So what are you bringing to the track???

Last year I put together a post with some canned beer options to bring to the motor speedway. I decided to keep the tradition going and give you some of our great new Indiana options. The requirements are the same this year as they were last year as far as coolers are concerned:

Coolers must be no bigger than 18x14x14

Purses and backpacks must be no bigger than 14x14x14

Food and beverages are allowed, but no glass containers

Carts and wagons are allowed everyday BUT race day

Personal items are your responsibility, the Speedway does not care if they are lost or stolen 

Cans ONLY! no glass bottles allowed

Since we can't bring bottles into the Speedway we have to look to canned beers. There have been a ton of canned beers popping up in liquor stores in the last year, so there are a ton more options than we had last year. With all the options available now it can be hard to narrow them down. Not everyone has spent a lot of time checking out all the canned options we have here in Indy so for the second year in a row we've asked the Barons what are their favorite canned beers. So here are my favorite Summer canned options:

The Big Guy: 

1. Sun King's Fistful of Hops Green. Nice crisp hop profile with an easy drinking malt profile
2. Two Brother's Side Kick Pale Ale. Light hop profile with a clean refreshing flavor that makes it crushable sitting at the hot track
3. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA. Easy malt profile with a great big hop backbone. Get it fresh for biggest impact.

Russ:

1. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA
2. Bell's Two Hearted IPA. The classic Midwest IPA. Nothing says summer like Two Hearted
3. Two brother's Side Kick Pale Ale

Kevin:

1. Oskar Blues' Dale's Pale Ale. An almost perfect Pale Ale from Colorado that just came to Indy last year
2. Founder's Centennial IPA. A big Midwest IPA from Founders now in cans
3. Sun King's Osiris Pale Ale. An Indiana favorite, light clean and crisp

O-Dawg:

1. Brooklyn Brewery's Summer Ale
2. Founder's All Day IPA. All Day IPA because this is so light you can drink it all day in the blistering sun of the track
3. Two Brother's Dog Days Dortmunder Lager. A lager that goes down clean and smooth

El Duque:

1. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA
2. Sun King's Osiris Pale Ale
3. Sixpoint's Sweet Action Cream Ale. Light and easy drinking, perfect for a hot day

Professor Beer:

1. Sun King's Wee Mac
2. Sun King's Fistful of Hops
3. Daredevil's Liftoff IPA

Brie:

1. Brooklyn Brewery's Summer Ale
2. Sun King's Fistful of Hops
3. 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon- If you could get your hands on this it would be amazing for a hot day at the track.

I would also like to give a shout out to Flat 12 for their Hinchtown Hammerdown. On their website Flat 12 says, "We live in a racing town. In tribute to one of the brightest racing talents out there, we created Hinchtown Hammer Down, a crisp and refreshing ale perfect for the month of May."  I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, but I will make sure it finds its way into my racing cooler. 

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!

"No, Grandma, Sam Adams really isn't craft beer..." (My ghost of Christmas's past)

For the devoted, beer is like the postman: rain or shine, holidays and birthdays, it always delivers.  For us, craft beer, nay, good beer, has just become the habit of our lives.  We have created and implemented systems that allow our addiction, I mean, hobby, to be at our disposal at any time, ready to fill that bomber sized hole when that dry itch whispers, "beer me."

At home, we have our seasonal stouts and winter warmers and an immediate family that wouldn't balk at seeing us put down these heavy beers with our honeyed ham, but the Winter holidays come with unique social baggage that sometimes doesn't work out for the beer lover.  Here are some holiday challenges and anecdotes of my own personal holidays past, uh, triumphs.

1.  "Hi honey, I know you love craft beer so I got you some Boston Lager..."

There is a reason people think Boston Brewing Co., Blue Moon, and Leinenkugel are "craft beers:" they have lots of money to advertise.  My mom has given up trying to anticipate my beer needs and just has a fridge of High Life decorated as reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers, red pompom noses, and googly eyes.  David Lynch-ness aside, I have learned that a simple conversation can fix the rein-beer situation.  I call my mom up and ask her if she wants me to give her some beer suggestions, or if she wants me to use my expertise to bring some great craft beer to pair with the meal.  This simple act will make you seem polite, engaged and involved with the holiday meal.  Boom.  Good beer and +3 socks. Thanks Mom.

2.  "I can't believe you brought beer.  You know (Aunt or Uncle) Blah-Blah are on the wagon..."

Sorry you missed the memo.  My solution is that when I go to a party or family get together, I always leave the beer in the car, unless I followed my advice from number one where I called ahead. Go in, scope it out, ask a couple of polite, yet subtle questions and figure out if your awesome stash in the car is able to be cheer and joy the whole night.

3.  My Grandma is a Teetotaler.

As a kid, my grandma's fridge was my art gallery.  I apply this to my beer drinking as well.  My grandma's family abstains from alcohol, but I obviously don't.   Solution?  I bring a bottle or two of home brew.  Alcohol is bad, but I made it and Gam Gam is just so proud she can't hate it that much, right?

4. Be A Craft Brew Ambassador

Okay, so you've made the polite phone call, or left the brew in the car, and the situation is clear, but all you see are a bunch of, uh, well seasoned party goers and Michelob Ultra.  It's time to be the dude.  Bringing beer that is delish AND easily accessible is key.  People will notice that you are not drinking the same beer as everyone else and conversation will ensue.  Share the brew, have an impromptu tasting, hand them a Beer Barons business card, be the beer ambassador.  Inform the uninformed and maybe next year, you will be greeted with a Sixpoint Global Warming instead of a Blue Moon.

The holidays don't have to be so bad.  Just try to be mindful of how beer fits into other people's lives and celebrations so that you can share your passions merrily and not feel like an awkward shit when Uncle John goes into detox seizures at the sight of your slightly warmed Cherry Port Chocolate Stout.

3Beans

It's been a long time coming since our Resin post...

3Beans by Sixpoint Brewing out of Brooklyn, NY is a Baltic Porter on a rotational release schedule from Sixpoint's canning line.

What does rotational mean exactly?  It's kinda like seasonal but you may see it multiple times in a year for limited periods.

For that matter what is a Baltic Porter?  Baltic Porters are >7% ABV porters.  Baltic porters were brewed strong in the late 1700's to be shipped across the North Sea, hence the name.

After pouring out this dark brown brew the nose assaults you immediately.  Light coffee and hop aromas with a subtle malty sweetness.  There were notes of fresh green wood. Strange I know.

The body is medium to heavy.  Sweet coffee/malty goodness hit the palette with notes of chocolate.
It finishes with coffee acidic dryness that sits on the back and sides of the palette.  I honestly felt like tossing in some coffee grounds for good measure!  The overall beer presentation is delightful!  After the first sip it makes me think of a nice creamy latte with two shots of espresso meets a dry stout.

I should clarify for everyone involved that this is 10% ABV.  Do not go off half-cocked and think you should have two of these in a row in a short amount of time.  3Beans ABVs are like cowboy coffee's caffeine.  If you are not anticipating the ABV's it will sneak up and put the beer goggles on you faster than you can say "Hey watch this!"

Great combination from the Mad Scientists over at Sixpoint Brewing!  An enthusiastic 4.5!



The Big Guy: Beans, beans the magical fruit... you know where I'm going here. 3Beans proved that beans may in fact be a  magical fruit. You've probably heard of coffee porters, and coco porters, with 3 beans they added one more bean. Sixpoint added Romano beans, which have historically been substituted for some of the heavier grains by brewers in the Northern parts of Europe when they had poor grain harvests. They were found to also to increase fermentation and add additional body to the beer. It takes balls to add additional body to a beer this big. The beer itself was thick and rich. It poured out like motor oil. The Romano beans really did their part.

It was really cool that Sixpoint was willing to do something a little bit crazy and go old school with their ingredients. If you like a cocoa porter, or a coffee porter, or even just a big rich beer, you should definitively give this one a try. I give it a solid four.

Resin

El Duque: Resin is hop candy.  It fulfills all my hop sweet tooth cravings.  It's a brew that embodies what I love about a good DIPA.  Resin enhances the hop flavor profiles with a surprisingly yeasty body.  It keeps the beer light and refreshing and seems apropos that it comes in an energy drink can.  It is suprisingly quaffable and would totally kill a four pack after mowing the lawn if it didn't put your dick in the dirt faster than two shakes of a lamb's tail.
I give it a 4.5

O-Dawg: Sixpoint Brewery was founded in 2004.  I had not heard of them until recently through word of mouth and Untappd.  Strange I know...  because their beer is kind of awesome!  I had the chance to snag a Resin off of a 4 pack I hunted down at one of the larger beer distributors in the area.  Hoppy, citrus, a head that lingers for more than your average beer.  This had everything and more up my ally. A fantastic, heartfelt plea of a 4!

The Big Guy: It was like this stuff didn't exist, and then it was freaking everywhere. This has become a super tasty treat that is actually pretty easy to find. The cans come in boxed up four packs with some pretty cool side art. The beer was sweet and citrusy with a great hit of hops that didn't overpower the total beer flavor. The beer is 9.1% abv with 103 IBUs (they say you can't taste anything over 100 but because of the aroma it doesn't stop brewers from going for it) Solid Imperial IPA. I give it a 3.5

*No one got a picture of the beer so we sorced it from: http://sixpoint.com/beers/core/resin