Next week should see a Belgian Duppel on tap. It's dark brown and uses Westmalle Abbey yeast. Two weeks of cold conditioning have brought out the Belgian candi sugar and the fullness of roast and apple flavors. A real winner. Take your growler because you'll want some at home also.

"Menohop", a popular natural herb pill in Belgium and the Netherlands, is said to ease menopause problems and help prevent uterine cancer. "Women would need to drink 3 liters of highly hopped beer per day to have the same beneficiary effects". Not available in the US.

The downside is that possibly 50% of the Poperings hops region crop will go to Menohop production rather than to beer. article

"Australian Medical Association public health chairwoman Rosanna Capolingua said she was horrified that people would pump a liquid into themselves."

"Might as well give you the rest of the details. As you know, Kari Gjerdingen (our extremely talented Brewer) is heading off to the UC Davis Master Brewers Program to broaden her brewing knowledge from an academic viewpoint. In addition to this, Ed Herrmann (Brewmaster) is moving to Germany with his wife and kids. He will be there at least a year. I am also leaving Upland to pursue opportunities outside of the brewing industry. Interestingly enough, all three of us developed our plans independently of each other and there was no collusion to leaving or picking our departure dates.

"Upland has experienced a fantastic run while we have been there and we have all enjoyed our time at the brewery. We are confident that Upland will continue on with similar success. In addition to a Head Brewer, we will be hiring a brewer/cellarman soon to join Caleb Staton (current cellarman, UC Davis a Masters in Brewing Science grad, and future brewer) and Russell Wyeatt (Packaging Manager) in the brewery. We will keep you informed of who we hire and when." - Andrew

I'm sure we at IndianaBeer can speak for all Hoosier beer lovers in wishing all three of you well in your new endeavors as well as congratulating Caleb on the promotion. We also wish Upland's owner, Marc Sattinger, the best as this must be a fretful holiday season for him.

"I got to Deep Creek to discover that the brewery was in various stages of disarray. I ordered parts, ingredients and chemicals and restored the system to operation. It took about 2 weeks to get it all done. On the 3rd week I was set to brew but the owner (profusely apologizing) told me that he had hired a General Manager who insisted that he get rid of the brewery and expand the kitchen into the space.

"As far as why he decided to stop being a brewpub, I can only guess he got cold feet and the new GM doesn't want to understand the brewery dimension of the equation. They are losing their differentiation in an area replete with pizza places.

"I made this move solely to be closer to my family. Now that this imploded, it looks like I'll have to move away again as there are no brewing related jobs in close proximity. I'll be interviewing iwth Bru (Rochester, NY), Lost Coast Brewing (Eureka, CA), and Sierra Nevada. I'll let you know where I land next." - Eric.

"The Upland Brewing Co. in Bloomington, IN is soliciting resumes for a Head Brewer/Brewmaster. Our current Brewmaster has spent five years with Upland and is relocating to Germany with his family.

"About Upland
The Upland Brewing Co. is located in Bloomington, IN (Southern Indiana; about 1 hour south of Indianapolis and home to Indiana University). This year (2004) we will produce around 4000 bbl (~700 bbl sold through the attached restaurant with the rest sold in bottles and kegs). During the past two years we have achieved annual growth of roughly 35% while distributing only within Indiana. We brew on a 30 bbl Northern Brew Systems Brew House and have two 30 bbl, two 75 bbl primary fermenters, a six-stem Meheen filler and three full time and two part time brewery employees.

"Job Description
The ideal candidate will be efficiency and quality minded and have excellent leadership and communication skills. This position will involve directing our sales representative as well as all brewery personnel and operations. Regular duties will include forecasting and scheduling production, procuring ingredients and supplies, brewery related paperwork, interacting with distributors and other vendors of our product. Knowledge of all aspects of brewery operations from brewing to cellaring through packaging is essential (as there will be times when this position will be required to perform each of the tasks). The ability to participate in developing (and implementing) goals to further develop the Upland Brewing Co. into a highly profitable producer of craft brewed beer of the highest quality is also desirable in this position.

"Professional brewing experience (ideally at a smaller production brewery/brewpub) is essential for success in this position. If you are interested in this position, please forward your resume and salary requirements via email (attachments are fine) to Ed Herrmann (ed@uplandbeer.com)." - Thanks Ted

Well maybe not. if you look at the full-sized-picture, you'll see lots of broken, smashed, glass. But no puddles. A dry road. Yep, bottles with their caps still on. Can't be empties, right? Wrong, they're Grolsch swing-top bottles. Empties. That should make you feel better, unless you're a homebrewer. Thanks Mark

Meanwhile A-B is in trouble for the "back atcha" ad that show the referees who confiscate the Bud delivery guy's beer really have stolen it and run from the cops. The Beer Institute's marketing code says ads shouldn't "show or imply illegal activity".

The Chocolate Stout is on a nitro tap. It's suitably thick with a nitro-thick dirty tan head. Deep black. Roasty malt with mere hints of dark bittersweet chocolate and coffee. Quite dry.

Upland will pass 4,000 bbls production this year.

Kari Gjerdingen will leave Upland in a couple of weeks to take brewing courses at UC Davis. She then plans to head for Thailand for a while where a (male) friend awaits.

The veneer sculpture above is "4th Monkey" by Norm Ladd and is on display at Upland's tap room.

The IPA is also on the handpull right now.

The Trade and Industry Select Committee in England set aside the Beer Orders today, saying no brewer of pub company has a dominant position in the market. Previously no company could own more than 2000 pubs but this has been exceeded and ignored recently. CAMRA's position concludes the "beer tie" raises the price of a pint almost 45p since landlords are forced to serve the owner's favorite beers at whatever price the owner sets. Additionally, guest ale availability is limited. article

Meanwhile, "Lithuanian border guards have discovered a three-kilometre-long hose that was being used to smuggle vodka from Belarus." article

After Terre Haute Brewing got their bottling line up and running fine, the labeling system needed a lot of fine tuning. In fact they applied stick-on labels to the first few batches and if you find the shiny-label bottles, keep one as a potential collector's item.

Now the paper labels are working fine after changing the type of paper and they are switching from longnecks to heritage bottles.

Broad Ripple

We've also heard Wee Alec Heavy Scotch Ale is back on tap at the Broad Ripple Brewpub.

BW3's Spaten Optimator on tap is in absolutely prime condition. Enough to bring tears to the eyes and salivation to the gums.

Pete McNamara's Hideaway Brown is at Upland. Pete writes: "Hideaway Brown was pretty tasty at Upland. It's very similar to what I brewed in a 10-gallon batch - I saw a lot of it being poured last night. The Winter Warmer was excellent - I'm a fan of strong ales." There are 200 cases heading for bars and liquor stores around the state.

Pic: Pete and Upland Restaurant Manager Adam Wason enjoy looking at beer.

Bass is going to be hitting the states in pub draught (nitro) cans. press release

Beck's will debut a 64 calorie, 3.9 carbs Beck's Premier Light in January. Regular Beck's has 143 calories and 10 carbs. Beck's Light has 103/6.1. "It's a fantastic tasting beer that stays true to its German roots in both taste and its brewing process." so says the folks who will put this in green bottles.

In the obvious file: A study in Denmark says beer bellys don't come from drinking beer, they come from drinking large amounts of beer at one sitting. It says if you drink 5 beers a day, two days a week, you'll get a beer belly but if you drink 2 beers a day, five days a week, you won't.

Rogue has broken ground on a 30,000 sq. ft. expansion to their Newport, OR brewery, more than doubling their size, adding a full restaurant, and space to bring the distillery operations on site.

if you lived in England you could get a 4.5 gallon wooden cask of Old Peculier to serve in your home bar over Christmas. £54 includes tap, cradle, spiles, and directions for best keeping this cask conditioned ale.

But on the down side, if you lived in England you could also buy JW Dundee beer (from High Falls of Rochester, NY) next year.

Some tastings

• Schneider Weisse "The Original" - One of the biggest of the major German hefeweizens but also one with very little sediment. Almost a Dunkel character but lighter in color.
• Flying Dog K9 Cruiser - Solid dark ESB. Seasonal winter ale. They call it a Strong Ale but it only meets that style criteria by having a bit higher alcoholic strength in both the 6.8% ABV and the taste.
• SkullSplitter - heavily sweet malt with hops that smooth and don't come forward. From Orkney. A touch of smoke. 8.5% ABV.
• Estrella Damm - Spanish lager in the skunky East European style.
• Alfa - Greek European pilsner to be drunk cold. Hops aplenty.

Today - Broad Ripple: Dick's BBQ Football, Freaky Beer, Cheerleaders, and BBQ. Plus the Colts cheerleaders will be there from 1-2pm to sign their new 2005 Swimsuit Calendar.

Thursday - Avon: Dick's BBQ Beer tasting of 8-10 beers. $20.

Friday - New Albany: RichO's will see the virginity of 13 previously chaste kegs sacrificed to the Roman Saturnalia festival. This is the start of a week-long celebration.

Saturday - Indy: 1st Annual Santa Crawl fundraiser for the Circle City Foundation. 8 bars in Broad Ripple. $10. Door prizes. BW3, Chumley's, Average Joe's, BR Tavern, Alley Cat, Opd Pro's Table, Casba, Connor's Pub. 5:30-10:30?pm.

Saturday - Indy: BeerAdvocate.com holiday gathering at BW3 downtown. 4pm until late. Bring a bottle for a beer gift exchange.

JW Lees Harvest ale is still on the handpull along with Bell's Oatmeal Stout (which might disappear early this week).

A Mug Club tapping of Dustin's Chocolate Porter will be held on the evening of December 23rd. A taste from the fermenter shows it's a little light bodied right now but should bulk up nicely. The chocolate notes are from Chocolate Malt and are quite subdued.

Dustin also says the northside Indy Rock Bottom may open in May and will definitely have its own brewery.

MacNiven's also has Young's Double Chocolate on nitro.

"A recent admirer from Kentucky noted 'coffee, tobacco, rum, prunes and a vinous note of port wine' on the aroma and 'maple syrup, dark honey, tobacco and freshly tanned leather and pithy dark fruits with essences of figs and raisins' in the aftertaste. (All out of the one bottle by the way)."

Speaking of big beers and brewers, RateBeer has an interview with Adam Avery.

Nov 19th was an exciting day for Pete McNamara, winner of the "2004 Ultimate Beer Geek Challenge" with his "Hideaway Brown" recipe. Sponsored by World Class Beverage, the contest invited Indiana area homebrewers to submit their best Northern English Brown Ale samples for competition. The prize of the contest was for a batch of the winning recipe to be brewed and bottled by Upland Brewing Co., Bloomington, IN. When Ed Herrmann of Upland contacted Pete with the brew date, Pete made plans to head to Bloomington for the day. Throughout the brewing process, both Ed and brewer Kari Gjerdingen gave informative explanations of every step of the process. Kari was also sure to include Pete in discussions about his recipe as well as give him some hands-on experience.

Hideaway Brown is being bottled on Tuesday (Dec 7th) and will soon be available in six-packs and cases at those fine establishments that now retail Upland products.

 - Bart Peterson

Ed Herrmann, Kari Gjerdingen
Sean Mason, Caleb Staton, Pete McNamara, Russell Wyatt, Andrew St. Lawrence

"Buy four bunches of bananas for 2,000 Ugandan shillings (60 pence), leave them to ripen for seven days and then smoke them over an open fire. Mix in some grass and squeeze out the juice. Add some sorghum to the juice, dilute with water and leave to ferment for four days. Sieve, and sell the 20 litres to neighbours for 5,000 shillings. Use the money to pay for food, school fees, and more bananas." article

Nashville, TN - "Local business owners being penalized when their employees illegally sell beer to minors are working with legislators to stiffen penalties on the clerks." article

Friday - Kalamazoo: Bells Eccentric Day with an eccentric buffet, and Eccentric 2003. Eccentric attire required.

Saturday - Carmel: Kahn's Carmel will have tastings of high gravity beers available. 11am-4pm. (also Shiraz and Chardonnay).

Big Boy has been discussed earlier. It's a mild, mature strong ale with serious alcohol notes. Balanced without bitterness or biting. Recommended.

Maris Brown is the State Fair winner. Nice thick southern brown. Sweet and clean. Filling. Uses some Maris Otter but is named after Mark Schiess's daughter.

On the handpull with Big Boy is a Best Bitter that Kevin hit heavily with Cascades hops. Bready and yeasty with lots of grapefruit that seems to loose it's powerful bitterness shock halfway through the first glass. A solid beer that will find lots of fans among hopheads.

IndianaBeer's doctored beer tasting on Saturday was an interesting affair. We identified 19 different flaws in beer with some short discussions of how those flaws happen. 26 people helped critique both the beers and the tasting itself so we found out ways to make format work better and also raised $180 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Thank you all for coming from as far as Seymour and Lafayette. And thank you Linda Swihart who said she will expand the handout with a homebrewer's and chemist's eye.

Re-runs of this tasting are being considered next spring at IUPUI, Evansville, and a joint LafayetteTHC/Duneland event.

At Chalkies last night, Zink, the local distributor, handed out A-B's new Bare Knuckles Stout served by nitro pressure. As reported here earlier, it could be described as a 90% Guinness. Properly black with good mouthfeel. It does lack the burnt toasty notes and that may well make it popular.

They also previewed "B to the E" or B^E, a 6.6% beer with caffeine, ginseng and guarana extract and natural flavor. It will be sold in 10oz cans in either 4- or 6-packs at about $10/pack. The target market is Red Bull drinkers who want alcohol added rather than light beer drinkers who want sports drink taste. There's a fruity nature that seems to be strawberry.

Chalkies is having Texas Hold-em tournaments every Tuesday. 6pm and 9pm sign-ups. Free. Talking to a couple of players, the no-smoking atmosphere will bring them back next week.

The Fox & Hound has games on Sunday, same time.

If you haven't noticed, these no-limit games are going on in bars all over. Poker Prodigy and Poker Players have web sites.

Remember the scratch-off Sans Culotte which spawned Nude Beer? Now it's Marilyn Wines with a peel-off label from the first Playboy centerfold.