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Brewers of Indiana Guild Newsletter - May, 2008

Carpe cervisi

B.I.G. News

July is coming and the Brewers Guild is expanding the Indiana Microbrewers Festival to a full week of activities. Indiana Beer Week will start on Saturday, July 12th with the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup Judging and end on the 19th at the end of the Festival.

During the week we hope to have a Tap Swap with many Indiana beers available at brewpubs and good bars where they normally aren't found. Also many tappings and tastings all over the state. Posters. Oh, and Shoreline's Summer Festival on Sunday the 13th.

We'll be sending out an email to B.I.G. members with more details shortly.

Indiana Beer News

The World Beer Cup results are out and there's some trophies came to Indiana. full results

• Shoreline got a Silver for Beltaine Scottish Ale.
• Upland got a Silver for Upland Winter Warmer
• Three Floyds got a Bronze for Dreadnaught and a Gold for Behemoth.
• Marion's Tonya Cornett won the World Beer Cup Champion Brewery - Small Brewpub as the brewmaster at Bend Brewing and gold medal for her Black Diamond Lager and Outback X Strong Ale. GBS interview

Congratulations to all.

"Long-time Lafayette Brewing brewer Chris Johnson will be leaving his post effective May 9. It's been a great run with Chris, and we wish him all the best in his new pursuits. Upon his departure, LBC brewmaster/owner Greg Emig will be returning to his roots in the brewery while he gets LBC's latest hire up to speed with the brewing operations. Matt Williams will be relocating from eastern Missouri to begin his LBC training on May 19. "I'm excited about getting Matt up and running in the brewery. He definitely has the work ethic and beery frame of mind to succeed in this industry. This change-over also gives me the opportunity to pull the boots back on and kick around in the brewery again," commented Mr. Emig."

The Granite City Food and Brewery in Fort Wayne has opened. Manager and Brewer Matt Burrous runs the whole show and says sales are very good on both the food and beer side.

Four regulars are on tap at all times; Northern Light Lager, Duke of Wellington IPA, Broad Axe Stout, and Brother Benedict Bock.

Their most popular beer, though, is called "Two-Pull", a 50/50 of the Northern Light Lager and Brother Benedict Bock. The result is very like a diacetyl-free fresh light brown ale.

The next seasonal will be Ostara's Spring Ale - very yellow, very citric aroma. Tart and cidery. Cargill Special Pale, Carafoam, Debittered Black Malt. Glacier and Vanguard hops. 4% ABV. Available May 13.

Indiana will get two more Granite Cities yet this year. The South Bend restaurant in the University Plaza is scheduled for a July 29th opening (Matt's busy right now helping that store) and one in Carmel in October.

Granite City is a public-stock company (GCFB) listed on the NASDAQ.

Upland awarded Stan Stephens a banner of the Upland Ard Ri 6-pack carrier art with Stan, Harley and Wolfie.

The Michiana Extract & Grain Association (MEGA) has a new web site. So does Shoreline.

Ivy Tech in Muncie is instituting a Zymurgy course. Hands-on. Instructor Jeff Johnson of Wine and Vine. Three 4-hour sessions. $219 tuition (includes $60 equipment).
 

Shoreline's Mug Club has taken a turn for the eclectic. It now costs $100 plus $35 annually for a bigger, hand-made glass mug. Sam's new mugs are from Somerville Glass of Milwaukee.

Andrew Lewis is opening the Brass Monkey Brewing Co with a ribbon cutting at 4pm, May 23rd. His brewpub in the Kokomo Sycamore Marketplace has a 15 gallon system that will start of with 8 regulars, White, Tripel, IPA, Stout, Pale, and Brown, along with two seasonals. The bar will have 27 taps. Formidable - on a small scale.

Todd Antz of Keg Liquors says "I have a very open mind when it comes to beer, and an open mouth as well."

Indiana Events

Upland is sponsoring a homebrew contest, the UpCup, where the winner will be brewed and entered into the GABF Pro-Am competition this October. Entries due by May 26th. Judging on May 31st as part of their 10-days of Upland 10th Anniversary.

Good Lord, it's Dark Lord Day. April 26, 2008. Here's some random thoughts and even more random pictures.

Yike, there's more than 3000 people here. Breezy and in the 50s. 9 bands. Food tables. Beer tables inside and out. Enough picnic tables to accommodate the faithful tailgaters (including BAs and RBers) who like to swap stories and even a little beer.

The first in two people in line were Mike and Ken Edstrom from South Bend - 4pm Friday. They brought a tent, rainsuits, beer, everything needed for a night out - until the manager told them THE PERMIT didn't start until Saturday and they couldn't drink in the parking lot. They went back inside the bar for the night.

The rules: 1) Stand in line. 2) When you get to the front of the line you can buy up to 6 Dark Lords at $15/bottle. Also 2 Huedegoop at $11. Other 750s went for $7 and up. 12ozers were also available at $35/case, $10/six. 3) Returning to the back of the line to try to sell Dark Lord for $35/bottle is cause for scorn - but still a profit.

You needed to join the 4-block-long line before 11:30 to get any Dark Lord.

By 4:10pm all the Dark Lord was gone. The line was still 2 blocks long. Most people stayed in line to buy Huedegoop, Alpha Klaus, Behemoth, Rabbid Rabbit, Dreadnaught, or Brian Boru.

Talked to people in line and at the picnic tables from Iowa City and Vera Beach, FL who came specifically for the beer.

There was more than just Three Floyds beer. Not only did most of the attendees bring some but there were also $5 tables for Surly Bitter, Goose Island Belgian Blonde, Piece Camel Toe, Founders Double Dry Hopped Centennial IPA, Flossmoor Station Pretty Big IPA, Rock Bottom Clare's Commando, Russian River Compunction, Pizza Port Black IPA, Avery Czar, and more.

By Sunday, Dark Lord was offered on eBay. $51 incl shipping. A $74 Buy It Now did sell some. But the $400 asked for 6 bottles didn't get immediate action.

The front half of the line.
It snaked down another block and doubled back through a parking lot.

Indiana Beer Reviews

Jerry Sutherlin's new Catcher in the Rye at Rock Bottom, Downtown Indy, is described as "an IPA w/ spicy rye finish". Actually it's a citric (but not grapefruit) American IPA with extensive and long lasting black peppery rye finish. His Alt is mahogany in color, thick head, plenty of effervescence, smooth, creamy. Has that malty aroma of the beer that made Düsseldorf famous. 6.6%.

Mad Anthony's Dunkelweizen is very, very dunkel. A strong malty wheat base overrides the typical German yeast characteristics. The Black Lager is thinner and lighter in color - hit this one on the head.

The Anniversary Ale brewed for Mad Anthonys 10th year is a big Cascadey Imperial IPA (they say IPA-ish but there's no "ish" about it. Plenty of pale malt gets to just tease your tongue before the bitterness clamps down.

Back Road's Hop Monster is about gone. Wow. 100+ IBU of Columbus and Centennial hops and aged on oak chips. Chuck says he gets about 40 people each week for the Saturday tour and open shop. It's blueberry season again - at least the Blueberry Ale. The current batch has a predominate, distinct, fresh berry nose and taste.

At Shoreline, One Hit "One-Da" is Sam's answer to the Cascade crisis. It has 9 malts and 7 hops giving a darker, heavier, hoppier Pale Ale.

Upcoming Events

More stuff gets added all the time to the calendar at http://www.brewersofindianaguild.com/events.shtml.

On Tap

Please see http://www.brewersofindianaguild.com/ontap.html for the current tap lists of Indiana Breweries.

Miscellaneous News (if you didn't read it at IndianaBeer.com already)

Ale Street News has a newly biggified website and many of the articles are available online such as the current plethera of articles about their recent trip to Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, and Belgium. Forums are there and just getting started. Register and put in a comment and you might win a Cruzin Cooler.

Jack Curtin has a good article about how consumers are taking to the price increases. But you can read it in black on white by picking up an issue at your favorite beer spot.

You've heard Sam Adams has passed on 20,000 pounds of hops to other breweries. Sierra Nevada has helped also by sending back 60,000 pounds to their distributors to be resold to smaller breweries.

There are now more than 500 bars with imported (British) cask ale here in the U.S.

Great Lakes Brewing News has lots of info also.

On the legal front from Rick Lyke's column: Mississippi's 5% law didn't come up for an extension to 17% ABV largely because of beer distributors' bribing lobbying efforts. Same for Alabama (6% max) and there's been a call for a boycott of A-B products who's distributor led the bribing lobbying.

Bud is now Canada's leading brand, having supplanted Labatt's Blue. Blue's in a decline as an old man's beer.

The Coors tour in Golden is a classic stop but now it's a 20-minute self-guided audio tour but you'll still get the three 8-ounce beers. article

"Villagers depicted in a ($20,000,000) advertisement for Guinness whooping with joy as a pint appears in their remote Andean home had never heard of the brand, do not like it and would prefer a glass of lager." article - ad video

The Brewers Association has put up their Top 50 craft beer companies (by volume). Nope, no Indiana breweries are bigger than #50 Blue Point. Also a 27-page alphabetic list. The total count is

• 975 Brewpubs
• 377 Microbreweries
• 54 Regional Craft Breweries
• 23 Regional Non-Craft Breweries
• 20 Large Non-Craft Breweries.

Outside Magazine calls New Belgium Brewing the best place to work. press release

How Much Is That Double In The Window? According to Price Of A Pint, lagers in Srbi Su Picke, Congo, averages 20¢ a pint. In Monaco a pint will cost over $15 on average.

Headline: "Climate change will threaten beer production" article

Organic beers, new to Indiana variety: Butte Creek from Chico, CA. Pale Ale, IPA, Porter, Pilsner.

Brew Dog Brewery has three versions of Paradox Imperial Stout, all aged in Scotch casks. #5 was in Glen Moray, #8 was in Bowmore, #9 was in Ardbeg.

Saw Dixie Blackened Voodoo in a liquor store for $11.99 a six-pack or $2.15/bottle. That's 12oz bottles. When did getting your hurricaned brewery back up and running last year cause a price shift like this?

Press release that doesn't need comment: New Belgium will introduce Fat Tire in cans this summer. It’s another of the growing number of crafts offering their products in cans. Advocates of canned craft beer argue that cans, besides being allowable in more spaces, also protect the beer from light and oxygen. Cans also represent a hedge against escalating freight hikes, as approximately 60% more cases of cans can be shipped for the same freight weight, thus rate versus cases of bottles. Fat Tire will be brewed and canned at New Belgium’s facility in Fort Collins, CO.

Whisky Magazine has listed their 2008 World Whiskies Awards. Best Single Malt: Yoichi 20yo. Yep, Suntory of Japan wins. Cue the blue face paint.

Throwback headline: "College Republicans Protesting Proposed Beer Tax" And the story: "Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, has proposed a tax on beer makers that would add almost $2 to the price of a six pack to help eliminate the state's budget deficit." article Bonus: ""No taxation on intoxication!"

Label approval has gotten tougher and now the ATTB is looking at bottle caps. Well at least the bottle caps that say "Try Legal Weed". Doesn't matter if Mt. Shasta Brewing is in Weed, CA. It could "mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage." Makes sense, really. article

What's on tap in New York City? Now there's Beermenus.

Absinthe isn't hallucinogenic. Absinthe is hallucinogenic. It's duck season. It's rabbit season. Not even Cecil knows. Let's ask Marilyn Manson.

Iron City is in bankruptcy reorganization but might not make it. They need to put in a new $2M kegging line and other capital improvements this summer to get $1M written off their water/sewer bill. On and on. long detailed article Thanks Neal

Some columnist in Tampa has a list of "The world's 10 most disgusting beers". Someone in Tampa drinks something other than the local Budweiser? article Spoiler, Number 10 is Coors Aspen Edge.
 

I don't know whether to save this picture for blackmail purposes
or to have a caption contest.

News compiled by Bob Ostrander, Marketing Director/Webmaster. 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. Some coupon offers are for Associate Members only, non-transferable, and may be withdrawn due to unforeseen circumstances, acts of the gods, bankruptcy, or other capricious reasons. It's illegal in Indiana to offer any alcoholic beverage at discount through coupons, prizes, or the fact that the drinker is female. Sorry. Any resemblance of to any beer, living or dead, is purely a coincidence.