A partial list of beers I've had since my last review

Well, I'm still slacking on my posts, but that doesn't mean I'm not sampling beer. Here's a list of the beers I've had since I last "reviewed". Also, I hope to post a summary of the Bells Brewery (really just the cafe & general store, as they don't do brewery tours) and an outing at BJ's in Greenwood. Unfortunately I'll be out of town for the beer gathering at Scotty's this weekend, and I wasn't able to make it to the HBG anniversary party at Brugge (regrettably - it looked like a blast).

Here's the rough list, with ratings, and any brief notes I might have taken:

Bell’s – Special Double Cream Stout 3

Founder’s – Dry Hopped Pale Ale 3

Stone – IPA 3

Boulder Beer – Buffalo Gold Golden Ale 3 or 2
Very good for an ale – a little buttery

Boulder Beer – Single Track Copper Ale 3

Mishawaka Brewing Company – Hop Head Ale 4
Musty, but it improved as I drank it

Goose Island – Pere Jacques 2

Smuttynose Brewing – Robust Porter 3

Dark Horse Brewing Co. – Too Cream Stout 2

Bell’s – Sparking Ale 2

Bell’s – 3^rd Coast Old Ale 3

Harpoon – IPA 3 or 4
Watery

Mad Anthony – IPA 3

Vieille Provision – Saison Dupont – Brasserie Dupont – Belgian Farmhouse Ale 4

Smuttynose – Portsmouth Lager 3

Bell’s – Big Porch Ale 2008 3
Sedimenty

Lake Placid – Ubu Ale 3

Shock Top Belgian White 5

Black Sheep Brewery - Monty Python Holy Ail Ale 4 or 5

Bell’s – Consecrator Doppelbock 3

Bluegrass Brewing Company – American Pale Ale 3

Bell’s – Lager of the Lakes 5

Mikkeller – Struise Mikkeller (Rate Beer) 2

Bell’s – Kalamazoo Stout 4

Goose Island – Demolition 3

Chimay Ale Peres Trappister Tripel White 3

Broad Ripple Brew Pub – Amarillo Lager 3

Broad Ripple Brew Pub – IPA 3

Piraat Ale – Br. Van Steenberge 3

Bell’s – Bourbon Barrel Aged Cherry Stout 4
An assault of cherry and bourbon (improved as I drank it)

Sam Adams – Cherry Wheat 4

Sam Adams – Light 5

Lexington Brewing Company - Kentucky Ale 3

Most, if not all of these beers were in the beer fridge at the old house and had to be quickly consumed, as we didn't have room for them along with everything else in our "regular" fridge when we moved into the apartment. I still have a bounty of beer (much to the dismay of the movers who had to move everything up three flights of stairs) in our closet that I will drink at a slower pace, hopefully allowing for better reviews. We've still got the two produce drawers full of beer that I need to drink before I can re-stock with any new beers, so any new beer reviews might have to wait until I've worked through those. Ahh, such a rough life.

We'll be out of town for a little bit, but after Labor Day I expect to have more regular posts, along with a weekly (or more frequent) beer news roundup.

Where the hell have I been?!

After way too long of a hiatus, I'm back. Sorry about all that not posting, and stuff. I forgot how busy summer is. This summer has been especially busy - we bought a new town home (construction starts next week!), we got our house ready to sell, sold our house in 2 days, found an apartment, went on vacation, packed all of our stuff up and I launched a major project at work.

Anyway, you're not here to hear about all that. You're here to read about one of my favorite subjects - beer. Unfortunately I was out of town for every beer fest that has happened this summer (talk about poor planning on my part). Needless to say, I haven't been in the local beer loop lately, but I've been getting my fix from some of the local blogs (congrats to all the NKOTB(R) at HBG).

I've been drinking a lot of beer lately (trying to work through all the beer that was in my beer fridge at the old place - unfortunately there's no dedicated beer fridge at the apartment), and I'll post about that, but to catch up I'm just going to post a list of beers and ratings. If anything stood out, I'll list it, but otherwise it will be a fairly straightforward list. Once I'm caught up, I'll return to a "normal" review process. Also, during vacation we had a rainy day and decided to run up to Bell's - I'll post on that experience as well.

So, changing subjects, does anyone have an update on HotShotz? Our apartment is within walking distance to them and we tried to go to the cookout they were going to have on Monday night. We stopped by around 7 pm and there were no signs of life. I emailed them to see what the story was and didn't hear back. I'm hoping they get up and running soon - I've never been this close to such a great beer place.

Alright, that's all for now - sorry for the long absence, but I hope to post every few days.

Oh yeah, one more thing - a very good friend of mine and I will have a guys night on the town to take in some of the great beer that's being served locally - anyone had anything worth our time and effort? We're not sure what we'll be doing yet, but I'll open it up to your suggestions.

News May 8 - 20

Alright, after a longer hiatus than expected, here are some links I found interesting. Hopefully I'll get some beer "reviews" up in the next few days. I've got quite a few to post.

Onto the news:

• Beer for dogs - even man's best friend needs a good beer every now and then.
  
• Looks like Miller has announced price increases for the next two years. I'm sure this is a sign of things to come from other brewers as well - raising input prices = more expensive beer.
• Here's an article out of Cleveland regarding the popularity of bock beers this time of year. Anyone have any favorites they'd like to recommend?
  
• Looks like the folks to the north, in Canada, are getting pretty excited about American craft beer. When they can't get their fix, they travel to Buffalo to buy hundreds of dollars worth of beer.
  
• Will Three Floyds follow the lead of other craft brewers and start distilling liquor? Has anyone had the Rouge Gin?
  
• Will PA finally end their sales by the case law? Here's an editorial regarding the lawsuit.
• Anyone in Chicago enough of an insider to get invited to the Glunz Global Beer Expo? Sounds like a pretty interesting event.
• Looks like Diaego won't close the Guinness brewery after all - here's an update.
• A former head brewer at Great Lakes Brewery is now heading up brewing operations at a new brewpub in Akron, OH.
• Even Wired magazine is reporting on the increase in prices related to brewing beer. They talk a bit about how folks are changing their recipes to cope with the price spikes.
• Here's a great article about the history of beer in Cincinnati and the reintroduction of Morelein beer. Looks like it will hit Indy soon - I'm interested in trying the "discovery" pack. Anyone see it on the shelves?
• Memorial Day weekend is the 2nd biggest weekend for beer sales - an estimated 21 million cases will be sold. Who knew that 50% of all beer sold during the summer is "premium" beer. I'd be interested in finding out the definition of premium, as Nielsen defines it.
• Miller says their cheaper beers are seeing a growth in sales at the expense of their middle of the road, flagship products.
• Is vintage beer the next big thing? Looks like Newsweek tried a few at Gramercy Tavern in NYC.
• Another Newsweek article about craft beer - this time about it's growth and the influence they're getting in DC.
• Coors is having significant growth, especially compared to the other macros. Is it all about the brand?

Beer News & Blog Roundup - May 5-8

Any good Cinco de Mayo stories out there? Last year we were on a cruise at this time and we were Cozumel for 5/5 - I shouldn't have been too surprised that no one in Cozumel seemed to care that it was 5/5 other than one bar that was right by the port for the cruise ship. In fact I had forgotten about it until as we were getting ready to get back on the ship and we passed a group of folks (fellow cruise ship passengers) with about 20 empty Corona bottles on the ground and one of them was shouting something like "Cinco de Mayo - whoooo!!!!" Ahhh, good times, good times.

I'll be out of town on a fishing trip until next weekend, so this will probably be my last post until 5/17.

Here's some news from the last few days:

• Looks like one of the drivers behind the Pyramid - Magic Hat merger was the costs associated with being a public company.
• Here's an article about rising hop prices (yes, another one) and some brewers tweaking their recipes.
• Looks like most of the original Guinness brewery will be sold (except, of course, the store that attracts all the tourists).
  
• "Obama Beer" in Kenya, isn't quite the same as Kennedy milk, in a lot of ways.
• Here's a referendum I can get behind - one to repeal taxes in Maine on beer, wine and soda.
• Is beer the new wine? They think so in NC. I say it's better and more complex than wine, but that's just me.
• Will we start seeing more organic beer in the marketplace? If Bison's IPA was any indicator, I wouldn't mind.
• Will Australia raise wine and beer taxes 300%?
• Now this guy has one helluva beer can collection - over 2600 empty cans.
• Anyone had a "black velvet"? Here's a NYT article on the drink (a mix of Guinness and champagne. I might need to try one. Thanks to Joey P for the head's up on this.

Here's a roundup of blog posts I've enjoyed this week:

• The stale beer ethanol home pump is now available for only $10,000. You know, for those of you who have more $$ than sense.
• Generik has a post about a beer brand I'm not familiar with (but would like to be) - Long Trail.
• Another post from Generik about new brew pubs in and around Indy. I couldn't agree more about his west side comment (as a north-west sider).
• Brookston Beer Bulletin has posted a list of the 10 worst beers in the world (from the Tampa Bay Times) - clever. I've only had the Beast (#9) .
  
• Brew Blog has a roundup of earnings reports and beer releases and some other tidbits about some of the macros.
• Looks like the folks at HBG have mixed feelings about the Three Floyds beer dinner at R Bistro. Here's the first post. Here's the second.
• Looks like Flying Dog is growing their own hops, partly to offset the hop shortage?
• DIG-B has some local tap updates.
• Might AB be acquired? Via the Brew Blog.
• Anyone been to Fireside on the south side yet? In addition to hearing about it on Matt's Beer Blog, my barber was telling me about it (she kinda, sorta knows the owner). All indications point to it being a pretty nice place.

Alright, that's it for now. See you after 5/17.

Left Hand Brewing Company - Warrior IPA

What: Left Hand Brewing Company - Warrior IPA
Style: American IPA
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $5.99 (22 oz. bottle)
Where: Home
When: May 6, 2008
Rating: 2
Comments: Before I started this blog I received two beers from Left Hand Brewing Company (Deep Cover and Sawtooth ESB) as part of the Beer of the Month club. I remembered them being pretty good and saw this IPA offering on a stock up trip to the store. This one is what I like out of an IPA - smooth, bitter, and not very sweet. The hop profile isn't very citrus-y, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do tend to prefer more of a citrus hop flavor (i.e. Hopslam). I'll be adding this one to the rotation (assuming I can find six packs). I didn't notice this on the bottle, but evidently this is a wet hopped beer - probably the best one I've had (not that I've had all that many).
Ratebeer Link: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/left-hand-warrior-ipa/18691/

Blog Roundup

Alright, I've been negligent in posting the last few weeks. In lieu of another News post, here's a post of some blog entries I've enjoyed (now that I've actually had the chance to read them):

• DIG-B has a good update on Bada Boomz downtown.
• Looks like the Big Car event the Beer Geeks had was a good time.
• Beers of my Life has a review of Schlitz original recipe.
  
• Generik has a great post about what sounds like a hell of a place to have a beer.
  

Goose Island Beer Co. - Imperial IPA

What: Goose Island Beer Co. - Imperial IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $5.29
Where: Home
When: May 4, 2008
Rating: 3
Comments: Just got back from a great Sunday dinner of Hollyhock Hill. Best damn fried chicken in the city, if you ask me. What better than a comfort food Sunday dinner with some family from out of town and getting to meet a new addition to the family? Anyway, decided to have a beer and cracked this one open. It's malty, but not overly sweet. It has a very nice hop finish to it. I'm a fan.
Ratebeer Link: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/goose-island-imperial-ipa/21329/

Beer News - May 4

Here's the news from the weekend:

• Stanford students are enjoying home brew.
• Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, here's a Chicago Trib article on Mexican beers.
  
• Looks like wine makers are waking up to transport conditions (temperatures). Will craft beer makers follow their lead?
• Looks like the older folks in TN don't like the "card everyone" law, and it will probably be changed.
• Seattle is jealous of the BeerMenu website that just launched in NY. Is this a sign of the times - when will Indy get one (I'm guessing 2014 or so).
• You know craft beer is gaining momentum when the LA Times starts a beer of the month feature.
  
• Are these the next big things in brewing?
• The National Restruant Association has listed craft beer as one of the top 10 "hot" items of 2008. Hopefully this will translate to more craft beer available, and more beer dinners.
• Anyone know anything about Brass Monkey Brewing? Looks like they're getting ready to open up shop in Kokomo, IN.
• Here's another article from TX about craft beers and their popularity.
• Anyone been to any of these beer festivals?
• Vermont has passed a law allowing for the sale of higher alcohol beer. Another victory for craft beer.
• Will we soon be seeing a Granite City Food and Brewery here in Indy?
  

Three Floyd's Brewing Company - Behemoth Barley Wine

What: Three Floyd's Brewing Company - Behemoth Barley Wine
Style: American Barley Wine
Vessel: Tulip Glass
Price: $4.50 (ish - I didn't see a detailed receipt)
Where: Hot Shotz Gastropub
When: May 3, 2008
Rating: 2
Comments: I had time to grab a quick lunch, and decided I was close to Hot Shotz, so why not get a good beer with lunch. I had a great burger, and a great beer. I'm normally not a huge barley wine kind of guy, but I enjoyed this one. It didn't have an overpowering alcohol flavor and it was nice. I'd say give it a try. I wasn't going to until Chris, one of the owners, offered me a free taster of it (and a couple of other beers). That's the benefit of getting there before any crowd starts arriving. I really need to add this place into the rotation. They've got great food, beer and service.
Ratebeer Link:http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/three-floyds-behemoth-barleywine/6055/

Three Floyd's Brewing Company - Dreadnaught Imperial IPA

What: Three Floyd's Brewing Company - Dreadnaught Imperial IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $13.00 (22 oz. bottle)
Where: Bada Boomz Restaurant (Downtown)
When: April 25, 2008
Rating: 3
Comments: I split this bottle with Brewer McDuff, and I'm not finding many notes on it. I do remember liking it quite a bit. It's defenitely not a session beer, and a little goes a long way. I think I need to give it a whirl again to be able to comment on it more intelligently.
Ratebeer Link: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/three-floyds-dreadnaught-imperial-ipa/8933/

Bada Boomz Downtown - Samplers

What: Bada Boomz Sampler
Vessel: Sampler Glasses
Price: $9.00
Where: Bada Boomz Downtown
When: April 25, 2008
Comments: Here's a continuation from the guy's night I had with Brewer McDuff. After dinner at Rock Bottom, we hit Bada Boomz for some good craft beer. We had a great time, with an entertaining bartender (Christopher). There was also a group of folks who stopped in on their way from Atlanta to DarkLord day (it was the next day). For an update on Bada Boomz, check out DIG-B. These are my comments.

Founder's Dry Hopped Pale Ale:

This was an OK beer. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It had a bit of a smoky flavor, compared to some of the others we sampled. I also gave it another shot at Hot Shotz on 5/3 during lunch. My opinion hasn't changed.

Rating = 4

Mad Anthony IPA:

This seemed more like a pale ale than an IPA. Having said that, it was nice and hoppy. I'd order it again (and again).

Rating = 3

Bell's Hopslam:

Yeah, I really like this beer. The hand pull adds another dimension to it.

Rating = 1

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA:

It seemed to have a smoky aftertaste, similar to the Founder's. It also seemed to have a nutty flavor. I was enjoying it until the aftertaste kicked in. I really didn't like how it finished.

Rating = 4

Stone IPA:

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It was smooth and hoppy. It really seemed to smooth out at the end also. A very nice finish.

Bell's Oberon:

As the bartender, Chris, said - this is just like Blue Moon, but everyone loves it just because it's Bells. I wasn't crazy about this year's offering. There just wasn't too much to it. It tasted a bit like a lager to me. (For the record we sampled all the IPAs after all the non-IPAs).

Rating = 5

Red Hook CopperHook:

The mouth feel on this was a bit slimy, but not necessarily in a bad way. It seems a bit like Budweiser, but more "funky" (in a weird way). I don't think I'd get this again.

Rating = 5

Abita Turbo Dog:

I didn't write down too many notes 0n this one. I might need to give it another chance. My notes say "nutty, watery, but smooth".

Rating = 4 (with a 3 scratched out)

Brugge's Triple De Riple:

I really like this beer. It was pretty solid, but not as good as I remembered it being. Having said that, it was still one of the best of the night.

Rating = 2

3 Floyd's Gumball Head:

This had a nice floral hop profile for a wheat beer. It also had a nice hoppy flavor. Pretty good.

Rating = 3

Founder's Devil Dancer Triple IPA:

Christopher, the bartender, was nice enough to let us sample this one. He was raving about it. It was pretty good. It's an extremely complex beer. It had a nice hop profile, but it was also scotchy, warm and buttery. Evidently the only places this is on tap is at Founder's and at Bada Boomz (although they were almost out of it at Bada Boomz).

Rating = 3

Bison Brewing Company - Organic IPA (Columbus Hop)

What: Bison Brewing Company - Organic IPA (Columbus Hop)
Style: American IPA
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $4.50 (22 oz)
Where: Home
When: May 3, 2008
Rating: 3
Comments: I found this beer at Goose the Market and decided to give it a whirl. I didn't have very high hopes for it, being an organic beer from Berkeley, CA, but I enjoyed it. It is part of a single hop series, featuring the Columbus hop. If had a nice hop profile and was crisp and clean. I'd recommend it.
Ratebeer Link: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/bison-ipa-single-hop-series---columbus/64943/

Introducing a new author

Sorry it's been such a drought on the posts - work was kicking my butt last week. Anyway, we will now have a guest poster who will post beer related reviews at his leisure. He's a good friend of mine who I've shared many a beer with.

Here's his self penned (typed) introduction:

Hello Brew Bits readers, I am Brewer McDuff and as Brew Bits alluded to on the 29^th, I am going to be posing a guest blog every now and again. I, like Brew Bits, enjoy beer a lot and I especially enjoy trying new beers whenever possible. I am not a man of many words, and I am still trying to figure out how Brew Bits talked me into this, but I think that I might enjoy it.

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery - Sampler

What: Rock Bottom Brewery's Sampler
Vessel: Shot Glasses
Price: $6.79
Where: Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery
When: April 25, 2008
Comments: A good friend and I had a guy's night on the town and decided to hit the downtown Rock Bottom for dinner. Of course, for blogging purposes, we had to get the sampler plus a sample of the cask conditioned beer. Below are our thoughts - My comments are the Brew Bits comments (easy enough). His comments are the ones under Brewer McDuff.


Hefeweizen - Bavarian Wheat

Brew Bits says - This was a darn good beer. It didn't have too much floral or citrus aroma or flavor, but it was very nicely balanced

Rating = 2

Brewer McDuff says - There are two types of beer that I am especially partial to - wheat and IPA. Apparently the Hefeweisen beer was the seasonal beer and I'm glad it was. This was a very good hefe with a nice tart surprise at the end.

Rating = 4

Brickway Brown

Brew Bits says - Man this beer tastes like coffee. That's not a good thing in this case. I agree with A-dog - very much like a porter or a mocha latte with hoppy booze.

Rating = 5

Brewer McDuff says - I enjoy a good brown ale every now and again, but I wouldn't classify this beer as a brown. The beer board said that this beer was like a mocha latte with hops. This is a very apt descripton - much more like a porter than a brown.

Rating = 5

Circle City Light

Brew Bits says - This is what you would expect for a light beer from a micro brewer. It wasn't bad - true to the style, but with more flavor than the macro lights. A good intro to flavorful beer for those who aren't used to it.

Rating = 4

Brewer McDuff says - Not much to say about this beer. It tastes a lot like other light lagers, with a little more flavor, as Brew Bits stated. It's probably on the menu just for those who like to debate whether Bud Light or Miller Lite is the best tasting beer you can buy.

Rating = 5

Sugar Creek American Pale Ale

Brew Bits says - I'm a fan of Pale Ales. This is a pretty average pale ale. Not bad, not great.

Rating = 4

Brewer McDuff says - This is a pretty fair beer and I would drink a full glass of it, but only if they were out of the Hefe, or another cast ale.

Rating = 4

Racoon Red

Brew Bits says - I wasn't really sure what to think of this beer. It had the malt flavor of a darker beer - maybe a brown? It started off feeling and tasting like a red, but mid-sip it morphed into a brown. Not bad, just a mind fuck.

Rating = 4

Brewer McDuff says - Ditto, but I didn't like it as much.

Rating = 5

Hoosier Ma Stout Dry Irish Stout

Brew Bits says - For a stout this had a very light mouth feel. I'm used to (and enjoy) thicker stouts. It was pretty good and had a nice hop flavor in the middle.

Rating = 3

Brewer McDuff says - An average stout, but I agree, it could be thicker.

Rating = 4

Catcher in Rye - American IPA with Rye

Brew Bits says - This was my first rye beer. I'm not sure what I expected, but I enjoyed this. I'm sure the fact that it was an IPA helped my satisfaction level. It had a nice hop profile. Unfortunately it was a bit too carbonated for me, and the carbonation overwhelmed the flavor.

Rating = 4

Brewer McDuff says - This was my first rye beer as well. For some reason, I had always imagined that a rye beer would be very heavy with a bourbon taste to it, but this beer surprised me. If it's still there next time I hit the Bottom, I would order a pint.

Rating = 4

Altbier North German Ale

Brew Bits says - Another new experience for me. I had never had an Altbier before. I enjoyed this one much more than my friend did. It was lighter than a brown and it had a light coffee / caramel finish. It had a decent hop flavor and it was a little buttery. Every sip I had I thought of being on the deck grilling up some good BBQ. A good summer beer.

Rating = 3


Brewer McDuff says - I am not an altbier fan, so I won't bias your opinion by rating this beer.

Red Ale Dry Hopped with Simcoes - Cask Conditioned

Brew Bits says - This beer and the Bavarian wheat were my two favorite beers at Rock Bottom. I wasn't sure which to order a full mug of, and I decided on the Red Ale. It was smooth with a nice floral, hoppy flavor. It seemed to be very well balanced. A very good beer.

Rating = 2

Brewer McDuff says - This was the best beer of the evening. Of course, I'm a sucker for anything cask conditioned. The British have got it right by serving their beer "luke cold". This had plenty of flavor, but it wasn't overpowering. You could definitely have it with a meal, which I did.

Rating = 2

Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant - Northside

What: Double Barrel Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $4.20
Where: Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant - College Park
When: April 22, 2008
Rating: 3
Comments: This used to be a place we would go just about every week. After too much inconsistency between the food and service quality we stopped going there so frequently. Unfortunately, this was another "miss" for RB. The beer was good - better than the downtown pale ale. It's my default beer at this location, and it's always solid. Unfortuantely, you can't claim to be "serious about your beer" if your server NEVER knows what's on cask. No more than 10% of the time does the server know what beer is on cask when we ask. Disappointing. What's also disappointing is when your friend's car gets broken into in the parking lot - right in front of the entrance (he met us there mid-meal - his car was in the parking lot less than an hour). Not RB's fault, but not a good sign. I don't think we'll be back anytime soon.

Beer News - April 26 - April 29

Sorry for no posts in a while - it's been a busy few days. Friday was a fun filled evening (posts will detail the eve), and the weekend was a lot of house/yard work and helping a friend move. Monday Mario Kart for the Wii arrived - what would you have done - post or play?

Here's a too long round up of the news:

• Courtesy of the Brew Blog - sales of craft beers (in supermarkets) are still growing, but at a slower pace. A good sign is supermarkets are carrying more types of craft beers.
• Student republicans in CA protested the proposed beer tax increase.
• Courtesy of sevenpack.net - an interesting experiment with different types of glasses and Sam Adams. Of course one of the glasses was the newly released Sam Adams glass.
• Applebee's is struggling. Here's a USA Today article on some of what they're trying to do to turn things around. Unfortunately they're not taking Ruby Tuesday's lead by having more craft beers. Nope, they want to focus on "the coldest beer in town". Oh, yeah and Black and Tans. Not a coherent beer/bar strategy, if you ask me. Maybe they'll get Heineken on tap.
• For our friends in TX (or those soon visiting), here's a quick summary of the local craft beer situation.
• A great profile on The Covey in TX and how they grew, in two years, into a gold winner at the World Beer Cup.
• Looks like InBev will raise prices in May.
• Some good news about enjoying a beer or two an evening - it can be healthy for you!
• Looks like HBG is planning another event!
• Barley Island is looking to add an outdoor seating area. As a side note - the wife and I tried to go there for a post dinner beer (can you believe Dom DiCarlos doesn't serve beer!). We walked in and got no acknowledgment from anyone (after standing around the front entry for at least 4-5 min), and then we walked out.
• Magic Hat and Pyramid are looking to merge (courtesy of Brew Blog).
• Can stale or cheap (very basic) beer be used to run cars? Gizmodo says maybe.
• Looks like Washington Nationals fans might have more beer selections (as well as craft beers from visiting teams areas).
• Sierra Nevada is introducing two new fresh hop beers. Courtesy Brookston Beer Blog.
• Here's an interesting map showing a US map and the annual consumption of beer (by state).

OK...that's enough news for now. Stay tuned for some beer reviews, including some from a guest poster.

Beer News - April 25

Looking forward to a fun evening of beer at the downtown Rock Bottom, BadaBoomz and then maybe the Rathskeller. See you downtown!

Today's news:

• Despite rising input prices, Oregon craft brewers are breaking volume records for the state. A great sign for craft beers.
• Next time I'm in NY, I'm using this site to navigate me to good beer.
  
• Here's a follow up on the NCAA basketball tourney and beer advertising. NCAA is saying they were within their guidelines. The folks complaining counted time during pre and post game, which isn't subject to the limitation.
  
• Now thestreet.com has an article about rising beer prices (and how to avoid drinking cheap beer while still trying to save a few pennies).
  

Beer News - April 24

Still behind on posts, and it won't get better until the weekend. In the meantime, here's today's news:

• Is beer and cheese pairing the next big thing?
• FredFest in OR sounds pretty fun - 15 rare beers on tap - I'm in!
• For the true beer geek (unfortunately, not me) - last chance to get your resume in to be a beer intern.
• An article from Gary about DarkLord day.
• Miller's Brew Blog broke the story about Bud's new American Ale. Here's a WSJ article about the rivalry. The first few paragraphs are free, then you'll need a subscription or trial account to read the balance of the article (which I haven't, but plan on reading).
  

Beer News - April 23

Sorry no beer posts lately - I've got four I need to get done (hopefully tonight). Anyway, here's today's news:

• Here is an EXCELLENT round up of 2008 award winning beers available in Indy. Hoosier Beer Geek knocked it out of the park on this one.
• For those interested in politics (are we sick of the primary process yet) - here's a look at some former presidents drinking habits, and a commentary on the Hilary shot and a beer thing.
• Is anyone surprised that Molson will be the official beer of the 2010 winter Olympics (held in Vancouver)?
• Do you like bourbon barrel beers? Or other beers that have a bit of wood flavor (in a good way)? Here's an article that talks a bit about that segment.
• A brewer in Weed, CA (who knew) is running into problems with the ATF because of their slogan "Try Legal Weed".
  
• Despite rising prices, there might be a price war between the Macros.

Beer News - April 22

Today's News:

• Looks like VT is considering revising it's laws to allow craft beers above 8% alcohol (spurred along by Harpoon's Barleywine).
• For those interested - here's a Wikipedia entry regarding state alcohol laws (including when & what they can sell).
• Here's an interesting commentary that includes an email from AB's head brewmaster regarding Bud vs. craft beers.
• Who knew the Department of Labor tracked beer costs? Here's an article about rising beer costs. Bottom line - the average 16 oz beer has seen a price increase of 4% over the last 12 months.
• This falls under the - We thought this would be hilarious - until we got charged with felonies. If you're going to steal beer, don't steal bad beer.
• I promise - when I make my trip to Cincy, I won't do what this guy did. He must of been gearing up for one hell of a party.