Two articles in the Indianapolis Star yesterday tell about Indiana's breweries and this Saturday's festival.

The US importer of Czechvar issued a press release saying Madonna's tour wants only Czechvar in their dressing rooms.

Arcadia opened a keg of Batch 999 described as an Imperial ESB and the line was over 30 people deep. Dark, lots of Cascades, and only 6.5% ABV. Dragonmead served 10 different beers and Bell's had 13.

Other standouts included Big Buck's 2001 Belgian Trippel, Black Forest's Sally's Irish Oat Stout, Bo's Grand Cru and 2003 Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine (21% ABV), CJ's Old Crusty Bourbon Barrel Old ALe (13.2% ABV), KraftBrau's Belgian Cherry Wheat, Rochester Mills, Level 6 Anniversary Ale (a Scottish), Traverse Brewing's Sleeping Bear Brown, Stoney Creek Atwater Hell, and a Festive Lager from the Traffic Jam & Snug.

The Brewing News sold a lot of T-shirts to support the financial production of the various papers.

This picture of the Brewing News' Bill Metzger, Mississippi Valley BN's Bob O, and Great Lakes BN's Karen Bujak is published partly as an apology for previously including a picture of Keith Ubben with a purple hat band.

Monday - Indianapolis: Cheese & Gourmet Gallery, Beer Tasting Party at Pauly's Restaurant. 2130 W. Southport Rd., Indianapolis, 6:30-8:30pm, $35.00 per person includes beers and a meal. More Info     -------    RESCHEDULED TO Sept 22nd.

Wednesday - Indianapolis: Chalkies / IndianaBeer Chimay tasting. 6:30pm. Experience both their beers and their cheeses. Free. Call for reservations at 317-578-2221.

Saturday - Indianapolis: Indiana Microbrewers Fest in Broad Ripple's Optimist Park. 2 - 6pm. Presented by the Brewers of Indiana Guild to benefit the Art Center and Optimists International. Live music from 3 bands. Keg tossing climbing wall, dunk-the-brewer tank. $25 advance (at any brewpub), $30 at door. $8 for designated drivers. $25 tickets at Indiana brewpubs. Food from Chalkies and Dick's Bodacious BBQ. 16 Indiana breweries and offerings from dozens of other breweries.

All Indiana breweries will be producing a "Replicale" so you can compare them head to head. An interesting concept. Here's the specs:
93% Rahr 2 row (American Malt from Minnesota)
3% Simpsons (England) medium crystal
4% Simpsons Light Crystal
33 IBUs in 3 additions of Mt. Hood and Cascade
Hops

Dragonmead at 11-Mile and Exti 26. Wow. Talk about a place that's all about the beer. This is it. You can get some cheese and crackers or pretzels but that's about it for food. It's the beer after all and they had (this is not a typo) 38 beers on tap yesterday. That's 38 of their own beers. Brewed in the back room.

Two brewers work overlapping shifts to make, on average, 3 batches each day, 5 days a week. Now these are 3 bbl batches. Those are custom-made 3bbl conicals in the picture. All goes into kegs for serving at the bar except what's into 1/4 bbl kegs or 5gal coke kegs for home use. They also rent kegerators and sell growlers to go.

These guys started as homebrewers but have progressed far beyond that without "going commercial". They only use malt from the country of origin of the style. Explosion-proof lights and switches in the grain room. Open fermentation throughout. They use fans to lower the air pressure over the kettle to lower the temperature and produce a faster boil. They regularly do step mashes and double decoctions. There's a separate whirlpool tank to speed up production of multiple batches.

Dragonmead hosted the MCAB this year. Produced by the the Michigan Beer Guide in the form of Rex Halfpenny, it was ostensibly the reason we came up to Detroit. Thursday evening was a sponsored welcoming reception, Yesterday was a tutored "sensory evaluation" of off-flavors found in beers, a BJCP test, a pub crawl, and the MCAB judging itself this evening. This afternoon is the Michigan Brewer's Guild Festival in Ypsilanti and an afterglow party sponsored by the Great Lakes Brewing News.

But what about the Dragonmead beers you ask? Short notes as there was a LOT going on and there was a lot of beer to drink. This is really a tough job at times.

• Final Absolution Trippel - a very good remake of an Abbey beer. 8.5% ABV
• Corktown Red (cask conditioned) - Nice British hoppy Bitter. Good stuff.
• Breath of the Dragon Bitter - An A+ session ale. 4.2% ABV.
• Crusader Dark Mild - Sweet but within style. 3.8% ABV.
• Sir William's Extra Special Bitter - Mild and creamy. Agreeable.
• Woody's Perfect Porter - Nitro dispense. Creamy and very roasty.
• Bishop Bob's Holy Smoke - A creamy light rauchbier. Really very light on the smoke notes.
• Dragonslayer Altbier - An edgy alt. Not one of our favorites.
• They also served an 18 month old Barley Wine that was weak, unbalanced, and harsh. Drinkable but not what you expect from an aged barley wine.

Kuhnhenn Brewery - Chicago and Mound Rds. Another brewpub that serves only bits of food. 15 beers, 26 wines, and a Baggot mead. They also have an extensive homebrew/wine store attached.

• Iron Monger Dunkel - nice dark sweet lager but there was noticeable diacytl.
• Fourth Dementia Old Ale - 9.5% heavy sipping beer. Quite dark and quite caramel.
• Saison - Sweetish but quite well balanced in the finish. Amber. 6.0%.
• Devil's Horn - Nicely tart, dark Belgian ale with some underlying raspberry.

They have a Breakfast of Champions series of beers including Breakfast Sausage Ale with sage and other spices (but no meat), Blueberry Pancake Ale, Mocha Porter. But no Western Omelet Ale.

Woodward Avenue Brewers - Woodward and 9 Mile Rd. First floor is all outdoor seating when it's nice. A good place to watch the cars go by in the late afternoon. Eclectic crows to say the least. 8 beers on tape include a Blonde, Raspberry, Marzen, Hefe, Pale, Brown, Porter, and a Vanilla Porter - Black with a brown head, thick, roasty, not sweet.

Lily's Seafood Grill and Brewery - 4th and Washington in Royal Oak. Mostly about the food - fine food - and the fancy flaming brandy coffee type drinks. Beers include Light, Wheat, Red, Stout, Lager, and Scott's Scotch Ale - Deep deep red, not overly thick or rich like some folks mistakenly brew a Scottish, suited to my taste.

Bastone - 5th and Main in Royal Oak. A trendy Belgian restaurant with a downstairs hot club and a busy bar. Obviously built on the cheap. Blonde, Pilsner, Wit, Belgian Pale, and a seasonal Saison - Cloudy apricot with tan head, sweet lemon with some grassy notes, maybe not fully attenuated. A new brewer doesn't have a lot of Belgian beer experience but has aspirations.

Royal Oak Brewery - a block east and north of Bastone. Long bar in one big room. Reminds one of a Michigan pizza roadhouse. Beirgarten out back. Beers include a Red, Light, IPA, and a Wheat. Room for 5 and an ESB is due up. Big Belgian bottled list.

Gotta run (to the Michigan Brewers Festival).

The body of the class was tasting spiked beers. One drop of isovaleric acid in a 6-pack of Bud Light about drove everyone from the room. People at the bar 40ft away were complaining even past an open door. Others were too subtle for my first-time senses.

Copied in concept from a Siebel Institute class with food-grade chemicals from Sigma-Aldrich, Rex showed us first common smells like cardboard, butterscotch, clove, band aid, and went on to more subtle vinegar, lactic, acetone, smoke, pear, etc.

We should be able to duplicate this class in Indiana but we will lack Rex's expert input and entertaining narrative.

Ted Miller informs us that Tsingtao is opening a brewery in Taiwan. Tsingtao is partly owned by Annheuser-Busch. Oh, and the fact that Taiwan brand beer is banned in China (7/21) because the name of administrative regions cannot be used in brand names is ironic. Taiwan isn't part of China except in the eyes of the Chinese government. Tough to impart irony via words alone <frown>.

MA's Summer Wheat is still on tap in Ft. Wayne and in Auburn. It's served in Auburn a bit warm for style. Mild wheat notes on top of a clean German lager. Nice gray head. Middle of the road.

Warbirds Brewery is reported to be proceeding with construction of their building at Bluffton and Ferguson roads near the airport in the Brookhaven Airport Park. We've been told they have purchased the brewing equipment at the Oyster Bar but those vessels are currently still at the OB.

The Oyster Bar has converted from a brewpub into a beer bar with a decent selection - especially for Ft. Wayne. 12 taps include 2 Bells, Franzenkaner, Goose Island, and Spaten.

The BW3 near Ball State has changed names but their beer selection is no better.

The Heorot has seats for 8 on the sidewalk now. Good afternoon shady seating. They also offer $2 rides back to campus. There's Smithwick's and Samichlaus on tap. Also perfectly kept London Pride for only $2/pint. There are two casks on the counter served by gravity:

• JW Lees Harvest Ale in a sherry cask - Sipping beer. Completely flat. Wonderful intense raisin and prune.
• Uerige Sticke - A special once-a-year alt. Room temperature is a bit warm for this so we suggest you get a glass of ice and sit your Uerige-branded glass in it for 10 minutes.

The EU is going to sue Sweden for banning personal importation of alcoholic beverages.

Chalkies has Oaken Barrel's Belgian Tripel, Rockies' Singletrac, Stone's IPA and Arrogant Bastard, and Old Speckled Hen on a nitro tap. Their summer hours are in effect, opening at 2pm on weekdays rather than 11:30am.

The Belgian Bottled list right now includes Piraat, Gulden Draak, La Chouffe, Chimay Blue, Rochefort Blue and Green, Orval, St. Bernardus ABT 12 and Tripel, Delirium Tremens, Duvel, and Lindeman's Framboise. Priced from $4.25 to $8 per bottle.

Oaken Barrel's Belgian Tripel won a Gold at the State Fair. It's golden yellow, thick, not really sweet, but malty. Clean. Seriously worthy beer that has that Belgian "thing". Grassy wheat notes with faint reminiscence of nylon stockings.

Old Speckled Hen comes off a nitrogen tap as super creamy. Proper copper color. Short on aroma. Sorta lacks character at first but the hoppy bitterness creeps up in the finish.

Thursday - Avon: Dick's BBQ July tasting. 7pm. $20 for sandwich, side, and 8 to 10 different beers.

Friday - Indianapolis: Humane Society / World Class Beverages sampling. Appetizers from Agio. 5 - 9pm. Stutz Building, 1060 N. Capitol Ave. $40 advance ($75 couple). $50 at door ($85 couple). Contact audreyl@indyhumane.org 317-872-5650 ext 121.

Friday - Indianapolis: Rathskeller Wine & Brew Fest. Over 200 beers and wines available for sampling. In the lot east of the biergarten from 5pm - 8pm. . Live music from 5pm - 11pm. $20 in advance available June 1. $25 at door.

Saturday - Indianapolis: BeerAdvocate.com mini-pub crawl. Starts at the Beer Sellar and progresses to Chalkies. 4pm start time. More details: qarre@comcast.net

Saturday - Ypsilanti, MI: Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival. (That's where your editor is heading so updates will be sparse at the end of the week).

You can send in your Budmillercoors shirt with $12 and get a "Fizzy Yellow Beer is for Wussies" shirt and a pint glass. Info. Stone brewing's next strange event will be Make Your 'Do Blue Week - Aug 14 - 21st.

Some of Chalkies kegs in stock (not all on tap yet): De Ranke Goldenburg, St Bernardus Grotten Brown and Bosteels Kwak, Rockies Mojo IPA, Morland Old Speckled Hen, Stone IPA, Rockies Single Track and Sprecher Amber.

Some tastings:

• Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale - Proudly brewed with red rice. Crisp, balanced, fairly flavorful. Goes good with shortbread. Bottle conditioned. Somewhat thin.
• Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier Ale - From Marshal, MI and not available in Indiana. Boy is this a black beer. A super schwartz. Really a porter. Toasty and tasty. Quite strong on the tongue and thick like the bottom of a caboose coffee pot. 8% ABV. Amateur-looking label but a beer worth seeking out.
• Gose Original Leipziger - Bottle fermented. Made with 60% wheat with additions of coriander, salt, and lactic acid. 4.6% ABV. Grainy / seedy taste. Interesting spices in background. And, yes, it is salty. Leaves salt on the lips. Thirstymaking. Besides this 16.9oz bottle, we've also seen a genie-bottle shaped 500ml bottle.
• Bornem Double - An abbey double. Mild and malty. Very agreeable. Not terribly complex.
• Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA - Hoppier than it's 62 IBU suggests. 5.7% ABV. Made with fresh "wet" hops. Brilliant. A non-grapefruity American IPA.

• If a wholesaler supplies the beer just for the sampling, they must offer it for sampling to all liquor stores. They may provide up to 1,728 ounces of beer, no more than 864 ounces may be of the same product.
• The liquor store may supply samples out of their stock.
• The sampling must be conducted by an employee of the store or the wholesaler or by a company who's "primary business is to conduct sampling or tasting promotions".
• Sampling must be done during normal business hours and must be offered to all customers.
• Sample sizes may be up to 6 ounces, not to exceed 12 ounces per consumer per day.
• Stores may not charge for the sample(s).

There will be a public hearing on these rules on July 26th, 10am. We expect this will all go smoothly and these rules will go into effect about Sept 1.

There were 304 beers entered.

Chris Ingermann entered 12 beers and won 9 ribbons.

Event Chairman, Anita Johnson wants to thank Paul Edwards - Judge Coordinator, Brian Snider - Entry Registrar, Tom Stillabower - Reception Coordinator, Don St. Peters - Chief Stewart, and Nicole Henninge - Promotion.

• Allagash: $5.25
• Barley Island: $6.75 / 6-pack
• Cooperstown Hennepin, Ommegang: $4.50
• Delirium Tremens: $6.75
• Lost Coast Downtown Brown, Great White: $3. Indica: $5.25
• Ringwood Old Thumper: $6 / 6-pack
• Rogue American Amber, Mocha Porter: $3.75. Smoked Porter: $6
• Shipyard Fuggles IPA: $6 / 6-pack
• Stone Vertical Epic: $5.25. Arrogant Bastard: $3.75
• Unibroue La Fin Du Monde, Maudite, Trois Pistoles: $5.25

Greenpoint Beer Works in NY has brought back the Rheingold name.

Asahi is going to start bottling in plastic. Their version has a silicon oxide coating on the inside to shield against UV. Cool. Perfect for golf courses and beaches.

Labatt will start to import Stella Artois in August and market it as an upscale beer.

Have you ever looked at beer up close?

Here's a 5-part kegerator building guide.

A machine that mixes alcohol oxygen, creating a mist to be inhaled is claimed to give instant intoxication without a hangover. But it's banned by the New South Wales gaming minister. article

Look for Three Floyds' Alpha Naught in the near future. An oak-aged American Strong Ale at (wait for it) 200 IBU.

Mad Anthony has gotten a lawyer's letter from the Stone Brewing Company. Seems they think MA's Old Crippled Bastard Barley Wine is named a little too close to the name Arrogant Bastard. They won't be naming it Elderly Debilitated Illegitimate Progeny Barley Wine, but maybe The Beer Formerly Known as Old Crippled Bastard Barley Wine.

Lafayette Brewing now has a three-way license and will start serving mixed drinks upstairs.

BW3 downtown has Oberon, Alpha King. Coming up is Old Guardian and Adnam's Broadside. They are entered in the Most Arrogant Bar in America contest and want to sell a lot of now-officially-arrogant (see Mad Anthony, above) Stone's beer from July 17th through the end of the month.

Alcatraz's Brickyard Bock has been tickled up to 8.5% ABV.

Rock Bottom's cask conditioned ale is their Raccoon Red dry hopped with Mt. Hood. Coming up by the end of the month is Vagrants Choice Malt Liquor and Dr. Rock Cream Ale.

Broad Ripple Brewpub has their Stout on cask along with Wobbly Bob - a mild gold ESB style ale that is brightly bitter. It's dry hopped with Cascades but has a very restrained, almost English character. There are now 8 on tap; these plus a kölsch, lawnmower, IPA, wheat, red, and ESB.

Wednesday - Carmel: Johnnie Walker tasting at Kahn's with Brand Ambassador Marty Duffy. Contact the store for tickets and details.

Sunday - Oshkosh, WI: Brews n' Blues microbrew and music festival. 1 - 6pm. Riverside park.

The Mojo IPA at Chalkies is already gone. Single Track, Arrogant Bastard, and Old Speckled Hen are now on tap.

Isle of Skye's Wee Beast (7.0% ABV) should be available in bottles at MacNiven's in Indy by now.

Another Dick's BBQ is set to open Wednesday in Fishers on 116th St. just west of I-69. Later will come others in Greenwood, Muncie, Oaklandon, and we hear, eventually, Plainfield.

Headline: Hi-fi Failure Helps to Brighten Beer. Using a Philips technology developed to burn holes in cassettes, a Dutch company, Fluxxion is making ultra-fine filters to remove yeast residues at low pressures. article

Headline: Old Labels Haunt Brewery. Great Grains Brewing is waiting for label approval since they moved to Fort Worth from Dallas. The state says they have to change only the city of origin on the labels but hasn't approved the change. article

Headline: USDA Approved. The Dept of Agriculture has awarded the Association of Brewers $124,000 to promote American craft beer in foreign markets. article

Headline: Homebrewers Conference Breaks Attendance Records. The AHA event in Las Vegas had 776 attendees  Eh, no offense, but that's less people than are in the Slots 'O Fun on a Saturday night. article

Headline: Strong Beer Not Showing Up in Georgia - Yet. The author is evidently amazed that there are lead times involved in distribution. article

Great Fermentations also gave gift certificates to class winners.

We don't have all the results yet, Anita has it tabulated already and it will be online early in the week, but we can list some of the winners:

Homebrew Best of Show: Mark Schiess of Indianapolis for his Southern Brown Ale. (Mark is also the founder of CIBAS, the Central Indiana Beer Appreciation Society). His winning beer will be brewed at the Broad Ripple Brewpub later.

Professional Best of Show Runner Up: Mad Anthony 's Old Crippled Bastard.

Professional Best of Show: New Albanian Brewing's Bourbon Daddy Stout.

Interestingly, neither of these have their winning beers on tap at the moment at their brewpub. Now settle back and peruse some pictures of today's activities.

Floyd Rosenbaum (Bloomington Brewing),
Ken Price (Oaken Barrel),
Tim Marshall (Rock Bottom)
with wives and children.

Duneland Homebrewers Association table

Winner of the Beer Label contest.

We apologize, but this is the best shot we have of
Homebrew Best of Show winner Mark Schiess and wife, Chris.

The amazing Anita Johnson and
Professional Best of Show winner, Michael Borchers
of New Albanian Brewing

Chimay Grande Reserve, DT, Duvel, LaChouffe, Orval, Gulden Draak, Piraat, Wittekirke Wit, Westmalle Tripel, and Lindeman's Framboise. That out to get your salivary glands going.

Did you know Lindeman's Framboise is only 2.5% ABV? (Their Kriek is 4%).

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, a guy finds three full kegs of Capital Amber on the street and duly returns them - empty. article

A-B has convinced the Euro court to restrict the names Bush Beer and Bush de Noel used by Dubuisson brewery in Belgium to only their home country, France, Holland, Luxembourg, Italy, Switzerland, and Portugal. In the US Bush is sold as Scaldis.

Marijan Camber, 61, of Bosnia has imbibed 400,000 bottles of beer. He normally drinks about 10 liters a day.

Sept 18th (Saturday) - Evansville Museum beer tasting. More details later. 60+beers. 500 attendees. Presented by Main Street Brewery, Ohio Valley Homebrewer's Association, and World Class Beverages.

Sept 25th (Saturday) - 5th annual Festive-Ale featuring Indiana brewpubs, bottled beers, and local food and bands. At the Claddagh Irish Pub, 96th St east of Keystone. 4-8pm. $30 advance, $35 at door. Benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Info: Liz Fraim - 317-202-9210. 

• Old Speckled Hen on tap at the Aristocrat in Indy.
• BW3 downtown Indy has Rockies Single Track copper ale.
• Gread Divide has new beers in 22ozers. Yeti Imperial Stout, Titan IPA, Hercules Double IPA. Find them at Village Bottle Shoppe (West Lafayette), Liquor Stop (Highland), Pat's Liquors (Porter), The Liquor Cabinet, Southport Liquors, Parti-Pak (Indy). Also Rockies Brewing Sweaty Betty Blonde.
• Tow Brothers Dog Days is on tap at RichO's and Come Back Inn (New Albany). Bottled at Castleton Wine & Liquor, Fisher's Liquors, Deano's Vino (Indy), Friendly Package Liquors (Muncie), Bridge Liquors, Hunter Station (New Albany area), Village Bottle Shoppe (West Lafayette), University Liquors (Evansville), and Pat's Liquors (Porter).
• Starobruo Czech lager is back. Find it at Bridge Liquors (New Albany), University Liquors (Evansville), Road House (Mt. Vernon), Castleton Wine & Liquor, Fisher's Liquors, Southport Liquors, Babushka's Deli (Indy), and with a good meal at the Russia House in Indy.
• Henniger is new to Indiana. It's a Becks and Warstiener competitor from Frankfurt.
• The Amber at the Rathskeller has reportedly been flipping back and forth between Sprecher and Upland. 

• Ex-Hoosier Dave Chichura of Mountain Sun brewery in Boulder has 19 of his beers on tap all the time now. 19! Stuff like Tsunami Strong Ale and Hogback Doppelbock. They recently were awarded Best Microbrewery by Boulder Weekly and Best Brewpub by Denver's Westword magazine.
• Eske's brewery in Taos New Mexico is turning 12 years old this summer. We stopped in at Steve Eskeback's original little brewery along the Rio Grande at Embudo Station and now we're feeling very old. They report he still makes the best green chili beer on the planet.
• Dock Street brewpub is re-opening in Philadelphia.
• Old Dominion brewery in Virginia received Valencia orange instead of bitter orange to add to their beer. They went ahead and brewed a batch but threw it away saying "We're smart enough to say, 'Wait a minute, this shit's not going to sell.'"
• Historian Matthew Rowley is researching clandestine distilling in the present day. If you are a moonshiner, contact him at mbrowley@aol.com.
• Looking for oddball stein and glasses? See Pete Kroll's site.

Tuesday - Castleton: Kahn's Belgian tasting at Chalkies. 7pm. $23. Pizza, Pool, and 10 Belgian beers. For more info contact Kahn's at 317-817-9473.

Saturday - Carmel: World Class Beverages Ale Fest at Oak Hill Mansion (5801 East 116th Street at Hazel Dell Parkway in Carmel). 1 - 4pm. Includes homebrew contest. $20 tickets get 20+ beer samples from over 80 choices, souvenir glass.

Ken resurrected an old recipe for Irish Gold and it was served quite warm. Gold/yellow. Balanced, well carbonated, and filling. He's also changed this batch of the Amber on tap to use a Dusseldorfer yeast for an Altier nature. It's clean, balanced to a malty style. Still has edges and will improve with a week or two's maturation. The next batch of Uber Weizen has been brewed to be even more chewier, more banana, more yeasty, and more chalky, dry finish.

Some tastings:

• Arcadia Whitsun - Summertime mild Belgian Wit. Muddy orange, white, firm head if poured quickly. Citric hints. Refreshing.
• Avery IPA - Grapefruitiness. Strong American IPA.
• Avery Redpoint Ale - Hoppy, hoppy red. Not an Irish ale. Northwest hops. A lot of family resemblance to the IPA.
• Hitichino Nest Sweet Stout - Deep red black. Sweet? Hints of sweet with licorice coming through. Dry finish.
• Bell's Porter - Drying. Deep red. Nice solid porter. Drink while still cold.
• Shipyard IPA - Made with a single hop (fuggles). Golden with a white head. Hoppy but not overblown. Would be called a British Pale Ale by most people given that IPA's today are hoppier. A+ Stuff.
• Hebrew Messiah Bold - "Dark brown ale". Nice thick tan head. From Sarasota NY. Thick northern brown. Not overly sweet but a touch of honey. Plenty of residual sugars.

Old Speckled Hen is on tap at the Beer Sellar. Chalkies also has a keg to unveil sometime (as well as some Two Brothers Ebel's Weiss & Bitter End).

The Beer Sellar also has Arrogant Bastard back on tap.

Deano's Vino has gone crazy and dropped the price of all their beers by 25% (except the returning yuppie brands like PBR and Olympia). This means Bass-class beers at $7.50 per 6-pack. This price reduction includes 22oz, 12oz, liters, etc. Lambics and other Belgians, McEwans, Grolsch, Youngs, Rogue, Flying Dog, SN, Sam Adams, Sam Smith, etc. etc.

They are located on Virginia St. just towards town from Fountain Square. Our guess is that they want to get people in the store to buy their good selection of wines, meats, cheeses, deli stuff, coffees, cigars, etc, Applause, applause.

Don't rush out on Monday the 4th though, as they will be closed for the holiday.

Bottle-conditioned NA? Heineken has recalled a bunch of Buckler near-beer because a manufacturing problem failed to remove all the yeast from some bottles. These few could ferment in the bottle, cause a cloudy appearance, and you really don't want alcohol in an NA product.

Speaking of Heineken, they are taking over US marketing of Tecate, Dos Equis, Sol, Carta Blanca, and Bohemia.

“This lagering tank holds 3,600 barrels of beer. There are 66 of them in this building, and 500 altogether at this brewery.”

- Anheuser-Busch tour guide, pointing to a chilled aircraft fuselage, and informing Jay Tyler and Roger Baylor that the A-B plant in St. Louis has space enough to store 3,500 years worth of NABC beer.

• Sunday sales may start at 10am (instead of 11am).
• Liquor stores and bars may provide samples of beer - up to 6 oz.

There are more that we detailed back on March 11th.

Also at the Rathskeller tomorrow evening is a release party for Jennie DeVoe's new CD, "Fireworks and Karate Supplies." Upland is sponsoring Jennie's current Indiana tour.