de Mars, half-pint for the other versions of 10-Speed). The beers as described by the brewery:

10-Speed: Slightly hazy and golden-hued, 10-Speed packs piney aromas, subtle tropical fruit nuances and a nice crisp finish. This American-style wheat offers a nice hop punch yet is still light and refreshing enough for a warm summer day.

ABV 5.4%; IBU 34.

Bière de Mars: Springtime brings revival. Doors are thrown open and scents of a blossoming world greet us. We want a refreshing beer to drink along with it. Welcome, Bière de Mars.

With roots in Northern France, Bière de Mars is an offshoot of a style known as Bière de Garde, brewed in early spring, then stored in cool places for consumption throughout the warm summer months.

The Bière de Mars style is meant to be consumed immediately, as freshly as possible. You’ll see why.

The nose greets with aromas of sweet honey, peppercorn and tangerine. Medium-light bodied with bold malt running throughout and peppery spice returning on the tongue. Tettnanger hops develop a nice, earthy and floral flavor and a pleasant, dry finish.

Sounds like the perfect beer to wrap up the days of winter in hopes of a warm spring.

ABV 6.2%; IBU 9.

What is the purpose of Pint Night?  To feature a flavorful beer at a reasonable price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beer on tap. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation.

Finally, congratulations to BBC for finally offering their Rooftop IPA in bottles. And if you're down in Bloomington this week for Bloomington Craft Beer Week, don't miss BBC's events during the week.

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1 All beers will actually be tapped at 2pm, but the event doesn't officially start until 5pm.^↩

HBG's next Pint Night | Thursday, March 27, Black Acre Brewing Co., 6:30pm

We're excited about this month's HBG Pint Night because we're heading out to the east side to one of our favorite brewpubs. Yes, we're talking about Historic Irvington's Black Acre Brewing Company, which just celebrated its second anniversary in February.

So join us at Black Acre (5632 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, 317.207.6266) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, when the Black Acre crew will be pouring drafts from a cask of Sorachi Ace Pale Ale brewed with pink peppercorns and lemon zest. All pints are $1.00 off on Thursdays, so pints of all Black Acre beers will run you $4.00 a piece.

What is the purpose of Pint Night?  To feature a flavorful beer at a reasonable price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beer on tap. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with us and the Black Acre crew.

HBG's next Pint Night | Thursday, February 27, La Margarita, 6:30 p.m.

We're quite eager for this month's HBG Pint Night because we're featuring a beer from an Indiana brewery that was just honored in RateBeer's Best Awards for 2013. No, it's not Three Floyds, though we're happy that they placed third in the RateBeer Top Brewers in the World category.

We're talking about Gary, Indiana's 18th Street Brewery, who were named best new Indiana brewery by RateBeer.

Join us at La Margarita in Fountain Square (Murphy Arts Center, 1043 Virginia Ave., Suite 1, 317.384.1457) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 27, when we will be joined by 18th Street's brewer/owner Drew Fox and the brewery's creative director Joey Potts. The featured beer will be 18th Street's Hunter Double Milk Stout (8% ABV). 10 ounce pours of Hunter will cost you $4.25 a piece. As described by the brewery:

Here is a father’s toast to his son. Brewed with cocoa nibs and lactose, Hunter boasts a creamy texture and rich chocolate flavor. Vanilla, roast, and caramel sweetness are met with a bright hop bitterness.

Sounds like the perfect beer to wrap up the days of winter in hopes of a warm spring.

What is the purpose of Pint Night?  To feature a flavorful beer at a reasonable price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beer on tap. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with Drew, Joey, and us.

HBG Pre-Winterfest Pint Night: Thursday, January 30, 6:30pm, Mass Ave Pub

So we're a little late with the notice. And we apologize. It's just that we've been busy helping the Brewers of Indiana Guild with Winterfest planning, and we've been trying to line up some special beers for our resumption of our monthly Pint Night this month.

As our warm-up for Winterfest, we're featuring two heavy hitters in the DIPA class as the main event. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Bell's Hopslam Ale, the Maniac from Michigan, versus Three Floyds Permanent Funeral, the Rascal from the Region. You'll be able to catch this bout on Thursday, January 30 at 6:30pm at the Mass Ave Pub. A 9 oz. pour of both beers will together cost you $10. Or you can go with a single 9 oz. pour of Hopslam for $6 or a single 9 oz. pour of Permanent Funeral for $4. And if you get pours of both beers, you'll have the option of filling out a judging card on which you'll get to vote for your favorite in this head-to-head match-up.

So join us next Thursday night at the Mass Ave Pub as we get prepped for Winterfest.

November HBG Pint Night | Thursday, November 21, 7pm, La Margarita

We've finally scheduled November's Hoosier Beer Geek Pint Night...

Join us at La Margarita in Fountain Square (Murphy Arts Center, 1043 Virginia Ave., Suite 1, 317.384.1457) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 21. The featured beer will be Widmer Brothers' Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout '13. As described by the brewery:

An extremely rich and complex beer, the addition of raspberries during the fermentation process results in an almost purplish opaque color with a beautiful brown head. Warm chocolate and roasty notes compliment the hop bitterness.

Beer specs:

IBUs: 70
ABV: 9.3%
Malts: Pale, Roast Barley, Caramel 60L, Midnight Wheat, Chocolate Malt
Hops: Alchemy, Willamette, Cascade

The following beers will also be on tap:

Three Floyds Zombie Dust (American Pale Ale)
Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail (Imperial IPA)
Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break Natale (Pretty Please With A Cherry On Top) (Imperial Stout)
Stillwater Folklore (Belgian Strong Ale)
Green Flash Grand Cru '12 (Belgian Strong Ale)

Come on out and join us for some beer designed to keep the autumn chill from setting in.

HBG Pint Night: Thursday, August 29, Tomlinson Tap Room, 6:30pm

That's right, the next edition of HBG Pint Night is coming together quite nicely. In a nod to Matt's favorite style, Flat12's "10 Pin" theme from the Indiana Microbrewer's Festival, and the real ale tent at Great Taste of the Midwest, we're going with cask beer for this month's edition.

Please join us at Tomlinson Tap Room (2nd Floor of the City Market, 222 E Market St, Indianapolis, IN) at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 29th. 

As of 8/22, we have casks from Upland, People's, Flat12, Daredevil, Sun King, Bloomington Brewing, and Union Brewing committed for the event. Pours will be $3.50 for imperial pints. 

We will update the post as we get beer details and additional commitments.

HBG's July Pint Night, Special Edition | MacNiven's, This Thursday, 7/25, 6:30 p.m.

For our regular readers who may not have heard, our beloved Rodney and his wife Jess (who is a KOTBR emeritus) are moving to Macon, Georgia this weekend. We wanted to give them a proper send-off.

So please come out and join us for a special Pint Night at MacNiven's Restaurant & Bar this Thursday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m. as we bid Rod and Jess goodbye. We won't have a specific pint special with tasting notes as we normally do at Pint Night. But imperial (20 oz.) pints of Jess' favorite Three Floyds brew, Robert the Bruce Scottish Style Ale, will be on special for $4.50 a pint. Of course, MacNiven's always has a stellar draft list as well. Robert the Bruce also holds a special place in our hearts because it was the second beer we ever reviewed.

We will resume normal HBG Pint Night operations next month, when we will return to the Tomlinson Tap Room, and in September, when we hope to hold Pint Night at the soon-to-be-open Shoefly Public House in Herron-Morton Place.

Save the Date | HBG's July Pint Night - MacNiven's, July 25, 6:30 p.m.

We're returning to Mass Ave for HBG Pint Night this month. For July's edition of our monthly event, we'll be on the southwest end of the Avenue as we convene at MacNiven's Restaurant & Bar on July 25 at 6:30 p.m. Our featured beer is to be determined, but we encourage you to save the date. We'll announce the chosen beer soon.

What's the purpose of Pint Night? To feature beers at a reasonable price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beers on tap. In fact, we'll provide an information sheet on the beers and welcome your suggestions for which beers we should feature at future HBG Pint Nights. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with us.

HBG June Pint Night | Thursday, June 27, Mass Ave Pub, 6:30 p.m.

We finally have details for this month's Hoosier Beer Geek Pint Night. We apologize for the delay, but your patience will be rewarded because we're pretty sure that you'll like what's going to be on tap.

Join us at the Mass Ave Pub (745 Massachusetts Avenue, 317.974.0745) from 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, for two beers from New Belgium Brewing's Lips of Faith series. Our two featured beers will be Heavenly Feijoa Tripel (a collaboration brew with Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!) and Cascara Quad.

Here are the beer descriptions from New Belgium:

Heavenly Feijoa Tripel combines Dieu du Ciel!’s love of hibiscus flowers with New Belgium’s passion for strange and worldly fruit. Feijoa, also known as pineapple guava, has a sweet, aromatic flavor, which makes the aroma of Heavenly Feijoa Tripel luscious and tropical. The beer has Belgian yeast and Nelson Sauvin hops, combining to make a sweet fruit taste, mild spicy tones and a sharp bite. Hibiscus adds a cranberry tartness and an ambrosial quality to the color.

Cascara Quad is a dark, strong and surprisingly delicate ale made with dates and coffee cherries. Channeling the Trappist tradition, it’s brewed with an ethereal malt bill, and spiced with the fruit of the coffee bean (cascara). The aroma brings dates, cherries and pipe tobacco right to the nose and builds layers with hints of spice and fruity Belgian yeast. Once on the palate, Cascara Quad starts swinging clove, fig and molasses. Each sip offers sweet warmth, deep complexity and fleeting dryness.

These are sipping beers, so Mass Ave Pub will be offering 9 oz. pours for $4.00 a piece.

What's the purpose of Pint Night? To feature beers at a reasonable price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beers on tap. In fact, we'll provide an information sheet on the beers and welcome your suggestions for which beers we should feature at future HBG Pint Nights. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with us.

Save the Date | June HBG Pint Night, Thursday, June 27, Mass Ave Pub

We apologize for the last minute nature of this announcement, but we're still finalizing the details for the June edition of our monthly Pint Night event. While we're still in the process of choosing the beer and nailing down the exact time, we can tell you that this month's Pint Night will be held at the Mass Ave Pub on Thursday, June 27. Kick-off is likely to be at 6:30 p.m.

Last month's Pint Night focused on a sessionable style. This month we're shooting for something more exotic. So save the date, and we hope to have the final details made available by the end of the week.

What's the purpose of Pint Night? To provide the community with pints at a reasonable price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beer on tap. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with us.

Scenes from HBG Pint Night | May Edition

This past Thursday night was the May installment of Hoosier Beer Geek's Pint night.  We were graciously hosted by the team at Tomlinson Tap Room.  This month's beer was Ruby Bloom from Bloomington Beer Company served via Nitro and normal CO2. This also happened to coincide with Tomlinson Tap Room pouring eight beers from Bloomington Beer Company.  

A big thank you to all the people that came out for a few pints with us and a big thank you to Tomlinson Tap Room for hosting us, and to Circle City Soups for staying open to serve up some fantastic food for the evening.  

We were hoping to highlight how the way a beer is served can have significant effects on the the flavor of the beer.  Neither good or bad, but seeing how flavors can either be highlighted or muted based on how the beer came out of the tap using a different gas to pour your pint.  

Nitrogen in beer is most commonly associated with Guinness.  It is gaining in popularity at more and more places across the US across a wide variety of styles.  The original reason that nitrogen was first used was to try and make a beer mimic the body and flavor of traditional cask conditioned ales. 

Nitrogen is largely insoluble in liquid, which is what contributes to the thick mouth feel. You can always spot the Nitro tap at a bar due to the restrictor plate that forces the beer through tiny holes on its way to your glass. 

Carbon Dioxide or CO2 is the more common way of serving beer in the United States.  The vast majority of draft beer in the US is going to be served via forced carbonation. 

The process can have a dramatic effect on a beer and will produce different flavors and will mute other flavors.  Nitro beers tend to really help malt forward beers, but it will mute brighter hop flavors. 

Nitro pour on the right and the CO2 pour on the left.  

Nitro pour with restrictor plate

A pint of their 10 Speed hoppy wheat.  A very nice example of an American pale wheat ale

 We hope to see you in June.  We will put out those details as soon as we get them finalized.

Cheers!

HBG

Scenes from HBG Pint Night | April Edition

On Thursday night, attendees of our April Pint Night battled the elements to get to La Margarita to enjoy Prairie Artisan Ales' Funky Galaxy. We thank them for coming out to share a pint and some camaraderie. Funky Galaxy was indeed funky, citrusy, and delicious as expected and lived up to the hype that has surrounded Prairie's arrival in Indiana. We encourage you to give Prairie's beers a try because they're truly doing some creative and tasty things with the Saison style.

We also thank Jon Rangel and La Margarita for hosting us. If you've never been to La Margarita and you're into craft beer, we urge you to go. Jon keeps all taps flowing with craft beer and almost always has something on tap that no one else in town has. He also does a great job with the bottle selection.

May's Pint Night is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 23 at the Tomlinson Tap Room at the City Market. The beer selection is yet to be made, but we'll update you when that happens. In the meantime, save a spot on your calendars for our first Pint Night that will feature an Indiana beer.

Here's what you missed if you weren't able to come to La Margarita:

HBG's April Pint Night | Thursday, April 18, La Margarita, 6:30 p.m.

We've finally scheduled April's Hoosier Beer Geek Pint Night. If you're looking for a novel beer to try, we think that you'll be very happy with our chosen beer.

Join us at La Margarita in Fountain Square (Murphy Arts Center, 1043 Virginia Ave., Suite 1, 317.384.1457) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 18. Our featured beer will be Funky Galaxy by Oklahoma brewery Prairie Artisan Ales. Prairie is new to Indiana and is focusing their brewing efforts on the Saison style. Their unique beers are generating quite a buzz among beer geeks, and we're eager to try more of their beers (we had a Prairie beer called Standard at Mass Ave Pub, which we quite enjoyed). Funky Galaxy is billed as "a Galaxy-hopped Black Farmhouse Ale." La Margarita will be pouring the beer for $5.00 a pint.

What's the purpose of Pint Night? To provide the community with pints at a great price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beer on tap. In fact, we'll provide an information sheet on the beer and welcome your suggestions for which beers we should feature at future HBG Pint Nights. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with us.

Here's the Facebook event page for HBG Pint Night.

Scenes from Hoosier Beer Geek's Inaugural Pint Night at Mass Ave Pub

The very first Hoosier Beer Geek Pint Night is in the books. We thank all those who came out to enjoy Founders All Day IPA with us. We also thank Tracy Robertson and Mass Ave Pub for hosting us. If you've never been to Mass Ave Pub and you're into craft beer, we urge you to go. Tracy keeps all taps flowing with craft beer, and you're always bound to find off-the-beaten-path beers in stock.

For those of you wondering, yes, there will be another Pint Night. Indeed, this is going to be a monthly thing. So check back in with us here at Hoosier Beer Geek because we'll soon announce the next location and beer for April's Pint Night. In the meantime, enjoy this peek at what you missed if you weren't able to make it out for Pint Night I.

We hope to see you in April!

Reminder: Inaugural HBG Pint Night is Tonight!

HBG's Inaugural Pint Night | Thursday, March 28, 6:30 p.m., Mass Ave Pub

We're rolling out a new Hoosier Beer Geek event for the first time this month. We're calling it HBG Pint Night, and we hope to make it a regular event.

So join us at the Mass Ave Pub (745 Massachusetts Avenue, 317.974.0745) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28. At this first Pint Night, our featured beer will be Founders All Day IPA, which will run you $3.50 per pint for the night.

What's the purpose of Pint Night? To provide the community with pints at a great price and, if you're interested in learning, to educate you about the particular beer on tap. In fact, we'll provide an information sheet on the beer and welcome your suggestions for which beers we should feature at future HBG Pint Nights. So come on out and enjoy some great beer and conversation with us.

Here's the Facebook event page for HBG Pint Night.