This year's holiday brews, Ghost of Christmas Present

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


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



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

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


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

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


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


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

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

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

Dear Santa,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#DatGlass

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

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

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

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

From: http://thezythosproject.com/

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

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

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

Santa's Wishlist: Christmas Beers

Just in case you are tired of bringing boring wine to Christmas parties, we put together a list of some (mostly regional, but all available at your Indiana liquor store) beer options that will knock their socks off. These are not in any particular order. Most of them have reviews that will popping up in the next few weeks.

Three Floyd's Brewery brewed up Alpha Klaus. It is a dark Christmas porter with tons of chocolaty flavor and some pretty intense hops at the end. This is a great beer that is sure to impress any causal beer drinker who can stomach the dark stuff, and if you are in Indiana it is pretty easy to get your hands on. (full review to come later)

Hoppin Frog brewed up Frosted Frog Christmas Ale. This is a pretty intense dark brown ale. It has been beefed up with cinnamon  brown sugar and some great gingerbread flavor. It is very very sweet, and my wife fell in love with it. The sweetness makes it easy for anyone who is not into the craft beer scene to have a glass of holiday cheer. (full review to come later)

Anchor Brewing brewed up Our Special Ale (Anchor Christmas Ale 2012). This one is going to be different from all the rest. It pours out dark, but the taste is surprisingly light. It has nice malty flavors but a pretty strong dried cherry flavor helps cancel them out. This is a very well balanced brew. If your guests don't like the heavy stuff this is the one to go with.

Bells Brewery brewed up Bell's Christmas Ale. This Christmas ale is a pretty easy going brew for another dark beer. It has nice sweetness up front followed by a tasty round of holiday fruit flavors. The beer is heavy, but the sweetness mixed with the fruit flavors does a good job to round it all out.

New Belgium brewed 2 Degrees Below. This has always been one of my favorite winter beers even though it is a hoppier winter beer. There is going to be some serious bitterness mixed in with flavors of liquorice and other holiday spices. The beer is dry but well balanced, a seasonal favorite for the holidays.

Santa and our friends in the craft brewing industry have not forgotten our friends celebrating Hunakkah.

He'Brew brewed up Sweet 16 Anniversary Ale. I liked Origin, but this one is even better. This is a malty beer that has some nice seasonal fruit flavors. It also has a nice oak flavor that some of the other beers are missing. This helps balance the whole beer out. All this is to try and cover up the huge abv. Beware a few of these will get you celebrating.

Whatever you decide to share, or just to have on your own, enjoy the holiday season! What are you drinking this time of year that isn't on our list? You know we're always willing to try something new.