Vacation Catch Up

Alright people,

Wow....I suck at blogging regularly, right? Yep. I do. Oh well, worse things have happened in the world.

First off, happy Memorial Day. But more importantly,  thank you to the members of the armed services and those who serve our country. Never take those who serve our country for granted. Today is not Veterans Day though, and I think we all need to remember to thank the families of fallen soldiers. Thousands of men and women have given everything to protect our nation, and today is their day to be remembered and memorialized.

Now, on to the less important part of this blog, beer....and a catch up on my weekend. As many of you know, I graduated college a couple of weeks ago, and for graduation, my girlfriend decided to plan a weekend mini-vacation to Louisville, Kentucky.

Now, if you want a quick but complete overview of the whole trip, check our my girlfriend's blog here (complete with way better pictures). I'll stick to beer and bourbon on this one.

First off, Friday night we wandered down to Fourth Street, which turns out to be the night life area for Louisville, and found a little place called Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge. Great bourbon, good specials for happy hour, and a whiskey drink that the lady likes; win, win, win. Later that night, we had a pretty awesome dinner in a revolving restaurant downtown....pretty swanky and lots of great views.

Saturday we headed for a walk downtown after breakfast at the hotel, and went to a little place called Gordon Biersch for lunch. This place is a brewpub, albeit one that is mass-produced (turns out they just merged with Rock Bottom), that specializes in carrying traditional German styles. I had the Marzen, which was solid, and the lady had the Hefe, which was good, but too spiced for me. She liked it. After lunch, we took a little trip down the road to Churchill Downs to see some horse racing. They were running races, and Race 10 was a $100,000 purse. We watched probably 5 races, and it was pretty fun. I hadn't been to horse races in years, and Mindy really liked watching them run. We even found her a great Derby hat in the gift shop, too bad it was $65.

Sunday was the day I got to plan, and of course I made it baseball and beer related. We started with church, but then walked to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. I had been there before, but it's always fun to go back, and I got another mini-bat. On the walk there, we noticed that the streets of Louisville had home plates and bats in honor of some of the great baseball players of all time, and of course I had to stop and take a picture of the Hit King's.

The plan for the rest of the day was to get dinner at Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse before catching a Louisville Bat's game, and conveniently, the brewery was inside the stadium. Got to try a full flight of their 6 beers on tap and their 4 house-made barbecue sauces. The lighter beers, a German pils, a gose, and a double wheat IPA were pretty good. The darker beers weren't that great, just average, with a brown ale and an oatmeal stout. The barbecue sauces ranged from weird to pretty good, with my favorites being the sweet honey barbecue and "The Thunda Package" hot barbecue, although I think they oversold the level of heat. After the brewery and dinner, we got into the stadium. I love Minor League games because of how affordable they are. Two seats in the first row on the right field line were under $25 total, and in the end, led to me not catching a foul ball and Mindy getting hit by it. Good job me.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome weekend. Lots of good beer, including some that I didn't mention here, a foul ball, good food, and some horse racing. Now it's back to my lull between school and work, which means lots of golf and umpiring.

As for the next blog post, I'm trying to get one written in the near future about some Great Lakes Brewing Company beers that I picked up across the border in Ohio a couple weeks ago. Hopefully I'll get that done this week. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

Changing of the Season

Alright people,

As many of you may have noticed, it's finally starting to warm up and turn into spring, at least here in Indiana. For me, this means time to switch up my beer selection. Through the winter, I crave big, dark, roasty beers like porters, stouts, and barleywines, but now, it's time for some easy drinking warm weather beers. In homage (I know, big word for this blog) to the arriving spring, I'm changing my beer styles tonight. We're going to take a look at 2 more homebrews from Jason & Co. First, we'll start with the last dark beer of the season, a vanilla porter, then move right along to a honey wheat beer. Let's do this.

First off, here's another awesome pour from my homebrewing friends. Good, deep brown color with some red tinges on the edge. Pretty dense, tan head forms and retains fairly well, trailing down to a covering on the top of the beer. Lacing is just ok, but that's probably more of my dirty glass than anything. Great scent of dark, roasted malts and just a hint of vanilla.

Taste is terrific. This is a great semisweet porter. Moderately strong dark malts greet your tongue with solid burnt flavors. These persist throughout the beer, with a slight hint of vanilla sweetness right in the middle before ending with a bite form the malts. Ending bite has a little bit of a coffee-like bitterness that ends it well. Vanilla is faint, but you can tell there is a slightly sweetness in there.

Overall, this is a great everyday drinker for the colder months, or whenever a dark beer is needed. This really reminds me of a porter I had recently in Arizona (This one.), except I think I like this one more because of the body. Once again, you guys got the body right with the right weight and a solid head that retains and laces. This one really goes down smooth.

On to the honey wheat now. This one pours pretty much amber with a small, good-looking head. Nice, cloudy wheat body. Only a little bit of retention and lacing. The scent of this one is a little faint, with some sweetness present from the honey and some underlying spiciness. The taste of this one follows the same pattern as the scent. Starts off light and grainy with a smooth transition to some spiciness in the middle. I think I detect a little bit of coriander in there before moving into the honey right at the end. Honey flavor is a little sweet and a slight bit spicy, carrying over from the coriander flavor.

Overall, this honey wheat beer is a great spring or summer beer. Simple, but solid, flavors, a light weight, and interesting honey and spice note. This one doesn't have quite the head, retention, or lacing of the porter or coffee stout, but that is harder to get in lighter beers in my opinion. Great job on these two beers guys.

As I write currently, I'm still enjoying the honey wheat and watching the Reds. Mat Latos is looking pretty good, and hopefully the Reds with get their first win of the season. Until next time, go Reds!
-Chris

Home Brew Time Again

Alright people,

I know, I know. It's been quite a while since I've given you all a post, and I have a good excuse....ok, not really. I'm lazy. Spring break was one reason for the extended break, but it was really mainly my own laziness.

Anyway, Jason and Craig have bestowed 4 more of their home brewed beers on me in exchange for all of my empties. The four bottles I got are a honey wheat, a hoppy wheat, a vanilla porter, and a java stout. Tonight I'll be taking a look at the java stout, mainly because at the rate the Reds are taking on Opening Day, I'll need coffee to finish watching this game.

First off, this is a beautiful pour. A little lighter in color than most stouts, not quite black with some light coming through the edges. Most of the body is pretty pitch black. Second thing you notice about this beer it the thick, creamy head. Retention is great, and the head is dense and very creamy. Probably the best head I've had on a beer that hasn't been nitro poured. Real nice job on the presentation guys.

The smell of this one is all coffee. Reminds me a lot of Ballast Point's Victory at Sea. Quality smelling coffee that displays a mostly strong, bitter flavor.Taste follows the scent, with coffee being prominent. Good mix of coffee with the other burnt malt flavors. Slight metallic flavor toward the end, but this is probably more noticeable because most coffee stouts I have are big imperial guys. Overall weight of this one is light; about the feel of a Guinness. Not too thick, not too thin, but very drinkable over a long period of time. Body is enough to support the heavy flavor profile, and the thick, creamy head makes this one feel very smooth.

In the end, Jason and Craig did a hell of a job with this beer. Their first oatmeal stout was good, but this beer stepped it up as far as their stouts go for me. Maybe not a thick and heavy as I like, but the coffee is right on point. I like the coffee in this beer because it is strong, but not overpowering. So many times coffee just takes over a beer. The best part of this beer though is the body. Great, thick head with awesome lacing. That's a sign that you have quality ingredients and a clean brewing process. You guys nailed that this time around as compared to your red ale.

As I write, the Reds are in the middle of the 13th inning, going on 4.5 hours of game time. Hope they can wrap up Opening Day soon. Until next time, go Reds!
-Chris

Week-End Round Up

Alright people,

Well, I'm back from a week in Arizona, I'll give a quick round up and then move on to beer. Sedona is cool. The Reds always lose when I go to games; even in Spring Training. Arizona is hot, even in March. I got to meet George Foster. And red eye flights suck.

Sadly, no picture of or with George, but I did get to shake his hand. 1977 NL MVP!!!

Another good part about the trip was that Arizona is in the distribution footprint of Deschutes. I was able to enjoy a 6-pack of Mirror Pond Pale Ale at the hotel over a few nights.

On to the beer. Today I cracked open a random find I had from a couple of weeks ago, New Belgium Tart Lychee. This is a golden sour beer, part aged in oak, and part brewed with lychee fruit and cinnamon. It poured a very  hazy golden color with a medium sized head. The scent was reminiscent of a weaker sour beer.

The taste was interesting. Fruity sour flavors up front with grain flavors moving in later. The dull grain flavors are not traditional in a sour, and kind of detract from the beer. The end of the drink brought back a little bit of the original sour flavors, but in a more subdued way. Overall, it's an interesting beer. The spices promised on the label are only slightly present, and the grain-like flavor doesn't help it, but it's not a bad beer at all, just out of my style. Here's the whole review.

You may have noticed the severe improvement in the quality of my pictures lately. Big thanks to my girlfriend and her new photography hobby. She bought a new camera and anytime I have a beer with her, she takes the pictures. That being said, in the future, I'm hoping to let the pictures tell a little more of the story when she is able to take them. You guys should also check out her blog, and maybe be on the look out for some of her  design skills to make an appearance here.

In the end, it was a successful trip. I'll miss the warm to hot weather, but with any luck it will be here in God's country any day now. Opening Day is fast approaching and the Reds will be in fine form for the season. Life is good, beer is good, and tomorrow is my favorite holiday of the year. Not St. Patrick's Day; it's Selection Sunday! Get the brackets ready people. Until next time, it's March Madness baby, and cheers!
-Chris

Local Beer Scene: Part 2

Alright people,

First off, let's start with some administration. Spring break has started for me; my last one before the real world smacks me right across my face. Because of this, there will most likely be a dry spell as far as new posts go for about the next week. I'm headed to see the Reds in spring training in Arizona with the family, so hopefully maybe a post about baseball and some west coast beer in the near future.

On another note, also be on the lookout for more homebrew posts in the next few weeks. Jason and Craig have been hard at work with a new batch every week. I'm currently in a trading empty bottles for homebrew samples situation, which is a great deal!

On to the local beer scene; People's Brewing Company in Lafayette, Indiana. People's was started just a few years ago (I can't remember the year, and am too lazy to track it down on the internet) by Chris Johnson. I met with Chris for basically the same interview I had with Greg at LBC.

To start, Chris has an interesting history. He was at Purdue when he got his first beer job, actually at LBC. He told me he washed kegs starting out, and basically just worked his way up the ladder at LBC until he was the brewmaster. In the end, he wanted to do his own thing, and today we have People's Brewing Company.

The biggest difference in LBC and People's is the overall business type. Whereas LBC is a brewpub, People's is a small brewery. All of their product goes out the door to retail businesses, except for the beer poured in the tasting room. In light of this fact, my interview focused on the operations and distribution side of the beer industry. The biggest thing I learned here is how they plan on growing in the future. Currently, People's distributes their beer by themselves in the local 3 counties, with the rest of the state distributed through Indianapolis. When I asked Chris about future distribution, he had some interesting information.

He said they'd like to cover a fair area without stretching production too thin. As of now, he thinks that some Illinois distribution is in their future. The biggest issue is being able to supply the local market with the beer it wants while moving into new markets. In addition, any of you in the Lafayette area may be seeing People's brews in Kroger/Payless stores soon. Chris mentioned that they are working with the supermarket chain to get their beers on the shelf.

People's beer focus is on the product, not the intended style. Chris told me that they don't care if they hit traditional styles, as long as the end product tastes good. Still, with that being said, they try to keep some of the traditional and German style lagers on tap. My favorite of their's is either the 9Irish Red, brewed exclusively for 9 Irish Brothers Resaurant, or Mr. Brown on nitro. Both pretty solid beers.

Not to make this post entirely about People's and their future plans, I highly recommend their tasting room. People's tasting room is sort of different from most brewery tasting rooms. They only have beer on tap, no food, other than some pretzels on the table for patrons. Good news is that I have heard they don't care if you bring in food to eat from elsewhere. Pretty much everything they are currently brewing is on tap, including 2 nitro taps. The thing I like the most though is that they are very reasonable with their prices. Beers are always $3.50, except on Thursdays, when they're $2.50. In addition, you can buy pretty much any bar accessory their, also for a reasonable price.

I forgot to mention this last time with LBC, but below you can find the link to People's website (and LBC's too).

People's Website
LBC Website

Well, as of now, I'm officially off of blogging duty and on spring break. If I do get some good west coast beer out in Arizona, it'll probably hit my Twitter feed sometime this week. Until next time, cheers!
-Chris

I Plead the Fifth!

Alright people,

First off, no, I didn't get arrested and need to plea the 5th in court. Sorry to those of you who were looking for that. But I did manage to pick up 2 of Dark Horse's Plead the Fifth Imperial Stout this past weekend, and that is a reason to celebrate.

This beer has been sort of under the radar for me. Dark Horse is in such limited supply around here that I figured I wouldn't have the chance to get any. Then this past Saturday, a tweet from my beer store said they had all 5 of the Dark Horse Stout offerings. I wasted no time in going there to grab the limit of 2 of these bad boys. Now let's get to the beer.

Starting off, this one poured as thick as I have ever seen a beer pour. It literally looked like I was pouring used motor oil into my snifter. Anyway, other than the overall thickness of this one, the huge, dark malty scent also hit me right off the bat. One of the strongest smelling beers I've had, this one sought to destroy your nostrils with coffee, chocolate, and big, roasted malt flavors. At first taste, I was almost instantly reminded of Stone's Imperial Russian Stout. That is probably my favorite, non-barrel aged stouts, and this one compares well. Flavor profile was very similar to its strong smell. Also, this beer is 12% ABV, but it really doesn't show it except for a slight warming sensation as it goes down. Anyway, here's the full review. I recommend trying this ASAP if you can find some.

In other news, if you notice Mr. Gnomes longing for a sip of beer, I'm less than 3 weeks away from being in Arizona for the Reds spring training. I believe there are only 2 days until the first game this spring, and frankly, I can't wait for baseball to be back. It means warm weather, sunny days on the ball field, and nights under the lights watching some great baseball. I love college basketball and March Madness, but nothing really fills the sports void like some good old hardball.

Well, that's it for tonight. Look for my next post this weekend. Probably get back around to talking about a New Glarus fruit beer. Until next time, cheers!

-Chris

Mid-Week Update

Alright people,

It's a Wednesday and I don't have a lot to do, so it's beer blogging time. Tonight, we're taking a look at a beer I've passed up a bunch of times, but finally decided to pick up at the liquor store; Boulevard's Dark Truth Stout.

Boulevard is one of those breweries that I've never had a real thing for, but then again, I've only have a few of their beers. Love Child #2 was pretty good, but other than that, I've only had their wheat, which is pretty standard. Anyway, this stout is touted on the label as a beer with "roasted English malts" and Belgian yeast. Having not had a Belgian stout (at least in recent memory), here we go!

This stout starts off with an alluring scent of mostly chocolate and coffee notes, providing a balanced, bitter and somewhat sweet profile. At first sip, this one is just the same as its smell, but things quickly change after that. The Belgian yeast provides a dark fruit flavor profile that is promised on the label. Normally, I don't go for that quality in a stout, but this is different. The fruit flavor profile isn't overpowering, and instead of progressing into an anise flavor, it stays steady with a plum-like flavor. It's interesting to say the least. This beer ends with a slight roasted malt and coffee bitterness. On the whole, this is a good beer that I probably shouldn't have passed up so many times before at the store. Here's the full review.


In other news, you may have notices Gnomes the Reds Gnome peeking into the corner of the picture. Only 26 (or 27) more days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. I'm especially excited for this year's training because I'll actually be there for the first time in about 8 years!

Also, I'm starting to open this blog up to a few more things in the future. You guys may have seen that I've included cooking posts before, and I'm hoping to include more in the future. Also, I've discovered some wines that I like, so I may include some wine-centric posts in the future too. Any suggestions for food dishes or wines I may like are welcome and encouraged! As always, feel free to suggest or chime in with any thoughts to improve the blog. Until next time, cheers!

-Chris