Well another year is about over. I can't wait till the weather gets better and the beer festivals start up again. Other than a few odd tastings the only real beer event this time of year, is the Winter Warmer 2006 Barleywine and Old Ale Festival, at the Lafayette Brewing Company in February.

Ok so lets see what have I got to pass on to you.
I hit alot of my usual places around town, but have not much to report. Rock Bottom has a Seasonal wheat on tap which they call an Amber wheat. They also have a Belgian Trippel they call Miricle Ale, that comes in at 9%, that is pretty tasty. Coming up is Miricle Ale 2 that is to be a IPA.

BW3's has their Dogfishhead 90 Minute IPA on the Randall. Mike also reports that the Dick's BBQ in Broadripple has the only keg of Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter in Indy, on tap. Get it while it lasts. It seems that Adam is a real scam artist! Thanks Adam!

On to the Ram. They currently have Foxy's Oatmeal Brown, Old Jacks Blizzard Ale, and Uncle Gerry's Dunkelweizen.

Since I had a couple of Xmas parties to go to I spent the weekend downtown. One place I stayed was the Courtyard Marriott. As you know they have TGI Fridays, I stopped in for lunch and was surprised that they had Smithwicks on tap, as well as a couple other craft beers. A good sign indeed

I stopped in at the Brugge and they have Son of Thunder Monkey, which is a holiday Ale. They also have their Pils, Belgian Pale, and their award winning Tripple de Ripple (11%) on tap. He put the Trippel on earlier than expected due to the demand for it. I told you Ted that this would happen!

On Dec 17th the local BeerAdvocates held a holiday gathering at the Downtown BW3's. It was a small gathering as there were only 6 of us there, but we had a really good time. The next gathering will be held on Feb 11th during the Winter Warmer in Lafayette.

Another place that is steadily getting better and better, not that it ever was bad, is the Dick's BBQ up on 96th street. Currently they have Spatan Optimator, Delirium Tremens Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Bells Two Hearted, Dick's Pale, Red Hook ESB, Upland Wheat, Robert the Bruce, and Arrogant Bastard on tap. New is the big cooler Brian recently installed that houses another 70+ bottles. He is planning on getting a full time bartender, just to handle it all. Very nice indeed.

Lets see...what else do I have for you.... Oh yes I was invited to an informal vintage beer tasting. Nice thing was that the beer was supplied by the various attendees, from their stashes. I didn't have any vintage beer to offer, but I did take a growler of my Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter that made a real hit. In town at that time was another Beer Advocate that goes by the name of blitheringidiot. I invited him to come along. Hopefully he had as good a time as I did.

As for the beer, we had the following...Not sure of the vintage on some of these:
Lammin Kataja Olut from Finland
Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock
King and Barnes Xmas ale '98 and '99
Cantillon Iris
Arcadia Hopmouth Double IPA
Abbaye Des Rocs Speciale Noel '99
Heavyweight Ch Chuck Barrel Aged Brown
Mishawaka Brewing Co Specialty Ale Ella Rose Porter
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Stile Nacht '96
George Gales Prize Old Ale '98
Southampton Imperial Porter
Millennium Realease Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
Double Bastard '03
Bigfoot '00
Pizza Port Mother of all Beers
JW Lees Harvest Ale, Calvados

There were a couple others, that I did not get to sample since I had to leave so my designated driver could go to bed. Love ya babe! Gotta keep those designated drivers happy!

And finially for this month I stopped in at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub for lunch, after picking up some homebrew supplies at Great Fermentations. On tap they have their IPA, Lawnmower, ESB, Wheat, American Brown, and Stout...On handpull they have their very tasty Wee Alec and Best Bitter. Be sure to stop in and give the Wee Alec a try.

Well that is all I have for this time around.

Mark@Indianabeer.com