Indiana Brewery News

The Brewers Guild's 2007 Microbrewers Festival numbers are in. 3,178 tickets sold. $103k income. $30,500 went to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Optimists Club, and the Art Center. Thanks go to Broad Ripple Brewpub, Crown Liquors, Redhook, Goose Island, World Class Beverages, and Ice Miller for adding to that total via sponsorships. All of those numbers are up over 40% from 2006.

Indiana took three awards this year at the Great American Beer Festival held October 11-13, 2007.

Three Floyds
brought back a
Silver Medal
for their
Gorch Foch
Münchner Helles.

The Ram in Indianapolis
will be displaying their
Bronze Medal
for
Buffalo Bock
in the Wood- and
Barrel Aged Beer category.

CONGRATULATIONS

In Kokomo, John Template has an assistant brewer now at the Half Moon. Bryan Culbertson, at right, is taking some of the work while John helps out with the restaurant manager's role temporarily. Meanwhile, the IPA has changed a bit to use Glacier hops with a dry-hop Cascade finish. Also look for upcoming seasonals including an Oatmeal Stout and a Blueberry Wheat that uses real blueberries in the mash. Oh, and they are currently installing 2 new fermenters and matching serving tanks. Work, work, work, work, hello boys, work, work, work.

The Vigo Brewery in Terre Haute is finally brewing. The first batch was Brugge's The Black.

GLBN Indiana Beer Governor, Jim Herter, reports the Granite City Food and Brewery is planning a brewpub in Mishawaka as well as in Fort Wayne. Their modus operandi is to produce wort in one location and truck it to other nearby pubs for fermenting.

Playboy Magazine’s October issue ranked Upland among the nation’s “top 10 college-town microbreweries.” Steve Beaumont of WorldOfBeer says “Hoosier beer can be fine stuff indeed, especially when it’s the smooth and coffee-ish Bad Elmer’s Porter.” Pick up an issue to read this and other articles.

With Matt Hill's departure, the brewing duties at Warbird have come to Chris Tallman's shoulders (right). He's been a homebrewer in nearby Huntington for 4 years.

Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy, has the bitter Brown Ale you've always secretly wanted. Called IBA # 289, it has Simcoe, Willamette, and Crystal hops in the same profile as Jerry Sutherland's American Dream of last July. Melanoidin, and Chocolate malt with some oats are in the grain bill. 6.8% ABV.

Mishawaka Brewing sent 400 cases of the Four Horsemen Irish Ale to Philadelphia where there seems to be a very thirsty Notre Dame fan.

Bill Ballinger writes "As State Fair BOS winner, I had the privilege of brewing my beer, an American Pale Ale called 'Serenity Now', at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub. Tuesday, October 16 was a great day to brew, and the staff at BRBP were simply the best! It was such an honor to help out with recipe formulation and the brewing process. According to Kevin, the head brewer at BRBP, the ale is fermenting nicely and delicious smells are escaping the air lock on the fermenter. Look for it on tap in late November."

Vigo brewery gets more ink in Terre Haute's TribStar. "Terre Haute’s long brewing history — dating back 170 years — is about to enter a new era, and Belgium has everything to do with it."

Upland's Schwarztag gets ink in the Indiana Daily Student. But in the big-time, it also gets US News and World Report ink. "A brewery at Indiana University coordinated the launch of its new black beer with a fundraiser for the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, the Indiana Daily Student reports. Now if only someone could rescue the growling and clawing 2-year-old caged black panther that was the "guest star" at the event." Schwarztag (or black cat in Englishspeak) was unveiled with a cat that isn't really fond of people.

Brewers: Industry Circular 2007–4, Pre-COLA Product Evaluation This new industry circular describes the various types of evaluations alcohol products must undergo before TTB will issue a certificate of label approval (COLA), and sets forth an alternate procedure for the voluntary use of for TTB F 5100.51 for the submission of formulas, pre-import letters, and products for laboratory analysis. This circular supersedes Industry Circular 2002–2.

Saison Dupont and the Boon lambics are coming back to Indiana. Cavalier Distributing in Indianapolis has picked up the Vanberg & DeWulf importers catalog. Also newly available through this channel are Scaldis, Castelain, and Witkap brands.

Dear AbbeyAle,
RateBeer says Rich O's is the 6th best beer bar in the world but the Louisville paper, LEO, just named it the 2nd best Sports Bar in the area. Does this mean I have to buy a TV?
Signed, Unloved in New Albany

Kahn's in Carmel, as you remember, is now separate from Kahn's on Keystone. Cole Varga is the beer guy at Keystone and now the Carmel store has a top-notch beer guy also: Marvin McKay. There's just something right about that.

Cavalier reports Stone's 2007 Double Bastard will be a little delayed because of the fires. "Fire came with in a mile of the brewery causing disruptions in shipping and production. Apparently the air quality around the brewery is very poor. The good people at stone will regroup soon and let us know what the plan will be soon. We currently do not have any IPA (bottles) in the warehouse. Otherwise our inventory for the rest of Stone products is growing thin to varying degrees. On average we have about one to two weeks of Inventory (and) I do not see any reason for our customers to start hording Stone at this time." Mat

When Mad Anthony does a festival they don't stop there. A Friday golf scramble is a natural. With 22 teams and no more than two holes between on-course kegs, it was a relaxing day. You humble reporter added to the beer to golfer ratio by driving a beer cart also.

So on to the Festival. This was on Saturday afternoon at the Mad Anthony taproom in Ft. Wayne. About 300 people enjoyed beer from Barley Island, Broad Ripple, Brugge, Mad Anthony, Mishawaka, Rock Bottom Indy, Shoreline, Three Floyds, Upland, and Warbird. Belmont Beverage stores poured a variety of Oktoberfest and Pumpkin ales. Plus, as a special bonus, some old friends and a previous Mad brewer showed up from McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola FL with a Belgian Wit.

Good fun: Lots of marshmallows were delivered to the crowd for a puff-ball fight with everyone joining in. A bit less fun: Cleaning up a parking lot with hundreds of since-stomped marshmallows.

There was a breweriana trade show in Indy in late September. Here's some sample pictures of Indiana brewery advertising materials from way back.

September 29th was a busy night at The Heorot. Jeffery T and the gang did a Good Beer Show podcast (it'll be online after JT gets back from an Oregon trip) Participating were the regulars, band members of A Caesar Holiday, and the Goose Island rep (at right). Then Goose Island and Stan put on a tasting with some excellent high-end snackums. More pictures were in order of course. The first one below shows Traci Lutton, Randy Davis, Mikey Mason, Jeffery, and one of the band, either Daniel, Ben, or Zach. I really gotta stop drinking while taking notes.

Roger Baylor at Rich O's is planning a group trip to Portland, Seattle, and Newport, OR on May 6-14 or sometime thereabouts. If you're interested in joining, contact him at istanbul85 (at) yahoo.com.

As you know, Michael Jackson died at 65 of a heart attack. He gave 2 talks at Chalkies in Indiana and both times spent time with John Hill at the Broad Ripple Brewpub. We'll all be poorer for his absence.

Shelton Brothers importers has put up a 10-minute YouTube interview with Michael Jackson on his home turf. Compelling - especially to the mass of us who have not seen MJ in the last few years.

Indiana Beer has reported a lot of articles about the prices. Barley is being replaced by corn for the government ethanol subsidies. Hops have been soaked up by the big brewers. Here's some links.

"The hop world is upside down. In the future we see the possibility of brewers shutting down for lack of hops." article

Headline "Hold Onto Your Mugs - Beer Prices are Heading North". Yep, barley and hop prices have about doubled. Craft beer should be about $1 / 6-pack higher next spring. article

Arguing with oneself (Or a short obsession about finding the world's smallest brewery)

We've been speculating whether Power House Brewing, at a 20-gallon batch size, is the smallest commercial brewery in the U.S. It certainly isn't the smallest in the world.

This is the Tynllidiart Arms near Aberystwyth, Wales.
The blue building to the left of the pub is the Bragdy Gwynant Brewery.
Built in an old loo, it has a 9 gallon capacity and supplies just the one pub.
It's just 25 sq ft.

Germany's smallest brewery is located in a first-floor apartment of a house in Dresden. It has a 55 liter (14 gallon) batch size. Brewer Christian Schwingenheuer (right) hand-labels bottles. article in English - web site in German

Back in 1993 I visited Steve Eskeback's Sangre de Cristo Brewing in Embudo Station, NM - actually a canoe livery on the Rio Grande. He was making his Taos Green Chile beer in a cut open half-bbl keg. Finished beer was distributed by keg to a couple of bars in Albuquerque. New he has Eske's brewpub in Taos which is a fairly large operation.

Back in the USA, the Italian Oasis Restaurant in Littleton, NH has a 2bbl system.

The Freeport Brewing Company in Freeport, ME reportedly also has a 2-barrel system and only brews every other week to keep three local accounts satisfied.

Ah, we've found America's smallest. The Red Jacket Brewing Company in Calumet, MI is way up the Gaspe Peninsula north of Houghton. They close the kitchen on Wednesdays and brew a half-barrel (15 gallons).

And on a trip to Denver recently, I found the 5th Street Brewpub in Sedalia, MO, also brewing in cut-open kegs. (right)

Saga of a beer bottle, Franklin, Belcher, Allsopp, ebay, collectorday, and bjorn16

The most expensive beer? A final bid on eBay of $503,300 for a bottle of claimed 1852-brewed "Allsopp Arctic Ale" went to the gavel. Timeline:

The problems noted on various discussion boards include the clear appearance of "Trade Mark" on the label even though trademarks weren't developed until 1875 (Bass's red triangle was the world's first registered trademark). Whoops. Also, people are doubtful about the perfect condition of the label, the shape of the bottle, the incongruity of putting labels on bottles bulk-packed for a special order in 1852.

It's thought that this may be one of a commemorative release by Allsopp of 1909. Still an old bottle but not an historical artifact of the period of early Arctic exploration.

So what really happened? The official tale from the high bidder: "It was a joke. Everything's cool." The seller: "I wanted to have the beer appraised but never really wanted to sell it. Everything's cool." Still no explanation of the word trademark on a bottle label 23 years before trademarks were invented. article

Yr Hmbl Srvnt, dear old Bob, took a week driving to the GABF and hit 26 brewpubs along the way. IndianaBeer has the report.

Molson-Coors is starting the AC Golden Brewing Co. to produce a line of "above premium beers". They haven't announced details of the brews. The plan seems to be a competitor for Mich and Miller High Life. Oh, by the way, Coors Light is 5% ABV. Coors Fine Light is 4.5% ABV.

Tempra Technology in Florida has investors enough to start making self-cooling cans for wide distribution. The can will cool beer to 30°F in 3 minutes and will add the better part of a dollar to the selling price.

Iron City is back in business after a buying. article Oh, and they are going to bring back some old brands including JJ Wainwright, Fort Pitt, and of course Olde Frothingslosh. Hurray, the pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom is coming back. That'll please the BCCA folks.

Pennsylvania may allow sales of 6-packs next year (but still not single bottles). RIght now only cases can be sold, which seriously impedes customers who want to try out a new beer. article

Yes, China is now the world's biggest beer producer. And yes, Nigeria drinks more Guinness than Ireland.

The Crooked House Pub in Himley, West Midlands, England has subsided over the years due to an underground coal mine. It now tilts at 15° but still serves real ale from Banks.

Oh, and Britain and Ireland can keep using the pint measure for beer (the 20oz pint that is). The EU had decided everybody had to move to liters but they just reversed that ruling.

Unofficial DUI is "zero tolerance policy" in Washington DC. article with MADD tie-in bonus.

Headline: UK Ban For Reduced-alcohol 'wine'. 8% just isn't enough. Bonus: it's distilled then the alcohol is removed by centrifuge. article

Quote: "A beer after playing a game of football, a long run, or a strenuous round of golf can be good for the body, scientists say. In a rare piece of good news for those who like a pint, Spanish researchers say beer can help someone who is dehydrated retain liquid better than water." article

Whoops, 2.3% of breathalyzers overstate the BAC. That's from a New Jersey case in 1985. Now that somebody else looks at it, Double Whoops, make that 23%. article

British/US study on mixing Red Bull and Vodka found, among other things, "compared to those who did not mix caffeine and alcohol they had almost double the risk of being taken advantage of sexually." Fill in your own lame joke here. article

News compiled, written, or just made up by Bob Ostrander, Marketing Director. It's all considered accurate but then Bob has been known to have a drink or two while writing this so-called tome. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Brewers of Indiana Guild, in which case Bob will lose his job.


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