Upland's Oktoberfest

Indiana is pretty far from Munich but it doesn't mean we can't celebrate Oktoberfest in style. Upland brews one of the better Oktoberfest beers in town and they have a hell of a party to kick off the season.

Oktoberfest is all about the beer and the food, and Upland has kept to the tradition. They had all their flagship beers available in normal plastic cups or you could splurge and buy a beautiful 32 oz dimpled glass stein. Once you got the stein you could fill it for the same price as the "puny" 16 oz plastic cups. The only problem with the stein was that when it was full it was really heavy! I now understand why Germans have such huge forearms.

Upland didn't just bring the beer, they also brought the food. There were more than a half dozen of Indy's best food trucks. In honor of the holiday I went to the most German thing available, Der Pretzel Wagon. As always my sandwich was outstanding. Not quite traditional German sausages and kraut but still helped get me in the mood.

Tables and tents were lined up throughout Military Park. Thank God for the tables, I needed something to set my stein down on! It really gave the festival an authentic lager house sort of a feel. It also made it easy to hang out with all of your friends and even make a few new ones. In front of all the tables there was a stage with a few bands that were a lot of fun and a horse drawn trolley that went into downtown. Brie and I didn't take the trolley but everyone on it looked like they were having fun.

I reviewed the Upland Oktoberfest two years ago, but I wasn't as well versed in the style as I should have been. At the time I made a mistake a lot of newbie craft drinkers do and associated Oktoberfest beers with pumpkin / spiced beers. I knew they weren't the same thing, but I thought they should be closer than they really are. They aren't sweet beers, but are lighter easy drinking beers that would be great to have during the harvest.

Upland's version pours out a beautiful caramel color with a nice thick white head. It smells like toasted malts and toffee sweetness. The flavor is a bit like Cheerios (not the honey nut kind) with just a bit of that toffee sweetness that we got on the nose. Hints of nuts add an earthy flavor to the otherwise grainy base beer. The sweetness is balanced well with a nice hit of grassy hops which pair well with the nuttiness of the malt. There is just enough bitterness to round out the brew in a really pleasant way. The beer is rich without being too heavy. The carbonation is solid without being too effervescent. All in it's well balanced and a tasty American version of the traditional German style.

I gave this beer a 2.5 last time, and I really don't think that was fair to the brew. This is a really well executed beer. I think its should get at least a 3.5/5. It's a great beer that has become my standard Oktoberfest. 

Dogfish Head Kick Off

In case you missed the news last week, Dogfish Head Brewery out of DE is back in Indiananpolis! Zink Distribution has brought them back to our fair city and we want to welcome them with true Hoosier hospitality. Check out the release party line-up! We hope to see you at one or two of these.

Ralston’s Drafthouse: Wednesday, October 15th  from 7:30 to close. They’ll introduce all 15 DFH beers currently available in the Indianapolis Market. 635 Massachusetts Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46204

Twenty Tap: Thursday, October 16th  from 5:30 to close. 5406 N College Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46220

Yard Line: Thursday, October 16th from 6:00 to close. 6466 E 82nd  Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250

Friday, October 17th  Fountain Square Block Party!!! Like a proper block party it will go on all day. The beer will flow nonstop during normal business hours.

Block Party Headquarters:

• La Margarita – 1043 Virginia Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46203. We’ll enjoy DFH’s finest paired with the traditional family recipes La Margaritas is known for.
• Thunderbird – 1127 Shelby St. Indianapolis, IN 46203. We’ll not only enjoy the finest ales from DFH, but we’ll also experience the DFH cocktails created by the gifted mixologists at Thunderbird.

Lets give Dogfish Head a warm welcome and go check out some good beer!

CANvitational is this Weekend

Andrew and I have our tickets, and we're ready to hit up CANvitational this Saturday. Will we be seeing you there? To get some more information about the event, take a look at the press release below. If you're interested in learning more about the other breweries coming, Hoosier Beer Geek has done a great series highlighting the breweries and what you can expect to see poured. Maybe we'll bump in to you there!

SUN KING BREWERY IN INDIANAPOLIS TO HOST 2nd CANvitational CANNED CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

THIS SAT, SEPTEMBER 20th

Indianapolis, Ind. (September 15, 2014) – In 2009, Sun King Brewery brought Indianapolis local beer for the first time since the Indianapolis Brewing Company closed its doors in 1948. Sun King will host the 2nd CANvitational canned craft beer festival this Saturday, Sept. 20 on the west block of Georgia Street, located in downtown Indy.

The Sun King CANvitational will bring over 40 craft breweries representing 23 states and international breweries to Georgia Street and Pan Am Plaza from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (EST). Tickets, available online atwww.canvitational.com, are $60 for general admission day of the event and $75 for early entry. Sun King is running a $40 ticket special for advanced general admission ticket purchased online before August 31st. Event proceeds to benefit the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

The invited breweries were selected because of the quality of craft beer they are producing and, as the name of the event suggests, the festival will feature breweries that can their beers. Since craft beer’s inception in the 1980s, bottles have been the most commonly associated with craft beer. However, over the last decade the breweries featured at the CANvitational have been led a revival of craft canning and helped change the way people view cans.

New to this year’s festival, the CAN'd ART show on Friday, Sept. 19th located in the Indianapolis Arts Garden. A celebration of the CANvitational's partnership with the Indianapolis Arts Council and the unique art that adorns the cans we love. Local artists have selected a variety of cans from participating breweries attending the 2014 CANvitational and transformed them into reinvented pieces of art. Join participating brewers and artists in a reception where art and craft (beer that is) collide. Event tickets include complimentary appetizers and FRESH•LOCAL•BEER will be available. Tickets are very limited.

“We believe that cans are the best way to package beer and breweries from across the country, including a great number of highly respected and established breweries, have help affirm that idea by choosing to can their beer.” Said Sun King Co-Founder Clay Robinson. “Cans keep beer safe from two of beers greatest enemies, sunlight and oxygen, in a way that glass bottles can’t. Cans are also more environmentally friendly to make, transport and recycle, which is why so many breweries are currently making the choice to can.”

In addition to great, canned craft beer, attendees will have plenty of food options for purchase from food trucks that will line Georgia Street. Music will be provided throughout the event by DJ Helicon and DJ Action Jackson.

“We have invited our friends from across the country who share our passion for crafting world class beers and we are excited to showcase what they do and why we can.” Robinson added. “The most exciting part is that the majority of the beers available at the CANvitational aren’t even available in Indiana, which gives us the opportunity to provide a truly unique experience!”

-30-

About Sun King Brewing Company
Sun King Brewing Company is the brainchild of Dave Colt and Clay Robinson. With the help of family and friends – Omar Robinson, Andy Fagg and Steve Koers – the first keg of Sun King beer rolled out the door for delivery in July 2009. Now available on tap and in cans at over a thousand locations throughout Indiana, Sun King has grown into the second-largest beer brewer in the state. The company's commitment to handcrafted seasonal and specialty beers has been rewarded with multiple medals at the Indiana Brewers Cup, Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup competitions. Visit www.sunkingbrewing.comfor more information.

Indiana Microbrewers Festival

Every summer thousands of beer enthusiasts gather at the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center to enjoy samples of craft beer from a variety breweries at the summer Indiana Microbrewers Festival. This festival has been going on for many years, but for me (Kevin) it was the first time I've been able to attend.  

 

I met up with Russ when I arrived and he showed me around since he was volunteering.  Our first drinking experience came at the cask tent.  Since we were there early we were able to sample many beers prior to the general admission entry time. 

General Admission entry line

In the cask tent my favorite beer that I tried was the Iechyd Da Revolution IPA with pineapple, mango, and orange.  I'm a big fan of Revolution by itself, but these additions just elevated the beer and its flavor profiles.  Would love to try a higher carbonated version, but that's what you get with cask beer.  It was delicious.  Incredibly pure.  

Cask Tent

My favorite in the cask area.  Iechyd Da Revolution with Mango, Pineapple, and Orange

Russ and Me enjoying our first beer of the day from the cask tent

I was also lucky to speak with one of the owners/brewers of Iechyd Da, Chip.  He and I spent time talking about their raspberry berliner weiss, Tata Rosa.  My complaint about that beer last year was that it wasn't funky enough and was fairly mild.  He shared that this year they had a different experience in the brewing process which resulted in a funkier version.  I sampled it and felt that it was far superior to the version brewed last year.  Interestingly he shared that they have had several complaints about the beer being "too funky" which somewhat confirmed to me that the northern Indiana region isn't quite ready for the funk.  Being from that area originally, I am sure it's only a matter of time before they catch up. Iechyd Da continues to be one of my favorite breweries in the state and might be my favorite brewpub as their food and atmosphere are top notch.  Definitely worth a road trip to Elkhart.

Tom Harvey from Iechyd Da and Kevin

We had a great time talking with breweries across the state.  We were fortunate to talk with the folks from Mashcraft, Scarlet Lane, Quaff On, Three Floyds, Upland, Sun King, Flat 12, Black Acre, and many others.  One of the highlights for me was the Flat 12 tent.  This year they placed a suggestion box in their taproom in order to get beer ideas from customers.  Back in May I suggested they brew a high ABV chocolate peanut butter stout.  They ended up taking my suggestion and using it to create the beer called Shelled.  While I wanted more peanut butter from the beer, it was still quite delicious.
They used their base Big Black Dog rye stout and aged it in whiskey barrels with peanut butter and cocoa nibs.  It was complex with lots of chocolate and barrel characteristics and a subtle peanut butter flavor which rounded out the beer nicely.  Overall Flat 12, with their variety of customer suggested beers, executed their flavors quite impressively.
 

Overall, the festival was a great success.  Mostly because I got an incredibly generous pour of Imperial Breakfast Magpie from New Day Meadery :-) 

mmmmmm....Imperial Magpie

But seriously, the volunteers, staff, and breweries were all incredibly welcoming and helpful  The venue was also fantastic.  Lots of shade, plenty of water stations, and a variety of food options including my favorite, Fat Dan's Deli.  There were a lot of beers that I thought were decent.  For me, the beers that stood out included Bare Hands Citronic Pale Ale which rivals Zombie Dust in my opinion, Iechyd Da Tata Rosa, Flat 12 Shelled, Black Acre Bourbon Vanilla One Ten, Sun King Port Barrel Wee Mac, and Mashcraft Java Deep.
 

The folks from Black Acre were ready to party!!

I am looking forward to attending the festival in the future.  I encourage people to volunteer if you are able.  You get to help out and as a result you get early entry and are able to have a bit of an easier time getting pours from brewers.  Here are some other photos from the day:
 

Everyone has to get a little early afternoon Zombie Dust

Russ and Me getting a share of a Cognac De Muerte Dark Lord from a distributor

Masses of people with beers

The Beer Barons....minus Andrew and Brie.

Beer tasting is serious business.  Here is Russ documenting his tastings.

The folks from Rhinegeist brought their Crowlers to show off the next trend in craft cans.

Russ demonstrating the importance of eating during a craft beer festival.

SKB5: Who was the party really for?

Happy Birthday, Sun King. You really have been a huge force in getting national recognition for craft beer in Indy.

Last year, the Sun King anniversary party was one of my favorite events of the summer. The beer was excellent and there were tons of special release tapings. The music by St. Paul and the Broken Bones was insanely good. And of course the always loved Grapefruit Jungle IPA was released at the event. There wasn't really much room for improvement on such an awesome party.

The party was huge this year. They sold out at least a week before the event, so obviously their good reputation and whatever they did to promote the event worked great! As a beer geek and overall craft fan I thought the party fell short in a couple of areas compared to last year.

Last year was all about the beer, this year felt more like a concert that also had beer. We all know that Sun King is one of the most popular and well recognized breweries located in Indianapolis. They have beer in bars all over the place and at most of the stadiums for sporting events. They've started to become the beer of the people here in Indianapolis. Sadly (for us at least), that means they may not want to be the beer of the beer geeks around here. At some point a brewery has to decide on a strategy, sell to the hard core fans or sell to the masses, maybe some breweries can do both.

First and probably foremost for me as a standout from last year's event that was missing this year was the tappings. Sun King's Kings Reserve beers have been coming out almost every other month this year. Last year we got an awesome preview at the party of what was to come, this year we got Mellow Johnny, a raddler. For those of you who are not familiar, a raddler is a beer mixed with a juice or fruit soda. Although the raddler was well done, and perfect for the summer heat, it's probably the most approachable "beer" around and isn't nearly as exciting as some of Sun King's sours or barrel-aged offerings. Not only did we not have any King's Reserve releases, we didn't have any uniquely timed releases.  They had their standard canned line up, plus Popcorn Pilsner, Lavern, Shirley (which had been in the tap room), and Grapefruit Jungle.

The second thing that disappointed me was that Grapefruit Jungle wasn't available for takeout at the party. This is an awesome beer. This is one of those beers that I can drink a case of in a weekend. If you haven't had it lately, try and grab a four pack while you can.

Really minor things that could have been better were bringing back the picnic tables that they had last year. Yes the internet and invite all said to bring a chair if you want to sit, but this looked a lot more like a concert at White River than it did a beer event. I prefered the music last year, but that's totally a matter of taste, and the food trucks started running out of stuff pretty early this year (obviously not the breweries fault at all).

The final thing that set me off a little was the overall cost. The event is totally reasonable at a $10 entry fee, but once you're in you have to get $5 tickets for beer. Please note this is the exact same set up as last year, but last year they had some amazing beers being tapped and I would gladly pay five bucks to have a taste. This year we were limited to their house beers and some pretty basic releases. If I came in the day before I could have gotten any of the house beers in a growler for $5. A day later, after paying to come in, I have to give you five dollars for a can... this is higher mark up than a liquor store by a lot. It was even a mark up for GFJ, which I gladly pay my $18 per four pack for. If you're going to charge like I'm going to Deer Creek... Verizon... Klipsch... whatever, I should be coming for the concert not the brewery's anniversary.

All in, I still love Sun King and I think GFJ is an excellent beer that I will keep drinking as long as I can get it. Tons of people were rocking out to the bands and having a great time all around. Every beer was easy drinking for people that aren't really fans of craft beer which can bring a whole new crowd in. The party only disappointed me because I had such high hopes after last year. I know last year the tappings were limited and a lot of people got shut out, but at least the beers were there and people had a chance to try everything. As a beer geek, I felt like I spent fifty bucks just to try Grapefruit Jungle a couple days early. It all just begs the question, who was the party really for?

Event Review: Sour Wild Funk Fest

Andrew, Steve, Luke and I had the chance to attend this year's Sour Wild Funk Fest, put on by Upland Brewing Company.

The event was held at City Market, upstairs in Tomlinson Tap Room. I have to admit I was a little nervous about how the space would hold up to the event, but the crowd moved through the space better than I expected. There were only one of two places where things were uncomfortably crowded.

This was my favorite event last year of all the festivals we attended, so I had some pretty high hopes for what I'd get to try. There was a great selection of breweries, and all brought some unique offerings. A few of the breweries were tapped out before the end of the event, which I'm taking as a sign that I wasn't the only one enjoying what they had to offer.

Of all the beers I tried that afternoon, here were my favorites:

• Kiwi Saison, Flat 12 Bierwerks
• Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour Blueberry, Destihl Brewery
• La Folie (Lips of Faith), New Belgium Brewing Company

The team at Upland put together some exclusive components to the event for the members of the Secret Barrel Society and the event VIPs. Great additions- a VIP lounge with bathrooms, lunch before the event and dinner after, a presentation by Caleb, samples of the upcoming Upland and Oliver Winery collaborations, and an after party in the catacombs. I didn't even know we had catacombs. The only critique I have is that it made for a very long day to have things at the front and back of the event. Next year I'd prefer one or the other.

The Big Guy: I love this event. Brie laid it out pretty well for you guys, so I will just go ahead and list my favorite beers of the afternoon:

• Pink Ribbon Sour Saison by Triton Brewery
• Vinosynth White sour and wine blend by Upland
• Counter Clockweisse Berlinerweisse by Destihl Brewery

So what are you bringing to the track???

Last year I put together a post with some canned beer options to bring to the motor speedway. I decided to keep the tradition going and give you some of our great new Indiana options. The requirements are the same this year as they were last year as far as coolers are concerned:

Coolers must be no bigger than 18x14x14

Purses and backpacks must be no bigger than 14x14x14

Food and beverages are allowed, but no glass containers

Carts and wagons are allowed everyday BUT race day

Personal items are your responsibility, the Speedway does not care if they are lost or stolen 

Cans ONLY! no glass bottles allowed

Since we can't bring bottles into the Speedway we have to look to canned beers. There have been a ton of canned beers popping up in liquor stores in the last year, so there are a ton more options than we had last year. With all the options available now it can be hard to narrow them down. Not everyone has spent a lot of time checking out all the canned options we have here in Indy so for the second year in a row we've asked the Barons what are their favorite canned beers. So here are my favorite Summer canned options:

The Big Guy: 

1. Sun King's Fistful of Hops Green. Nice crisp hop profile with an easy drinking malt profile
2. Two Brother's Side Kick Pale Ale. Light hop profile with a clean refreshing flavor that makes it crushable sitting at the hot track
3. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA. Easy malt profile with a great big hop backbone. Get it fresh for biggest impact.

Russ:

1. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA
2. Bell's Two Hearted IPA. The classic Midwest IPA. Nothing says summer like Two Hearted
3. Two brother's Side Kick Pale Ale

Kevin:

1. Oskar Blues' Dale's Pale Ale. An almost perfect Pale Ale from Colorado that just came to Indy last year
2. Founder's Centennial IPA. A big Midwest IPA from Founders now in cans
3. Sun King's Osiris Pale Ale. An Indiana favorite, light clean and crisp

O-Dawg:

1. Brooklyn Brewery's Summer Ale
2. Founder's All Day IPA. All Day IPA because this is so light you can drink it all day in the blistering sun of the track
3. Two Brother's Dog Days Dortmunder Lager. A lager that goes down clean and smooth

El Duque:

1. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA
2. Sun King's Osiris Pale Ale
3. Sixpoint's Sweet Action Cream Ale. Light and easy drinking, perfect for a hot day

Professor Beer:

1. Sun King's Wee Mac
2. Sun King's Fistful of Hops
3. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA

Brie:

1. Brooklyn Brewery's Summer Ale
2. Sun King's Fistful of Hops
3. 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon- If you could get your hands on this it would be amazing for a hot day at the track.

I would also like to give a shout out to Flat 12 for their Hinchtown Hammerdown. On their website Flat 12 says, "We live in a racing town. In tribute to one of the brightest racing talents out there, we created Hinchtown Hammer Down, a crisp and refreshing ale perfect for the month of May."  I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, but I will make sure it finds its way into my racing cooler. 

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival

For the second year in a row, we had the opportunity to attend the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival. The festival took place at the Woolery Mill, which serves as a great back drop. The whole festival has a pretty chill, laid back vibe that you don't see with some other events. It's small enough that you can easily try something from each brewer, but large enough to provide a good variety.


The view from the Brewer's Hideout

We opted to get the early admission tickets and were able to get about an hour of tasting in before the "consumption crowd" arrived, though it was never so packed that it was hard to get around or get to the brewers' tables. Unless you wanted to have some Zombie Dust, then you had to deal with a really long line. I know there are some people opposed to early admit or VIP ticket options, but I always prefer them. I also tend to go against the crowd at the beginning, go to the furthest breweries from the entrance, and work my way back to the front.

 

Of the breweries that came, there were a few standouts for me.

1. Black Acre Brewing, Blood Orange Infused Bitter Life: An American IPA
2. 18th Street Brewing, Bitch Hands: An American Pale Ale
3. Against the Grain, HAmon HAmarth: A smoked beer

I was surprised that I'd had so many of the beers that were there. I know I've been busy this year trying as much as I could, but it would have been nice to see a few more unique offerings. If you want to see how this compares to what we thought of last year's event, read that post here.

The Big Guy: I'm always happy to head back down to Bloomington. The only hard part is not hitting Kirkwood. After this festival, thank God I didn't go to Kirkwood...thank G O D. The venue for this festival is one of the coolest spots around and the weather was perfect. It was a sunny 75 degrees and windy enough to cool the whole thing down to the perfect temperature.

Brie and I were the only Barons that made it to the event, but we met up with some friends from Girls Pint Out, Great Fermentations and our tasting group as well as some newbies from Brie's office. Coming to these things with new comers can be a lot of fun. I always have a great time watching how they react to the beers for the first time. A really hoppy beer can shock someone the first time.

So I think my wife and I hang out too much. My favorite beers of the show were:

1. 18th Street Brewing, Nubian Overlord: A double IPA
2. Against the Grain, HAmon HAmarth: A smoked beer
3. Black Acre Brewing, Blood Orange Infused Bitter Life: An American IPA

Honorable mentions include: Barrel Aged Scotch Ale by Fountain Square, Andrew and Drew Smoked Amber by Bluegrass Brewing, and The Dude White Russian Porter by Crown Brewing.

Flat 12 brought the crazy again with a carnival theme. Surprisingly the squid ink gose, Octogose, was pretty good. The briny quality of the squid ink was a very nice addition to the salty sour gose beer that is becoming more popular lately. Although this one was a win for me, the caramel corn was not.

The festival was full of great beers and some beers with really cool combinations of flavors. On a sunny spring day there isn't anything better than good friends, good beer and a designated driver. I can't wait to take a trip up to 18th Street and a drive down to check out Against the Grain.

History On Tap 2014

Full disclosure- I'm on the board of Conner Prairie's young professionals group, the Horizon Council. As such, I'm a little bit biased towards this event. I think it's great, and I get to see first hand all the planning and people necessary to put it all together.

The event features tastings from more than 15 local craft brewers including Sun King, Upland, Bier, Flat12, Union Brewing, New Day Meadery, Fountain Square, Barley Island, Cutters, Three Pints, Thr3e Wise Men and Triton. New additions this year are Scarlet Lane, Cartel Brewing and others.

You can learn about craft brewing through demonstrations and meet with craft beer experts. There's going to be food and live music by Bleeding Keys.

There are new ticket options for this year’s event:

• VIP Tickets gives you admission at 5:30 with a two-hour beer pairing inside Conner Prairie’s Overlook Room, and appetizers provided by Matt the Miller’s Tavern.
• Adult Early Admission gets you in the doors at 6:00. You’ll get early access to special brews, while supplies last.
• Adult General Admission gets you inside at 6:30.
• And, with Designated Driver Admission, you arrive at the same time the ticket-holders in your group arrive.

All tickets include entry into Conner Prairie, tastings from all breweries and a commemorative glass. If you're interested in getting your tickets, please visit www.connerprairie.org/historyontap.

I hope to see you there!

Community: Volunteering at the 2014 Winterfest... Tales From the SoberSide

I've figured out that one of the best ways to get involved in the Indy craft beer scene is to volunteer at events. I volunteered for DigIN last summer and had a great time so I figured I would do a more beer focused event with Winterfest this year. I worked the gates, which largely consisted of letting people into the event and making sure people left (without beer), so this means I got to interact with a lot of people that day... these are their stories (and mine). 

11am- I arrive. I ask parking people where I should park- "eh over there". Over there ends up being a 10 minute walk to the Winterfest location.

11:10am- 12:45pm- Various duties including putting out ice for the brewers, tracking down ReplicAle kegs for the ReplicAle trailer, repairing a flat cart that had lost it's wheel, wandering aimlessly, and trying not to get run over by a golf cart driven by Nick of Scarlet Lane Brewing.

~12:45pm- People are starting to line up?? 

12:45- 1:45pm- Making sure random people don't try and get in, guarding the tasting plastics, and getting trained on the scanning system. 

1:45- 2:30pm-ish- Get early entry people in the door, out of the rain, and drinking beer. 

• People do realize they need to have an ID to get into an event that involves alcohol right?

2:30-ish- 3:30pm-ish- Get general admission people in the door, out of the rain, and drinking beer.

• Did have one older gentlemen come to the gate with cash in hand to buy a ticket. Apparently he didn't know it was sold out and there weren't ticket sales at the door. Sorry man.

3:30-ish- 5:00pm-ish- During this time I was able to get away from the gate occasionally and try some beers, including Three Floyd's War Mullet, Iechyd Da Cookie Milk Stout, Black Acre Coffee Phantom Cat, (all favorites) and a bunch others. 

• Had a guy and girl come to the gate brandishing tickets... tickets to the home show in a different part of the fairgrounds. "Sorry sir you can't come in"; "why not?"; "those are tickets to the home show"; "so?""this is a beer festival";"I bought tickets to the wrong event I guess!"
• A local company was using generic growlers with their name on it as prizes and many fest goers were enamored with the $4 pieces of glass. My favorite was the guy who wanted to steal one and ask one of the breweries to fill it. Had to crush his dreams and inform him that wasn't going to happen. 
• One of the uninformed and shy volunteers was waiting in line with everyone else to get beer. Had to show him how to cut lines to get beer right away... one of the privileges of being a volunteer, which

1. Apparently some fest-goers don't think is fair, especially the Sun King Fanboys. Went to the head of the line to get some Pink Taco and heard several people cussing and freaking out.
2. Some volunteers take full advantage. Dealt with a few drunk volunteers (more on that later).

• Brewery pourer showed up with a ticket, so I gave him a general admission wrist band: "what does this get me?"; "What do you mean? It gets you beer... what do you want?"; blank stare "I thought I get special privileges"; "You need to work that out with your brewery or go to the check-in office"; "where's that?"; "right there past the booth"; I watched him go near the door, stand there for 5 minutes, and then wander off. After seeing the brewery he worked for I realized that he was probably on something. 

5-6pm- Back on official gate duty. Now mostly watching the drunk masses filter out; it's kind of like watching zombie hoards in "The Walking Dead", but some are less coordinated and meaner. Most were great though.

• Random roars go through the crowd- the zombies must be feeding. 
• 1+ hour left- a girl asks if her friends can get in for free since not much time is left: "No, the event is sold out"; discounted tickets?: "No, the event is sold out": full price ticket? "No, the event is sold out"

6- 6:45pm- Freedom! This was my designated time to enjoy the festival. I drank some beers, talked to friends and brewers, etc. 

• I could tell by this time that some breweries were a bit worn out. I was told by a pourer that I couldn't have the beer I wanted unless I drank the one he wanted me to first, because he was in control and didn't care he was being a douche (his words). 

6:45- 7:15pm- Time to get people out. Lots of high fives, handshakes, slurring, and germs. 

7:15pm- Asked to direct brewery vehicle traffic in the pavilion so they could pack up and get the hell out of dodge.

• Lucky me! Doing this with a couple drunk volunteers who were toting some cans of beer around: "Want some beer?"; "No thanks, let's get these cars directed"; "can't you do this alone? We want to go."; truck whizzes by going the wrong way. "Sure, but we can't let cars do that"; at that point Mr. Drunk yells I don't know what I'm doing and that nobody will listen to me. I walk away and soon after they join the paying patrons out the door. 

7:45pm or so- I go home exhausted. 

I got the sense that I took volunteering more seriously than some, but I had a great time, met some great people, and feel like I helped the Indy beer community pull off a great event. I recommend that everyone go volunteer at least once, but if you do, please try to take it seriously and don't treat it as a free ticket to get drunk.

Winterfest Recap

This year I went to my very first Winterfest. For those of you who haven't been before, let me just say that this was a great event for me. We had the opportunity to get early admission to the festival and took advantage of the opportunity to see what was set up before we really got started. That always seems to work best for me.

I know that even though I want to have all of the beers, it's neither realistic nor safe to think that it will actually happen. So I look for the breweries that I know I can't miss and I look for something new and unique on their tap list. There was a ton of ground to cover so being a little bit strategic definitely helped. This year was a different, and larger, location than past Winterfests to accommodate more people. This was another reason I loved being there early. I like to get a jump on the crowd.

There were a lot of great breweries there to sample. Some of the standouts for me were:

• Zwanzigz- Their blueberry and their chocolate are always a hit for me. Even better than these two on their own- mix them together. You're welcome.
• Revolution- I don't think I've had anything from Revolution that I haven't liked, so I always get excited when I see them at a local event. This time around I tried their Deth's Tar, a Russian Imperial stout aged in four different types of bourbon barrel (Old Fitzgerald, Old Forester, Elijah Craig, and Evan Williams). Amazing.
• Virtue Cider- Soon to be coming to the Indianapolis market, the Red Streak by Virtue Ciders is one I'm adding to my list. It's a crisp and dry English-style draft cider which is something I really got into during our recent trip through the UK.

All in this was a lot of fun. I'm glad I finally got to attend and will definitely be back next year.

The Big Guy: Although waiting out on the cold ass rain was not my favorite part of the early admit tickets, the extra hour was totally clutch. We did a great job of getting to a few of the breweries we really wanted to see before the crowds showed up. Winterfest may have just become my favorite of all the festivals we do. There were tons of great breweries. It was a reasonable temperature inside the building; I totally got tatted up and the crowds were bad but not terrible. That's win, win, win for everyone except maybe my mother who warned me about prison ink.

For me the big standouts (not in any specific order) were:

• Rivertown out of Cincinnati, OH, Old Sour Cherry Porter. I loved this dark and delicious fruited sour
• Bare Hands out of Granger, IN, Imperial Java Coconut Stout. Big imperial stout with just enough coconut that you know its there
• Iechyd Da out of Elkhart, IN, Breakfast Cookie Milk Stout. Tasted like cookie crisp and beer, how you can you not love that!?!

Honorable mentions included Bare Hands Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout, Revolution 3rd Year Beer  Rum-barrel Aged Barelywine and Rhinegeist Truth. There were a ton of awesome beers from Indy breweries but most of them were old favorites that I've had a few times before. They are totally delicious but I'm focusing on some of the new stuff to me. Upland did a wheel of sours that totally Pat Sajak'ed my heart. The firkin area was awesome. There were some really creative brews that they tapped. The stouts that were part of the ReplicAle of the year were all pretty good. I thought it was awesome going through each beer to check out how the individual brewers were able to put their own personality into the recipe. You can really get a sense of their playfulness and creativity as you check out all the different options.

I wish there had been food trucks. The concessions that were provided were only mediocre and before the end of the scheduled time they had started running out of the good stuff. Its hard to make it through a marathon beer drinking experience without some serious munchies to keep you going. That being said this was an outstanding event. Thanks to Hoosier Beer Geek and the Brewers Guild for putting it all together. Cheers!

Professor Beer:  This was my second year at Winterfest, and it was as good as I remember.  With the plethora of beers available, I was only able to try a small percentage, even with the early admission.  Here are a few beers that I particularly enjoyed:

• Sun King - Velvet Fog from the firkin tent.  Velvet Fog was very good last year, and it still does not disappoint.
• Iechyd Da - Breakfast Cookie Milk Stout.  A very good milk stout that is reminiscent of cookies.
• Tyranena Brewing - Benji's Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter.  A smoked porter with a very nice chipotle heat to it.
• Triton Brewing - Hatchblower Cask.  I haven't had Hatchblower since I picked up a growler for O-Dawg's wedding reception.

The firkin area had some very interesting beers, and I wish I had spent a little more time there.  There were also several booths with very good ciders, including Ace Cider, Chapman's Brewing Company, and Victory Cider.

Happy Anniversary Fountain Square

It seems like it must be the popular thing to open a brewery in Indiana when it's freezing cold outside! We have been going to anniversary parties and grand openings non-stop, and with the number of great breweries popping up, it doesn't look like it'll be slowing down anytime soon.

This past Friday was the Fountain Square Brewery's second anniversary luau party. I was lucky enough to go to their anniversary party last year by accident with the Little Lady and El Duque. It was so much fun, I had to make sure I didn't miss it this year. The brewery was packed with barely any room to move without shoving someone, but the bartenders did a great job keeping lines moving and getting beer to all the excited patrons. There were two bands, the first one was called Embryonic Fluid and the second one was El Guapo. Surprisingly, I was a big fan of El Guapo. They were a metal surf rock band without a singer... and I promise it was pretty impressive.

The reason I keep coming to Fountain Square's parties is always the beer. This year did not disappoint. They had the following on tap:

-Smoked Porter
-Escape from Alcatraz Bock
-1221 Imperial Stout
-Bourbon Barrel Aged 1221 Imperial Stout
-Flahute Belgian Pale
-Soul Ride IPA
-Count Nibula Chocolate Milk Stout
-Coffee Hour Amber
-Dubbel Dog Dare Belgian Dubbel
-Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel
-Bourbon Barrel Aged Shelby St. Strong Ale
-HOP YOUR FACE
-Mounds Porter

Last year my favorite beer from these guys was the 1221 Imperial Stout, made in honor of the end of the Mayan world. I liked it so much I had to buy the shirt. (and yes, again I am that guy that wears the brewery shirt to the brewery). This year I was thrilled to see a Barrel Aged version. Sadly, it didn't come out until the end of the night so I'm not comfortable giving it a full review. I can say that I absolutely loved it.

Honorable mentions this year were Bourbon Barrel Aged Shelby St. Strong Ale, and their Smoked Porter. The BBA Shelby St. was rich and complex with a ton of malty toffee goodness. The sweetness balanced out the high ABV and the barrel really mellowed the whole thing. I was also a fan of their smoked porter. At my last tasting it was called Up In Smoke, an obvious nod to Cheech and Chong, but they've since left it at Smoked Porter. Whatever they decide to call it, the beer was great. It has a mild smoked flavor with a great roasty malt bill. Its nice, because its easy drinking even with the smoked flavors. HOP YOUR FACE is always outstanding, and I hope that someday they start bottling it because it would make an amazing seasonal. I think its one of the best DIPAs in town. I was not expecting to like the Mounds Porter, because so far I've been underwhelmed with the amount of coconut flavor most brewers get into the beer. Fountain Square knocked it out of the park. The beer totally tastes like a mounds bar. It would have satisfied anyone's sweet tooth.

The party was awesome. We got a few more Barons there this year, and we really had a blast. Congratulations Fountain Square! Can't wait for next years party.

Daredevil Anniversary Dinner

We have  had some wonderful opportunities to celebrate the anniversaries of several breweries this month. Among those, one of my favorites was a dinner hosted by Daredevil Brewing Co. to celebrate their first anniversary. We joined the Daredevil team at Black Market restaurant down on Mass Ave. at one of the several celebrations they had around town.

The Big Guy and I had high hopes for the menu, having been to Black Market for dinner before. We were definitely not disappointed. It was interesting to compare this dinner to another beer dinner we went to last month. I don't know how the planning for either event was done, but it seemed like the first event we attended was about fitting the beer to the food, but this one was abut selecting a menu that would best highlight the beer. I enjoyed this second approach much more. I think everything fit together better, even when the purpose of the pairing was to bring out the opposite flavors in both. Here's a bit of what I'm talking about. 

We started the dinner with an open reception and our drink of choice. I decided to try the Raspberry Muse, their regular Muse Belgian golden ale infused with raspberries. I'm a sucker for anything raspberry, and this was a great kick off to the whole thing for me. I also ordered another at the end of dinner, firmly locking this beer in place as my favorite of the night.

Our first course was an Indiana perch ceviche with pomegranates served over chicherones. For those of you not familiar with them, chicherones are basically super fancy pork rinds- but fried and light as air. This was paired with their Carnival Saison.

The second course was a red curry poutine paired with Liftoff IPA. The Big Guy loved this one. I definitely enjoyed it, but there was just a little too much heat coming off the curry for me. I'm not great with spciy things, but the hops in Liftoff played really well with the curry. Definitely a pairing I would look for again.

The main course paired a smoked porter with glazed pork cheeks served over vegetables and baked herb polenta. I tried making polenta at home once- emphasis on once. This had a creamy texture and great light flavor to balance out the richness of the pork. The smoke on the porter was light enough to give character, but still allow the beer flavors to come through. A lot of the other smoked beers I've had are almost overwhelmed by the smoke and I sometimes feel like I'm missing the actual beer. Definitely not the case here, and a great compliment to the dish.

Of course there was dessert. We were given fried waffle batter with a trio of citrus fruit preserves, salted chocolate sauce, and creme fraiche. All of this was paired with an American Barley Wine. Between the sauces you could choose for yourself if you wanted to compliment or contrast the flavors in the barley wine.

We had a great time. The food was outstanding, the beer was delicious, and we had some great company at our end of the table. We're so excited to see more Indiana breweries celebrating anniversaries and we're already looking forward to this event next year.

Congratulations and happy anniversary again to everyone over at Daredevil!