The Scene: Brugge Brasserie

The Brugge Brasserie is a Belgian-style brewpub in Broad Ripple.  They are known for their excellent food (especially the frites and mussels, though everything I've tried is very good), and, of course, their beer.

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The Brugge has two stories; the bottom floor is a cozy (or cramped?) restaurant, and the top floor has more of a traditional sports bar feel.  The table tops are copper, with holes at each setting.  It took me a little while to figure out what the holes were for (I wasn't sure until I actually saw them in use), but I finally realized they were used to hold the paper cones which the frites come in.  Their most famous dish is probably the Moules Frites, two pounds of Prince Edward Island mussels and a cone of pomme frites.  The mitraillettes (sandwiches served under a pile of the pomme frites) are all delicious, and I've heard good things about their crêpes, but have yet to bring myself to order anything that doesn't come with the pomme frites.  Also, it would be remiss of me not to mention the sauces that come with the frites; there are 12 different, fresh made sauces to choose from.

The Brugge has a rotating selection of their own beers on tap, though the Tripel de Ripple and the Black are usually available, along with one or two others.  Their beer selection is a little more volatile right now, since they are currently in the process of moving their brewing operations from Terre Haute to downtown Indianapolis, along with a new restaurant (though it will have different food than the current one).  There are also usually between three and five guest taps.  The guest taps are usually quite good, but I'm usually to busy drinking the Brugge's beer to give too many of them a try.

Overall, the Brugge is one of my favorite restaurants in the area.  The service can occasionally be underwhelming, but the great food and beer more than make up for it.  If you're in the mood for a Belgian, the Brugge is the place to go in Indianapolis.

Wee Mac

So this is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite beers. It is the beer that turned me onto fresh local beer. I could drink this every day and become the Even Bigger Guy, if that was not completely irresponsible. It is 5.4% abv with 23 IBUs.

One of my favorite days of the week is Friday. Yes it is the end of the work week. Yes I get to go home and see my family, but I also get to hit up Sun King Brewery for growler fill Friday on the way home. Growler fill Friday, is when you can get any of Sun King's three flagship beers for just $5 a growler. It is hard to find a better deal on craft beer anywhere. Since today is Friday, I recommend that you head down to Sun King and check it out for yourself.

Wee Mac is a Scottish Ale. It is a beautiful red brown color. When poured it has just a slight amount of light colored head. The beer has a malty body that tastes of fresh bread, caramel and a hint of nuts. It reminds me of eating my mom's raisin nut bread when I was a kid. The IBUs are pretty solid, which gives the beer a nice finish and rounds it out so you could have a few of these in a sitting without getting a belly full of sugar. The mouth feel is lighter than you would assume based on its color. 

The flavor is dominated by sweet maltiness, but the complexity keeps me coming back. This beer is a great one for whatever you are doing. 

This is one of my all time favorites. Great job Sun King. Glad you're in my back yard.

I give it a 4.5

Professor Beer:

Sun King's Wee Mac is also a favorite of mine.  It's easy to drink, and is one of my go-to beers wherever it's available.

 

Pooka

The Brugge Brasserie's Pooka is an American Wild Ale with 6.00% ABV.

This beer is light reddish or even pinkish in color, and quite cloudy.  The head settled fairly quickly, leaving some lacing.  There are fruity or berry notes to the aroma, as well as some tartness.

The taste starts with a nice, medium lemon and berry sourness, followed by a maltiness that still has some lemon notes, and finishing with a berry flavor and sour aftertaste.  The Pooka has a medium body, with light carbonation and a somewhat dry finish.

The Pooka is an easily drinkable sour, which I imagine most people won't find overpoweringly tart.  This is definitely one of my favorite Brugge beers, and I don't think I've ever had one of their beers that I didn't like.  In fact, my biggest complaint about the Pooka is that they won't fill a growler with it.

The Big Guy: Pooka is like a sour on training wheels. Its a great place to start if you haven't spent a lot of time with that particular style of beer.

The Scene: Boombozz

Boombozz is a restaurant that replaced the Mongolian BBQ in Carmel off of Greyhound Pass. I was skeptical when if first opened, but when I got in the restaurant was booming and the bar was fantastic. They were everything I had hopped for and more. It was like I had died and gone to pizza heaven.

Food was great. They have a ton of local beer selections on tap; including a few of their own beers. (Their beers were okay, but nothing to write home about. A solid 2.5 for the amber). I have now been there a couple times and the best appetizer by far is the Soft Pretzels ($5.99). They are outstanding. Boombozz actually deep fries the pretzel just enough to give it a slightly crisp outside.

Last night we had the Loaded Potato Nachos ($5.99). They were very good. There was a great portion of cheese and toppings on crispy homemade potato chips. All the pizzas I have had so far were very good. They use some unique fresh topics with a great crust.

One of my favorite parts of Boombozz is getting a flight of their beers. I was able to get four different beers from Flat12, Founders and some other solid Indy beers. It is a great opportunity to try some things you have not been able to get your hands on before.

   

Check them out. Great bar. Great food. Great beer.

I give the food 4 heads

I give the beer list a 4.5 heads. They do a great job supporting local breweries.

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Black Swan 2 Year Anniversary

Congratulations to Black Swan Brewpub, who just celebrated their two year anniversary. Way to help make Central Indiana a great place for beer!

They made three beers to celebrate their anniversary, and they were great.

They had the 2011 Roggenwein, the BackBone Barrel Imperial Brown Rye, and the BackBone Barrel Oatmeal Stout.

They were all outstanding beers, but sadly I couldn't take them home because they had too high an abv.

The Oatmeal Stout had a great barrel aged flavor with a nice oakiness and whiskey flavor. The Imperial Brown Rye was malty and sweet. It had a hyped up flavor that I could not put down. The 2011 Roggenwein was also a malty and delicious barleywine. All three had great flavor. I recomend you go get a sample and try them all. (A sample of each is just $4; while available.)

I give the 2011 Roggenwein a 3.5

I give the Imperial Brown Rye a 4.5

I give the Oatmeal Stout a 4

Way to go Black Swan, and congratulations on two good years.

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