Winterfest Highlights!

Winterfest 2014 - Eric MeyerWhen’s the last time you remember holding your glass in the air and cheering with 5,000 other beer enthusiasts? Believe it or not, this post took me almost a week to create. There were so many people that worked their tail off to make Winterfest 2014 a success. A very special “Thank you” to the breweries that participated, the Brewers of Indiana Guild, Hoosier Beer Geek, and the 100+ volunteers that made this happen. The planning and execution of this beer festival were top notch. We had an awesome time pouring at Winterfest, and we also wanted to thank everyone that dropped by to say hello and sample our offerings.That said, this year’s Winterfest was HUGE. We loved the extra space that Champion Hall provided, however it was soon consumed by the 5,000 beer loving ticket holders. This was by far the largest beer tasting I’ve ever been to. Note to self: VIP tickets at Indiana beer tastings are becoming more and more validated 🙂 Eric Meyer has a fantastic photo album documenting the debauchery.  Either way, I wanted to take some time to share some of my favorite picks from this past weekend. Here it goes:

Upland+Logo_New+Horizontal+copyNL The Upland Sour Barrel Spin Game
Upland used a Twitter password to allow entry into this Wheel of Fortune! The wheel included Raspberry, Cherry, and Kiwi Lambic, and also the much coveted Sour Reserve 4.
Zwanzigz BrewingZwanzigZ Brewing Eisbock
This beer was fantastic! This style of beer is created by freezing bock beer and removing the ice. This method concentrates the flavor and abv. Great work and thanks for sharing!
Country Boy BrewingCountry Boy Brewing Chestnut Brown Ale
We were lucky enough to pour right next door to Country Boy Brewing. This beer really stood out for me. Very easy drinking and flavorful brown!
New Albanian BrewingNew Albanian Phoenix Kentucky Komon Ale
This beer was great! Kentucky Common beer has the unique history of being America’s first sour! Lactobacillus is used to create a twang sourness that complements the malt profile of this beer. New Albanian pulled this one of brilliantly.
Planetary Brewing Logo Planetary Fly Casual Brown Ale
This was my first Planetary beer, and I was pretty impressed. I’m a sucker for Brown Ales. I’m sure I’ll be enjoying more Planetary beers in the not so distant future.
Three-Floyds-Big-LogoThree Floyd’s War Mullet
I’m not sure how long this keg lasted, but my guess is it went quickly. War Mullet is, at the moment, a very rare Imperial IPA created by FFF.
Flat 12 Bierworks LogoReposado Du Flat Saison/Farmhouse Aged 6 months in Extra Anejo tequila barrels.
The evil geniuses at Flat 12 created a saison that they aged in anejo tequila barrels. Everyone was talking about it the first couple of hours at Winterfest. I did not get a chance to try it, but I thought it was worth a mention as it seemed very popular.
Power House BrewingPower House Barrel Aged Diesel Oil Stout
Diesel Oil Stout is a fantastic beer. Seeing a barrel aged version at Winterfest was a great comfort 🙂
Rhinegeist BreweryRhinegeist Uncle English Dark Mild
We’ve been drinking a lot of English Mild beer lately and this one stood out. Smooth, great malt profile, and highly sessionable.
bier breweryBier Brewery 1.21 Gigawatts Belgian Strong and Hator Dopplebock
Both these beers were served at Bier’s 3rd Anniversary Party this past year. I was glad to see they still had some left for Winterfest. Cheers if you had the opportunity to try these rare beers!
MONK_logoMONK Wookie Tears English Brown Ale
These guys were great neighbors to us, and you can bet I made sure to sample each one of their beers. Wookie Tears English Brown was one of those great beers!
Bloomington Hop JockeysBloomington Hop Jockeys Sour Collection
There is no doubt that the Hop Jockeys have skill when it comes to brewing, but sampling their sour beer has become something to look forward to at these events. Thanks for sharing Luke!

Bier Brewery’s Anniversary and Limited Sanitarium Release

Sanitarium releaseBier Brewery will be releasing bombers of Sanitarium Belgian Quad on Friday December 13th in limited quantities in celebration of their anniversary this year. Sanitarium won a silver medal during 2012’s Great American Beer Festival in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category. This event will also include 20 beers on tap including Hator (not sure what this one is, but it may be something new), Billy Baroo, Trippelle, 1.21 Gigawatts and more. The fun starts at 12pm, with pints flowing at 3pm, live entertainment from The Grinning Man, and food from Flavor Truck.

Third Thursday @ Sahm’s Place

Bier Brewery and Sahm’s Place will be hosting another 5 course dinner/beer pairing at Sahm’s location on 65th and Keystone on Thursday December 20th. Tickets will be available at Sahm’s Place on December 1st, but there is a very limited number of them available. This would be an awesome date for beer saavy lovebirds and foodies alike. Sahm’s Facebook page says that tickets are going fast, so good luck and don’t forget the coffee cake!

Winners Announced for The Great American Beer Festival

Winners for the Great American Beer Festival were announced yesterday after 3 days of judging. The GABF is the largest commercial beer competition in the world, with over 2,700 different beers from over 500 different American breweries, covering over 84 different categories/subcategories (here’s a very detailed list of categories and their descriptions found on the GABF website). Judges select their top three picks per style in this massive blind tasting. The winners are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals. There were several Indiana breweries among the winners this year. Sun King Brewing Company (Johan the Barleywine and Pappy Van Muckle), Upland Brewing Company (Sour Reserve), Mad Anthony (Ruby Raspberry Wheat), Bier Brewery (Sanitarium), Three Floyd’s Brewing Company (Zombie Dust), and The Ram Brewing Company (Anaheim IPA). Make sure to congratulate these guys on all their hard work. You can find a full listing of the winners here.

Bier 3rd Thursday Food + Beer Event


Bier Brewery and Sahm’s Place will be hosting a 5 course dinner/beer pairing at Sahm’s location on 65th and Keystone on Thursday September 20th from 6:30 – 8:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase at Sahm’s Place, but there is a very limited number of them available (30 to be exact.) This would be an awesome date for beer saavy lovebirds and foodies alike. Sahm’s Facebook page says that tickets are going fast, so good luck!