Indiana Lagers You Should Be Drinking

I've been saying for a while now that too many craft beer lovers ignore lagers. Yet I can understand why this is. Just about all of us started our beer-drinking lives with an American adjunct lager like Budweiser. When we graduated to craft beer, we did so because we were seeking more flavor. And over time, our palates craved more and more intensity.

I was once this kind of craft beer drinker. But now, I'm in the same camp as Jeff Alworth of Beervana when he says that some of us craft beer drinkers have unnecessarily confined ourselves to a love of radical beer styles when we should try to appreciate the simpler styles.

We're into freedom of choice in this country. I can't force you to like certain beers, nor would I even try. We all have different palates after all. However, I can encourage you break out of the rut into which you may have fallen. I can encourage you to give lagers another chance.

Like ales, lagers vary in flavor profile, from malt-forward Bocks to hop-forward Pilsners to smoky Rauchbiers. My favorite style is the Vienna or Amber Lager, which is a copper-colored beer with a prevalent caramel malt base and a crisp hop finish. This style is exemplified by Great Lakes Brewing's Eliot Ness Amber Lager (which unfortunately isn't available in central Indiana). I'm also partial to the straw-colored Bohemian Pilsner with its spicy hop notes and clean malt finish. Among the better American-brewed Bohemian Pilsners is Oskar Blues' Mama's Little Yella Pils.

Luckily for us Hoosiers, Indiana breweries are producing some excellent lagers. Here are a few that we think are worth seeking out:

Fountain Square Workingman's Pilsner - The 2012 Hoosier Beer Geek Beer of the Year.
Outliers Blau Machen Pilsner - One of the flagship beers from Ted Miller's new brewing venture.
People's Pilsner - A Hoosier Beer Geek favorite.
Sun King Oktoberfest - When Märzen season arrives, put this in your bier stein.
Three Floyds Gorch Fock - This seasonal Helles rolls out during the summer.
Thr3e Wise Men Hot for Teacher Ms. Doppelbock - Silver Medal Winner, 2014 World Beer Cup, Category 41: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock

Great American Beer Festival | 2013 Indiana Medal Winners

The 2013 Great American Beer Festival concluded this past weekend. And once again, Indiana breweries took home medals. More specifically, Sun King, Three Floyds, and RAM collectively won four medals for the Hoosier State:

Category: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
Winner: Gold Medal, Sun King for Afternoon Delight Barrel-Aged Dopplebock

Category: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout
Winner: Gold Medal, Three Floyds for Blot Out The Sun Imperial Stout

Category: Field Beer or Pumpkin Beer
Winner: Silver Medal, RAM Restaurant and Brewery - Indianapolis for Anaheim IPA

Category: Imperial IPA
Winner: Silver Medal, Three Floyds for Permanent Funeral









We at Hoosier Beer Geek offer our congratulations to Sun King, Three Floyds, and RAM!

Tailgate for Nothing 8 | Recap and Thanks

On Saturday at Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot, the eighth and best-attended Tailgate for Nothing took place. A time to share beer. A time to share food. A time to promote the spirit of camaraderie through the love of craft beer.

"Pot Food" was the theme. That theme was taken quite seriously by TFN8 attendees. The gentlemen from Balls Brewing, for example, offered up steamed mussels and frites that were worthy of Brugge Brasserie's version. Someone set out a genuine Cajun crawfish boil. There was curried goat stew. There was even vegan stew.

And yes, there was plenty of delicious beer to go around.

Despite the chilly weather, old friends came, and new friends were made. Folks came from as far as Wisconsin. People who had no idea about the event stumbled on to it and found themselves having a great time. The ladies of Girls Pint Out came and brought cool swag along with some of the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. Folks from Black Acre Brewing Company joined us. The Brewers of Indiana Guild held a meeting of its members at Sun King, and some of Indiana's finest brewmasters joined in the festivities after the meeting. Thankfully, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as the sun managed to finally show itself mid-afternoon to chase away some of the cold.

All in all, it was an outstanding day.

Now for the thank you's--

Our enduring gratitude goes out to the folks at Sun King for allowing us to hold TFN yet again at their place. We've done this eight times now and hope that we'll be able to continue the tradition this fall with our ninth TFN.

We also extend a hearty thanks to everyone who attended TFN8. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and seeing new ones as well. We hope you enjoyed the experience. We certainly appreciate all the great food and beer that you brought and are grateful to those of you who tidied up after yourselves before you left. A few folks left behind a bit of a mess, but we trust that they'll do better next time as our ability to continue holding the event at Sun King depends upon our courtesy to them for letting us use their space.

Now for the photo dump. Enjoy the scenes from the day.

 

 

 

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