KOTBR #72: Pint night at Spencer's Stadium Tavern

Our latest roundtable was after our tour of Sun King Brewing with Clay Robinson. I've always bitched about the death of the $5 dollar pint in Indianapolis, but Spencer's Stadium Tavern shut me up quickly when I was told they offer $2 pints on Wednesdays. They do a great job with their beer at Spencer's and usually will have several tap lines of beer for the craft beer enthusiasts and a nice selection in the cooler as well. We also appreciate how they rotate the kegs and their high attention to tap line cleanliness. We didn't know what we all wanted to review, but we had some readers out with us as well, and we decided on the new-to-Indiana brew: Stone Levitation Ale. Levitation is an amber ale that clocks in at 4.4% ABV, and is one of the few sessionable Stone beers that you will find.



I was very excited to give this beer a whirl. I love Stone beer, and I am usually drawn to the fact that a beer from California could be offered at such a good price, and yet still satisfy my hop head nature. I can pick up Stone IPA for 5 bucks a bomber and around 10 bucks a sixer, so it is usually one of my staples that I have in the fridge. Levitation has the classic calling card of Stone beers with a similar nose and hop flavor profile. The caramel malt comes to life in the flavor profile and is more balanced with malt and hops that many other Stone products. This beer drinks heavier than a 4.4% beer, and I honestly would say that this had a higher ABV than Stone IPA if I didn't know their ABVs. There isn't anything wrong with this beer, but it wasn't the refreshing session beer I was hoping for with a name like Levitation. But Stone wouldn't be Stone if they didn't defy conventional wisdom, would they? This is probably the best intro beer, though, from someone trying to get into Stone beers. It has a good malt and hop profile, and it isn't the supercharged hop bomb that is Stone's calling card, but you certainly know this is a Stone product from sip one. I am pretty amazed though at how much flavor a 4.4% beer has though. 3.40 Mugs

This is a weird beer. It has this footy / powdered donut / sweet hop thing going on in the nose, which is followed with a hoppy but not bitter front. A malty backing follows up, and the beer finishes grassy and smooth. It's a really "meaty" sort of beer at 4.4% - there's a lot of heft to it. At 4.4%, do you want heft in your beer? I'm not so sure. 3.22 Mugs.

I do like Stone's Imperial Russian Stout quite a bit; however, the rest of their beers just don't resonate with me. I have to provide a caveat here--I've tried only five or six of Stone's beers besides the Stout. But my palate tends to find the hop character of those five or six beers to be overwhelming because they don't have a heavy enough malt presence to balance out the hop wallop. As a consequence, all I get with their beers is a very dry hop bomb. This is not to say that Stone brews bad beer; rather, my palate simply doesn't take to their beer.

I found Stone's Levitation Ale to be no different. The nose on this American Amber was what we at Hoosier Beer Geek like to call "footy" (i.e., a full-on sweaty sock odor) with pineapple and metal notes. The mouthfeel was light and crisp. As for the flavor, it was very dry with a heavy pineapple and grass presence and a definite malt backing (but again, not enough malt for my taste). This is a good beer, but not one that I would seek out of I had others of the same style to choose from on the beer menu (e.g., Bear Republic's Red Rocket Ale). My rating: 3.40 Mugs.

I agree with Jim as far as the hop profile not really being my cup of tea (or mug of beer). I'm pretty meh about this Stone offering, and although I might drink it again, it wouldn't be one of my top choices. Would I chose it over Fat Tire? Of course. Over Fort Collins Retro Red? Probably not. 3.37 Mugs

Also, we were joined by Twitter friends Josh, Jason, CJ, and Chris.

Josh (jugomugo) - 4.00 Mugs
Jason (xtrarant) - 3.75 Mugs
CJ (Phaedrus) - 3.50 Mugs (hoppy but not overpowering)
Chris (netshade) - 3.75 Mugs

Thanks for coming out, guys!

Stone Levitation
Matt R 3.4 mugs Mike 3.22 mugs Jim 3.40 mugs Gina 3.37 mugs Chris 3.25 mugs
KOTBR Score - 3.52 Mugs

Indiana Beer Week Bar Hop - Day Two -The Saga Continues

In honor of Indiana Beer week, we continued our week-long adventure in beer at Spencer's Stadium Tavern, with New Albanian's Community Dark.


For the second night in a row, it was almost the beer review that wasn't - when arriving at Spencer's, the advertised beer was nowhere to be found. Luckily, we've got a friend in bartender Dustin, who - once realizing we we're rolling with a ten-deep posse - quickly cleaned his lines and moved the New Albanian brew to one of the seven taps.

About those taps: NA Community Dark, two Three Floyds, BBC one-batch Dank IPA, Wabash Gangster Pale (better on tap), Oaken Barrel Superfly... and Old Style. A very nice and very Indiana-heavy selection - just the sort of thing we like to see on Indiana Beer week.



About the New Albanian Community Dark: A deep dark red brew (at least in this lighting), with a creamy Guinness-like body. I got notes of applesauce, black tea, a hint of malt... I thought this was probably what a Strongbow/Guinness cocktail would taste like. No one at the table agreed with me. For the second night in a row, someone said "olive" when drinking a New Albanian brew. We all thought it would be interesting to taste this one off a nitro tap.

A warning to bars and brewpubs - if you advertise a beer week event, we might just show up.

Tomorrow Night: Berliner Weise (and a very excited HBG crew) at Oaken Barrel

* * * * *

Additional Notes: Although it wasn't on Monday Night, Three Floyd's Alpha Naught is now on at Brugge, according to Beer Advocate. Save some for us - we won't be back up there until Friday.

And if you're wondering about the story behind the name of the St. Radegund we had Monday, Roger Baylor's blog has the story. Is it an ESB? Well, not exactly.

KOTBR #32 In Review | Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout at Spencer's Stadium Tavern

You may have noticed a new name in the Knights of the Beer Roundtable list above. Matt, who has been serving as Kelly's groupie for quite some time, has now been officially Knighted after a full ceremony featuring mug clinking, congratulations and hugging, and a virgin sacrifice*. Because we're now an unwieldy seven (as opposed to a svelte six), we're once again we're revamping the way we do our reviews. This may be the last "KOTBR In Review" post ever. Just try to hold back your tears.

The Knights met at Spencer's Stadium Tavern, the potential goldmine located just southwest of Lucas Oil Stadium. After everyone warmed up with an Avery's Ellie's Brown Ale, we moved on to the feature beer - Bell's Special Double Cream Stout.

Gina started us off by call the nose amazing. But also saying "(it) also reminded me of an ashtray." She decided this beer would be a better choice in colder weather before awarding it a tentative 3.25 mug rating.

Jim complimented the Avery warm-up before moving on to the Bell's.

This beer, which was offered only in bottles, poured with a black coffee color and very little head. The nose on the Special Double Cream Stout has to be the most complex of any beer that we've reviewed (or that I've tried, for that matter). I definitely got the bizarre ashtray smell that Gina detected, but I also could smell molasses, pepper, raisins, coffee, licorice, and a yeasty odor that many Belgian ales give off.

Despite the compliments on the nose, he felt the taste was a little too peppery, and awarded the Special Double Cream Stout a 3.00 mug rating.

Kelly was last to chime in on the Bell's, and picked up some interesting notes in the nose:

It reminded me of the smell you get when you open a box of Whoppers – and I really don’t like malted milk balls. When I was a kid, my dad used to hide malted milk ‘jellybeans’ in my Easter basket, and laugh at me as I found the “surprises”. Ugh.

She then admitted that she's not really a fan of milk stouts before giving the beer a 2.50 mug rating.

All of the Knights would also like to give a shout out to the Pinkos* from Drinking Liberally, who were also in attendence.

*Jokes

KOTBR #32 | misty malty-scented memories...

I was particularly glad to return to Spencer’s Stadium Tavern for Roundtable #32. I used to be a Thursday night regular as part of Drinking Liberally, so it was great to return and hang out with Jason and the gang. This was also the second time the Knights have convened at Spencer’s for a review.

Spencer’s hasn’t changed much since its humble beginnings back in 2005 (this location has been a bar in some form since 1933!). It’s stayed the same cozy bar with dark red walls, excellent food and an admirable beer selection. Sure, you can get ‘football’ beer, and Old Style is featured prominently, but head bartender/manager/all around badass Dustin keeps the cooler and taps well-stocked with Beer Geek favorites.

The Knights in attendance (Jim, Gina, Mike and I) warmed up with Ellie’s Brown Ale from Avery Brewing. Like Jim, I usually warm up at Roundtables with something easy to drink, and this beer didn’t disappoint. Something in it (the dark chocolate, perhaps?) reminded me a lot of the Brugge Black Belgian Dark Ale. Chewy and sweet, with a slight hop bite at the end, this was a great precursor to the main event.

We chose a round of Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout for our reviewed beer. We got this round before I was even halfway through the Ellie’s Brown, which turned out to be a good thing since this stout was served way too cold. It took a good twenty minutes before I could really get a nose from the glass, but once I did, I got the usual chocolate-malty notes, with spicy undertones.

(As an aside: It reminded me of the smell you get when you open a box of Whoppers – and I really don’t like malted milk balls. When I was a kid, my dad used to hide malted milk ‘jellybeans’ in my Easter basket, and laugh at me as I found the “surprises”. Ugh.)

The best way I can describe the taste of this beer is... average. Meh. Okay, even. I was expecting more of a chocolaty, roasted taste, but instead I could just taste the nagging, sort-of-sour flavor that really turns me off of most milk stouts. I realize that I’m an outlier, though, and encourage fans of cream and milk stouts to try this one for themselves. 2.5 mugs.

KOTBR #32 | Bell's Special Double Cream Stout @ Spencer's Stadium Tavern

As you might have noticed, we're a little slow in posting our reviews from last week's roundtable at Spencer's Stadium Tavern. Gina was diligent in getting her review up, but the rest of us have been slackers. Just doing our best to perpetuate the Gen X ethos. Actually, I think I'm probably the only one who's been lazy. Mike is still recovering from some pretty major dental work, and I'm sure that Kelly has been supremely busy with work and putting together her new digs (or should that be "crib"--I never know what new lingo the kids are using these days).

So here I am with my impressions of Spencer's and of the beers we tried. As for Spencer's--I could do without the smoke, but the place is well worth visiting. The menu comes with a number of pub food staples, which Spencer's does quite well. I ordered a basket of waffle fries that were as good as waffle fries can be--crisp, hot, and nicely seasoned. In addition, the beer selection, while small, is first rate. There were three or four microbrews on tap and probably 10 to 15 additional microbrew brands in bottles.

We started with Avery Brewing's Ellie's Brown Ale, a quality offering from the Boulder, Colorado brewery (and sweetly named after the owner's late chocolate Labrador). I like to warm up with an easy drinking beer, and this brown ale was definitely that. A bit hoppier than other browns, Ellie's has a nice blend of caramel, vanilla, and toffee notes. If you're looking for something that is outside the typical brown ale profile, you'd do well to choose this beer.

Our feature beer was Bell's Special Double Cream Stout, which we tried on the recommendation of our very knowledgeable bartender (whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment--sorry!). This beer, which was offered only in bottles, poured with a black coffee color and very little head. The nose on the Special Double Cream Stout has to be the most complex of any beer that we've reviewed (or that I've tried, for that matter). I definitely got the bizarre ashtray smell that Gina detected, but I also could smell molasses, pepper, raisins, coffee, licorice, and a yeasty odor that many Belgian ales give off. I must admit, however, that I was a little disappointed by the flavor. I let the beer sit and warm in anticipation of a wonderful explosion of taste. However, I got a predominately pepper flavor. I love my pepper, but I can do without it in my beer. Therefore, I'm going to give the Special Double Cream Stout a 3 mug rating. I can appreciate what Bell's is trying to do here and loved the nose on the beer, but the Special Double Cream Stout just ain't my thing.

To close, I'd like to thank Jason and the Drinking Liberally crew for their hospitality (Spencer's is their HQ) and stimulating political conversation.

KOTBR #32 | Spencer's Stadium Tavern

Happy Halloween beer geeks.

For last Thursday night's Roundtable, several of the Knights met up at Spencer's along with some folks from Indy's chapter of Drinking Liberally. This was my first visit to the tavern and I thought the place was roomy while still being quiet enough to hold a conversation without having to yell (a HUGE plus in my book). I assume all of this goes out the window during Colts games, as it should. The place was very comfortable, even as we sat in the dark (the power to the bar and surrounding area went out for a short while).

The warmup all around (I think) was Ellie's Brown Ale from Avery Brewing Company. The coppery colored beer poured with little head and tasted metallic at first. As it warmed, something in the taste of this beer made me think of a cherry coke made from coke and grenadine. I would suspect it was the caramel malt but I can't say for sure. It's the usual as far as this style goes; drinkable, smooth, and malty.

Before I knew it, we were moving to the review. It's been a while since most of us reviewed a stout, so the choice was made for Bell's Special Double Cream Stout. I had to let this one set a while since it was served at about Budweiser temperature, but it worked out well since I hadn't yet finished my warmup. The nose on this was pretty amazing. It was incredibly complex, but also reminded me of an ashtray. The flavor was yeasty and a little earthy and also creamy and sweet. I really think this beer would be well served during the ugly parts of winter, (what part of winter isn't ugly?) so I think I am going to assign a tentative 3.25 mug rating on this and try again when the mug is warmer and the weather is colder.

*****
A side note about the Warbird brewery tour:

I am not going to rehash what Jason has so eloquently said, but I would like to say that the tour was awesome and I agree that this beer could really please any palate. I'm glad I had the opportunity to get some insight on this brewery and I took away a much greater appreciation for their beer. If you have passed up this beer in the past (like I reluctantly admit), you may want to take an opportunity to try it. The Warhawk Pale Ale is surprisingly hoppy and the Shanty Irish Red is really quite good.

Indiana RelicAle at Spencer's

From our good friend Spencer:

2nd Annual Indiana ReplicAle Tasting Thursday July 26th

"This weekend is the Indiana Brewer’s Festival and right on its heels will be our now annual microbrew event, The Indiana ReplicAle Tasting Thursday July 26th. As you may know a ReplicAle is when a group of brewers agree on the same recipe and then they each produce a batch of similar, but slightly differing tastes due to brewer’s choices.

Last year’s event was the first time the Indiana ReplicAle’s were available to be tasted side-by-side. It was also a really huge success with a full room of great beer geeks and great food from FOT Tyler Herald.

More than 6 brewers are participating and we’ll have their designer creations for $2 per half-pint. If you enjoy comparing and contrasting subtle taste sensations in beers, then don’t miss this."

Red Harvest Ale and Film at Spencer's Stadium Tavern

Just stumbled across the following info at SpencersTavern.com:

This Friday come top the tavern and see a free movie while enjoying $2 pints of a specialty microbrew created in honor of the film.

RED HARVEST is a short horror movie produced by some friends of the tavern who are filmmakers over at Indianapolis’ own Venogram Productions. The film will be shown on our big screen at 8 and 10 PM Friday, June 29th.

In honor of the film, local brewing phenom and friend of the tavern Clay Robinson presents his entry into the World Beer Competition, Red Harvest Ale. The brewer and filmmakers will be on-hand, and Clay’s pints will be a horrifyingly cheap $2.00. So come enjoy some great beer, meet some filmmakers and a great brewer and be sure to catch one or both showings of Red Harvest.

Two dollar beer and an horror film produced in Indiana? Sounds like a winner to me. Tell them you heard about it on HoosierBeerGeek.com.

KOTBR Review #4: Spaten's Oktoberfest

I must apologize to our readers and the other members of the KOTBR. The KOTBR did this review three weeks ago. Due to adjusting to a new job and a class with A LOT of outside work, I haven't been diligent in posting to this site or Jackson's Daddy.

In fact, this post is short because we only have Jason's review to post. KAJ joined us, but didn't have much to say about the beer, and I didn't write my thoughts at the time, and can in no way re-create what I was thinking.

But stick with us. We'll hold Roundtable again next week, and we'll get back on track. Plus, it's fall, so there are lots of great new beers to review, and we love to drink beer while we watch football!

We met up at Spencer's Stadium Tavern, which has since become on of my favorite lunch spots. I know Spencer from back in my political days, and I went to college with his wife. So it was only a matter of time before I tried out this watering hole, and I have to recommend it to everyone. As a matter of fact, I am declaring that Spencer's is the KOTBR's official home away from home.

Now for the important part, Jason's review:

JASON: Warming up for the Spaten Oktoberfest tasting at Spencer's Stadium Tavern, I elected to try the Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale from Founders Brewery, which was one of six beers on tap.

Their website describes the Dirty Bastard as their flagship beer. And I can see why. It's a great malty beer with a bite of hops. It is a very dark to reddish brown in color with a nice foam head that gives way to some great lace.

Caramel and toffee shows up in both taste and aroma. And there was just a bit of spice in the aroma as well. An excellent beer for fall and winter.

And I found it very easy to drink. Not much of an aftertaste. Just pleasant through and through. At this moment, I'm giving it four mugs, but I was close to giving it four and a half.

The begining of fall is my favorite time of year. The weather is cooling. The football is starting. And the greatest drinking event in the world is warming up.

St. Patrick's Day certainly is the greatest single drinking day of the year, but we Krauts know how to drink it up right. Oktoberfest: two weeks of drinking! You gotta love that!

I believe we kicked Oktoberfest off right by visiting Spencer's Stadium Tavern. Kaj said it right when she described Spencer's as a sports bar mixed with a dive bar. And they had several Oktoberfest beers on bottle. I was excited to try Spaten's Oktoberfest.

When we ordered our beer, we found out they only had five bottles left. So we bought them all! I've come to expect Oktoberfest beers to be slightly maltier than hoppier. I was surprised to find Spaten's version this year to be not so malty.

The beer was copper in color with a small, creamy head. It had an equal balance of hops and malt. Slightly bitter, but not annoyingly bitter. And a very crisp aroma. It is a very drinkable beer. Not outstanding, but very good. I'm very interested in trying some of the other Oktoberfests that have come out.

Given my previous review of Spaten's Optimator, I have to say that Spaten is not my favorite German brewer. They are enjoyable, but I think I enjoy the Warsteiner line of beers better. Just my own personal preference.

Add that I gave it 3 mugs. A good beer, but there are better ones out there.