The Best posts of 2013 you probably never read

No matter how dedicated you are to our awesomeness, you may have missed some really great content. We're each putting together some of our favorite posts that didn't make our top ten posts this year. With a few hundred written there was a big list to choose from. These are all totally posts that you should check out if you missed them the first go around. Cheers!

The Big Guy: 

1. Although there is nothing better than a wax topped bomber, we have to keep up with technology. Cans are in fact the way of the future. Sun King, Flat 12, Daredevil, Great Crescent and many many more are leading the way in IN.
2. Grapefruit Jungle is one of my all time favorite IPAs. O-Dawg did a great job with the write-up, if you missed GFJ this year, make sure you DO NOT miss it next year. I'd put this against Pliny and Heady Topper any day.
3. The trading community isn't huge but its important that we keep Indiana looking good. Here are some guidelines for trading beers so you don't look like an asshole your first time around.

The BrewniBomber:

I'm newer to the blog, so I won't be nominating any of my own posts, but you can see them here. Events are one my favorite parts of the beer community:

1. I volunteered at DigIN this year, which is a newer event and I highly recommend you go next year. While I didn't write about my volunteer experience O-Dawg did. Plus, if you look closely you'll see yours truly in one of the DigIN photos!
2. I did attend the Indiana Summer Microbrewers festival and personally had a great experience, but you can see what others had to say here, here, and here
3. I was bummed I missed the inaugural CANvitational and would've liked to volunteer like O-dawg (someone should tell him that he needs to actually work when volunteering), but alas I was drinking lots and lots of beer in San Diego at the time. It got some attention, but the Little Lady's interview with Sun King's Clay Robinson is worth another read.

El Duque:

Going through the Beer Barons posts for the year was pretty epic.  Unbelievably amazing year in Indiana.

1. For my self nomination, I choose my posts on European beers that are either breaking rules like American craft, or help us gain perspective on pillars of traditional style to help get a better grounding.  Although debatable, I think having posts about breweries that are not common, but have been around for HUNDREDS of years are important to the American drinker.  I also have a school girl crush on Freigeist Bierkultur, so there's that.  You can read them here, here, here, here, here, and of course, more to come!
2. I geeked out for this beer and I think it showed in this post that was probably the best one I've written so far.  A lot of beers are getting Bretts added to them, but Anchorage are slaying it.
3. The Stone Vertical Epic tasting party was definitely a highlight of the year.  With all the bloggers there indulging in beer pairings and an amazing series of beers it was just... it was a coalescence of everything everyone in this blog has been trying to do.  Since then, things have only gotten better with laser focus.  Here are the different posts from the bloggers presented in chronological order: El Duque The Big Guy, Professor Beer

Professor Beer:

I am partial our The Scene posts, they are about more than the beer -- places you might go to enjoy that beer.  They also seem to often fly under the radar (with Savage's Ale House being the obvious exception).

1. Three Floyds - Our road trip up to Three Floyds was a lot of fun (despite the sunburn on my freshly shaved dome), and the brewpub was spectacular.  I highly recommend the pilgrimage for any Indiana beer aficionado.
2. Union Brewing Company - I always appreciate new local beer (and, for me, you can't get much more local than the UBC; since they're within walking distance of my place), and they definitely have an interesting niche producing (almost) exclusively cask ales.
3. Tin Man Brewing Company - I've always enjoyed Tin Man's theme, and their tasting room looks like a cool place to grab a brew.  I have not been there yet, but I have been meaning to make the trip down for a while.
4. Brew Dog - While Brew Dog may be less applicable to our average reader (not being in the country, let alone Indiana), it is certainly an interesting place, and seems to be worth visiting if you ever happen to be in the area.

O-Dawg:

We'll see where this takes us...

1. Guess what?  Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout is still awesome... Even though they got eaten by the big Bad AB InBev.  Check out The Big Guys Evolution of a Stout!
2. Speaking of awesome stouts...  I can't pontificate more about 1221 from Fountain Square Brewing.  Judging from the hits you guys must have missed the review.  Here it is again!
3. Canned beer makes it to more parties than bottled.  A little blast from the past in the Month of May, Beers to drink at the speedway!

Top 10 Posts of 2013

We had a fantastic time this year checking out new beer, new places to drink beer, new beer-related events, and new things to make the beer-drinking experience better. We do these things for you, and it seems like you're having at least a little bit of fun with us.

These were the most visited posts of 2013.

1. The Big Guy's Beer Gear introducing the new IPA glass created by Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada.

2. The Big Guy's Beer Gear about the Teku glass, the universal beer tasting glass

3. El Duque's Scene where we visited Savages Ale House in Muncie Indiana

4. O-Dawg's POURsuasion talking about craft beer vs crafty beer in our market

5. O-Dawg's POURsuasion where he enlightens us about the difference between beer and a shandy.

6. El Duque's tried to help us all use beer to shed a few extra ponds with Gator-Ale.

7. Professor Beer's review on the glory that is Union Brewing Company's Cannonball Doyle.

8. The Big Guy talks about the importance of drinking your IPA's right now while it's fresh

9. O-Dawg brings you in to a new and totally under loved festival with Oktobeerfest by Mad Anthony.

10. The Big Guy gives us the run down on all of the pumpkin beers with a Barron's blind taste test.

As our first full year as a blog comes to a close we wanted to make sure to thank you all for reading. Without you and the craft beer community there really is no reason for us to be writing. Through your love and attention we've grown pretty quickly this year and hope to bring you even more awesome content next year.

Cheers!

This year's holiday brews, Ghost of Christmas Present

Every year I try to reach into my bag of beer related tricks and present you with the best beers of the season here in Indy. You can check out what we drank last year here. I'm really excited about 2013. We have some great brews for you to try. If you are looking for some great holiday brews to bring to a party this weekend, you've come to the right place. Tis the season for some awesome and super creative spiced brews. Show your friends you know your craft beer and break out something exciting. This year we have some new stuff to the area on Santa's wish list. I hope you find something perfect to get you and yours in the spirit.


There's been a local holiday delight that I haven't gotten around to trying, so this year I decided to give myself a present and pick up Naughty Claus by New Albanian. It poured out a nice amber color with almost no head. It smelled like cinnamon, nutmeg and dark fruits. There were tons of added flavors in this brew. All in, I wish it had a little more from the base beer. A bit more malt, would help balance out the crazy holiday spices. Not bad, but definitely not my favorite this season. I give it a 2.5



Every year in November, Three Floyds descends from Munster with a sack full of their Xmas Porter. This is a big black porter with a nice coffee flavor, but like all things FFF does, they smack you in the face right afterwords with some really big citrus hops. It gives it a super unique flavor that's somewhere between holiday porter and IPA. Like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, this has become a true holiday classic. I give it a 3.

Who wants to drink a Christmas tree???? I do!!! Last year I was lucky enough to do a vertical of Our Special Ale by Anchor Brewing. This year, I had to go pick up the 2013 edition. It pours out dark with amber highlights and smells like ginger, oranges and pine resin. The flavor matches the nose pretty damn well. There are some nice roasty notes in the malt that blend well with the hops and the added spices. Theres a big bittter front end with a nice smooth nutty spicy finish. It's a really good Christmas brew and I think it'll age nicely. I give it a 3 this year, but I'm guessing that will only go higher the longer I wait.


Southern Tier is a new brewery that we just started seeing here in Indy this summer (just started seeing again here in Central Indiana. Apparently they used to distribute here regularly and still distribute up North) . I've been very impressed with their beer so far, so I was excited to see that they had a Christmas style bomber, Krampus. I was even more excited when I found out that it was an imperial helles lager. There wasn't anything spiced, nothing changed, just an old school German style amped up with a little more alcohol. It was a wonderful malty beer. Perfect for the season without being spiced by non beer flavors. This is a clean crisp classic. Big abv but well balanced all around. I give it  a merry 3.5

Jolly Pumpkin is one that I haven't really tried enough of. They've been here in Indy for a bit, but they haven't really hit my radar. Everything these guys do is sour, so I'm really not sure how it took me this long to get on the Jolly Pumpkin bandwagon. Their holiday beer is Noel de Calabaza, and this is a nice dark sour beer with just a hint of holiday spice. Its got big tartness and dark fruit, like cherries plums and winter berries upfront with a really nice dry bret finish. These guys have really mastered the mix of wild yeast strains, which isn't easy. I give it a puckering 4


Like many Hoosiers, I spent Thanksgiving out of town with my in-laws. Lucky for me, my in-laws live in the Chicagoland area, and that means Revolution! I got my hands on a few six packs of Revolution's Fistmas. Fistmas is a spiced red ale that has all the flavors of Christmas packed into a delicious 12 oz can. It is perfectly spiced though, not too little not too much. El Duque had issues with the pumpkin beers because they're all so heavily spiced. This brew is the perfect blend of spice and base beer. Well done Revolution. If you can get up North pick up a sixer. Hell, get one for me too. I give this beer a 4.5


I'm a huge fan of the Prairie Bomb, so when I heard that Prairie had put out a wax topped Old Ale Christmas beer I had to go try it for myself. I love the big abv beers, especially if they can figure out how to balance them out. I wasn't disappointed. This thing was incredibly tasty. There was almost no hops, with a great malt bill that's perfectly spiced. Big dark fruits that verged on being a bit sour, played on top of a nice roasty malt flavor. The spices were really light and well balanced. Everything compliments the malts nicely. I believe that this is in fact the beer that will save Christmas for all of us! go get it while you can! I give it a joyous 4.5 and this was my favorite Christmas beer this year!

When you're getting set to go to a holiday party this weekend, take a little extra time in the beer aisle. Pass by some of the brews that you have all the time, and look for something festive. We have so many great breweries in town and even more great breweries who've started distributing here. Above are the beers that I really loved this season, go out and find what you love. Cheers!

A Wish List to Beer Santa (The Ghost of Indy's beer future)

Dear Santa,

We here at the Beer Barons have been very good this year. We haven't been thrown out of many bars. We have always finished our beers. We've kept spills to a minimum, and we have always invited our friends to share in the splendor that is the Indiana craft beer scene. We're extremely appreciative of that scene, but like all kids (or kids at heart) we want more stuff! So we've put together a short list for Santa of the things that we'd all like to see happen in the Indy beer scene... we don't expect this to all happen by next Christmas, but maybe some will if we're extra good this coming year!

The BrewniBomber:
1. Realistically I would love to see Ballast Point (San Diego, CA) distribute here. Not so realistically- Alpine Brewing Co (just outside San Diego)

2.  For the west side of town (Avon, Plainfield, etc.) to get an actual real-life craft beer bar or high-quality production brewery. Cutter's is here and there's some hope with Cartel Brewing coming early 2014, but a beer bar? Nothing close. I live out here and it sucks having to drive 30 minutes plus to get a decent craft beer on tap. There's a lot of people out here and a lot of new retail popping-up… one could wish for one of those spots to be a decent bar and not another pizza joint (there's a lot of them out here for some reason).

3. For a "destination" brewery to establish itself in Indy in 2014. Don't get me wrong, there's some amazing breweries here in town, but I would like to see someone become a destination that beer geeks flock to. Think Stone, Russian River, Three Floyd's, Founder's, Cigar City, Hill Farmstead, etc. These types of breweries exist in towns large and small, so why not Indy?  I think there are some existing breweries that are on the verge and who knows what one of the 30-plus slated breweries will bring to the table.

The Big Guy:
1. I want world peace and good will towards men.. who am I kidding? Realistically, I would like to see either Jester King or Prairie start selling more of their limited one off beers here (I know I'm cheating a little bit but I'd love to see these guys bring all the amazing beers we have to trade for here with their regular line up). I'd also be giddy with some childlike excitement if Cigar City started distributing to Indy in any capacity. I LOVE Jai Alai.

2. I'd love to see some of the current breweries, like Bier and UBC start bottling, and guys like Flat 12, Fountain Square and Triton do more outside the box seasonal brews in four packs or bombers. There is some great beer being made in the breweries and brew pubs, I just wish it could get into a bottle so I could enjoy it at home.

3. I want Indy to get more notoriety! I want Santa to bring our great state the recognition it deserves as a great place to get craft beer.

El Duque:
1.  My X-mas dreams came true this year when Oskar Blues and Green Flash, my two favorite national breweries starting distributing here, so what else could I hope for?  As much as I would love to see beer flow in from the West even more with breweries like Russian River, Cascade, or Ballast Point, and my new favorite, Cigar City, what I want is more Midwestern beers distributing to the Midwest like Revolution or New Glarus.  Yeah, New Glarus.  Strawberry Rhubarb Lambic: WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF.

2.  I want 2014 to be the year of the six pack for Indy breweries.  I realize that Indiana's liquor laws make growlers such a success, but I want to share and brag and not be forced to drink all that beer, or as I normally do, cook with it.  If Fountain Square Brewing could do a limited bottling of their 1221 stout, I would rip of my shirt and set my beard on fire; a conflagration of joy.

3.  I want a real brew pub.  Upland is trying.  Broad Ripple Brew Pub will always remain mediocre.  Brugge is a restaurant with an inconsistent list of beers.  My dream would be to see a Gastro-pub approach for a brewery's brew pub.  We're looking at you Sun King and Fountain Square.  Both have solid line ups.  Both are bottling.  Both have claustrophobic tasting rooms.  Sun King stands alone in its brand recognition, but the problem with Indy is that it doesn't really have a food or beer culture that is broad enough for a Gastro Brewpub to really take off, but I can dream about pairing pork belly and hops.

O-Dawg:
1.  I want Toppling Goliath and Surly to distribute in Indiana.  Ever since I heard that a month old pseudoSue blew a three day old Zombie Dust out of the water I have been interested in trying anything from this small self proclaimed stealth brewery.  Let's be Frank, and not Pete, on the second choice...  having regular access to Coffee Bender and Abrasive would make me a happy kid any day of the year!

2.  I know Joe and Josh will hate me for saying this (I empathize) but I would love to have Pinko and/or Big Black Dog 68  more often.  Make a big batch when you brew and store kegs away for release gradually through the year, bottle it, ANYTHING!  I would just love to enjoy it more often than I do currently.

3.  Third and final wish for the year... Competition.  I am tired of hearing about this brewery or that brewery "coming soon" to the Indy Craft Beer Scene.  Grow some balls and open for business already.  Competition breeds creativity.  When brewers and Breweries are creative it makes being a craft beer junkie a fun ride to be on in Indy!

The Little Lady:
1. I've been lucky enough to sample some really great beers over the past year at different events and with the trades the Big Guy has been getting. We've also had a chance to visit some of those breweries in person. The top two on my list- Revolution and TallGrass.

2. In 2014, I want to get more involved in the Big Guy's home-brewing. You'll notice that isn't on his list anywhere ;-). Now that my BJCP exam is complete, I really want to get a better idea for the process and the science involved. I'd like to experiment more with flavor combinations and what goes in to making the beer I like to drink. I totally admit that opening our own brewery is kind of a pipe dream- but this is a good first step.

3. I want to keep discovering new breweries next year. Maybe that will be some of the new breweries opening up in Indiana next year. Maybe that will be taking some more quick weekend trips to see new things. We're already going to Kentucky later this winter and you know that we'll be sampling some local favorites- beer and bourbon. Other trips we've talked about are Michigan and Chicago, and I'm sure we'll make it out to Ohio at least once. Maybe Pennsylvania? Yeah, those last two are really just excuses to go visit family. There's a lot of great beer out there, and I want to see more of it come to me, but until that happens I'll go where the beer is.

Combating the Ghost of Christmas Present: What to Buy for Christmas

It's close to the holidays...  You have a friend or significant other that you want to surprise with a little something to help show them you support their binge drink... I mean hobby.  To help make that happen, here's my list of the top 5 items an Indy Craft Beer individual would love to have:

Header from: http://secretbarrelsociety.wordpress.com/

1.  A membership to the Not so "Secret Barrel Society" from Upland Brewing ($250)

Yeah... I said it.  After the #ICBM riot/backlash on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, (you name it, it was flamed) there was a letter from Caleb Staton in a heartfelt "it's a little broken, we're fixing it". Just like you dear reader I stopped listening after that.  However, Caleb made good and they are constantly evolving the SBS.  What was once one ticket per event has turned into a Ticket, plus one!  No longer do you have to make your wife/girlfriend/best friend sit on the sidelines while you have all the fun!  Constant perks not even mentioned in the membership page: want two free professionally cellared Winter Warmers for showing up at an SBS only release event?  Done.  Want to try the new sours that are in process that no one has heard about?  Done.  Wasn't there a collab with New Belgium Brewing... Does it even taste good?  DONE and yes they do taste awesome...  It's a little pricey, but worth it.

Header from: http://www.greatfermentations.com/

2.   A Home Brewing Kit from our local and lovable guys'n gals at Great Firmentations ($75-553)

The Big Guy and friends have been trying to get me to home brew...  I am sure that more than one thing or the other has stopped you from buying your starter set.  It's tough buying things for yourself, but very easy to do it for others!  Want six hours to yourself once every two weeks?  Buy your man a starter set!  Be warned, if you don't spring for the (not included) Outdoor Gas Cooker your house will smell like boiled grains... 

#DatGlass

3.  Proper IPA glassware from Dogfish Head, Serra Nevada, and/or Spiegelau/Riedel ($9)

I don't think I can reiterate it more to all you aspiring Hop Heads out there.  Glassware makes a difference.  I can pontificate its merits and filibuster this post, but The Big Guys post from earlier this year says it best.  Sorry Brewnibomber, The Big Guy got to it fist!

4.  A Seasonal/Specialty release bomber/six pack/growler from a local brewery in a style your beer lover prefers. ($10-30)

One that springs to mind is Sanitarium from The Bier Brewery.  They just released it and might have a bottle or two left!  Barring that, Flat 12 is having their 12 beers of Christmas and they just released Lactomatic Milk Stout!  I would mention Sun King, but WeeMuckle and their Kings Reserve Series have already come and gone for the month.

From: http://thezythosproject.com/

5.  An indestructible Growler! ($50-75)

Never a toss up for me, but options for you.  The BRÄULER (Tin Man Brewing Online Store) and The Hydroflask (The Bier Brewery purchased at the brewery).  Another option: Portland Growler Company  Just know that because of Indiana State Law, you will have a growler sticker slapped onto your growler whether you like it or not.  Breweries have to keep it on the up and up!  I will take this minor inconvenience over a smashed growler any day of the week.  

As you're planning your gift giving for the beer lover in your life, I hope this list helps give you a good starting point. What have you found that should make it on the list for next year?

"No, Grandma, Sam Adams really isn't craft beer..." (My ghost of Christmas's past)

For the devoted, beer is like the postman: rain or shine, holidays and birthdays, it always delivers.  For us, craft beer, nay, good beer, has just become the habit of our lives.  We have created and implemented systems that allow our addiction, I mean, hobby, to be at our disposal at any time, ready to fill that bomber sized hole when that dry itch whispers, "beer me."

At home, we have our seasonal stouts and winter warmers and an immediate family that wouldn't balk at seeing us put down these heavy beers with our honeyed ham, but the Winter holidays come with unique social baggage that sometimes doesn't work out for the beer lover.  Here are some holiday challenges and anecdotes of my own personal holidays past, uh, triumphs.

1.  "Hi honey, I know you love craft beer so I got you some Boston Lager..."

There is a reason people think Boston Brewing Co., Blue Moon, and Leinenkugel are "craft beers:" they have lots of money to advertise.  My mom has given up trying to anticipate my beer needs and just has a fridge of High Life decorated as reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers, red pompom noses, and googly eyes.  David Lynch-ness aside, I have learned that a simple conversation can fix the rein-beer situation.  I call my mom up and ask her if she wants me to give her some beer suggestions, or if she wants me to use my expertise to bring some great craft beer to pair with the meal.  This simple act will make you seem polite, engaged and involved with the holiday meal.  Boom.  Good beer and +3 socks. Thanks Mom.

2.  "I can't believe you brought beer.  You know (Aunt or Uncle) Blah-Blah are on the wagon..."

Sorry you missed the memo.  My solution is that when I go to a party or family get together, I always leave the beer in the car, unless I followed my advice from number one where I called ahead. Go in, scope it out, ask a couple of polite, yet subtle questions and figure out if your awesome stash in the car is able to be cheer and joy the whole night.

3.  My Grandma is a Teetotaler.

As a kid, my grandma's fridge was my art gallery.  I apply this to my beer drinking as well.  My grandma's family abstains from alcohol, but I obviously don't.   Solution?  I bring a bottle or two of home brew.  Alcohol is bad, but I made it and Gam Gam is just so proud she can't hate it that much, right?

4. Be A Craft Brew Ambassador

Okay, so you've made the polite phone call, or left the brew in the car, and the situation is clear, but all you see are a bunch of, uh, well seasoned party goers and Michelob Ultra.  It's time to be the dude.  Bringing beer that is delish AND easily accessible is key.  People will notice that you are not drinking the same beer as everyone else and conversation will ensue.  Share the brew, have an impromptu tasting, hand them a Beer Barons business card, be the beer ambassador.  Inform the uninformed and maybe next year, you will be greeted with a Sixpoint Global Warming instead of a Blue Moon.

The holidays don't have to be so bad.  Just try to be mindful of how beer fits into other people's lives and celebrations so that you can share your passions merrily and not feel like an awkward shit when Uncle John goes into detox seizures at the sight of your slightly warmed Cherry Port Chocolate Stout.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future

T'was the week before Christmas and all through the fridge

Not a light lager was stirring not even a smidge

The glasses were cleaned in the cabinets with care

In hopes that the Beer Barons soon would be there.

The drinkers were nestled all snug in their beds

While visions of hops and grains danced in their heads.

The Little Lady with a full tulip, and I with my pint

Had just poured a beer for an excellent night

When all across the blog, what should I read

All the great beers this Holiday that I need

Beers for a party and beers for my friends

Session ales and brews so big they give you the bends

Sit back now and let your eyes start to wander

Across the blog full of holiday beers you should ponder

As we all get settled in for the holidays with our friends, family and loved ones, it's hard to lay our heads on our pillows without visions of barrel aged beers dancing in our heads. Like Scrooge was visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future; we are going to be bringing you our own beer-related haunting. Enjoy the holiday articles this week!

Cheers!

Victory Brewing Dirt Wolf Review

The IPA and Double IPA markets are flooded right now and it seems like every brewery around has something to offer in these categories. As with any crowded market there's going to be some good and not so good offerings; fortunately Victory's new entry into the double IPA category, Dirt Wolf, is good... very good. 

Victory is one of those breweries that most beer geeks have heard of, but probably wouldn't say any of their beers are a "must have"- I think that now changes with Dirt Wolf. Victory introduces Dirt Wolf at the cost of Hop Wallop (on hiatus for now) and will be a year-round offering. Dirt Wolf showcases German malts and a pretty intriguing whole-flower hop profile: Citra (of Zombie Dust fame), Mosiac, Simcoe, and Chinook. 

So my take on it?

DW pours a golden orange with a white 2 finger head. Aroma gives off whiffs of passion fruit, mango, and pine. The tropical fruit intensifies in the taste as passion fruit, mango are there again, but pineapple, and citrus (predominantly lemon) join the party. Nice, clean biscuit malts balance out some of the earthy-pine bitterness. Like most double IPAs, this one has a middling body that borders on syrupy, but the good carbonation and dry finish keep this from being too heavy. 

For me, The Alchemist's Heady Topper and Russian River's Pliny the Elder are benchmarks in this genre and Dirt Wolf approaches these in flavor, but is much more widely available, which makes it a winner. Go find yourself a 4-pack of this tropical fruit cocktail. 4.5/5

Pagan Pale Ale

Looks like Tin Man Brewing has a new competitor in the race for southern Indiana taste buds. Carson's Brewing (est. 2012) is a new outfit out of Evansville and the Barons and I got to taste a sneak peek of brews that might start being distributed up here in Indianapolis. So you may ask, "what's all the hype?"  The Barons reviewed Pagan, or as I like to call it Snow Meizer... or Panthro... or one of the Gargoyles from Saturday morning cartoons... what a great mascot! Tonight they're going to be at 20 Tap for a tap takeover. You should go check them out!

"Pagan perfects the pale ale. Yellow gold color, thick white head, crisp lemony and grapefruit citrus hop aroma, bready malts encircled by fresh American hop flavors, coming to a point of enchantment in the finish. Pagan will make a believer out of you" - Carson's Brewing

O-Dawg:  For those of you playing the home game, this brew was first introduced to the Indy scene at the 2013 Microbrewers Festival.  Acidic bitter nose with a medium body.  All I walked away from it with was malty lemon bitter.  It finished dry hop bitter with an ever so slight roasty note.  First sip caused the bad beer face...  Ended with a slight pucker that induced the bad beer face again.  This coming from the HopHead of the group who has a penchant for sours...  I give it what I gave it off tap at the fest.  A mellow and unenthusiastic... Meh  2.5

The Big Guy: I really think these guys are putting out a solid product. Despite the fact that our resident hop head didn't really like the hop combination on this one, I think it really packs a nice punch. When I'm looking for a really good pale ale, I look for a beer that has almost no malt character. It really needs to be nothing but the base malt, so the hops flavor should really shine through. This one was close, it had a little bit of biscuit, munich or other European malt. This  gave off a bread crusty flavor that I think is what O-Dawg picked up as roasty notes. The bitterness on this one was huge, but I thought it was huge in a good way. It really came off like a lighter, easier drinking, pale ale version of a Runiation. The hops were big with a ton of lemon and orange peel citrus flavor. It rolled into a super bitter finish that lingered long enough to make me really want to have another drink. If you don't like a big bitter hoppy beer, you may not like this one. The citrus is intense and full flavored. Carson's needs to work on their bottling a little bit, there was a lack of consistency and not enough head retention but I give it a solid 3.5. Can't wait to have a few more of these.

The BrewniBomber: Pours a honey-orange color with not much head or lacing. Lemon is the dominating note throughout the beer (bordering on cleaning product lemon), while grapefruit puts up a fight. There's also some toasted bread hanging out, but not enough to tone down the lemon. My biggest problem is the mouthfeel; too heavy for an APA, little carbonation, and an unpleasantly dry finish. Ultimately I was confused by this as it's labeled an APA, but is probably closer to an IPA with all that hop bite. Flavor-wise it's okay, but style-wise it's a bit off. I love hoppy beers (O-Dawg I'll fight you for that HopHead title), but they need to tone down the lemon and bring some balance to this. 3/5

The Little Lady: I'm closer to the Big Guy's opinion on this one. I geeked out and referred to my BJCP guidelines print out as I was reviewing this beer. I'm not a fan of overly aggressive hops by any stretch, but I really enjoyed the citrus aromoa and bitterness that came from the hops in this brew. The golden-amber color was spot on for what I expect in this style, but I would've like the head to linger a bit more. The flavor echoed the aroma with a lot of citrusy hops, definitely high, but not out of character for the style. I also got a nice bready malt flavor, but nothing roasty or unexpected. All in, I thought it was an easy drinking beer and one that I would definitely have again. Maybe it wasn't super amazing or brand new, but it was good! I gave it a solid 3.5 out of 5.

Oudbeitje, You betcha!

I've put a lot of sour things in my mouth.

For example, in summer camp as young lads, we would spend all our money at the canteen on sour warheads and see who could hold the most in their mouth without spitting them out, crying, or suffering from acute organ failure.  Despite burning off the lining of my cheeks and rendering all camp food tasteless (which was for the better), I still have an affinity for sour things.  Chocolate bars are great, but my preferred candy boon are sweet tarts and their ilk.

With the previous anecdote illuminated, it should be no surprise that from my first taste of a lambic, there has always been a special place in my heart and digestive lining for sour beers.  Ironically, I picked this up right after Prof. Beer and I had a discussion about how he feels like a more sour beer is just over the horizon and nothing really has accepted the challenge of his ambitious palate.  Literally twenty-four hours later and boom, this little unassuming and hard to pronounce strawberry lambic (or aardbeinenlambiek) is staring back at me from crowded Dutch style shelves, whispering soured black magic and making my poor, scarred cheek lining glisten with anticipation.

Have you ever been punched in the face?  It really sucks the first time, but after that, it's never as bad as the first time.  That is until you met Mike Tyson and he left you with a shattered jaw and negative three teeth.  I processed Prof. Beer's words as I poured out this strawberry blonde ale.  I smelled its acidic barnyard nose with strawberry buried deep, and I was excited to pucker and smack, but then all thought was washed away in what felt like a tidal wave made of fireworks, if those fireworks were made from the boot of every all-powerful god that smote men like ants.  So yeah, Mike Tyson.

This deceptive strawberry lambic sounds unassuming, but is one of the more powerful lambics I've had.  This is not for the sour faint of heart.  The strawberry is buried deep in the grassy lemon peel/apple vinegar, very similar to Upland's strawberry lambic.  I served it chilled.  You should definitely serve it chilled.  As it warmed up, the flavors opened up, including the sour funk.  Don't get me wrong, I am in love with all these things, but this is sipped, not thrown down like the girlishness attached to its strawberry moniker would make it seem.  I suggest breaking out the champagne flutes with some friends on this one.  Quality, not quantity.

Summer camp taught me a lot about extreme tastes, hazing, and dehydration, which are all things that have helped me survive my career as a formidable drinker, which is exactly how I would describe Hanssen's Artisinal Oudbeitje.  Formidable.

I puckered up and gave it a 4 out 5 heads

Tasmanian IPA

Our Tasmanian IPA is brewed with 100% Australian hops. The Tasmanian hop, Galaxy, is a strong, aromatic variety that is different from traditional strains of the Pacific Northwest. Our brewers developed a recipe that showcases the hop’s unique flavors of citrus and pineapple. 

Apparently I've really fallen in love with Australian hops, because I love this IPA. It was a seasonal drop, but Central IN only got 2 of the 3 drops that were scheduled. The first drop was great, but I got my second six pack just a week after the bottled on date and it was even better fresh. TIPA is 7.2% abv and a deliciously simple 60 IBUs.

It pours out a wonderfully yellow-gold color with a nice white fluffy head on top. The head sticks around for a while and leaves great lacing as you drink. The beer smells like mango, pineapple and light citrus fruits.

The tropical aroma is matched well by the flavor. You get a lot of what you smelled right upfront. Big sweet pineapple fruits and a ton of grapefruit and lemon peel. This is a freaking citrus bomb in all the right ways. I think Galaxy hops are just amazing when done right. Malt base is mild and supports the hops nicely without stepping over the flavor of the hops. It has a great clean bitter finish. The carbonation was solid and did a nice job to continuously bring out the aroma. It compliments the flavor so well, that I recommend making sure you use an IPA glass. It really does add to the experience.

Second drop just hit in November. Grab it if you can.

I give it a 4.5

Clean your F'n glass!

Let's talk glassware again, not about my obsessive need to collect 'em all, but about keeping them clean. This is not simply about making sure all your glasses are pretty, this is about making sure your beer tastes its best. 

BAD BAD BAD BAD

See that glass with all those bubbles? That's bad. What we have here is a dirty glass. First let us back up for a minute so I can drop some science on ya'll. As we all know, beer is carbonated to varying degrees, because as yeast munch on sugars (from malt) they produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. During fermentation the carbon dioxide escapes freely, but during bottling the yeast are fed more sugar (priming) and this time the carbon dioxide can't escape the sealed vessel, so it dissolves into the beer (this is the process of naturally carbonating beer; there's also forced carbonation methods, but that's a tale for a different post). When you open that beer or when your bartender pours from the tap, the pressure is reduced and the carbon dioxide is released out of the liquid as small bubbles, churning up your beer and creating the foamy head. BUT when your glass is dirty (grease, food, soap, etc.), it creates a nucleation site that the bubbles get stuck on. This is bad for a few reasons: 

1. Obviously there's something else in your glass besides beer and who knows what it is, but it could be impacting the beer's taste (mmm notes of last night's meatloaf). If this is your own glass it might not be a big deal, but at a bar the culprit is more of a mystery (mmm notes of the last person's saliva). 

2. Those bubbles, when allowed to escape, help deliver all the wonderful hoppy, malty, yeasty aromas that someone worked so hard to craft for you. Keep in mind that the vast majority of what you taste is influenced by what you smell.

At a bar, if you think your glass is dirty ask for a new glass and a new beer. At home clean your glassware properly.

"Well Mr. Glassware snob, how do I do that?" Well first of all that's Dr. to you, but here are a few quick tips on how to clean your glassware at home.

Good!

• Do not, I SAID DO NOT, wash your glasses in the dishwasher especially with other dishes. Flying food particles and soap will cling to your glasses like crazy and the process is bad for the lovely artwork on your favorite brewery glass ("oh no my hot pink Three Floyd's glass is ruined!!!")
• Handwash all your glasses with a fragrance-free and preferably non-foaming detergent
• Rinse thoroughly with water
• Let air dry upside down on a rack (here you can use your empty dishwasher) or a glass drying mat
• Test with the "water sheet" method- if water sheets off the inside of your glass, you're free and clean. If you get droplets clinging everywhere, try again
• Another option is to pour a small amount of beer (half-ounce) into the glass, agitate the beer, swirl the foam around the glass a few times, and discard. All the bubbles will help scrub the glass

There are other, more labor intensive methods like the "3 sink method", but the above should get you started and will keep me from yelling at you on Instagram (@TheRussB… twitter too)

This also seems like a good time to bring up another serving pet peeve of mine- don't drink beer out of a frosted glass; slightly chilled is okay, but room temperature is best. Frosted glasses cause foaming issues that tend to drive off too much carbonation and aromas. Also, that coldness numbs your taste buds- ever wonder why the macros make such a big deal about really cold temps?  They don't want you to taste what they are serving you. Eventually your beer will come up to proper serving temp, but why waste that time? Finally, those wonderful ice crystals trap all the yummy smells and tastes that your freezer has been storing up and then releases them into your beer. 

I hope you've learned something today, now go forth and clean!

POURsuasion: Untapp'd, bringing beer drinkers together

There was a recent article by another Indiana blogger that pointed out some of the problems that come with Untappd and the people who use it too much. Take a second to read it if you haven't already because it's very well thought out. It has some good points but in general I think its ignoring some of the most important parts of the beer related social media. Basically the author, Jake, believes that Untappd takes people away from socializing, makes it too easy to provide innacurate ratings, and turns craft beer into a competition and encourages people to spend more time on their phones than talking with the people nearby at festivals, tastings and other beer related shenanigans.

This is pretty similar to the argument that many parents make about smart phones and social media in general with their kids. I agree, social media in excess is probably bad, but there is no reason for all of us to throw out our smart phones and go back to the days of the Zach Morris phone or, God forbid, no cell phone at all.

As far as Untappd goes, I completely disagree. I've had a wonderful experience with beer in Untappd and other social media platforms (namely Instagram). Often it's way too loud to make phone calls, or service sucks. With Untappd your friends can find where you are by tracking your check-ins.

The biggest thing is to remember that Untappd is a tool, it's not a way of life or a reason to drink. Through check ins around Indy on Untappd and Instagram, I've met an awesome group of beer geeks, #ICBM, who share a similar interest in rare beers, trading and basically having a good time. These social media programs have allowed us to come together and start doing bottle shares on a regular basis. Just like with any hobby, craft beer is better when done with people that appreciate it at the same level that you do. Having the ability to ask my friends for suggestions, talk about new releases and meet up with people all because of an app has really made the craft beer scene more fun. The group I drink with now does a bit of whale slaying, and we really do look for the biggest baddest beers to share with each other, but because of Untappd we're doing it together.

Some guys with big Untappd profiles and tons of beers finished do tend to brag, but they'd brag without the app. They're the same people that have to tell you every detail about every Dark Lord Day they've been to just because you started talking about a stout. People who brag, and I can totally be guilty of this at times, are going to brag whether its in person, over Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Untappd. If you don't like it, you can just avoid those people like you do at your high school reunion.

The craft beer scene can be a scary thing these days. There are tons of choices, just ask Matt at HBG. Untappd is like training wheels for your craft beer ride. When you start off it's hard to find out what you like, and so many brews don't put everything on the labels. You can get style, ABV, an average rating, description and similar beers to help educate you on what you're drinking. The last one helped me when I got started, because I could look at some of the beers I liked, and find other things in the area that were similar. There is so much combined knowledge from the craft beer world on this app, that you can really get a head start as you decide what you want to taste.

One of my favorite parts of the app are the badges. It's easy to enjoy the American craft beer scene without thinking about the traditions that come from so many other countries' brewing history. We tend to think about what is the most recent IPA from whoever, instead of thinking where IPAs came from. Having the badge structure has forced me out of my comfort zone. It's made all of us look for German lagers, Belgian Tripples and crazy sour beers when it could have been easier to continue drinking that Zombie Dust that everyone knows is amazing. After trying so many of the original foreign styles, you get a much better appreciation for what we are doing in the craft scene right now. I realize that some people are naturally curious and some of you probably tried these brews on your own. Some people need a reason to do something different and Untapppd gives us that reason.

Despite all my arguments, I do think rating beer when you are three sheets to the wind is a pretty bad idea. I'm totally guilty of it, but I know that the next day I often make a comment just so I can remember that I was shit canned. The notes on Untappd are more for me than anyone else... hell they're more for the blog and putting out a good product for those of you who read our reviews.

It's easy to hate on social media for the time people spend using it, but you have to remember it's just a tool; not something that is master of your universe (yeah, He-Man reference). Maybe we need some guidelines to help us remember common courtesy:

• Use it to find your friends, and figure out what they like and what you might like.
• Don't rate beer while hammered, or at least tell me you're hammered in the comments.
• Always look for the year on big beers to help your fellow whale hunters know when the time is right to pop the beer.
• You don't have to share every beer, badge and accolade on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well.
• Comment on people's posts, try and be helpful, even try and make a friend. It is social media after all. 
• Chill out, it's just beer. Don't worry if you forget one or miss a location or mess up a rating.

There is such an awesome craft beer community, and the more we can do to unite and help each other the better off craft beer will be as a whole. If we can look to more experienced drinkers for guidance and look to people nearby for hot spots to drink, we can bring more people into the craft scene then ever before.

By the way, I'm TheBigGuy on Untappd and the picture is correct, Mickeys fine malt liquor was my 1,000th beer.

TheBrewniBomber- Just to throw my 2 cents in here. I'll start off by saying I love Untappd, I pay $5 a month to be an Untappd "supporter", but I think I fall somewhere in the middle of the two schools of thought on this topic. For me Untappd is a tool to keep track of what I've had, what I thought about it, and to share those thoughts with other users. Being a numbers person, I think it's great that I can look at detailed stats of my beer love and make sure I'm not about to drink something I've had before and hated.

I think untappd is great for recording quick ratings and notes (which I think more people need to do) that I can reference later if I want. I have a separate app that I use to do somewhat detailed reviews of new beers, but I don't always want to do a thorough review of every beer I'm drinking especially if I'm at a bottle share, festival, or out at a bar/brewery. Why? Well this goes back to the heart of the argument- it takes me time to do a review of a beer and I'd rather spend that time talking to the people I'm around… you know being social. In situations where I'm going through a lot of beers I keep my notes simple and I don't take pictures, which seem to take up a lot of time.

While I appreciate the social features and when people "toast" my check-ins, I rarely if ever use the social function of Untappd, because personally I think it's a bit clunky. Plus I could care less if people are impressed with what I'm drinking… besides that's what instagram is for!

As far as the badges go, I'm kind of over it and I don't let them dictate what I drink anymore, but I do agree that they can be a motivation tool for some people to try things out of their comfort zone. Just don't feel like you have to race to get those badges though, your wallet and liver will thank you for it, and I think it's safe to say that Untappd will be around for awhile.

So my guidelines:

• Have you said "what did you say bro?" several times during an outing? A beer went around the table and you didn't get it? Put the phone down. I'd actually like to institute a "no phone" rule at tastings. If you want to take notes or rate the beer bring a notepad and check-in later.
• Don't feel the need to share all those badges and beers on social media- if you have a badge you're particular proud of go for it, but I don't really care that you hit "Land of the Free" level 4. I encourage you to tweet/fb check-ins when you provide tasting notes or useful commentary on the beer.
• Drink something good for your "milestone" badges. Don't be an ironic hipster. 
• Don't be a slave to badges. Remember- they're not worth a damn thing.  

Goose Island: Ten Hills Pale Ale

We had the opportunity to try Goose Island's Ten Hills Pale Ale. It's the first of three in a series of limited releases, and arrived with just a little bit of pomp and circumstance. The two bottles we received were numbered- we had 72 and 73 of 100. The custom label on the bottle featured the signatures of three Goose Island's brewers; Brett Porter, Keith Gabbett, and Jared Jankoski. Small touches, but the kind that go a long way to making us feel like what we have is exclusive.

The ale features perle, cascade and saaz hops, all of which were grown exclusively for Goose Island in Idaho. (This was some of the information included in the letter that accompanied our bottles. More information was included in the bottle opener/USB drive that came with the bottles as well.) The three hops gave the beer a unique flavor, and balanced very well with each other and the malts.

It's got a creamier mouthfeel than you might expect for an American Pale Ale. There's a bready malt flavor that compliments the citrus flavors from the hops. The beer comes out of the bottle a rich golden color with a medium white head that lingered a bit with lacing on the sides of the glass.

I gave this beer a solid 3.5/5.

Thank you to Laura and the rest of the Goose Island team for putting together such a great package and for letting us sample the beer early!

The Big Guy: I was pretty pleased with this pale. Most of the time Goose Island doesn't get to intense with their hops, however this was a hop forward pale ale. There was some light carmel and toffee flavored malts with a great big citrus hop flavor upfront. It had a great bitterness on the back end and overall was a pretty impressive pale ale. I gave it a 3.5 as well

Professor Beer:  I was very impressed by the Ten Hills Pale Ale.  It had big hops, and a nice, lingering bitterness.

O-Dawg:  Mild hop floral nose, notes of honeysuckle.  Medium body that reminded me of Bells: Hop Slam.  I was expecting a lighter body for a pale.  Lots of malt, notes of carmel and toffee.  Finishes with a very mild hop bitter finish.  Leaves the mouth coated in honey.  I would take this any day over any year round Goose Island beer!  Very impressed and hopeful for the next two releases.  Better than avg, not yet a "track this down" 3.5