December 29 The Broad Ripple Brewpub and Lowes Theaters have been collecting for a United Christmas Service family and will continue to take donations. "visit the Brew Pub and ask your server about donating for the family." Picture from Broad Ripple Gazette.

Inventory time at Butler Winery (Bloomington) brings a 15% off sale until New Years Eve so they don't have to count so much. All in stock homebrew and wine supplies and equipment, books, etc.

Not to be outdone by Sam Adams, New Belgium has also created the perfect beer glass.

Asinine: Iowa City will consider a happy hour ban. Assinine: Drink prices to be filed with city clerk and to last a week. article

It's a typical story of a beer judge tasting 100 entries in 6 hours. Eh what?. article

December 23 Turoni's Main Street is adding a 5th fermenter so Jack Frey can brew more beer for the 3rd location (in Newburgh) they will be opening in March. They're erecting a new building which by now has walls and roof.

Broad Ripple Brewpub's Wee Alec Heavy Scottish Ale is on the handpull along with the 2007 version on CO₂. A rare chance to taste a vertical on draft. Should be on past Christmas but might not make New Years.

2008's is big malt strong, served appropriately flat. No foo-foo nothing, just solid malt, dark fruits, raisins. Bright notes. Sweet slow-fading finish. Brings up thoughts of comfortable armchairs.
2007's from a corny keg has a year of maturation. The raisins are more noticeable in the back end. Altogether smoother. Carbonation sharp after the cask-conditioned version.

 J. Gumbo's will be closed this next Wed. and Thurs. but will open Fri 12/26 at 4pm. A blowout closing party starts at 8pm on Sat 12/27. Be prompt. Sunday afternoon will be the last day for the comfortable 40 taps and two handpulls. Sigh.

"So a guy walks into a pub with a reindeer." No really. article

December 20 Notes on Dave Colt's Ram's Java Stout - Mild coffee stout. Great oaty thickness. Balanced. Coffee enhances the roasty bitterness. 10 gallons of cold-infused Seattle's Best Holiday Blend coffee makes for a better Winter Ale that you can enjoy in quantities of more than one. 4.8% Dave and Jon recommend

Entree - Coconut Pawns and loaded mash potatoes with a Java Stout.
Desert - Mile High Mud Pie with a second Java Stout. What desert doesn't go good with coffee and this is just way too obvious a choice to pass up.

Brugge Brasserie Thunder Monkey is on and there's plenty of it, being a 20-bbl batch. Very dark brown. Oooh, Brett. Brown fruits. Alcohol is noticable. Wheat. All overlayed with cinnamon and nutmeg. 6.5%. Yep, it's a Belgian Brown Holiday beer.

Upland Winter Warmer is in bottles and will be at many pubs on tap, such as Chumleys. Dark cordovan with a small white head. Belgian lacing. Thick body. Tastes of bittersweet chocolate with a very bitter finale. 9% ABV

Interesting stuff we spotted at the Hop Shop: Rogue Morimoto Black Obi, Warsteiner Radler, Bierra Artigiale Quarta Runa, Mikkeler Jackie Brown, Boulder Killer Penguin Barleywine.

"Nine 'absolutely impossible' phrases for drunks" published by Ipswich police. article Bonus, first is "Thanks, but I don't want to sleep with you". We're just surprised one of the phrases isn't "Ipswich".

December 18 You mentioned the beer myths article. I should point out that the first thing on their "article" is inaccurate.

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy
     –Benjamin Franklin

Actually, old Ben never said that, though I wished he had.

From WikiQuote:

The quote, and its many variants, has been widely attributed to Franklin; however, there has never been an authoritative source for the quote, and research indicates that it is very likely a misquotation of Franklin's words regarding wine: "Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy." (see sourced section above for a more extensive quotation of this passage from a letter to André Morellet), written in 1779.

I propose, in the future, that we site the quote as follows:

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy
    –not Benjamin Franklin, but who cares? Because it's true!

Sincerely,
Jason
HoosierBeerGeek.com

Magic Hat is giving away a trip for 4 to Mardi Gras. The one in Burlington, VT. 3 days, 2 nights. Airfare. Brewery tour. Plus a bunch of Ben and Jerry's. Enter at their web site before Feb 12.

Set your DVRs. How Stuff Works on the Discovery Channel will air the Making Beer episode (with Dogfish Head) on Jan 2, 6pm.

December 17 The Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend has added a LOT more taps and is the best place around for Irish and Welsh Single Malt whiskeys. They have also opened another Public House in Austin, TX.

From DC, "Extreme Obsession: Three Floyds Beer at Pizzeria Paradiso". article Bonus backhanded compliment: "Munster, Indiana is an unlikely place for a great brewery."

Good article on Thomas Jefferson and Beer. Did you know?

• Before the Revolutionary War Martha was the brewer of the family, making 15gal batches of small beer every other week.
• He had a POW during the War of 1812 moved to Monticello to teach the slaves to brew.
• His neighbor, William Meriwether, was his malt supplier.
• By 1814 there was a 60gal brewery and malt house at Monticello.
• Still, Jefferson himself never brewed in any quantity.

Bad article in some guy's blog on 12 Most Common Beer Myths. Myth #1: "The Guinness served in Ireland is different to the rest of the world". Myth #2 is even dumber.

A quick investigation shows there are almost 20 variations of Guinness brewed in 50 locations. These include:

• Draught Guinness (Dublin) - Pasteurized. Served on tap under nitrogen pressure. Very mild. 4.4%
• Pub Draught Guinness (Dublin) - Pasteurized. Canned smoothflow of Draught Guinness. 4.2%
• Bottle Conditioned Guinness (Dublin) - Not pasteurized. Similar to Draught Guinness but bottled with a dollop of sugar and yeast added. For U.K. and Ireland sales.
• Bottled Guinness (Dublin) - Pasteurized. For U.K. sales.
• Export Draught (Dublin) - For export to Continental Europe. Uses roasted malt instead of roasted unmalted barley. Pasteurized. Served on tap by nitrogen pressure and the same beer is bottled for that market. 5.1%
• Special Export (Belgium, John Martin Brewery) - For the Belgium and Netherlands markets only. Sweeter and stronger. Pasteurized and filtered. 7.5%
• Extra Stout (Dublin and worldwide locations) - Bottled. Also labeled Guinness Original. Usually pasteurized but some are bottle conditioned. Uses more roast unmalted barley and more hops. Sharper flavor. 4.3%
• Foreign Extra Stout (Brewed in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean) - Blended from fresh Guinness and one aged for 3 months at the brewery. 7.7%
• Extra Cold Guinness (Dublin) - Poured from refrigerated taps to bring the temperature down a couple of more degrees.
• Nigeria (Lagos) - Nigeria has banned beer made from barley so this version is made primarily from sorghum and corn. This is a love-it or hate-it beer. The brewery there opened in 1962 and Nigeria is the third largest market - after Ireland and the UK.
• Other breweries include Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Belgium, Belize, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Congo, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Gambia, Grenada, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, New Zealand, Panama, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Spain, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Togo, and Uganda. Guinness is no longer brewed in London. They closed that plant in 2005.

December 16 The second floor at Brugge Brasserie is open. The taps downstairs are all upstairs also plus a couple of extra taps that will revolve and grow. Oh, and bottles also.

Saturnalia is in full swing at Rich O's. Or should we now call it the New Albanian Public House? Here's the starting lineup. We suggest you end up there next Friday or Saturday to participate not only in an extraordinary night of extraordinary beers and to get in on the cellar sale.

On opening day most were ordering halves which kept the taxis from the door. Myself, had a Bonfire of the Valkyries, Naughty Claus, Baladin Nora, Two Brothers Oh Brother Tripel, Conesmoker, and a Schlenkerla Urbock to finish the night.

Roger and new Beer Manager, Mike Bauman wandered through the cellar and are selling some of the overages - and some over ages. For instance, 50¢ for a 1998 Sam Smith Winter Warmer is about right - peel off the label and see if the beer is drinkable. This sale will be going on next Fri, Dec 19 and Sat, Dec 20 from about 3pm until 8pm. Times are not set in stone nor is the product list. We'll hopefully have a list for this next weekend soon. Oh, and there is plenty of branded glassware if you need to fill your collection or your cupboards.

There's a building permit on the new NABC brewery/taphouse site in downtown New Albany but that's it so far. Roger hopes to have a housewarming and birthday party for Ben Franklin on Jan 17th, open the taproom in February, and start brewing there in April.

Also have to mention the always imperturbable service with Dan's quiet and efficiency of Anthony Hopkins playing an English butler.

Saturnalia is officially ON.

Mike with some of the NABC Cellar sale.

More Cellar Sale and the glasses..

First look at the New New Albanian Brewery and Tap House.

Ram is serving their Blonde and Buttface Amber at Colts games. Look in sections 108 and 135.

The new Keg Liquors building.

Sips:

• New Albanian Naughty Claus - Thick and black. Brewed with Dutch cark cocoa and fresh mint. The mint doesn't assert itself but the beer seems very bright for a big, thick Chocolate Porter.
• New Albanian Bonfire of the Valkyries - Big Rauchbier on a Black Lager base. Perfect.
• The Italian brewery Baladin has made Nora using what may have been an Egyptian recipe with unmalted wheat, ginger, orange peel, and myrrh for bittering. 6.8%. The end effect is much like a Duvel light. Tasty.
• Cumberland Brewing What You Say Son? - Earthy Saison with a bit of citric/spicy coriander.

The venerable Penn Brewing in Pittsburgh is moving. They're closing down the brewery now and contracting with the Lion brewery in Wilkes Barre and will close the restaurant in February. Hoping to reopen both next year. article

December 15 Michael Jackson's last final book, the 6th Edition of the Great Beers of Belgium series is available now. 520 pages. The BA is selling it for $37. link

The Michigan Brewers Guild has a article about the Winter Beers from their member breweries.

Coming in January: Moylan IPA and Double IPA

Wikipedia says "Different tastes can be detected on all parts of the tongue^[27], with slightly increased sensitivities in different locations depending on the person, contrary to the popular belief that specific tastes only correspond to specific mapped sites on the tongue.^[28] The original "tongue map" was based on a mistranslation by a Harvard psychologist of a discredited German paper^[29] that was written in 1901."

InBusch has announced their first layoffs - 1,400 salaried positions plus 415 contractors in the next two weeks. article

SAB Miller is going to open a brewery in Sudan. This should turn out well. article

December 13 This week's closing notice is for J. Gumbo's in downtown Indy. Mike DeWeese's lease is up at the end of the year so the last day will be December 28th. Sigh.

Trip Sevens is coming to the Ram soon. For their 777th batch, Dave made a Belgian Tripel at 1076.

The Hoosier Beer Geeks have put up a best-of poll. You're invited to put in your 2 cents.

Indy tastes:

• Alcatraz Bock - This is replacing the Brown in the permanent lineup. It's dark-toast brown with a white head. Turbo-dark taste with big hop bitterness to match. The antithesis of a wimpy light Maibock.
• Alcatraz Pelican Pale - Copper color. Big Cascade IPA with about 60 IBU.
• Ram Steam Stack - California Common with Cascade and Japanese Sorachi Ace hops. This new variety, developed by Sapporo gives a lemongrass aroma and this may be the first use of it in a Steam beer.
• Rock Bottom, Downtown California Common - Aromatic floral hops and a nice quenching finish.
• Rock Bottom Downtown Cask Conditioned Amarillo Pale Ale - With an Amarillo dry-hopping, this Real Ale seems more Brit than American (even though Amarillo is more similar to Cascade than Fuggles). Dry, dry finish.
• Rock Bottom Downtown Old Curmudgeon - Brassy Winter Ale. Dark, dark copper. A fireplace sipper.
• Rock Bottom, 86th St Old Curmudgeon - An Imperial IPA. Hop Juice with a strong malt base. 8.6%. And they're selling it by the pint.

Vinophiles, does your 2007 D'Aquino Pinot Grigio delle Venezie seem a little thin? It is. article "Basically, the chemical testing we have done . . . shows it is just tap water." In the right hands, it goes good with fishes and loaves.

December 10 Frank & Theresa Petrarca give an insiders account of one of our favorite breweries in their new adventure: Our trip to Dogfish Head Brewery

December 9 Go back to school... beer school! We passed the first class of Ron Smith's M.B.A. program. Click here.

Clarification: Back on Nov 30th we posted an article about Mike DeWeese's cellar clearout and followed it with "The Hop Shop in Carmel is reducing their inventory also. More than a dozen titles have been dropped about $2. . . .". The Hop Shop owner, Courtney Hall, wants you to know 1) this sale is now over and 2) The Hop Shop has not reduced the number of different beers it carries.

"I was just reading your newsletter, and was quite surprised to learn that I am reducing my inventory. This is not the case. We put some of those beers on sale to move through some inventory and to offer a great price, but we are by no means decreasing the number of beers that we carry. In fact the opposite, we continue to add new beers."

New Holland Brewing's distilling has finally come to fruition and they have come to terms to sell their Artisan Spirits throughout Michigan. Look for Zeppelin Bend straight-malt whiskey, Huron White Rum, Michigan Amber Rum, Superior Single-Barrel Rum, Knickerbocker Gin at the brewpub starting January 9th and in liquor stores up north. Prices range from $30 to $65.

December 8 Swift halves:

• Power House Black Hole Porter - Very thick. Very Black. Seriously thick. Malt. Roasty. Toasty.
• Upland Schwartz - Solid malty Germany noble hopped black beer that will stand up to spicy chili. The chili prevents more detailed comments, sorry.

Marsh stores seem to have the 2008 Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale for either $7.99 or $6.99. Go for it. (Thanks Paul)

Breckenridge Christmas Ale is out and Indiana got 150 1-liter bottles, about 10% of the total production leaving the brewery.

To celebrate the 75th Anniversary, here's The Hot Women of Beer. article with pictures of course.

Down in Devon, down in Devon,
There's a village by the sea,
It's a little piece of heaven
And the angels call it Beer!

Larger picture.

December 6 Yes, the Mishawaka Brewpub is closed*. The last night on Dec 3rd was a quiet party with loyal customers looking wistful as they wandered the barren-walled rooms, sipping the new Russian Imperial Stout.

The Schmidts were nice enough to put most of the pictures, posters, memorabilia, and even potted plants up for grabs as souvenirs as thanks for the good times.

*This isn't the end of the Mishawaka Brewery. The Pub on Grape and Cleveland isn't closing, far from it, and the production brewery in Elkhart will still be going strong. In fact, they have just come to an agreement with World Class Beverages for their bottled beers to be distributed state-wide - saving Tom lots of self-distribution mileage. Look for Four Horsemen Irish Ale, INDIAna Pale Ale, 7 Mules Kick-Ass Ale, Hop Head, and more in more stores starting next year.

The brewing equipment at the pub will be moved to storage at the Elkhart brewery. The last batch, Resolution Strong Ale, will be at The Pub in January.

Rick and Tami after last last call.

Articles about the closing: WSBT (with bonus smoking vs non-smoking thread and comments such as "the fact that is used to be a Fitness USA workout facility. Sweaty gyms are not a place I'd want to eat sorry."), South Bend Tribune, WNDU.

The Brass Monkey in Kokomo has also closed. This one is even more of a surprise than Mishawaka's short-notice closure. In fact, it was a surprise to owner Andrew Lewis.

This time the problem wasn't with the beer or the costs, but with the closure of the Sycamore Marketplace food court. Andrew brewed in the basement with his beer being sold upstairs. Whoops. No upstairs. And after he'd just made a major upgrade to the brewing system.

The last batches of BM beer will be tapped at the Half Moon starting tonight, Dec 5. Two kegs of Green Tea Pale Ale and a keg of Ill Intent Imperial Stout are the first to go on tap. Hopefully Congregation Winter Dubbel will follow later.

Phillip Funaria reports in BeerAdvocate that Jim Cibak has left the new Crown Brewing. discussion

Meanwhile Mad Anthony's new tied house in Elkhart is set to open soon. They'll have a soft rollout with a Grand Opening celebration in January. You'll be able to find it easily. It's on Main Street in the old State movie theater. A block from the Amtrak station.

We'd like to introduce Rachel Dessenberger. She's moved from Maumee, OH to be the brewery manager at the Mishawaka Granite City.

It's reported Three Floyds has found a new distributor and will be back in Wisconsin shortly.

Swift halves:

• Barley Island Dry-hopped barrel-aged IPA on the handpull - Deep brown. Lots of American hop IBUs almost masked by the massive wallop of malt. Sliding into Barley Wine territory here.
• Barley Island Java The Stout - Pure black with thin brown head. Aroma is of mild coffee. Taste is pure mild coffee, maybe with cream. There is a long coffee aftertaste. This simple approach just cries for a dollop of heavy cream.
• Barley Island Porter - Had the 2nd glass from a new batch. Almost opaque black. Spritely carbonation interferes with the beer but I bet Jon gets that straightened out.
• Barley Island Beastie Barrel Stout - On tap at the brewery is always the best way to drink even aged beer.
• Barley Island Single White Friar - Belgian Dark Ale brewed as a Pro-Am entry to GABF with Mark Schiess. Pure black with red tinges if you hold it under a tungsten bulb. Perfectly balanced, strong, spicy. Drinkable in alarmingly large quantities.
• Granite City McK's Scottish Ale - Very malty 70 shilling. Dark, almost muddy brown. Sweet-lovers dream but does dry out at the end.
• Half Moon Bry-Pa - Bryan Culbertson's recipe for an 85 IBU 7.7% IIPA. The first note is the dryness that goes throughout, not overwhelming the bitterness from Columbus, Magnum, Northern Brewer and Glacier hops - all high alpha.
• Half Moon Cannon Shot Cream Ale - Fairly boldly hopped and quite satisfying for an intro beer. Will pique interest in the casual customer. 5.4%
• Half Moon Sycamore Stump Stout - Pure black, pure thick, Export Stout. 6.6%
• Mad Anthony Apple Ale - Bright golden. Apple is predominant. Pale Malt gives a brooding mal background.
• Mad Anthony Snow Plowed Winter Ale - An Amber Ale that acts like an ESB. Quite dark brown. Unspicey. Earthy.
  Cindy says: This beer poured a medium head with small bubbles. The hue of this beer was dark brown and the lacing was fair on the sides of my glass. The nose of this beer was malty. I enjoyed this winter ale fairly well as it had a nice, smooth taste to it in my opinion. I would definitely drink this beer again.

The famous Eat Here Get Gas sign in Tipton has a new twist. Now with less gas.

Brett Canaday and Tia Agnew, the owners of the New Day Meadery in Elwood, are featured on the cover of the Purdue Alumni Magazine. Tough to Google ever since Dr. Elwood Mead graduated from Purdue in 1882.
 

Space beer. video Made by Sapporo from barley sprouted on the Space Station.

Latest scheme to prevent us Hoosiers from collecting the 10 Michigan deposit: Ink-jet printing on cans at time of sale. "Let's open that case and spray your beer". article

December 4 Granite City Food & Brewery (Fort Wayne, IN) - McK's Scottish Ale was tapped this week - A very malty (Maris Otter, Brown & Crystal), nutty, roasty, lightly hopped (Fuggle), sharp tasting Scottish Ale. ABV is 5.0% and O.G. 1.050. A very malty tasting beer that has gone over very well at this location according to the bar staff.

December 3 The second oldest brewpub in Indiana is closing. But their other tap house, The Pub, and the new brewery in Elkhart will continue business as usual. The following press release has the details.

The Brew Pub Ltd. restaurant located at 3703 North Main Street, Mishawaka will be closing at the end of business on December 3, 2008. The last few years have been a struggle with the increased competition of an unbelievable number of new restaurants, the closing of Main Street for an extended period of time, high property taxes, the smoking ban and the current recession. We had an extension on the smoking ban and went to no smoking in September, 2007. In the first year after going non smoking, sales decreased over $120,000. Politicians obviously know what is best for us. Just keep raising taxes and meddling in business operations and then complain about governments falling revenues. Under the current conditions we decided that it was time to pull the plug on the life support. It should be noted for those who are not familiar with our structure that The Brew Pub Ltd is a corporation separate from The Mishawaka Brewing Company and The Pub (located at 408 W. Cleveland, Mishawaka at the corner of Grape & Cleveland). The Mishawaka Brewing Company has continued to grow and in 2006 we opened a production brewery in Elkhart, IN. We will be consolidating the two brewing operations at our Elkhart location. Distribution will continue unchanged. The Brew Pub Ltd restaurant was opened on October 19, 1992 and has been operating for over 16 years. We will miss it dearly as it has been our home away from home. Economic times are tough, but the beers of The Mishawaka Brewing Company will continue to flow. All brewing, bottling, pigging and kegging will now be done in Elkhart. All of the beer will still be available for carry out at The Pub and at the brewery location in Elkhart including growlers, kegs and Party Pigs. Tom, Barbara, Rick & Tami Schmidt

Short looks at the beers of Rock Bottom, 86th St, Indy. Liz has a great line-up of seasonals:

• Honey Wheat - Dull light brown of oak furniture. Dead head. Hint of honey without being sweet. 4.7%. One in the kegerator will be great for the relatives over Christmas.
• Wheat Wine - Yep, Pilgrim's Dole. Big beer. Bright rum-colored. Thick mouthfeel. Strong and spicy with alcohol plainly evident. Beautiful. 9.7%. Got a growler.
• Blitzen - Dark copper. Big malty ESB. All-brit. 5.8%. Liz, put this on the handpull.
• Dry-hopped Imperial Stout - Thick, rich. Doesn't seem to be big alcoholic but it's 7.2%.

♪♪ It's the most wonderful time of the beer ♪♪ article "Winter beers account for 26.3% of the brewing industry's total annual seasonal sales volume." Evidently Spring, Summer, and Fall average 24.6% each.

December 2 Mad Anthony will unveil several beers in December. On the 3rd, they will tap the Snowplowed Winter Ale at a Mug Club party. The 2008 OCB (Old Crippled Bastard) Barley Wine will go on tap Dec 10th. And a Bourbon Barrel Imperial Porter is to be released in the coming weeks as well.

By the way, Eric Brewer's Mad Anthony tied house in Elkhart is scheduled to open in December.x

Got a GPS that takes POI files. POI Factory now has a bunch of them available by state.

The Nanny State might catch up with Nannyiana and outlaw happy hours, free drinks women, etc. article Heck we did that back in 1985.

December 1 Keg Liquors gets ink in the Louisville Courier Journal. "The shelves include such rare finds as Thiriez, a superb French farmhouse ale; Etienne Dupont's Cidre Bouche Brut, a vintage apple cider from Normandy; and Nikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, a coffee-oatmeal stout created by legendary Danish home brewers."

Sunshine Vitamin-D. Beer was good for you back in 1936.

New Belgium is making Elysian's beer and vice versa. article "By tweaking Elysian's recipes to account for differences in equipment, altitude and brewing styles, New Belgium was able to make beers so similar to the Elysian originals that only professional brewers could tell even the slightest difference".

Recession? You know it's real when the largest pub chain in Ireland goes into bankruptcy. article "Traditionally, pubs are among the most surefire businesses in Ireland's famously sociable economy". Bonus: The creditors include four Irish banks, Guinness parent company Diageo and two other Irish brewers, and Ireland's tax collection agency.

Compassion? Drunk women wearing high heels in Torquay, England will be issued flip-flops for safety. article

Transportation? Anita Schwartz carries 19 mass 40 meters to get a handle on a Guinness record. video Was that a dropped glass at 9 seconds?

November 30 Buy a $50 gift card at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Greenwood and get a free pint glass.

Maybe your stocks are up. Maybe you can put off the tune-up on your XKE until spring - after all, you won't be driving it this winter anyway. So maybe you have some extra cash. Mike DeWeese of J. Gumbo's in downtown Indy has the answer for your investment needs. He's selling his cellar built up over long years at BW3. All rare beers suitable for improvement through aging. Buy one, buy them all. Perfect for Christmas presents (hint hint). Contact Mike via email to make him an offer. The spreadsheet is at Hoosier Beer Geeks (about half-way down the page).

The Hop Shop in Carmel is reducing their inventory also. More than a dozen titles have been dropped about $2. These are "normal" beers such as Spaten Optimator, Harpoon UFO, Bell's Oberon, and Wabash Valley beers.

Beers coming to Indiana: Struise Tsjessas Belgian Strong 10%, Two Brothers North Wind Imperial Stout, Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas, Thomas Hardy's 40th Anniversary, Boulder Obovoid Oak-aged Oatmeal Stout, and all the Elfs (Very Bad, Seriously Bad, Criminally Bad, and Insanely Bad).

Purdue's Exponent has Patrick Cantwell's excellent analysis of the "higher taxes will cause less beer drinking" theory. article Bonus quote: "I had always naively assumed that the death rate, even in Indiana, is a constant at about one death per person."

MillerCoors just had a grand reopening for the Miller Caves and Miller Visitor Center. The Miller Caves, created in 1849 to keep beer cold before it was distributed, sit 60 feet below ground. A $1million renovation was completed to the caves and the visitor center. Cave improvements include a new cave tour video where the ghost of Frederick Miller emerges from a mural on the wall and explains the use of the caves in the beer-making process. Other improvements include renovations to the King Gambrinus fountain, a tribute to the patron saint of beer, and improved acoustics. Renovations made to the Visitor Center include a new historical timeline, a signature photo wall used for a backdrop for souvenir photos, a new bar and sampling station, a welcome desk and counters made of recycled beer bottle glass, and an enclosure and addition of a Miller Lite motorcycle.

November 29 The Brewers of Indiana Guild has information up now about the Winterfest.

Bad headline of the week: "Bottles of Wine and Beer Could Carry CALORIE Warning Labels to Stop Women Drinking" article Bonus quote "Drivers under 21 are already banned from drinking in Europe, as well as in parts of the U.S., Canada and Australia."

Good headline of the week: "The Boons of Beer" article Bonus quote "Unfortunately, the dose used in the study equals 17 beers".

November 26 Omar's latest secret at Alcatraz is a strong American Pale Ale that has had a secondary fermentation with maple syrup and a dry-hopping with Cascade and Amarillo. It's not on the menu so you have to ask for it. Only those reading IndianaBeer (or Nuvo) know about it.

If you're an Imperial Stout fan, look for De Struise Black Albert. It's in the state and has been seen at Kahn's and other places.

Michigan City News-Dispatch editorializes for Sunday sales - sort of. article

Around the world in 116 beers. pictures If you've had 34 of them, you might be a beer geek.

November 22 J. Gumbo's downtown Indy has a bargain for you, and me, and everybody. >From now through the end of the year all their pints will be $2.50. Most are normally $4.25. This includes (right now) Victory Hop Devil, Brugge Black, Alpha King, and Schlafly Hop Harvest. The hi-end stuff that's served in goblets aren't included of course.

Not sure if this is 100%, but Mark Havens was informed that Oaken Barrel got some ink in NFL Gameday Cookbook. The cookbook takes each city with an NFL team and pairs a food that is historically common from that city with a local brew.

There's a steakhouse in Batesville called Lil' Charlies that has bought the house next door to hold the 20bbl brewery equipment to become a brewpub. Hurrah. Owners Kip and Tricia Miller and Adam Israel have a target date of June, 2009 and their plan includes a complete overhaul of the restaurant, the addition of a bar area, increased seating, etc. etc. Adam will be the brewmaster along with his chef title - he's a CIA grad.

Upland's and Ken Smith's Bad Penny Imperial IPA is flowing at the taphouse. This was the winner of the UpCup homebrew contest. It's over 10% ABV and nearly 100 IBU. They've also made a big update to their food menu - it's on their website.

Recent tastings:

• Broad Ripple Brewpub Bigger Boy - A Strong Ale that has been dry-hopped within an inch of it's life. Think of it as a bold 8.4% IIPA. Quite dark as you'd expect. Plenty of alcohol and plenty of initial malt balance that is quickly overwhelmed by hops, hops, hops.
• Broad Ripple Brewpub Marzen - Pretty sweet and thick for the style. 5.2%
• Broad Ripple Brewpub Traveling John's Best Bitter - Cask Conditioned - A true British Best Bitter. Caramel comes through with about 40 IBU of dry finish. Always an A+
• Ram Old Jack's Blizzard - Big ESB with reddish copper tint. Cascades and Glacier hops give it the expected American flavor.
• Ram Nutcracker Porter - Take their excellent Total Disorder Porter and hit it with a shot of Hazelnut syrup and you have an idea we were told came from corporate headquarters.
• Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy Blitzen Ale - Excellent ESB, big and malty with a balanced finish.

Headline "Drink the Beer, Lose the Gut" article with bonus workout video

November 19

Ram and Jack Daniels teamed up to give their Mug Club members a special evening. The highlight was the availability from Dave's dwindling stock of both Old Jack Stout and Buffalo Bock (Silver medalist at GABF). Old Jack will, of course live on in legend for winning Silver at the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup, Gold at GABF, and Silver at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beer. Here are the medals to prove it.

The New Yorker visits Dogfish Head in amazing detail. Prints to 12 pages.

RateBeer is experiencing an outage. Wikipedia says "Since November 3rd, 2008, RateBeer has been in a security timeout. Messages from the site owners indicate it has not been shut down permanently and will return."

November 16 Mad Anthony gets ink in the Journal Gazette with a notice that their prices haven't gone up even though their costs have. But they did switch from disposable sauce containers to reusable ones.

Floyd will release Bloomington Brewing's Java Porter the Wednesday, Nov 19. It's "brewed with roasted barley malts for sweetness, and German Select hops for bitterness. A special addition of dark roasted Sumatran Blue Lingtong coffee from local coffee roaster Partridge and Quigley is added to the boil kettle to give Java Porter its unique coffee aroma and flavor."

Another article in the Indy Star about Sunday sales. With input from Jim Arnold of Kahn's. "It's an absolute loser for the package liquor stores. There is no win. I hope it fails."

November 15 News shorts from Jim Herter (thanks):

• Alcatraz Brewing now has a Mug Club.
• Lafayette Brewing's Winter Warmer is scheduled for Feb 7. Tickets on sale Dec 15.
• When Mad Anthony unveils this year's Old Crippled Bastard barleywine, all three locations will have some from previous years for comparison.
• Shoreline's new brewing equipment is up and running and all 12 taps are full again.
• Three Floyds is working on two collaborations. Oatgoop with Mikkeller, Copenhagen, will be similar to Hvedegoop but with oats. The second is with Dogfish Head and is further in the future. They are installing a 30-head bottling line to increase production.

Goose Island's brewpub on Clybourn St, Chicago has been evidently spared the closure axe. Their lease on the place is up at the end of the year and was not going to be renewed as another company would pay more. BUT in the first of probably three good things that will come out of this recession, the owners can't find anyone and will extend the lease. Hurray. article

Headline: "Diamonds Produced from Tequila". article "The scientists found that even the cheapest of tequila brands, averaging at $3 a bottle, are good enough to make diamonds." My last $3 bottle of tequila was no gem. Or insert your own joke here.

.56 - that's BAC. It's Wisconsin of course. article

Wimp. .767 - that's real BAC. It's Germany of course. article

November 11 The Brewers of Indiana Guild has completed a contract with the State Fair Commission for the first annual WinterFest. January 24th 2009. 3:00 – 7:00 pm. Champions Pavilion @ Indiana State Fairgrounds. $15 advance/ $20 day of event. Limited tickets available (not on sale yet). Receive 10 tokens, 4 oz glass, beers from Indiana breweries and select distributors, live music. Purchase additional 5 token lots for $5 at event. More details on the BIG site later.

Barley Island has Beastie Barrel Porter aging in whiskey barrels right now for a late December release on tap and in 12oz 4-packs. It will join, not replace, their GABF medalist Beastie Barrel Stout.

Following Indiana's triumph at GABF (have you heard we swept the Wood- and Barrel-Aged category?) we did well also at The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild Festival of Barrel Aged Beer last Saturday.

• Porter/Stout - Silver - Ram Indy - Old Jack Stout (the GABF Gold)
• Barleywine - Gold - Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine
• Barleywine - Bronze - Three Floyds Wheatwine
• Strong Dark Beers - Bronze - Rock Bottom Downtown Indy Naughty Woody
• Wild Beers - Silver - Upland Blackberry Lambic
• Plus Best Of Show (tada) - Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

The World Class Beverages Winter 12-pack Holiday Taster contains one each of Samichlaus, Anchor Our Special Ale, Delirium Noel, Black Chocolate Stout, Gouden Carolus Noel, Avery Old Jubilation, Wychwood Bah Humbug, Sam Smith Winter Welcome, Rogue Santa's Private Reserve, Young's Winter Warmer, Bell's Winter White, Petrus Winter Beer. Should be priced about $18 at retail.

And next year WCB will be bringing in limited, very limited, amounts of beer from breweries we don't usually see around here. They've made agreements with the Boulevard (Smokestack Series), Rubicon, 21st Amendment, Moylan's Oskar Blues, and Ska. Talk to Bob Mack if you want some for your pub.

Zymurgy Magazine interviewed Anita Johnson about the State Fair Brewers Cup and the report is in their Holiday issue.

Keg Liquors in Clarksville has opened the new 5,000sqft building. Here's a picture of the warm and wild section.

Fred Scott won the 2lbs of wings eating competition at the Hot Shotz grand opening for cash and Butler basketball tickets.

Who's the woman from Illinois selling Upland Lambics on ebay. With a buy-it-now of $39.99 ($49.99 for the Peach)? Word is a bottle of the Kiwi sold for $154.

Coming up: (Liquor store tastings are in the calendar)

• Fri, Nov 14 - New Albany - Dogfish Head Hootenanny. Rich O's 6:30 p.m. $30. Limited to 25 people. The Dogfish Head Hootenanny is a radical vertical tasting of some of the notorious craft brewer’s finest specialties, served alongside a pre-Thanksgiving chilled buffet of leftovers, including turkey sandwiches, pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole, green bean salad, corn bread, Waldorf salad and cranberries. Call Reva Hagedorn at 812-989-6178 for reservations.
• Fri, Nov 14 - Warsaw - Casa Holiday Beer and Wine Tasting. Warsaw Airport in the Biomet Hanger. 6-10pm
• Sat, Nov 15 and 22 - Fishers - BeerMBA Master of Beer Appreciation class. Fishers. 3:30-6:30. $40.
• Tues, Nov 18 - Zionsville - Fall Harvest Beer & Wine Dinner. Patrick's Kitchen, Boone Village. $65. 6:30-9pm
• Fri, Nov 21 - Indy - Blitzen Ale (dark Belgian) release party. Both Rock Bottoms. 6pm

Steve Beaumont's Top 5 Holiday Beers - with pairings. article Brasserie Dupont Avec les Bon Voeux, Sam Smith Winter Welcome, Rogue Santa's Private Reserve, He'brew Jewbelation, and Mahr's Christmas Bock

Headline of the day which doesn't really relate to the story: "Radioactive Beer Kegs Menace Public, Boost Costs for Recyclers". article Actually the kegs are used to hide cesium scraps - the real radioactive danger is, wait for it, elevator buttons.

SABMiller and Coca-Cola (Australia) have gone into a joint venture, Pacific Beverages, to distribute Pilsner Urquell and others. They bought the Bluetongue brewery in NSW and a 50M liter plant is scheduled to be up and running in 2010. The stated goal is to become the #3 Australian brewery in the premium division by 2012.

Courtesy New York Public Library, here is George Washington's recipe at Mount Vernon.

"To Make Small Beer
Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. -- Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask -- leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working -- Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed."

Need a Christmas present for your brewer? Try the reprinted book Origin and History of Beer and Brewing originally published in 1911 and freshly reprinted by BeerBooks.

November 9 Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora will open it's doors to the public on November 15th. the first offerings from Dan Valas's 3bbl system will be a Blonde Ale, an English Mild, and a Stout. He will quickly add a Witbier and a Cherry Ale to the lineup. Packaging will be in mini-kegs, growlers, and 5-gallon kegs. A few limited releases, such as the Cherry Ale, will be distributed in 750ml bottles. The Aurora brewery doesn't have a proper tasting room yet but they will offer samples and sell beer on-site to the public. They will also self-distribution to southeast Indiana stores and pubs.

Top 10 beers worldwide (by volume): Bud Light, Snow, Budweiser, Skol, Corona, Heineken, Brahma, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Tsingtao. Snow is Chinese brewed in partnership with Miller. Skol and Brahma are Brazilian. article

We get press releases: "This year’s Stella Artois World Draught Master title has been awarded to Tommy Goukens – Belgium (1st place winner), Claire Dong – China (1st runner-up) and Volodymyr Vavryk - Ukraine (2nd runner-up).

First held in 1997, the Stella Artois World Draught Master Competition assembles the best bartenders from around the world to rate their tapping skills, bottle-pouring finesse and table-serving protocol when it comes to serving Belgian beers. Every step of a competitor’s attempt to perform the perfect pour is carefully scrutinized by a panel of expert judges.

The competition heralds the importance of the Stella Artois 9-step pouring ritual. To ensure that the chalice glass is completely pristine, the ritual begins with a cleaning process known as ‘The Purification’. ‘The Sacrifice’ of the first drops of beer from the tap is then carried out to start the ‘Liquid Alchemy’ as the chalice is held at a 45 degree angle without touching the tap. The chalice glass is then lowered to allow the natural formation of ‘The Head’ followed by ‘The Removal’ of the chalice from under the tap. As the head foams up and overflows the side of the glass, a head-cutter is used for gently ‘Beheading’ the excess foam preparing it for ‘The Judgment’. A careful re-dipping or ‘Cleansing’ of the chalice to restore its proper drinking temperature is done before ‘The Bestowal’ of the perfectly poured Stella Artois. It is presented on a clean coaster with the logo facing the consumer. Even the shape of the brand’s signature chalice glass is chosen to release all of the beer’s multi-textured aromas."

November 7 In Indiana, the new Great Crescent Brewery, recently got (keg) label approval for virtually it whole lineup of eight beers. They have some specialties, however, like Cherry Ale, which will only be released in 750s. The brewery is named after one that existed in the late 1800s called Crescent Brewery. Target opening date is early November. Thanks to Beernews.org for the heads up.

November 5 Indianabeer now has a home on twitter!! Get a text message everytime we post news! Network! Post what you are drinking! Or none of the above! Who cares, we're going for change. Yes We Can! Click here--->

Also, we dropped by Oaken Barrel for a bite to eat. Click here for the photos.

November 2 Brugge Brasserie's Pivo Defendu Belgian Strong Pale Ale - "Forbidden fruit". Dark brown with a mustache-hugging stoutish ivory head giving a stark contrast to the liquid. Lots of Belgian brownness with a touch of fresh hay. BTW, the second floor is now waiting on a board of health inspection and is expected to open by December.

Looking for a mild? Looking for a beer you can drink twice as much of? Try Miller Genuine Draft 64. The 64 is for calories. Which makes the ABV 3.0%.

BAs and RBs are wimps. These 4 guys "got bored with their local" and have been to 14,000 pubs and have had 84,000 pints. Since 1984. article with bonus bar-towel vest picture

The Nose is insured for £1.5M. Richard Paterson, master blender for Whyte & Mackay also has a new autobiography, Goodness Nose.

October 31 Recent tastings/visits:

• Stopped in at Shoreline Brewery & Restaurant(Michigan City) and sampled:Ly-Co-Ki-We-Kolsch which was crisp, refreshing, malty, hoppy, Sesh Wheat Ale an American style wheat ale which had Amarillo hops for a refreshing citrus flavor and a nice session beer, Seven Red which is a rye ale using seven (7) different malts and four (4) different types of rye. Lots of Centennial hops which blended very well with the maltiness of this beer, Beltaine Scottish Ale which won Silver Medals in the 2006 and 2008 World Beer Cup competition and is also the #1 selling beer at Shoreline according to the beer sheet that Nikki, the server, provided to me. A very easy drinking beer with a nice malt and caramel aroma and flavor, Big Bella Heavy Scotch Ale, was told the ABV was 10.5%, very sweet tasting with flavors of molasses, berries and caramel, and lastly Singing Sands Oatmeal Stout with flavors of coffee, chocolate and some oatmeal to round out this beer. Shoreline is definitely worthy of a stop as they brew some very tasty beers.
• Millrose Restaurant and Brewing Company(South Barrington, IL)A lodge like setting with many rooms for dining, a bar, and a General Store. Lots of décor on the walls to peruse. Sampled four (4) beers:Dark Star Lager a sweet malt and caramel aroma and flavor and very light bodied, Panther Ale an amber ale that was malty, hints of fruit, and lightly hoppy both in aroma and flavor, Octoberfest which is predominately malty and caramel both in aroma and flavor, and Country Inn Ale a pale ale with an aroma and flavor of grain, malt and only a hint of hops.
• Brass Restaurant & Brewery(South Barrington, IL)Thanks to Anthony Carollo, Head Brewer, who rolled out the red carpet during this first visit as he had a sincere interest in the opinions of the beers as did the bar staff which is always nice to see and hear.A nice trendy establishment and sampled four (4) of their beers-Blowhard Light an American Pilsner, that was crisp, sweet, malt, some corn, lightly hoppy, and grainy in the aroma and the flavor was sweet, grainy and a hint of hops.Full Throttle Amber Ale using imported English malts and hops, sweet, fruity and some caramel. A good brew for those not wanting a very hoppy tasting beer, Weissguy Hefeweizen an unfiltered German Wheat beer with an aroma of banana, vanilla and clove and a fruity, banana, clove refreshing flavor, and Pals Porter which had a very nice roasty, burnt coffee aroma and flavor, very smooth and balanced, definitely worth a try and the overall favorite during this visit.
• Another first visit was to Crown Brewing(Crown Point, IN)This is a small facility with an adjoining pizza parlor and the bar area consists of seven (7) tables and five (5) seats at the bar.Met Jim Cibak, Brewmaster, and he had two (2) beers on tap Sara Blonde Ale which was malty, citrus hops, sweet and fruity aroma with a hint of caramel and a citrus hops, hint of pine, sweet, fruity, crisp and refreshing flavor.Flavors seemed to mimick an American Pale Ale rather than a Blonde Ale; however, very tasty indeed. Next was the Kilmister Stout that has a roasty brown malt, coffee, and chocolate aroma and flavor. Nice balance and also very tasty.According to Jim an IPA is the next style coming up.

October 29 Correction: The friendly feelings between St. Louis brewers Schlafly and Indiana's Cavalier Distributing Monarch Beverage are paying off with Indiana getting 3 of the 5 kegs of Hop Harvest that left the brewery tap. One each has gone to Rich O's, J. Gumbo's and Pikk's Tavern. It's a 6% American Pale Ale dry-hopped on fresh-picked-and-airlifted Simcoe hops.

Somehow a keg of Oaken Barrel's Apple Buzz made it's way to the Old Town Ale House in Fishers where it has just been opened.

Duvel is available on tap. In the UK. It's doesn't have a secondary fermentation and is only 6.8% instead of 8.5%.

When in Khun Han, do as the Khun Hanians do, make your Buddhist temple from 1 million recycled beer bottles. pictures

October 27 Last Saturday, Mike Sprinkle invited the RateBeerian and Beer Advocates to stop by the new-this-year Carmel Crown Liquors for a tasting of Upland's Lambics. About a dozen people came from as far away as Ohio.

Mike has enlarged the beer selection even more - another 20-something feet. We'd venture Crown Carmel and the Parti Pak are about tied in number of titles on the shelves. That's all good stuff in the picture below.

Marv McKay's new home is the Crown Liquors at 116th and Brooks School Rd. in Fishers.

As we found out earlier the Old Town Ale House has the best pint price in town on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Right now that includes Brugge Tripel de Ripple, Stone Ruination, Goose Island Matilda, and BBC Jefferson Reserve among a dozen others. Get in on the goodies before Matt comes to his senses.

Ram 's Mug Club Tapping last week was special. Two new beers (Harvest Ale and this year's Old Jack's Blizzard). Plus the Good Beer Show did a podcast with Dave Colt and Jon Lang - together the owners, owners I say, of the Barrel Aged Beer category. (Podcast, as usual, nsfw)

• Ram Alt (Fishers) - Dark copper with rocky white superhead. Very drinkable but likely gone by now.
• Ram Harvest Ale - Dark ESB with balanced maltiness. Well carbonated. Bold. 6.9%. Will be barrel-aged for next year.
• Ram Kolsch (Fishers) - Still bright and brilliant. Excellent floral balance. A+
• Ram Old Jack's Blizzard - Dark, dark copper. Strong Ale/Old Ale with big malt. Always a rip-roarer. 7.5%
  
  Dave and John brought out tastes of the GABF winners at for the Mug Clubbers and even pub 5 gallons of Buffalo Bock on tap by the pint. THANKS.
• Ram Gold medal winning Old Jack Stout - Strong coffee, sweet and alcoholic vanilla. Soft with an agreeable warmth. A++
• Ram Silver medal winning Buffalo Bock - Maibock aged in Buffalo Trace barrels. Pilsner and Munich malts. Sweet oak gives lots of character. Ultimately drinkable. Deserving.

Roger has posted the latest draft list for Lupulin Land at Rich O's. His parties go on for weeks.

We'll be seeing plenty of Founders this winter. Breakfast Stout, Dirty Bastard, Double Bastard, Fresh Hop, Backwoods Stout, and even a return of Curmudgen.

The friendly feelings between St. Louis brewers Schlafly and Indiana's Cavalier Distributing are paying off with Indiana getting 3 of the 5 kegs of Hop Harvest that left the brewery tap. One each has gone to Rich O's, J. Gumbo's and Pikk's Tavern. It's a 6% American Pale Ale dry-hopped on fresh-picked-and-airlifted Simcoe hops.

We get mail: "Hi. I picked up a dated 1909 3/10 Liter German ceramic stein today. It has the words "South Bend Brewing Association" and a picture of a big 3 story brewery on it. I am listing it on ebay Sunday Oct. 26th. Tell your friends please. Thanks." - ByJanuary

Up in Michigan, The Holland area is facing referendum to go dry on Sunday - even on-premises such as the New Holland Brewery. They have to vote No to keep it wet.

Goodbye Zima. If you've never tried this intoxicating mix of alcohol and flavorings get some soon because they're stopping production. Mike over at Hoosier Beer Geek suggests cellaring the Pineapple Citrus style.

"Does a real 16-ounce beer exist in Portland, Ore.?" NPR reports.

October 23 Upland's Schwarz and Cody the cougar get ink in the Indiana Daily Student "After the cougar’s departure, local bands started playing and continued late into the night as Upland had its most successful day ever."

As anticipated, InBev is going to "postpone" the $9.8b buyout of A-B "until market conditions stabilize". That probably means they'll make a new, lower, bid. BUD stock has dropped from $68 in September to near $58 and is now back to $62. That could take a billion bucks off the table.

Sam Adams Long Shot Homebrew contest this year was won by two guys in California with a Bock and a Double IPA. The bottles will be out in Feb, 2009.

Another reason to love beer. "Drinking coffee can have a major effect on breast size," article Oops, smaller. But only half of the population has that gene.

October 22 Mark and Andrew at Oaken Barrel are having a ball and are making more beer than ever.

• The first 15bbl batch of Apple Buzz disappeared in 4 days (including 334 growlers - almost 20%). The second batch is on but might not last through the weekend. Extremely cloudy with dying white head. Sweeter apples this year give the ciderness reign over the honey and malt. A longer fermentation keeps the dryness but makes this years batch a beast at 8.5% ABV.
• This year's Epiphany Christmas Tripel will soon be in stores in bottles and will appear in the World Class Winter 12-pack Sampler.

Mark Havens visited Ken Price last week at the Yazoo Brewery where they are working three shifts to supply enough beer for their tap room and most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama and Mississippi.

It's time to start thinking about renewing your Mug Club memberships. Just a reminder.

October 20 Marv McKay has moved on from Vine and Table, Carmel, and there's now a primo opening for a northside Indy beer geek.

The World of Beer in St. Petersburg (FL, not Russia) has 500 beers. "there has been a 100 percent increase in my quality of life". My hero. article

Headline: "PBR For Sale?" The IRS says the owners of the Pabst empire must sell by 2010. article

CAMRA (UK) has an £5 add-on for GPS units that adds all 4500 Good Beer Guide pubs. Victorians are not amused. article

October 17 Note: We are pleased to announce a new contributor to Indianabeer.com! With over 3,000 ratings, Cindy Modesitt is the most prolific female beer geek in the United States on Ratebeer.com! Welcome, Cindy... Whatcha drinking... ??

-------------------------

Granite City Food & Brewery (Fort Wayne) Oktoberfest – Tap, reddish orange, aroma was caramel, sweet, and a lot of Munich, Vienna and Crystal malts were used. Flavor mimicked the aroma with a mild hoppy touch. Smooth and clean with an ABV of 6.1%.  A good Oktoberfest that is worth trying. More please!

J.K. O’Donnell’s (Fort Wayne) Sierra Nevada Harvest - Tap, amber, aroma was citrus hops, grapefruit, pine, malt, bready, and some grassy notes. Flavor was pine, citrus hops, hint of toffee and nuts, grassy, malt, and a bitter hop finish. Fairly smooth and medium bodied on the palate with a lingering hoppy aftertaste.

October 16 More insight into Cripple de Ripple...

"MECA Brewer Jim Matt here, and I wanted to clarify something you posted on Indiana Beer.

First of all, I agree with you, the Dark Strong from Brugge is magnificent!! Very fruity, plummy, and dark. Paul and Ted did a great job on this beer, and I would love to see it as a seasonal rotation.

The Cripple de Ripple is a completely different beer altogether. At this point, it is a research/experimental beer. The genesis of the idea was this: Paul Edwards and I were touring the Terre Haute facility last year, and Paul made the joke about brewing an "Imperial Tripel." I laughed...I told Ted, and he laughed, and said, "come up with the recipe, and we'll do it!" So I did. Version 1.0 did not work so well...the yeast did not attenuate, and it started to take on an off-flavor from "bad phenolics" from me trying to resurrect the yeast, so down the drain it went. Version 2.0 went very well (brewed on August 3). The exact process I used is a trade secret, but it suffices to say, the Cripple started approximately at SG: 1.135, and fermented all the way down to 1.017...for an alcohol level of 15.9%! This beer is indeed in a keg in my fridge; it has been entered in the "Imperial Anything" Club only Competition (being judged this weekend). Many have tried this beer, and all comment on how amazingly drinkable it is for such a big beer. I intend to bottle what is left out of the keg and store it away for a year. I'm not sure if/when Ted plans to brew it, but if he does, you can bet he will age it for quite some time, and that there will be a limit of one per visit!

Jim"

October 15 Recent tastes:

• Broad Ripple Brewpub Brown - In honor of Brugge's second floor opening, Kevin Matalucci has brewed the latest batch of his Southern Brown with a Belgian yeast and it is magnificent. Malty dark and tart rather than bitter. A++
• Brugge Brasserie Belgian Dark Strong - Belgian? Check. Dark? Double Check. Strong? Checkmate. Bold malt and lots of ABVs, probably 11. Made with Paul Edwards, could this be the Cripple de Ripple prototype?

Oskar Blues and Dave Chichura make a video showing off the new brewhouse. YouTube video

Palm/Rodenbach has a new importer for the US and supplies are promised to come back of Grand Cru and this winter we should see their very strange 10% Vin de Cereale.

Look for Clipper City Winter Storm Category 5 Ale, Pinkus Jubilate, Left Hand Twin Sisters Double IPA, and Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. Rogue Double Dead Guy and Yellow Snow IPA will also be back this winter.

Wynkoop's 13th annual Beerdrinker of the Year competion is on. Send your self-nomination - info here.

What could be better than a peeled-open Lays truck? Why Doritos on the beach from a lost container. article and picture

You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. Palestine at least has a beer. article

October 14

We swept a category at the GABF! "Wood- and Barrel-aged beer" is owned by Indiana.

Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer

Gold: Old Jack, Ram, Indianapolis
Silver: Buffalo Bock, Ram, Indianapolis (Also won a Bronze last year)
Bronze: Beastie Barrel Stout, Barley Island, Fishers (Also won a Silver in 2006)

German-Style Märzen

Bronze: Munsterfest, Three Floyds, Munster

American Style Amber Lager

Gold: BJ's Oktoberfest, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Indianapolis

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year

Rock Bottom Brewing and the Rock Bottom Brewing Team

Other GABF Gold medal winners that should be found in Indiana: Lone Star, Pyramid Crystal Wheat, Pyramid Apricot Ale, Dogfish Head Red & White, Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale, Redbridge, Coors Light, Flying Dog Dogtoberfest, Leininkugel Creamy Dark, Full Sail Pale Ale, Rogue Dry Hopped Red, Widmer Drop Top, Hoppin' Frog BORIS The Crusher.

Jon Lang and father at GABF

Ex-Hoosier Greg Christmas was there for Dogfish Head

Butler Winery's Autumn homebrewing sale is going on in Bloomington through the 19th. Equipment, Additives, Yeast, Hops, 15% off. Kits, Extracts, Adjuncts, Carboys, Bottles, Kegging equipment, 10% off.

Mad Anthony may get a beer garden. article

What could be more mouth watering than two beer trucks colliding? Two Lays trucks of course. article

This year's Oktoberfest, the DOW of beer festivals, showed 6.6 million litres of beer (along with 104 oxen). Sadly, this was down 5% from last year due to hot and rainy weather. But condom sales were up. article with bonus gratuitous cleavage

October 12 GABF results are in! The following Indiana Brewerys came out winners:

Record Number of Entries Heightens Competition
 
Denver, Colo.- October 11, 2008- More than 127 judges labored for three days to evaluate 2,902 beers and pick the best entries and top breweries for this year's Great American Beer Festival.  A total of 222 medals were awarded in 75 beer style categories and top breweries and brewers were designated based on the total number of medals won. The five top awards recognize small, medium and large breweries and small and large brewpubs.  The awards went to the following breweries:

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Doug Muhleman
 
Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year: Sponsored by Crosby & Baker Ltd.
Pyramid Breweries Inc.
Simon Pesch
 
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year: Sponsored by Microstar Keg Management AleSmith Brewing Co.
The AleSmith Brewing Team
 
Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group Rock Bottom Brewing Rock Bottom Brewing Team
 
Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.
Redwood Brewing Co.
Bill Wamby
 
To view the complete winners view a PDF:
http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/pdf/winners/gabf08_winners.pdf
 
or visit www.GreatAmericanBeerFestival.com festival winners at http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/medals/medalists.aspx

October 10 Tastes:

• The Rock Bottom seasonal this month is Harvest Ale which is supposed to be  pumpkin ale. Both of the Indianapolis RB brewers have decided not to punish us the chunks.
  • Rock Bottom, 86th St, Indy Harvest Pumpkin Ale - Color very close to a pumpkin. Very subtle with no actual pumpkin and only 5oz of spices in the 8bbl batch. The allspice alludes to the pumpkin.
  • Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy Harvest Pumpkin Ale - Hazy deep copper. Bright white lacey head. The nose gives a touch of cinnamon and allspice just as the liquid hits your lips. 12 oz of Pumpkin pie spice in a 9bbl batch.
• RB86th Johnny Mac's IPA - Golden copper. Nicely bittered ESB.
• RB86th Cask Conditioned Pale Ale - Dry-hopping with Amarillo gives a bright fresh non-floral presence to the Double Barrel Pale Ale. Stronger than a British Golden Ale, it's almost a new breed of ESB. A+
• RBDowntown Cask Conditioned Strawberry Hefeweizen - A thick hefe with a beery nose through the dense head. Unsweet strawberry tang thoughout. Hey, this works.
• Coney Island Freaktoberfest - Very red with a pink head under the dim yellow lights at J.Gumbo's. Balanced dry Vienna Amber but what's with the red color?

Get your Bud USB drive here. Minimum 250 pieces.

Or a much more usable KEGlove. Sizes for growlers, 5L minis, 3 & 5gal corneys, and 15gal kegs. With optional ice blankets for messless picnics.

Hot and cold running wine in Marino, Italy during Grape Festival. Not at the festival. In neighboring houses. article

Anybody wanna bet the InBev/A-B buy goes in the dumper due to lack of cash? Barclay's Deutsche Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland were involved in the funding of the $52b purchase but they are having troubles, and RBS is about to be taken over by Lloyds, a much more conservative bank.

October 7 Looks like 2009 might bring us Hoosiers beer from Firestone-Walker, 21st Admendment, Rubicon. Lost Coast may return in January. All just a rumor.

"The difference is drinkability." Is that the new motto of Thomas Harvey's Ale, Stone Brewing Co., or Bud Light? article

Irish pub fined €2500 for watered down vodka. Now that's a nanny state we can live with. article

Beer Chips. "These babies are thick-cut kettle style chips with a serious coating of sugar and salt and to top it off, covered with a major dose of the world’s most perfect beverage…beer."

And if Black Pudding throwing isn't enough, the Pork Pie has been given Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée status. As does Cornish Clotted Cream (what, not Devon Clotted Cream?)

October 5 The new 5,000ft building for Keg Liquors in Clarksville is opening Monday, Oct 6. Sorry, no pictures yet but there will be 10 more (22 in total) beer doors. 6 doors for cold wine. More space for tastings and special events. Rate Beer has it ranked #14 in the world. Todd Antz says

"Selection has been my hallmark. While I will carry the basics that any liquor store will need, my niche has always been those products that you will not find in most other retailers.

"My passion is beer, specifically craft and import beers. I've been able to carve a nice niche and build a very respectable collection of beers, and to me the important part of this is also being able to pass the knowledge and love of these products along. My secondary passion is great wines. While I will confess that my beer knowledge is 100 times what my wine knowledge is, I have focused our wine selection on smaller boutique distributors that do not cater to grocery stores, chains, drug stores, etc. Quite like my stance on beer, you will find a few of the basics, but 90% of what I carry you will not find in most stores in the area."

Utah has banned malternatives (Zima, Smirnoff Ice, etc.) from grocery stores and gas stations. article

The American Beverage Institute took out an ad against MADD's program to have every car equipped with a breathalyzer. That didn't make the neoprohibitionists happy example. Now MADD has called for a boycott of ABI members including Applebee's, Carrabba's, Chili's, Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, On the Border, Outback Steakhouse, P.F. Chang's, Red Lobster, and T.G.I. Friday's. Yeah, good luck with that.

No kidding, Beer On A Stick is not the most brilliant idea we've seen either.

But Jurassic yeast seems to work. article Yep, yeast from a 45m yo amberized weevil. Now Fossil Fuels Brewing Co's yeast is fueling taps at two brewpubs in north CA and they may make the yeast available to more craft brewers.

New pub game. The World Black Pudding Throwing Championship. By the way, rusk is like zwieback toast. Evidently it goes well with pig blood and fat.

October 4 PRO-AM RELEASE PARTY...

Our GABF Pro-Am entry, a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale, will go on tap this Saturday, Oct 4th. Join Brewmaster Jon Lang and Homebrewer Mark Schiess at 6:30 pm to discuss and savor Single White Friar. A double mash of grain and dark Belgian candi sugar were utilized to achieve a very complex malt flavor and 8.5% abv. Opal whole leaf hops and a Belgian yeast strain resulted in spicy, peppery notes. A limited run of 12 oz bottles in 4-packs will be available for sale.
LIVE MUSIC

Stringtown Pickers (Jam/Bluegrass) 9 pm
 
Visit Barley Island Web Site: http://www.barleyisland.com
Barley Island is Located in Historic Downtown Noblesville
 
639 Conner Street (Hwy 32)
Noblesville, Indiana
1 Block West of the Courthouse

Hot Shotz has re-opened but don't look for it on 91st St. It's now in the previously-Bennigan's just east of I-69 and north of 96th St - behind the Cracker Barrel. Twice as big as before.

Tastings:

• Broad Ripple Brewpub Oktoberfest - Darkish red copper. Dry malty. Lots of Vienna malt.
• Brugge Belgian Dark - Paul Edward's recipe for the GABF Pro-Am competition. Plenty of Belgian darkness to go around. Plenty of C2H5OH also.
• Rock Bottom (86th St, Indy) Johnny Mack's IPA - Hazy apricot color. Real IPA where the malt and 50 IBUs of bitter chase each other around for a long time.

Is it a beer? Is it a malt beverage? Is it a beer but not a malt beverage? Answers to these pressing questions can be found at the TTB.

October 3 Exclusive first tastings of the 2008 Upland Lambics. Where? Right here! Click.

October 1 Kevin Matalucci, brewer at Broad Ripple Brewpub and Sam Smith of Indy visited Hop Union and the Yakima Valley hops harvest