Giving Thanks

It's Thanksgiving today... What do families do before gorging themselves on turkey with all the trimmings?  They give thanks.We here at the Beer Barons wanted to make sure we took time out of our busy posting schedule to share what we're thankful for in our world, beyond just the craft beer we usually discuss.

O-Dawg: I am giving thanks for having the best wife, friends & family.  2013 has been a somewhat awkward and challenging year for me.  Through all of the tribulation my lovely wife has been my rock, my friends have kept me sane and my family has had my back on future job prospects. I love you all and hope nothing but the best for everyone this Thanksgiving Day!  Stay safe  and keep warm!

The Big Guy: Its been said that Indy doesn't have much of a craftbeer scene, but I'm thankful for the awesome craft beer scene we have. Here in Indy we are blessed with awesome brewers, great bar tenders and enthusiastic fans. The group is small enough that you can get to know just about everyone, but big enough that we have some exciting things happening. This is an awesome place and time to be when it comes to craft beer! Ohh yeah, and thanks for YEAST! Without it beer would kinda suck.

The Little Lady: There's a lot to be thankful for, so I'll try to keep my list focused. Friends and family are always at the top of that list, especially everyone who's been involved in the blog this year. We couldn't do it without everyone willing to go to events with us, put up with us taking pictures of beer and making tasting notes to use later, and share their opinions as we come up with ideas. We could drink alone, but it's much better to have people sharing in the adventure with us!

The BrewniBomber: First I'll say ditto to what The Big Guy said, because we really are in a "sweet spot"- lots of cool things going on, improvements being made, etc., but it's not overwhelming nor are the people in the scene greedy. I'm very thankful for the creative and kind people I've met working in the industry and for the awesome friends I've met that are always willing to share good times and the awesome beers they have; it's really nice not having to go to events alone!

Sun King Brewery King's Reserve Afternoon Delight Review

A yes the Sun King King's Reserve Series; I kind of have a love-hate relationship with these beers. Why? Well let's start with the bad. 

Hate- In my opinion the releases are expensive ($6- $25 per 16oz can) and the beers don't always justify the price. They can also be very hard to acquire as they're brewery or event only releases that are packaged in limited quantities. Meaning that unless you're on top of the release you'll miss out.
 

Love- Yes, I think there have been a couple duds, but by and large the releases are high-quality, fun, and tasty beers. Maybe more importantly, some of those "hate" items are also good signs that Indy does have a growing craft beer scene. 1) A local brewer is packaging and releasing a limited one-off beer (presumably) on a semi-regular basis. 2) That release disappears within hours of its availability. 3) Those releases are highly sought after outside of Indiana. (Just yesterday I got a request from a California stranger for Pappy Van Muckle).

In general the King's Reserve concept and beers are great. I think the series will continue to improve as Sun King rolls out more offerings on a regular basis. Huh? Oh right I'm supposed to be doing a beer review here. 

The latest release in the KR series was their GABF Gold Winner, Afternoon Delight- a Bourbon Barrel Aged Dopplebock (SK's Dominator Dopplebock to be exact) clocking in at 8%.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of dopplebocks, but I ran down there and bought some before heading off to Tomlinson Tap Room, Flat 12, and La Margarita for some beer adventures with friends (The Big Guy remembers this day fondly, well, some of it). 

The pour from the 16oz can yields a dark reddish-brown liquid with a 2-finger beige head that clings to the edges in wispy threads throughout consumption. The smell is all bourbon barrels and sweetness, with notes of vanilla, oak, grain alcohol, caramel, and dark sugars. I hope you like bourbon, because up front the taste is all bourbon. Again, there are bourbon notes of vanilla, oak, toffee, and grain spirits. With the swallow things change a bit as caramel, dark fruits, spicy hops show up, but at the end the booze comes back into play. As bourbon barrel beers go this is a bit thin, but keep in mind that this is a dopplebock (a strong German lager) and not your run-of-the-mill barrel aged imperial stout. Not a lot of carbonation, but what's there is a bit fizzy. Finishes dry and warming, but after awhile leaves a sticky residue. 

This is essentially a bourbon bomb, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're a bourbon fan like myself. You get all those wonderful confectioner's notes you get with some bourbons, but with a nice mellow and malty finish. Again, this is one of those beers that can be hard to rate because you can't exactly go to your local liquor outpost and pick it up… but if you know someone who has a can of this… do what you have to get it from them 4.5/5

BREWniversity: BJCP Style Series

This is the first post in a series that we're starting in the BREWniversity section of the blog. The Big Guy and I are about to take an exam that will (hopefully) result in the two of us becoming certified judges for brewing competitions. I say hopefully, because there's a lot to learn. I'm a little nervous about the exam itself, but I'm also looking forward to the practice. And there will be plenty of practice.


We're taking the BJCP, or Beer Judge Certification Program, exam. Some of the things we need to know are the features that make each style distinct. We also have to know the common sources of off-flavors and how to correct them, but it's the first part that we're going to focus on here.

I'll be honest and say that writing this series is definitely self-serving because it's going to help me learn and remember the small details about each, but I'm also hoping that it will be interesting.

One of the biggest things that makes this type of experience different from what I do on Untappd is that in an official judging scenario, it doesn't matter if I like the beer. It only matters if the beer is a good example of the style. The opposite is also true- a beer can taste great but be a bad example of the intended style.

So over the next several BREWniversity posts, we'll explore the unique qualities of the different beer styles, and review some good examples of each one. As you can see in the picture above, it's going to take some time to go through all of the styles, but it's a commitment I'm willing to make. You can also see that things are tabbed and color-coded. I managed to make drinking beer nerdy. The Big Guy wasn't surprised.

If you're interested in learning more about the BJCP, take a look at their website at http://www.bjcp.org.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Coconut Porter

Congratulations to Great Crescent Brewing Company in Aurora IN. They turned five years old last week and threw one heck of a party at their brewery in Southern IN. We haven't really highlighted Great Crescent here before, but its not because their beer isn't good, its because they're so close to Cinci its hard to get to them on a regular basis and they don't distribute much in the Indy metro area, because they go through Starlight distribution. They are little bit easier to find down in Bloomington at the main Big Red.

One of my friends, Parker, had been looking for the Bourbon Barrel Coconut Porter since they brought some to the CANvitational. Since I was driving into Cinci for work, I decided to take a few minutes and stop by the brewery to see what I could get. There were three cases left, and I took half of them to bring back to Indy folks.

The standard coconut porter is 5.6% abv, but this bourbon barrel aged version has been jacked up. It comes in at about 9.5% abv with a big imperial porter flavor. It pours out dark as motor oil with a nice short sticky tan head. It smell like roasty, vanilla, oak and just a bit of nice toasted coconuts.

The flavor is super sweet and malty upfront. This could be a dessert all by itself, and that's totally what I'm looking for in this kind of a beer. My favorite part of this beer is how the coconut is perfectly balanced. It's nothing overpowering or fake tasting but its definitely there adding a nice roasted note to a great porter. One of the biggest problems I had with the Stone Coconut IPA was the lack of coconut flavor. The coconut in this beer delivers a nice light nuttiness that really hits the spot. It blends perfectly with the big bitter chocolaty notes of the beer. It reminds me of a bitter sweet almond joy.

This guy was pretty hard to get but well worth the effort. Great beer, and I give it a solid 4

Daredevil Lift Off Can Release and Review

I was first introduced to Daredevil Brewing about 10 months ago while visiting TwentyTap with a friend. I had never heard of them, but with acool name and a penchant for IPAs, I ordered their Lift Off IPA. Off the bat I fell in love and my first thoughts were: "Who are these guys and when will they package this beer??"

Daredevil Brewing is a "local" brewery founded by 2 award winning brewers, Bill Ballinger and Michael Pearson, and craft beer enthusiast Shane Pearson (Shane and Michael are twins so beware!). They brewed their first batch of beer in December of last year at their Shelbyville, Indiana location and since have brewed a handful of beers:

• Lift Off West Coast India Pale Ale
• Muse Belgian Golden Ale
• Rip Cord Double IPA
• Vacation Kolsch
• Carnival Saison

Generally speaking Daredevil likes to have Lift Off always available with a different "seasonal" rotating through.

In previous conversations with the guys at Daredevil, I always asked what a lot of people asked: "When are you going to bottle Lift Off?" and they would patiently reply with "We're hoping early 2014", which is why I was pleasantly surprised by their announcement of a November 2013 can release.

The guys did a great job with the release on many levels. First, they constantly kept people informed via social media about the timing and locations of their newly released cans making it easy to track down Lift Off- assuming the store still had some!  Secondly, the packaging is awesome; I love the 4-packs, the 16oz cans, and I've always been a huge fan of their branding, which the can artwork does justice to.

Lastly, the #HandsOnOurCans contest is a cool idea and has generated a lot of fun and creative pictures (including some of my own) from Lift Off drinkers. 

So let's talk about what's in those sleek looking cans!

The color is right on with what you'd expect from a "West Coast"-style IPA: bright copper liquid with a finger of off-white head. It smells of the classic American hop aromas of grapefruit, pine, and caramel. The taste gives grapefruit and pine up front, with some breadiness and caramel mixed in before finishing pleasantly bitter. The mouthfeel is middling with decent carbonation, and a crisp finish. 

It's well balanced and hits the right notes, but I would like to see just a bit more hop flavor and bitterness if it's going to be called a west coast-style IPA. It's also a little bit thicker than a traditional IPA in my opinion, but the 7.2% ABV provides some explanation for that- some increased carbonation might help here.

I have to admit I'm nitpicking, because I think this is a very solid IPA and one of the best local IPAs available in cans (or bottles). The fact that this will be a regular staple in my fridge says something: 4/5

The Big Guy: I'm a huge fan of what the guys at Daredevil are doing. They've taken their time on one beer to make sure everything is perfect before bringing it to market. There are such large differences between beer on draft and in cans and how it presents to the consumer. Its very cool that Michael and the guys over there are taking that into consideration. That being said this is an awesome West Coast style IPA. Its clean and crisp with awesome hop notes. I give it a 3.5