The Scene: AMBERgeddon!!!

AMBERgeddon!!!

Winners!

1st:  the RAM - "Buttface Amber"

2nd: Half Moon - Nameless entry

My Favorites of the Event

Flat 12 [who doesn't love a little Joe in their Beer?!]

3Wisemen [This shocked me... Seriously!]  

Shameless I know... Go to their website! 

TheBigGuys card.  

He was looking off of the Professor!

And I got Photo bombed... 

 "Welcome to Mid-EVIL TIMES!"

 That's Right... TheBigGuy wants a slice too or 

did he already eat the other half of the pizza AND Spice Box?!

The Professor with a Chewbacca from 

Der Pretzel Wagon!  Get the Vader TOO! 

"Gggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllll!!!"

Shots are on me! 

Featuring the elusive photo guy, O-Dawg!

I finally know what Michelle was talking about all those years ago...  

JOE!  Being bitter... as usual...   

The Crew! Plus 2 minus 1! 

Swag! 

I dub him SIR Noodle... 

The boy can double pour with the best of em! 

SHEEEp! 

MOOOO! 

Ducks go Quack! 

The molecular structure of this fluid seems to be too volatile to... nope its beer.

Der Pretzel Wagon! 

People!  Not the Brewery... /sadface 

"Which should I vote for?" 

BEER! 

1st:  the RAM - "Buttface Amber"

Belgian Dark Strong

Creation: Belgian Dark Strong
Style:  Belgian Dark Strong
Masterminds: Bier Brewery
Location: Indianapolis, IN
ABV: 10 %
IBU: 20.8
SRM: 17
Hops:
Availability: Special release
Drinkability:  I could have a few, but the sweetness may prevent mass consumption
Awards:

"Legend... Wait for it..."

Served cold right out of the BRÄULER™

Pours with a dark glow that swirls around the glass depths of your pint.  Very minimal head that sticks around and not much fizz to speak of after the initial pour.  (Tips hat to the bartender at BIER once again on a perfect growler fill)

The nose, like most Belgians, is a sweet and fruity banana.  It has a slight caramel-bready aroma.  This only whets the pallet in anticipation for the glory that is The Belgian Dark.

It starts off with a sweet Belgian Crystal Malt and Candi sugar flavor with notes of slight spicyness. This gives way to a sweet tang finish that permeates the pallet.

It will leave your mouth with a sweet and fruity zip that sticks around for a minute.

Serve warm(er) to mellow out the sharp flavors and cozy up with the warm high octane ABV.

3.5 heads: Defiantly a crowd pleaser and would want more if available.

Post Mortum:
You ever have a growler just stick around?  I mean you have a glass or two then get interrupted by a last minute "Honey could you go to the store for me?" or "Mom, Dad!  What a pleasant surprise!  You never stop by unexpected..."

I must have had 3-4 pints when I first opened this bad boy.  I thought I was just about done.  Cut to that following weekend.

I know... why are you letting perfectly good beer sit around in your fridge when you should have drank it all...  Please! I am a beer conioussuer, not a lush!  Besides the beer-geneers over at The Zythos Project - Home of the BRÄULER™ are going to nip that proverbial problem in the bud for me upon the month of February 2013.  Thank God I hit up their FreshCap™ CO2 injection system Kickstarter project.

Ok, this gem of a beer has been sitting around in my BRÄULER™ in the fridge for the better part of a full week untouched.  Like any dutiful red blooded american male I popped that puppy open determined to finish it rather than pour it down the sink.  Two angels lose their wings if you have to sacrifice beer to the sink god in this way... not so Ho Ho Ho if you know what I mean.... 

I was pleasantly surprised to note that the beer tasted almost exactly as it had when I had first poured it a week prior.  Now this doesn't happen to beer.  You let it sit that long in I don't care what type of run of the mill growler and you will end up with flat and stale beer.  Added to this not only did I have one pint left in it... but I had another plus a half to go!  That is 2.5 pints left in the growler for those of you playing the home game.  Now I may have been a little intoxicated and lost count the first time... or my beer magically repopulated itself in my fridge.  Either way this was a "Two in the hand is better than... Wait..."  Dary!  

Key West Sunset Ale

It is holiday season again, and for me nothing says holidays like being with family. Since I actually grew up and got married and my brother moved away etc, family has really changed. With all the change that has happened as we grow up, our time together is the only thing that has remained consistent.

This year we went down to the Florida Keys for Thanksgiving, and I knew I had to look for something I couldn't find back home. I tried to get some time to actually go to the brewery, but with family, you do not always get what you want. I had to settle for checking out local bars and restaurants and trying to pick up what I could. Not a bad compromise if you think about it.

Key West Sunset Ale is an amber ale by Florida Beer Company and it is absolutely everywhere. I couldn't go to a bar, restaurant or grocery store without running into this beer. The ABV was 4.8%. It has a very unique flavor for an amber ale. I am used to something that is more like a UK beer. Ambers tend to be heavy and malty. This beer was sweet but very different.

It poured a light golden red color with a thin white head. It smelled sweet and citrusy with a slight floral hop aroma. 

The beer was sweet as one might expect from an amber, but it was not heavy. It was actually very light for an amber. This beer was as light as some Mexican style lager and was light fruity. There were hints of caramel and honey in the malt. The hop profile was a bit weak.

  

This was a light summery beer, and I do not know that I would rate it as well if it were winter in Indy, but for a summer beer or a vacation beer it hit the spot. The flavors make you think of the beach on a hot salty day. I plan on trying to find a way to get this up here for June and July because there is not another amber beer that would be better while we were sitting out on a hot day.

If you are in FL anytime soon, try this one out.

I give it a 3

Beer Gear: The BRÄULER

BRÄULER™

This is what happens when Engineers get drunk...  in a bar...  that has a brewery in the basement...

Take back your growlers! No more smashed glass growlers! No more good beer lost in transit! Light?  Never going to see my beer! AIR?!  Never going to touch my beer!

Modular, CO2 charged, my god they even have plans for TAP growlers!  Come one, come all!

Keep an eye on Kickstarter.com for their TapCap™ system.  It is as good if not better than their last Kickstarter for the FreshCap™ CO2 injection system.

They don't sell them individually... yet... BUT you can checkout their clients breweries to snag one!

If you want to support Indiana Breweries, check out Tin Man Brewing CO's online shop to snag one!  They are based out of Evansville, IN!  Show them some love as they start up their carry out Growler Fills this December!

My 2 Cents:
I have been using mine since I snagged one from the Streetcar Bistro and Taproom  earlier this year. I must say it is kinda awesome if not downright indistructable!  I stacked it up against the Hydroflask that Bier Brewery is selling out of its taproom.  I think the BRÄULER™ has the edge due to the modular accessories, deep threads for the cap to grip and seal completely,  and easy to grab'n open cap.

O-Dawg: 5 heads!

Mustache Ride Red

"Who wants a mustache ride? ... Ooh, I vant von!!!!"

You will vant von soon too! So Movember is done and over with. My mustache looked like a cross between a 70's porn star and someone from the TV show Cops, but it was all for a good cause and my wife hasn't left me yet. We have raised all the money that we can. Thank you to everyone who joined the team or donated. Since it is all over, I wanted to make sure we threw some love to those people who put together a good brew for the cause.

Flat 12 Bierwerks did a great job with their Mustache Ride Red. It was damn good. This is a bourbon barrel vanilla amber. It had 6% ABV and 42.7 IBUs. The Flat 12 amber tends to be a hoppier amber than the average red. This worked out great for this beer because it had been barrel aged with a hint of vanilla, and the hop profile did a lot to even it out.

The beer poured red with a nice faint dusting of pure white head. It looked like a snowfall on a beautiful sunset. It was not a ton of hops, but enough to make a wicked grown up milk mustache. It had a bready aroma with a hint of the bourbon barrel and a nice earthy hop scent.

The beer was sweet and malty with hints of caramel and obviously the vanilla from the barrel and the vanilla beans added in fermentation. It was sweet and smooth and went down surprisingly fast for a 22 oz of beer. There was almost no alcohol flavor, it was just like drinking a malty soda. There was a slight bourbon oakiness that was pretty intense at the end of the beer. It mixed well with the flavor of the earthy hops and made for a very strong finish to an overall great beer.

I know it may be a while before you can get your hands on this, but make the effort. Its a great beer for a great cause.

Thanks to Flat 12 for putting it together.

I give it 4 beer head mustaches.

O-Dawg: 4 Heads, I would give it another half head if it was off of the Nitro tap... My god there are certain things that Flat 12 does right... and this is so right its wrong... in all the right ways!