Sanitarium 2014

So, I've reviewed this beer at least once here. I personally think it's an outstanding beer and gets overlooked by the beer geeks in Indy. Not that awards guarantee a beer you're going to like, but this brew has once a couple medals for Belgian beers. The one thing we can all agree on, is if a beer is winning medals it's probably well crafted.

When I talk with people about the beer, the main issue most people bring up is how boozy this brew is. It's hard to argue that fact because this beer comes in around 13% and the big Belgian malt flavors do an ok job hiding it but the only thing that can cure the alcoholic heat is a little bit of age. Many Belgian Brewers will actually leave their 10% and above beers in the bottle for a year before passing them on to distribution so you and I can enjoy it. I think time is critical. 

I drank this beer fresh and then had the year old version the next night. I wanted to do them side by side but I wasn't sure my review would be clear at that point, but I do what I can for you the reader. As a whole the beer is big and sweet with a lot of Belgian phenolic flavors typical of the traditional yeast strains. There are tons of dark fruits: plums, raisins and figs. It's accented nicely by a bit of bready malt and just a hint of something toasty.

When drinking these beers side by side ish. The big change is the level of alcohol on the back end and the amount of sweetness. The fresh beer almost has a liquor like burn on the back end that does a pretty good job of balancing out the sweet front end. The aged version has less sweetness and the booze like flavors have mellowed nicely. It's hard to find a. Beer above 12% that you can honestly call smooth, but a little age puts this brew right there. After a year, very little oxidation has set in. I think a little bit of be sherry character that comes from a few years of aging would be a great compliment to the dark fruits. I have a couple still from the first release, and I can't wait to see what 3 or 4 years does to mellow this beer out.

I'm thrilled that Bier sold out of this beer quickly because it shows that people are looking forward to its release. I believe in buying local, but only if it's good beers this is both local and good. It's the only packaged release Bier does. Compared to some of the other breweries special releases I think this one delivers ten ones over. You should give Sanitarium a try if you haven't, but bring a friend it's a great beer to share 

Bloomington Brewing Co. Persimmon Ale

We're always excited to be included in announcements from Indiana breweries. Take a look at some news we just received from Bloomington Brewing Co. Will you be heading out to pick up any of their Persimmon Ale as a part of this limited release?


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact:
Mark Cady, Business Manager
Bloomington Brewing Company
C 812-322-1287
E mcady@bloomington.com
www.bloomingtonbrew.com


BLOOMINGTON BREWING CO. RELEASES LIMITED SEASONAL PERSIMMON ALE


Summary:


Bloomington Brewing Company is releasing their Persimmon Ale in 22oz. “bomber”
bottles and on draft beginning October 30th. A special release party will take place at Big Red Liquors at their downtown Bloomington location at: 418 N College Ave. The beer will be bottled and sold on the same day, providing the freshest possible package you can find. Bottles will be available locally in Bloomington, at locations where Bloomington Brewing Company bottles are currently sold, the following day. You can also find Persimmon Ale on draught at the brewpub and in select local establishments where craft beer is sold. Look for the bottle statewide beginning the
first week of November.


As Indiana’s indigenous fruit, Persimmons can be found when the leaves begin to
turn and the chill begins to bite. Bloomington Brewing Company pays homage to
this sweet and slightly citrus fruit by infusing more than 140 lbs. of locally sourced
Persimmons from our good friends at Twin Tykes located in Orleans, IN. This batch
is very limited and is only available for a short time.


Ingredients include: Pale and Caramel Malts and Cascade Hops.
6.2% ALC/VOL • IBU 9 • 15.2 ̊ OG


Bloomington Brewing Company was established in 1994, and is the fourth modern-
era brewpub in the state and the first in Southern Indiana. This is their first year of
bottle production after 20 years of draught only service. You can visit the brewpub at
Lennie’s Restaurant and try their beers from one of their 15 draught lines, including
Nitro and Cask styles. You can also purchase their bottles or draught beer for
carryout seven days a week. Visit their website at www.bloomingtonbrew.com
or follow them on twitter and facebook at @BloomingtonBrew and Bloomington
Brewing Company, respectively.

130 Indiana Beers! HopCat's grand opening

HopCat Broad Ripple has come a long way since we checked out the building progress in June. This Saturday marked their grand opening, and what better way to join Indy's craft beer scene than by putting 130 different Indiana beers on tap?

 For anyone who may have missed the announcement, HopCat is the newest beer bar in Broad Ripple. Indy is the first location outside of their home state of Michigan and we couldn't be prouder to have them.

HopCat also had a deal where the first 200 people who showed up got free "crack fries" for a year. That's 52 orders of their delicious seasoned french fries over the next year. As a big fan of french fries, and an even bigger fan of Indiana beer, I dragged Brie to get in line at nine in the morning. I've waited in line for beer releases and I've waited in line for events. I have never waited in line for a bar opening.

We arrived two hours early and we were more than one hundred people back in line. When we got there we found out two guys go to the entrance at 3:30 in the morning and literally rolled out sleeping bags and slept in line. The two hours we sat in the rain sharing beers with line goers was nothing. In the end it was all worth while when I got my card for free crack fries for a year! It says a lot about a bar that people get so excited to form a line as long as HopCat had.

 

When we got through the door, it was like when Charlie first got into the chocolate factory. HopCat was bigger than I expected, with two bars, tons of seating and an awesome patio. Sadly, it was raining, so no one was using the patio. Even with the rain they opened the doors and we got a table with a view. The rock star decor and the insane beer geek atmosphere made it kind of like sitting in on a Rolling Stones party. There is custom artwork on the walls and the bar has a great mash up of modern and traditional decor, while still being warm and inviting.

 

Four of us made it through about sixteen beers, passing them around and trying a little bit of everything. Sun King and Upland brought the mother load with thirty beers each. Sun King dominated with its Kings Reserve and barrel aged brews. My favorite from them was the Cuvee de Sun King, a lightly sour dark cuvee and the Isle Barrel Aged Wee Muckle, their Wee Muckle aged in scotch whiskey barrels. Other awesome brews, were Triton's French Toast Saison, and Three Floyd's Big Tiddy Assassin and the Upland Pineapple IPA.

There were so many beers that I feel like I barely scratched the surface. I would have loved to drink the entire list. I'm excited to see how long some of these great Indiana beers last on draft, and I know I will be stopping in this week to get whatever left overs they have. If you weren't able to go to the release, go soon! This is probably more Indiana beer options than we have at most festivals and I would be sad if anyone missed it.

Now, all these great Indiana beers won't be there all the time, but the food will and the food was outstanding. I got a pretzel breaded pork tenderloin. That's not a tenderloin on a pretzel bun, that's a tenderloin breaded with pretzel crumbs. The pretel crumbs gave it a really dark color, that almost looked burnt, but it was not even close. The pork was juicy inside and the pretzel really gave it a unique flavor and a crispy outside. The beer cheese soup was insanely good. It was so rich, that it was probably more like a cheese dip then a soup.

On top of all that, the crack fries were pretty outstanding. Their crack fries are a lightly spicy seasoned french fry. They are awesome standard but can be loaded and topped with some great options. Brie got her go to, mac and cheese, and was happy about the gooey cheese and noodles. Everyone at our table really liked the food and for as busy as they were the service wasn't bad. You'd think with a horde of beer geeks banging down your doors nothing would get done, but we were seated, fed and on our way home in less than three hours.

This is quickly going to be one of my favorite spots to do some drinking and some eating.

Upland's Secret Barrel Society

So you say you're tired of having to enter the lottery to get your lambics from Upland?
So you say, you never get as many delicious sour beers as you want?
So you say you wish there was an easier way???
There is an easier way. I am a big fan of the Upland Lambics, and Malefactor is one of my all-time favorites, so when the Secret Barrel Society (SBS) memberships came out my wonderful wife got one for me for my birthday.

I've really enjoyed everything about it, but as I was going through my last tour of the Upland sour beer program, it occurred to me that not everyone really knows how many additions have been made to the benefits of the Secret Barrel Society.

Upland has had their Secret Barrel Society going on since the end of last year. When it first came out there were a lot of people in the local beer community that were, let's just say unimpressed, but Caleb, their head brewer, has done a ton to make this a worthwhile program. I know they have some possible changes in the works for next year, but let's take a look what what members have gotten so far.

• Each member recieved 2 members only tulip glasses
• So far there have been two private tours of the Upland Brewery sour program with Caleb and samples of the sours coming down the pike. Members were able to bring a guest to those events.
• There has been one sour beer release party, hosted at the Bloomington and Carmel tap houses, complete with samples of new beers, meats cheeses and talks with employees working on the sour program. Members were able to bring a guest to this as well.
• Members got a free VIP pass to the Sour Wild Funk Fest (SWFF).
• After SWFF we were able to go into the catacombs for a special SBS party. Again members were able to bring a guest.
• Most importantly, members have been able to get up to 6 of each beer for the last few releases. That is a TON of delicious Upland sours.

Upland was really upfront when talking about their goals for the SBS. They wanted to grow the sour program enough that they were able to start putting some of their beers back on liquor store shelves around town. They cool thing is, they've actually started doing it. Big Red has gotten a few cases of the last couple releases.

 

There are tons of people who talk about "the good ol'days" when you could just go to the store and buy a lambic. Well, the extra money coming in from the SBS memberships and the additional sales of the beer is making the sour program strong. If this had been a kickstarter it probably would have been supported better, but kickstarter takes money away from the program. 

As a community we can be unforgiving when we feel like we've been slighted or taken advantage of. I know SBS didn't impress everyone when it first came out, but they've done a great job making it a great value for beer geeks around town. If you love their sours and haven't been getting as many in the lottery as you want, you should really check out the Secret Barrel Society.

Honey... you spent how much on that??

Let me start off by saying that this is in no way a statement about brewery prices- this is about you, me, and all the beer geeks out there. Why do we spend so much money on beer??

I don't mean over a period of time, I mean on that $35 750ml bottle. At some point last year I decided I'd had enough and would no longer spend money on beer that was north of $1 an ounce; there are some rare exceptions, but in general I didn't see the point anymore. No more upland sours, no more bruery anniversary beers, no more mikkeller or other high-priced imports (at least some). Why did I stop? Well first and foremost I'm pretty sure I'd be dead where I stood courtesy of my girlfriend if I continued, but I realized some things. Maybe you'll completely disagree with what I have to say below,..but please do. 

Taste

Does that $1 plus an ounce beer really taste that much better than that 20¢ an ounce beer? In some cases sure, there's some really crappy $12 6 packs out there and many phenomenal $25 large format beers. Unfortunately, there's also a lot of $25 stinkers; it gets compounded by the fact that some of these stinkers don't get a lot of reviews because of prohibitive price and those that do may get a psychological ratings boost because of the price; a $25 beer better taste good right? And don't tell me you haven't been influenced by that. Let's compare apples to apples though. Take your favorite $12 6 pack up against your favorite $25 beer. Now would you rather have 25oz of one-time enjoyment or 144oz of prolonged enjoyment? 

Friendship and a Sense of Belonging

At some point or another you might just feel "it's necessary" to buy those expensive beers.... to lubricate friendships of course! A lot of times showing up with those big expensive beers to a bottle share is a great way to ingratiate yourself to a tasting group especially if you're new; don't want to be that guy shows up to a tasting with an Upland Infinte Wisdom (sorry Upland, but your non-sours are well priced) right? Bringing an expensive date the first time around or occasionally isn't a bad idea, but shouldn't be a habit or goal in my opinion; bringing 3 $25+ beers to a monthly share can add up. In my experience bringing something hard to get or obscure (doesn't mean expensive) will be appreciated just as much. Plus who knows when that expensive beer will get consumed- after everyone is drunk? After palates have been wrecked?  If you're group cares about how much you spent, you should probably find a new group. 

Or you may feel swept up in the beer geek frenzy to buy expensive beers, because everyone else is doing it and it makes you feel apart of the community in some way. You may feel left out if you didn't pick up that latest expensive beer. Again there's better ways to become a part of the community, like volunteering at festivals (bonus- the festival becomes free for you!).  

Collectibility & Rarity

I think everyone who gets "serious" about the craft beer hobby goes through the phase of wanting to buy anything that's perceived as rare or desirable and a lot of times this means expensive; I went through this big time. Nowadays there's so many of these expensive "rare" beers that you'd have to take a loan out to even attempt to pick up everything you want. I tend to pick my spots nowadays and try to grab only things from proven breweries or favorite styles that might have a unique twist (these are the exceptions I mentioned above). Otherwise the normal budget breakers, barrel aged beers and sours, are becoming a dime a dozen... well $300 a dozen. Luckily the "gotta catch'em all" fever is easier (and cheaper) to satiate now that more and more of these beers find their way to bars, festivals, and probably your friends' bottle shares.

Expensive beers remind me of the SUV fad that swept the US in the 2000's: big, sexy, everyone wanted one, but largely too expensive, impractical, and inefficient for most. I don't think expensive beers will go away by any means. While some craft beer veterans grow out of the expensive beer phase and try to find a happy place with reasonably priced "go-to" 6 packs, the constant (and growing) influx of new beer hobbyists keep that expensive boat afloat. 

Well I should stop telling you what to do with your money and go polish all 300 pieces in my glassware collection. 

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?

Dark Lord Day

This year was my first year to get tickets to Dark Lord Day, or DLD as the cool kids are calling it. For those of you who haven't been, Dark Lord Day is really what you make of it because ultimately it's a big ass festival where you can pick up your beer, try some unique combinations if you're lucky enough to win your golden ticket, hear some music, and share a great experience with old and new friends.

My friends and truly I made the most of it. The doors opened at 10 am CST, so we decided that it would be best to get a spot in the front of the line. We arrived before 5 am and set up a table and coolers to tailgate while we were waiting in the line. We brought some epic beers and started the festivities around 5:30 with beer and sausage patty sandwiches on the grill.

The line is a crazy place full of beer geeks walking up and down the lines sharing different beers. I think I tried over fifty beers while waiting for the doors to open. Strangers came up and down the line with beers offering tastes. The sense of community was undeniable.

Since the line was so epic, I thought the party was going to be crazy once we got into the festival, but I basically just got in line. First I waited in line for glassware. Three Floyds doesn't actually provide those mini snifters that you see every year. They're provided by the coffee company they partner up with for the Dark Lord beer. This was the first year we got product from Dark Matter, a coffee roaster located in Chicago. The line was crazy. We were probably part of the first hundred people through the south gate, and we barely got glassware. Dark Matter made less than 1000 of each, so they went fast.

Once I got my glassware fix, it was just about time for the B group, which I was a part of, to go get our Dark Lord, so I got in another line. Luckily throughout all these lines people were sharing great brews from their local market, so the party slowed down a little bit but it never stopped. The line for the beer was quick and easy, but all in Brie and I spent about 3 hours in line since we got through the line we were waiting in outside the gates. It was turning out to be Dark Line Day.

At that point I was half popped and having a great time, so I told myself no more lines. I did not go through the take home line because it was mostly stuff I'd had. Friends had gotten a picnic table, so we had a nice base of operations. From there we could drink beer from Three Floyds on draft, awesome guest taps and some really great bottles we were sharing.

There was some excellent high end fair food. The Alpha Brat was incredible. It was a beer soaked brat that was crisped up nicely on the grill with some sort of chopped relish that was delicious. If you were looking for something on the sweeter side, they made ice cream out of the Dark Lord beer. It was sweet and malty and delicious. I wish they had sold pints to take home.

The beer was the most important thing to us, but there were a lot of people there for the concerts. Dark Lord Day is a big heavy metal concert. Once I was in the party mindset I went out and started enjoying the music. The festival trailed off at that point, but in a blur of excellence.

My first time at Dark Lord Day was worth all of the lines and the effort to get tickets and all the other hassles that went along with it. If you haven't been yet you should add it to your bucket list.

Dark Lord Day in Pictures

Most of the blog got to go to Dark Lord Day 2014. While we recover, here's our day in photos.

Surviving Dark Lord Day

This week begins just like every other week for most people. For many beer geeks, however, this week starts with more excitement than most. Dark Lord Day is Saturday. If you don't know about this, check out www.darklordday.com and catch up.

Having been to the past two Dark Lord Day events, I thought it might be good to pass along some tips for surviving the day. The boom of craft beer in the last year or two has brought a lot of new beer geeks to the scene which has increased the number of first time attendees. 

1. Arrive early. The parking situation is a concern. The sides of the streets will be lined with cars by 7:00am. If not earlier. If you don't get one of those spots, you may be forced to pay for parking in one of the surrounding lots or across the street in the park. If you plan to arrive later in the day, you may have better luck as there are people who leave early. But one of my favorite things about DLD is the bottle sharing line before the event starts. So getting there early means less stress related to parking and awesome time waiting in line. 

2. Don't be an asshole. This is probably the most important tip for the day. Be flexible, have a positive attitude, and remember that everyone is there to have a good time. Don't line cut in the bottle line once inside. If someone in line offers you a pour of Bourbon County Rare, be modest. Take a 1-2oz pour. Don't be greedy and take a 6oz pour unless you are looking to get in a fight. Which goes back to the first sentence in this rule. 

3. Take a case of water with you. Seriously everyone should bring that much water. This is a marathon. Not a sprint. Small pours and lots of water are your keys to not getting drunk early in the day and face planting in the grass. Contrary to what you might think, you do not want to get drunk at DLD. For most, this is inevitable though. So hydrate hydrate hydrate and make sure you eat a substantial breakfast and an alpha brat for lunch. Bring snacks as well. Food and water are your best friends on Saturday. 

4. Don't forget your tickets, cash, and ID. You will need all of them. Guest taps are $5-$10 during the day. Dark Lord bottles are $15. If you win the right to buy a barrel aged Dark Lord that's $50. Plan for the best because you don't want to have to deal with the ATM line. I promise. 

5. Bring a cooler or a backpack. The rules say coolers are not allowed, but if you bring a soft cooler that goes over your shoulder, you will be fine. Backpacks are definitely good to bring as well. Just don't bring one of those large coolers on wheels. They won't let that in. Also, the high temp for Saturday right now is 48, so you may not need a cooler at all. But better to have it to transport your beers for sharing. 

6. Bring beer to share and a tasting glass. People love craft beer. You don't have to bring super rare bottles to share. Bring a growler of your local favorite. Bring home brews. We all will want to try most anything craft. I also usually bring two tasting glasses. Don't stress about what to bring. Bring something you want to drink and don't mind sharing with others. 

7. Dress appropriately. It's going to be a tad chilly. Great for keeping beer cold during the day, but you will want to wear a sweatshirt or a light jacket. Also, sunscreen is a good idea if you don't plan on wearing a hat. It will be sunny and you can still get sunburned if you don't take proper precautions. Also, right now the forecast is for 0% chance of rain...which means you should definitely bring some rain gear. 

8. Bring a cloth grocery bag. When you go through the bottle line to get your dark lord bottles, they will provide you with a flimsy bomber 4 pack holder. Don't trust your bottle fate to these carriers. Put your bottles in a cloth grocery bag and immediately take them to your car. You don't want to be the guy who passes out in the grass next to your dark lord bottles because there ARE people there who will violate tip #2 and you will go home empty handed. 

9. Bottle sharing tips. Don't assume anything you see on the table is fair game for you to take a pour. Always be courteous and ask. It usually will be fair game, but asking eliminates any question. If you didn't bring it, ask. People are always nice and generous, but if you just start taking pours you are violating tip #2 and people won't enjoy being with you. Contribute to the share as well. Plan to bring bottles that you open in line before the event and in the tents during the event. Don't open all of your bottles in the line before. Also, if your bottle has a cork, bring a corkscrew. 

10. Bring toilet paper. Self explanatory. 

11. Hit up the guest taps. There is world class beer brought in from awesome breweries across the globe. Use your friends to divide and conquer. If you have 10 friends everyone buys one different pour and you share them with the group. Sharing guest taps is a lot of fun and you get to try more incredible beer.  

12. Check out the bands. I've missed this each year, and while Metal is not really my thing, I definitely want to check out some of it this year. I am dying to rage. 

I am sure there are many other things I could list but if you follow these 12 tips you should have yourself a marvelous time. Be safe, don't be afraid to call a cab, and have fun!  Be sure to check back as we will have our own Dark Lord Day story to share with you all. 

Founders Backstage Tasting

The 2014 KBS release has come and gone already. This year bottles were dropped on different days for a little over a week, which made it very different from last year's one-day blitz.

In honor of this years KBS release, the Barons got together with some close friends and went through all 9 of the releases so far. We also did 5 years of Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) and 3 years of Backwoods Bastard. It was an epic night from Founders Brewing.

For the last 3 years Founders Brewing Company out of Grand Rapids, MI has been bottling limited release experimental beers called their Backstage Series. They all have big flavor, high alcohol content, and really interesting ingredients. They are a beer geek's white whale. We haven't been great about reviewing all of them, but we did get to their Barrel Aged Double IPA, Doom.

There is nothing better than having awesome friends that share a passion as much as you do. Our tasting group is made up of some outstanding traders who get their hands on some of the most impressive beers out there. When we're able to combine our powers there isn't much we can't put together and this night was proof.

My favorites from this tasting were: Blushing Monk, Frangelic Mountain Brown and Doom (although it was closer to a hopped up barleywine like Behemoth by FFF).

Blushing Monk was the first of the Backstage beers to be bottled and distributed. It came out almost 3 years ago, and that was well before I got into trading etc, so it was one I had never tried. It was very impressive. It reminded me of an imperial version of Rubaeus, their seasonal raspberry beer. It poured out a beautiful ruby color with a little off-white head. It had big raspberry aroma with just a little bit of boozy heat. After 3 years there was still barely any oxidation. The beer was thick, sweet, and boozy in all the right ways. There was tons of berry sweetness with an excellent tart finish.

This was the kind of tasting where you have a tough time deciding what the best beers really were. All the backstage beers were impressive in their own ways, so it was an epic evening all around.

Kevin: This was a great event.  It was fun to go through each beer in the order of their release. Blushing Monk was by far the best beer of the series at this point. Interestingly, Founders only uses one strain of yeast for every beer they make. Blushing Monk is the only beer they have made that doesn't use the house yeast. Take that for what it's worth. Easily the best of the night.

It's also sad to have experienced the death of CBS. When fresh it was a massive coffee stout with loads of maple, chocolate, and bourbon. A glorious beer. It's dead now. Oxidized and tasting of barrel tannins with just a touch of maple. It bordered on unpleasant. A good example of a beer that should have been consumed when fresh. 

The surprise of the night for me was Doom. The hops had faded away a bit but it was crisp, clean, and still had a tiny hop bite that balanced the malt and bourbon goodness. I actually wouldn't mind having another. I also enjoyed Frangelic Mountain Brown. It wasn't as sweet as it was fresh and seemed to be holding together nicely. 

One suggestion if you have these bottles. Drink them. Founders says that the majority of their beers should be consumed freshly. This series is proof of that. None of them were better than when they were young.  I wouldn't advocate trading them either unless you clearly tell the person you are trading with that the beer is clearly past it's prime. Also, stop trying to trade for them...except Blushing Monk. 

Tastings like these are once in a lifetime. Was a great experience. But I learned my lesson. With every Backstage release moving forward I will definitely not let them sit around.

Barons' Brew - 2014

To commemorate the first full calendar year of the Indiana Beer Barons, The Big Guy decided to brew a special beer (which will hopefully become an annual tradition).  For this first "Barons' Brew" we solicited input from all the Barons.  Each of us picked one hop and one added flavor, with The Big Guy picking the yeast and base malt.  As an additional twist, we each made our choices in isolation, so none of these were picked to work well together.  It sounds like a train wreck waiting to happen, and this probably won't allay your suspicions:

The Big Guy chose to use Saison yeast, and a characteristically diverse malt bill which included Pale Malt, 2 Row, Caramel/Crystal Malt, Munich Malt, Cara-Pils/Dextrine, Flaked Rye, and Victory Malt.

We mixed all the hops together and added at several times during the boil:
Mosaic hops - The BrewniBomber
Galaxy hops - El Duque
Noble Hops - The Little Lady
Citra hops - O-Dawg
Centennial hops - Professor Beer

The following items were also used in the Barons' Brew:
Oak Chips - The BrewniBomber
Mango - El Duque
Amaretto - The Little Lady
Grapefruit - O-Dawg
Honey - Professor Beer

It sounds like quite the mess, and I wasn't expecting much out of the Barons' Brew.  However, my first thoughts on tasting it were "surprisingly, not terrible."  The Barons' Brew pours a cloudy, golden straw color.  Only two of the added flavors really come through, the honey and amaretto; there isn't much oak, mango, or grapefruit to the beer. The hop medley also turned out well, ultimately creating a fairly solid beer.  Though the process for creating future Barons' Brews will almost certainly be different, I'm excited to see what other concoctions we come up with.

Here's the recipe for those daring (or foolish) enough to attempt creating their own 2014 Barons' Brew:

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
3.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM)
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM)

3.00 lb clover honey added to boil

.5 oz Saz Hops
.5 oz Citra hops
.5 oz Mosaic hops
.5 oz Galaxy hops
.5 oz Centennial hops
(hops were mixed together and dropped at 20 and 40 minutes)

3 oz grapefruit rind @ 50 minutes

Pitch French Saison Yeast 3711

1 cup of amaretto in the primary at day 1
2 cups Lightly toasted oak chips at day 1
1 lbs of mango in secondary at day 14

total fermentation time = 21 days

The Big Guy: If you are crazy enough to replicate this beer, I have a few suggestions. First, make sure you use a yeast starter. The brew finished a little bit sweet, and with as much honey as we added there was room for the final gravity to be lower. Second, I would add more mango. I love mango and we could barely taste it. When adding fruit, I freeze it first to break apart the cells, then I let it sit in high proof booze to sterilize everything. Third, I would have added the amaretto at the very end of the boil instead of during fermentation. The Baron's Brew 2014 turned out better than we expected and I can't wait to do it again next year.

At What Point does a Special Release Just Become "Special"

I love a nicely done coffee beer, or even a beer with cocoa nibs added into the boil. There are some outstanding special releases out there that have unique combinations, but as the community grows brewers are doing crazier and crazier stuff. This leaves me wondering at what point have we gone too far?

In the 1500's the Germans created Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law. It dictated that beer could only contain water, malt and hops. At this time they didn't know about the existence of yeast, so that wasn't included to the rules until much later. This may sounds silly, but we have similar laws here in America defining Bourbon Whiskey. Just like with the American Bourbon specifications, the law was made to help regulate beer, its quality and its price throughout Germany. A lot of brewers believe that the Reinheitsgebot still have a big place in our craft beer culture, but the spirit of American individualism is all about pushing the envelope. At the other end of the spectrum are brewers have thrown the rules out the window and set the book on fire.

I love a lot of the beers with adjunct flavors. Some of my favorite beers that have added flavors are part of the Bourbon County series by Goose Island. They've added everything from coffee to coconuts and the beer tastes outstanding. One of the key points with this experimental beer is that the base beer is excellent. Goose Island took a lot of time creating a great beer, and then they thought about the flavors that would go well with the base beer and added them. Likewise, some of the variants at Flat 12's anniversary party were outstanding and followed that same model of building on a solid foundation of an excellent brew.

For every home-run, there are bound to be a few that strike out. Creating "extreme" beer has almost become more important than creating good beer and many breweries jump right into the crazy variants before they've mastered the basics of a great beer. If you've ever watched the show "Brew Dogs," they do some of the most ridiculous things to make a beer. One of the beers was made on a boat with flavoring herbs they picked on the shore. Sometimes the reactions from the crowd are good, sometimes not so good; but the beers never sound like something you want to drink over and over again. I know that Brew Dog makes some excellent beers and I would never claim that they don't know what they're doing, but they are making things for the sake of making them. It seems like we're pushing the boundaries for the sake of pushing boundaries.

Flat 12 just put a suggestion box in the brewery for people to submit ideas for unique beers. I have to be honest here, the idea of the general public creating flavor combinations scares the living shit out of me. I know the brewers will be able to veto really bad ideas etc., but to give that much power to people that aren't trained and are probably pretty drunk seems like a bad call. In contrast, Cartel Brewing Co on the west side has set up a "Customer Tap." This is one beer that will be available regularly that is chosen by the patrons of the brewery. It will give the people power but so far it has been limited to style choices on a survey put out through social media. We know they are planning on doing some creative beers, but so far they've made sure the general populace can't get too carried away.

When we look at things like crayfish beer, bacon maple doughnut beer and beer soured by men bathing in it we have to wonder where the line is. I know that if we don't push the boundaries we may never find the next great flavor. I just hope that brewers remember that their main job is to make a tasty product without unintended flavors and constant quality issues.

I love some of the unique combinations out there but as we continue to create the most extreme beers my question to the community is "what is too far?" Leave us a comment to let us know what you think.

A six pack costs how much?!?!

If you haven't noticed, your favorite craft beer spots were just taken over by a strange, green alien from another state, Hopslam. For those of you who may not know about this strange visitor to our Indiana beer landscape, Hopslam is by Bells Brewery in Michigan and it's a DIPA brewed with honey.

It comes in at a big 10% ABV and has a big hit of hops. It's one of my favorite beers in the winter. Its got a ton of alcohol to warm you up, but the big hop flavors remind you of summer.

Although, it's a great beer, some of you may get a little sticker shock when you pull it off the shelves. A sixer of this nectar of the gods comes in at around $19 to $21. This might be hard to handle when you can go pick up a six pack of other brews for $10-$12. One of the biggest things we pay for with these seasonal releases is quality. Here's a little breakdown:

Ingredients: The first thing to look at while talking about price is the amount of resources a brewery puts into making a beer. Any of your high ABV beers, which are my favorite, are going to have a little higher price tag because they require more malt to make. More malt = a little more money. In addition to higher malt costs, good quality hops can be expensive. In some cases seasonal releases use harder to find strains of hops which further escalates the cost of brewing. Take Hopslam for example, "Starting with six different hop varietals added to the brew kettle & culminating with a massive dry-hop addition of Simcoe hops, Bell's Hopslam Ale possesses the most complex hopping schedule in the Bell's repertoire." Now get a beer that has a huge ABV and more hops than you can shake a stick at and the ingredients alone are putting you into a whole different price category. Extra ingredients like organic honey, molasses, coffee and others can also escalate costs.

Fermentation: Another topic to consider is the duration of fermentation. Lagers take longer to ferment then ales. Fountain Square's Workingman's Pilsner takes almost twice as long as their other house beers just because it lager ferments. When we're talking basic beers we're normally going from five days to ten days or something equally less frightening, but for the brewery that's still half the output that they'd normally get, therefore half the revenue coming in on the brews. When we get into barrel aging, like the Sun King Reserve beers, we start looking at months in a barrel on top of fermentation, and these barrels take up space as well as resources keeping the environment at the right temperature and humidity. Hell, we probably have to add some cost just for purchasing the barrels, because they can't be used forever.

Specialty: One of the biggest complaints I hear, is "why are all the sour beers so expensive?"
This one actually makes the most sense of all since sours have their own unique brewing process. To sour a beer, we add a different strain of "wild" yeast or bacteria to the brew. This gives it a uniquely sour flavor. Most people who make sours then take their various batches of sour beer and blend them together to create something tasty. As you can imagine having many different batches to blend going at any one time adds to the cost. Also, if something sours in the wrong way it may have to be discarded. On top of all this, most beers soured with lacto end up being aged for a year or more, often in barrels just like we talked about above. There is also a big risk of cross contamination with the bacteria that sour the beer. Often sour programs have to be held in secondary brewing facilities, because even a dividing wall may not keep the bacteria from migrating. Sours can really get pricey, but a lot of passion, patience and expertise go into making them.

The Hype: The last reason for high prices that I'm going to talk about is the hype. Every true Indiana beer nerd has had that moment where an out of state beer nerd asks, "so have you ever had Zombie Dust?" Zombie Dust is an amazing beer with great hop character balanced by sweet, smooth malts. Excellent in every way, but more than that, it has become like the movie Evil Dead or Goonies... it's now a cult classic. It has become a rite of passage for aspiring beer geeks to show that they've truly made it.This sort of cult following has allowed liquor stores to break up six packs and sell the beers for a premium. I can get a six pack of ZD at Three Floyds for ten dollars but most places around town charge 3 dollars per bottle. Other breweries like Bells and Founders have similar beers where the price comes up just because the beer has so much hype that everyone wants to try it. Now this is the supply and demand portion of our beer econ lesson today. The better known a brewery is and the better the beer they make contribute to the scarcity we experience in the market.

I'm not accusing these big breweries of being all hype. Most of them are making really great product. They've done such a great job brewing quality beer and actually marketing it, that now they can get a premium. Some of you may say that this is just price gouging by the breweries, but I strongly believe that as long as the product is of a good enough quality that it sells out in stores or breweries or whatever venue it's offered, the brewer is just asking for the right price for their product.

With all these factors out on the table, we have seen instances where breweries have made a less than stellar beer that had a high ABV, or barrel aged something that just didn't age well. When this happens and the brewery still puts it out, it brings their whole brand into question. It hurts their hype. When a brewery gets a reputation for barrel aging piss and charging exorbitant amounts of money for the "brew" people stop trying some of their other beers. It's straight up capitalism. If you make crap and I buy it, I may be wary of your beers next time. If you make crap and charge me my first born for it, I may have to go bananas on social media and avoid your beer forever, but I should really be mad about the quality of the beer first and foremost not the price.

If you are drinking on a budget there are a few ways to keep the quality without blowing all your mad money.

1. Fill your growlers - Most 64 oz growlers are between $12 and $18 dollars to fill up at the brewery.
2. Look for deals - Many breweries have growler discount days. For example, you can get $5 fills at Sun King on Fridays of all of their house beers
3. Look for 6 Packs - I'm not really sure why this is the case, but six packs tend to cost less than bombers per ounce. I've even seen the same beer in both packages come in at different prices per oz.
4. Everyday Beers - IN breweries have some great offerings that are year round, these tend to be cheaper and most are great quality beer.
5. Try before you buy- Look for liquor store tastings to try some whales before buying them, that way you know you're happy with what you're buying.

When we're talking about how much is too much, it will always come down to how much you are willing to pay for an awesome craft beer experience. Everyone makes priorities in their life, whether it's a new car, fishing trips with the kids, or vacations with your loved ones. We make choices, and some people will look at these pricey six packs and say "it's not for me." That doesn't mean they're bad options. The only real problem is when we the consumer allow people to make bad beer and then go out and buy their next barrel aged whatever. Vote with your dollars.

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 Birthday Urban Chestnut

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company (UCBC) 4th anniversary party in St. Louis. MO. On top of it being the 4th anniversary for the brewery, it was the 40th birthday of the head brewer. We knew we were in store for quite the event. This really was like the celebration double whammy, and those guys know how to through a crazy ass party.

There were dozens of Missouri breweries all set up like a festival, and even a live brass band, making for a really fun day for those of us who came in from out of town. They had food trucks outside, facility tours, and even someone making custom T-shirts. All this was held in their brand new facility that isn't even finished. We snapped some shots of the work in progress and were very impressed.

For me the icing on the cake was the man dressed up like a Wolpertinger. For those of you not familiar with Bavarian folklore, a Wolpertinger basically looks like a jackolope with bat wings, and UCBC knows German because their head brewer moved from Germany to America to work for AB before starting this wonderful craft paradise.

UBCB named their anniversary beer Wolpertinger, after this bizarre Bavarian creature. It's an imperial barrel aged version of their Wingnut, which is a German style Weiss beer. Yeah, that's not exactly easy to explain... but damn it tastes good. There were a few different variations on the Wolpertinger there to try and take home.

My favorite was the version aged in red wine barrels. It poured out a really dark mahogany color with an off white head. It was big, sweet and boozy with enough heat that it will age wonderfully. There was a ton of German character with big raisin and dark fruit flavors. I picked up a slight hint of nuttiness left over from the original Wingnut. The wine barrels gave it just a hint of sourness, which I loved because it was a great foil for the big malty sweetness. I give it a solid 4.5 fresh with all the hope in the world that it'll be a 5 in a few months.
 

They were running tours through the new building and it is about as state of the art as it gets. They've put in a huge tasting room that looks like a modern take on a Viking long house. There are tons of picnic tables all set up for people to get friendly and hang out. There will also be food! This looks like it will be an awesome place to hang out, and I can't wait to go back.

Happy Anniversary Flat 12 Bierwerks!

We had the opportunity to go celebrate this weekend with the team at Flat 12 as they celebrated their third anniversary. Between the company, the uncensored tour through the actual brewery, and a truly impressive beer list, we couldn't help but have a great time.

It all started at 10:45 when the Big Guy and I parked the car right in front of their door for the 11 o'clock festivities. Yup, we were basically first in line for everything.

Not that we totally planned it this way, but it gave us a chance to pick up some swag and fill a growler (or two) and then put everything in the car so that our hands were free to shake, high-five, and of course- hold beer.

There was so much beer, so many unique varieties, so many different things that I'd never had before. It was a list that rivals some festivals we've attended. If you look to the left, you can see a picture of the beer list we were given when we arrived. It was huge, and yes we took notes. There was a map on the other side of the areas where different beers were stationed, and even where the live music would be. It had everything!

We tried as many as we wanted to, and as many as I could handle safely since I was driving, and had a few stand outs.  Among the notable brews of the day were:

• Haggard Jo, Jo Brahma a brown ale/milk stout hybrid with coffee aged in bourbon barrels
• Majestic Emu, the Walkabout Pale Ale aged in Imperial Magpie barrels from New Day Meadery (we brought some home in a growler)
• Briar Patch Pinko 23, Russian Imperial Stout aged in 23 year Pappy Van Winkle barrels with raspberries and blackberries

We also brought home a four-pack of the Winter Cycle Double IPA, which is a wintery version of their Half Cycle IPA with juniper and 6 different types of hops.

The Big Guy: The thing people have to understand about Flat 12 is that when they throw a party, they THROW A FREAKING PARTY! This anniversary party had more beer options than a lot of the smaller suburban festivals that are springing up. There were more than 50 different beers, mostly variations on their already excellent brews.

My favorites were almost all variations on their existing beers. Each one of these is amazing, all different amounts of 5 rated beers.

My favorite beers of the festival were:

• Haggard Jo, Jo Brahma a brown ale/milk stout hybrid with coffee aged in bourbon barrels
• Briar Patch Pinko 23, Russian Imperial Stout aged in 23 year Pappy Van Winkle barrels with raspberries and blackberries
• Dark and Stormy Milk Stout, Lacto-Matic with ginger and black rum soaked oak chips

The beers were epic, but the really impressive part of the party is how all out Flat 12 goes out for their fans. They had live music. They had food trucks everywhere. The brewers were out in force shaking hands and talking to the people. They guys that work there were kind enough to give us a full tour of the brewing area and their barrel aging program. It was one of the best parties I've been to in a long time. Thanks for doing it right Flat 12.

Professor Beer:  Flat 12's 3rd Anniversary Celebration was a great time, with a truly impressive beer list.  Fortunately, they were offering 3 oz. pours of the beers, as there would have been no way to try most of the over 50 beers drinking full pints.  In addition to the beer, Flat 12 was offering complementary Smoking Goose appetizers.

Some of my favorite beers of the party were:

• Briar Patch Pinko 23 - I'm not surprised this made The Little Lady's and The Big Guy's lists as well.
• Wine Barrel Farmageddon - There were several excellent barrel-aged versions of Flat 12's Farmageddon Black Rye Farmhouse Ale.
• Haggard Jo - Another one you will notice above.

I'd also like to give an honorable mention to a couple sours that barely missed the list:

• MUDDER Funker - Blend of two sour stouts aged in bourbon barrels.
• Jailbait Brown - Sour brown ale with tart cherries.

El Duque: Flat 12's creativity is never really lacking, but it was definitely on show.  To quote Flat 12's sexiest employee, Erik Fox, "I work here and I haven't seen half these beers!"  I was blown away with how many there were it was like a mini festival.  In addition to everyone's favorite of the Briar Patch Pinko, Majestic Emu and Haggard Jo, my favorites were also:

• Nitro 2013 Rye Barrel Big Black Dog 68 - American Style Rye Stout aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels.  So smooth and perfect for the cold weather.
• Farmaryemageddon - Black Rye French Farmhouse Ale aged in Corsair Ryemegeddon Barrels.  Such a perfect balance of booze and intense flavors.
• Kiwi Saison- wonderfully crisp with the sour kiwi to complement the farmhouse funk.

Honorable mention: Strawberry Moustache Ride Red - There were so many BIG BEERS there that these little notes of balanced sweet and ale really stood out and gave contrast to a great selection of close to 60 beers.

The BrewniBomber: I'd have to say this is one of the best events I've been to and it's going to take a lot for someone else to top this in 2014. As everyone has said already the beer list was amazing, but I'd have to say my favorite parts were getting to talk to people in the indy beer scene and going on an impromptu "special" tour of the brewery... I got to see (but not touch) Josh's barrels! Plus I finally got a Flat 12 snifter!!

My favorite beers of the day?

• Haggard Jo
• Farmaryemageddon (took a growler home of this)
• Triple Smoke Barrel Aged 12 Penny. A scottish session ale aged in Corsair Artisan Distillery Triple Smoke whisky barrels.