What I'm Drinking-Winterfest Edition

I attended Winterfest a few weeks ago, one of the two large beer festivals in Indiana put on by the good people at the Brewers Guild of Indiana.  If you have never attended, I highly recommend it.  Not only did I try some amazing beers, I learned a lot from the brewers taking time to actually talk about their beers as well.  It was fantastic.

In case you have not heard, Indiana cleaned up this fall at the Great American Beer Festival.  By “cleaned up”, I mean won more medals than any other state.  That’s impressive no matter how you spin it.  I’ve become more familiar with some of the breweries in the state, and it’s been quite a pleasure trying out the new varieties they offer.  Here are a few of my favorites, and most can be found at local bars or stores.

Sun King Osiris Pale Ale: Best “everyday” pale ale of any that I drink. It's dry hopped but not to bitterness. It's refreshing and extremely balanced (also, for the record, everything Sun King brews is awesome).

Bier Brewery Fuggit Stout: This won last fall's Brew Bracket II event. It's rich and creamy without being dry or overly sweet

Triton Stout and IPA: This brewery just popped up about a year ago, and I'm loving their beers. Their stout is especially good, and it's nice to see a brewery brew a stout as a house beer. Their IPA is citrusy and easy to drink. I think we can expect bottles in the near future.

People’s Hopkilla: Lafayette's own! I was hard on them when they first started up, but they have really come a long way. This is a double IPA that's easily one of the best brewed in the state. It's aggressive and full of flavor.

Upland Gilgamesh: I learned at Winterfest that I enjoy sours. Sadly, this was a one-shot only tasting for me, as this is a very in-demand and rare beer, but man was it good! Sour and fruity, it gave me the same feeling when eating grapefruit.

3 Floyds Gumballhead: A wheat beer with a nice hop flavor at the end, this is one of the best year-round beers they produce. Good for people looking for something a bit lighter.

Brugge Harvey: Another sour (I was on a roll), quite delicious and tart. Only offered at the Brugge restaurant, but you know, they have great mussels and beer, so it's easy to make an excuse to go here.

Sun King Cream Dream IV: This beer starts as a cream ale but then gets the hell hopped out of it. Not only is it amazing and flavorful, I was lucky to have it out of a firkin, which gave some more complexity from the yeast.

Figure Eight Ro Shampo: I just discovered this brewery, and this red ale is my current favorite. It's slightly bitter, which I enjoy, and the malt on it is quite good.

Flat 12 Walkabout Pale Ale: A single hop pale, this ranks up there with Osiris as my favorite current pale ale. It's wonderfully fruity and bright.

That's just a sampling of what Indiana beers are great. Next time you're out, pick one up, you certainly won't be disappointed.

Beer Suggestions for the 4th of July

Tweet

Happy Fourth of July! And to include the northern neighbors, Happy Canada Day!  For me, it's the start of my "true" summer, the time when I can get a large group of people together, grill a bunch of meat and veggies, and drink ice cold beer.

With so many choices (and distribution limits), what can you do if you live in Indiana (or thereabouts) and are looking for good brew this weekend?  Alas, I give you a few suggestions that will either a) pair well with food or b) are good beers for the hot weather approaching.  Follow the links to use the nifty Beer Spy

Any other suggestions?  Feel free to sound off in the comments

Sierra Nevada Best of Beer Camp- I'm enjoying this for many reasons.  Sierra Nevada put out some unique and newer beers with this mix pack, and they are all fantastic.  It contains a California steam, a double IPA, a juniper black ale, and a weizenbock.  Perfect for a crowd

Bells Oberon- My go-to beer for summer, it's got a citrusy punch and a nice fruit flavor.  Good with burgers.  And you can get Bells in counter top kegs too.

Sun King Osiris Pale Ale- Yes, I'm biased, this is my favorite brewery at the moment.  Their beers are delicious. If you happen to live in Indy, go to the brewery and pick up one of their seasonals.  If not, Osiris is a dry hopped pale ale that is full of flavor, and it comes canned for aquatic events.

Victory Prima Pils- A surprisingly hoppy pilsner from a brewery that also has an extremely solid lineup of beers. A light beer that's both refreshing and slightly dry, this is a beer to enjoy after some street hockey (if celebrating Canda day).  Also try their new Headwaters Pale Ale (seen above)

Three Floyds Gumballhead- Another summer wheat beer, this one has a lemon hit at the end and is nice and yeasty.

There are many other great breweries from Indiana as well, including Flat 12, Upland, and People's (in Lafayette).  Enjo

The Beer Files- Bitches Brew

The wonderful thing about beer is the human input to it. While wine does rely on some, the majority of the variety is region. With beer, region does matter for ingredients, but more than that are the additive ingredients the brewery will put in the beer to achieve different flavor profiles. This can be fruit, honey, spices, sugar, and many other varying ingredients that give specific beers such different tastes. One of the breweries on the forefront of this is Dogfish Head, one of my current favorite breweries. They also have a good documentary style show on Discovery called Brewmasters that I have been enjoying.

The other night I tried Bitches Brew, a beer that tributes the anniversary of the Miles Davis album of the same name. The beer is a combination of stout and honey beer (3:1) that is quite aggressive in its flavor and not something to be enjoyed quickly. This is probably my largest appreciation of Dogfish, they make beer because they want to challenge the boundaries of brewing and make you enjoy something truly different.

The beer goes down smooth with a pretty heavy finish, thanks to the stout part, but also remains mild and sweet due to the honey and gesho root in it. Sounds complex? It is, and that's the goal! Just like the album, the beer is different every sip you try. I suggest this to all beer lovers out there looking for something a little bit different and funky.

Happy Hopslam Day!

I've been meaning to write about beer for quite some time now.  If I have one vice, it's beer.  Let me give you a little background on what to expect in these posts.  I do not care for domestic beer, so pretty much anything made by Bud, Miller, or Coors will not be found on these pages.  And yes, I am aware they own shares or have "microbrews", which I'm sure I will try at some point, but I'm going to be honest, I think the big three make crap beers.

What I'm going to focus on is craft beers and microbrews.  Right now in the US, 85% of the beer market is the big three.  The rest of that 15% is all of the small breweries fighting for sales and devotion from customers.  If you are a big beer fan, I highly recommend the movie Beer Wars, which does a great job of showing the state of the beer market and how we are JUST NOW getting back to the level of differing beer production that this country had pre-Prohibition.  If you enjoy beer, this is a great time to go out and try something different.  I hope these posts will help push you in a different direction and outside the box when choosing your next beer.

Lucky for me, it's the best time of year for beer because it's time for Hopslam!  A double IPA made by Bell's Brewery, this is an extremely hoppy IPA that blows away anything else I have ever had.  I was at my favorite beverage store this morning at 11am just so I could make sure I got a case (and I'm still looking for a refrigerator keg of it next week).  It's in high demand and for good reason.

Hopslam this year is just as delicious as in the past.  Bright and floral, it's almost sweet in the citrus-like finish and explodes with hoppiness and flavor.  Too many hops can cause a beer to go bitter, but the honey they add really keeps that in check and results in a most delicious beer.  It's extremely crisp and bright, and I highly recommend this to any who enjoy beer.