Barrel Aged Maibock

I live only a few miles away from Sun King Brewery, but I don't really take advantage of this awesome local resource, like some people named The Big Guy, who I swear has a mole on the inside.  The alacrity with which he snags all of their special releases is envy inducing and totally not fair.

So when I was able to snag Sun Kings Barrel Aged Maibock on tap before he could, I considered it a personal, if childish, success.  SUCK IT BIG GUY

It was late April (so technically not May) and spring had broken and I love a good Maibock.  The Bavarians, being the beer nerds that they are, always paired their seasons with the type of beers they brewed.  Fall begins the Starkbierzeit, or strong beer time.  The dark 8%-12% bocks are rolled out to hunker down for the alpine winters.  In the Summer, Americans are very familiar with Munich's Helles blonde beers that are served by the stein and easily quaffed with friends sharing a sense of Gemütlichkeit, that feeling of bright euphoria wrapping around friends that are warmed by good beer where time doesn't exist.

The transition between those two very distinct styles is the Maibock.  Pale malts, lots of hops, and noticeable alcohol are the perfect transition when people are ready to shed their cabin fever, but not warm enough yet to enjoy a good garden party on a syrupy summer night.

Maibocks are great and although I am not a big fan of this whole bourbon barrel panacea trend, I was exceptionally pleased with the outcome.  It took those sweet whiskey notes from the barrel and paired them well with the booziness that comes with a Maibock.  Even though it was aged four months, the aggressively hopped bock shined with a wonderful German hop finish.  Hoppy, sweet, light and boozey.  It was a perfect mouthful.

I give it a 4.5.  Before I had Founders Doom and the other aged IPA iterations this spring, I probably would have only given it a 4, but seeing how Sun King was able to punch their hops through, which I think is pretty difficult for four months of aging, it gets an extra half point for execution.  I hope to see this again next May!  Der Maibock is ausgezeichnet!

The Big Guy: I had this one at a tap takeover at Chatham Tap in Fishers a little while back. I thought it was outstanding;. Unlike El Duque I love the barrel aged beers. I am pretty sure I would drink bourbon barrel aged Miller Lite and be pretty happy. I had never had a maibock when I first tried it, but it was described to me as May's version of an Oktoberfest, and I dug that. This brew had bright hoppy flavors, mixed with big boozy heat and some great barrel aged sweetness. I really don't appreciating you telling the guys at SK that I have their warehouse bugged, it might get me in trouble. Anyway, I give this delicious spring treat a 4.5 as well.

Sour Wild Funk Fest

I had a chance to tag along to another event with The Big Guy, O-Dawg, and O-Dawg's wife last Saturday. The four of us went down to the Broadripple area of Indianapolis for the Sour Wild Funk Fest.


As the name implies, the event was all about highlighting sour beers. There were over 50 different varieties of sours to try, and some others that weren't sours but were nice compliments to the other optiosn the breweries brought. To be totally honest, if there had only been sours I'm pretty sure my taste buds would have been fried and I would have missed out on some of the aspects of these beers that make them so unique.


Breweries participating included:

• Avery
• Barley Island
• Bells
• Bier
• Black Acre
• Bloomington Brewing Co.
• Brugge
• Crown Brewing
• Destihl
• Flat 12
• Goose Island
• Mad Anthony
• New Belgium
• Perennial Artisan Ales
• River Town
• Sam Adams
• Sun King
• Triton

Obviously we had a lot of choices. I can't say that I tried them all, but I can say that of the ones I did try, Sun King's Pink Taco was my favorite. Yes the name is ridiculous, but that's kind of why I ordered it. This sour was light and refreshing, not overwhelming like some sours can be. According to the Sun King website (yes, I did research) the ale is aged in oak barrels along with rasberries and hibiscus. Not a combination I would have predicted for a beer, but one that really added some nice depth and intricacies to the overall flavor experience. (That sounds pretentious but I promise the beer is anything but.)

All in, we had a great time. This is definitely an event I'll be looking to do again next year!


Weigh in: O-Dawg

Beer Festivals are awesome, but the hardest part about them is staying away from "The Dark Side."  You all know what I am talking about!  There is a point in an evening of drinking and revelry where one is on the cusp of the perfect balance of booze, buzzed and cognizant/fun.  A smidgen too much booze too fast and you are passed out drunk, face planted in the asphalt with your feet in a cooler.  

I think the group did a fine job of riding that cusp and having a blast!  A big thank you to the folks up front for spotting the Mrs. a full drinking ticket as opposed to a DD.  Everyone had a little bit of fun watching my wife try sours (when she isn't much of a beer drinker to begin with). Another thank you to Joe for keeping the festival up beat and fun, now where's my T-Shirt?!

Stand Outs: 4.5-5's ALL!

Dantalion: Upland Brewing Company - Bloomington, IN <- Thanks JOE!
Bourbon Aged Grand Poobah: Crown Brewing Company - Crown Point, IN
Goudenband: Brouwerij Liefmans - Oudenaarde, België, Belgium
Odio Equum Barrel-Aged Sour Ale: Avery Brewing Company - Boulder, CO
Barrel-Aged Sour Warlock: Crown Brewing Company - Crown Point, IN

The brewery that stole the show was a relative unknown to me until this festival, Crown Brewing Company out of Crown Point, IN.  

They brought with them their: 
Blueberry Berliner (3, brewed just for the Sour Wild Funk Fest)
Bourbon Barrel Aged Cherry Dunkleweizenbock (3.5)
Bourbon Barrel Ages Grand Poobah (5)
Barrel Aged Sour Warlock (4.5) 

I hope to stop by there next time I am in the area!  Cheers!

Weigh in: The Big Guy

This was a great festival. I loved that it was smaller than most of the festivals that I have been to. The lines were smaller, there were fewer breweries and brews, and everyone had a little bit more room to breathe. They announced that there would be food pairings, but it was mostly cheeses and fruits. I wasn't sure how they were going to do it and I really didn't know if there was going to be a good way of doing it, but this was a bit underwealming. The beers were awesome. I have never had that many different sours in one time frame and it totally kicked my taste bud's ass. Worse than doing hoppy beer after hoppy beer. 

Standouts were:

Odio Equum Barrel-Aged Sour Ale: Avery Brewing Company - Boulder, CO (straight 5)
Petrus Aged Pale: Brouwerij Bavik - Belgium (straight 5)
Pink Taco: Sun King Brewery - Indianapolis, IN (straight 5)

Barrel-Aged Sour Warlock: Crown Brewing Company - Crown Point, IN (big 4.5)

  

There wasn't just one brewery that stole the show for me. I was able to find some pretty great stuff from just about everyone that was there. It was a very impressive showing. I know that sours can be harder to brew, but there was some real thought put into these. It was a great show and the only thing I am disappointed about was not getting VIP tickets. Next time it will be a serious internet watch to try and get'em.

BREWniversity: How to trade rare(ish) brews

So it isn't quite like trading baseball cards was when I was a kid, but it's pretty damn close. In case you weren't aware, beer has gone viral. There are people who do nothing but post pictures of the rare and local beers they drink on Instagram (Instagram is a picture sharing app for those of you who live in a cave). I have friends on Untappd from all across the US. It's not crazy to see people posting pictures of five or ten of your favorite rare hard to find beers. I saw a dude with more than a half dozen Three Floyd's Darklords and one of their barrel aged versions after Darklord Day. This guy was just asking to make a trade.

When you are looking to make a trade, make sure that you find someone who has something you want. Likewise you have to make sure that you have something that someone else might want. Approach your fellow beer geek on the net and ask if he/she is interested. At this point if they want to party you exchange emails and move that way to keep things private. No one else needs to know your business. During the emails be polite, be friendly and make sure they know you are as excited about the trade as they are. This should be a win win for both of you.

Once you figure out what big impressive super awesome beers you are sending to your fellow beergeek and what they are sending back to you, do what you can not to let it end there. There are so many beers that are probably no big deal to a guy in Colorado, but here in Indiana they are impossibly hard to get. It could be as easy as pie for the person you are trading with to hit up their favorite brewery and grab a few seasonals or even just the everyday stuff. Drive down to your local liquor store and grab them some Sun King, Three Floyds, Flat 12, People's, Fountain Square, or any of the other amazing brews that are limited to Indy.

This is an easy way to make the trade more existing for you and them. It is cool to get a beer that you've been dying for, but to get that and five more beers that you haven't heard of is just outstanding. I like to throw in a few coasters and stickers, since I pick them up at festivals and breweries. Not a huge deal when you see them everyday, but it's an easy way to give someone a little bit more than they bargained for.

Once you have all your beer, make sure you communicate when it is being shipped and how it is shipping. I tried to keep the ship dates close so no one was waiting too long for their beer. Also make sure you package the box well. No one wants to get a wet box full of broken glass. Send the tracking information to your new beer pen pal and ask for them to do the same.

A huge THANK YOU to DenverBeerGuy from Instagram. He was the first person that I didn't know in real life that I traded beer with. It was a great trade and he hooked me up with some outstanding stuff that I could never have gotten here in Indy. You can see the trades in the pictures above. I sent out the Founders and IN stuff and he sent me all the Avery stuff and other Denver brews.

Beer Gear: Zane Lampry is Kickstarting?!

**Image from Kickstarter "Backers Only" Email.

Zane Lamprey is Kickstarting his latest installment of his infotainment drinking series, Chug! No that is the name not a request...  Zane is picking up right where he left off with "Three Sheets" traveling the globe to investigate and participate in learning about drinking cultures and customs.  

Toss a lowly $25 spot to back and you get the entire season digitally.  What does that mean?!

"Don't be fooled by the show's title. It's a play on words. This isn't some sophomoric romp around the world. Zane will visit local watering holes, unique drinking locations, as well as breweries, distilleries, and wineries. It's everything you loved in Zane's previous shows, and more. Without the limitations imposed by the networks, these "half hour" episodes of Chug won't have to account for commercial breaks. In fact, they don't even have to be limited to a half hour! But, if this show ever goes to a TV network, they will have to be cut down to 22-24 minutes with commercial breaks. So, while Kickstarter backers will see these episodes way before they air on TV or anywhere else, the TV version will be shorter, with a lot of great content cut out of the show.

Kickstarter backers will see the show first AND they'll see the best and LONGEST version of the show!" 

As of this writing they are at $202,000 of the target of $500,000 with 18 days to go.  "Damn the Man.  Save the EMPIRE!" Donate today!

My only question is: "Will Pleepleus be making appearances?!"

The Devil Made Me Do It!!!

This fiendish brew's full title is: "The Devil Made Me Do It Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter."  A name whose length Dickens would be proud of, and yes, I did want to humbly ask, "Can I have some more, sir?"

This beer is crazy.  Crazy smart.  All the flavors complement each other well.  This is probably the most approachable of their Brewer's Gone Wild Series.

Like all of Tyranena's Brewer's Gone Wild Series, the beers always start with a good backbone.  It is a solid porter before you fill it full of delicious things.  It smelled divine.  Dark chocolate, roasted coffee, earthyness.  It's pitch black filled the glass intimidatingly, but went down easy with no fight.  Bold chocolate and coffee oozed out from the beginning, and folded into cream, burnt caramel, and oat.  There was a boozy burn the whole way through which complemented such a velvety mouth to the beer.

If you're a fan of porters, or a dark beer that is more flavor than chewy, this is a solid stand out.  It's not as funky or "wild" as I would like to see out of this series, but it's a solid beer.

I give it a 4.

Weigh in:  O-Dawg

Its just so damn good!  El Duque hit most of it all on the head, but I will paraphrase my taste of this delectable brew.  Burnt coffee nose.  Silky chocolate.  Fizzy finish.  Coats the mouth with coffee and coco.  Just a little spice heat at the close.

I have to Eco the Dolphin El Duque this time around, 4.