3 Floyds tapping at Fiddler's Hearth

Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend is really rocking the great brew these days with Ommegang tonight, and four from 3 Floyds tomorrow!

According to the Bar Manager's facebook update, they will be serving Cerveca Mysterioso, Rabbid Rabbit, Topless Wytch and Alpha King. He also said he was working on getting some Zombie Dust in sometime, which would be really awesome.

Show your support for the effort it takes to bring in this really great beer by stopping by and having a few rounds!

Indiana Brewers take on outdated Indiana State laws

Today SunKing and 3 Floyds took a major step toward changing the craft brewing laws of Indiana.

Under current law, a brewery does not have the ability to run a brewpub, tasting room or self-distribute if it produces more than 20,000 barrels of beer per year. The problem with this is that both SunKing and 3 Floyds are on pace to brew more than the Indiana limit, which would require closing their brewpubs or moving their entire brewery to another state. The SunKing / 3 Floyds Bill moves to increase the ceiling from 20,000 barrels per year to 60,000 per year. Along with the ability to keep their business model just the way they are for many years to come, while allowing for steady growth, breweries will get to keep the state tax breaks that come with being under production constraints. As of this afternoon, the bill has passed unanimously in committe according to a SunKingBrewing tweet, thus allowing it to move to the Senate and the House.

Stayed tuned for more information, and how you can help support the effort of our amazing Indiana Breweries!

Also check out the below links that provide more informaiton on the current Bill.

http://www.3floyds.com/2011/03/22/indy-star-article-about-legislative-efforts/

http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/3-floyds-sun-king-collaboration-born-out-of-legislation-issues

http://www.southbendtribune.com/business/sbt-20110406sbtmichb-08-06-20110406,0,6181935.story

andy at thebeerisgood dot com

Pennsylvania Brew Co. Penn Weizen

Style: Bavarian-style wheat
Brewery: Pennsylvania Brew Co
Package: Bottle into Glass
ABV: 4%
Gravity: Unknown
IBU: Unknown
Location: Beer of the Month Club

Aroma: A nice bready aroma with light citrus


Appearance: Golden wheat colored and hazy with a frothy white head


Taste: Lightly toasted malt, bread, crackers, with hints of citrus and clove. A bit of tang also comes through on this


Mouthfeel: Nice light feeling with good carbonation, and no alcohol burn at all

 
Overall: Great light weizen and very smooth. At 4%, this would be very refreshing on a hot summer day

Notes: I know, I know, I'm totally using the wrong glass for this. I don't actually own a weizen glass, just the bruges glass pictured and a ton of pint glasses. What I like about my bruges glass (available at Crate and Barrel) is that it's 16oz, which fits an entire 12oz bottle and a healthy head. Anyway, back to the beer... This is my first beer from Penn Brew Co, as well as from Clubs of America, which turned out to be a great first impression from both. This was a really solid beer, something I would be open to picking up from my local bottle shop on occasion if they had it, but it isn't available in this area. This brew has also won numerous awards in the craft beer community, most notably the Gold medal in 2000 at the Great American Beer Festival.


Food Pairing: Salads, Barbecue, Grilled meats and spicy food

Grade: B+

Ommegang tapping at Fiddler's Hearth

Ommegoodness Fiddler's on Main Street in South Bend is tapping four different great brews from Ommegang on April 7th! According to the Bar Manager's tweet, they will have Abbey Ale, Adoration, Gnomegang and Witte available.

I don't know if I will be able to make it, but you should stop by and try some great food and brew!

Founders Breakfast Stout

Style:  Double/Imperial Stout
Brewery: Founders
Package: Bottle into Glass
ABV: 8.3%
Gravity: Unknown
IBU: 60
Location: Citywide Liquors (Downtown South Bend)

Aroma: Chocolate, Coffee, Toffee and roasted malts


Appearance:  Very dark brown and opaque with a thick creamy brown head

Taste: Tastes of coffee and chocolate with just the right amount of bitterness, balanced well with malty sweetness

Mouthfeel: Thick and a little chewy, mild carbonation. 

 
Drinkability: This is a very delicious brew, and could easy drink a couple of these. 


Notes: This is a seasonal brew (Sept-Dec) from Founders which I was fortunate enough to try both in the bottle and on tap. Brewed with imported chocolates along with kona and sumatra coffee, this is a coffee-lovers stout. This is a pretty easy to find brew in the South Bend-Mishawaka-Elkhart area, and certainly worth giving a try.


Food Pairing: Cheese, Chocolate, Grilled and Smoked meats

Grade: A

3 Floyds Zombie Dust

Style:  American Pale Ale
Brewery: 3 Floyds
Package: Growler into pint glass
ABV: 6.2%
Gravity: Unknown
IBU: 50
Location: 3 Floyd's Brew Pub

Aroma: Big floral hop aroma and citrus

Appearance: Nice hazy golden color with a foamy white head that dissipates quickly leaving sticky lace clinging to the side of the glass

Taste: Citrus, Tangerine, great hop flavor and just the right amount of bitterness, balanced slightly with sweet malt

Mouthfeel: Medium carbonation and body

  Drinkability: This brew is extremely good, at 6.2% ABV, it's not meant to be a session beer, but it is so delicious that I don't care, I'll drink the entire growler in one sitting

Notes: Zombie Dust is a single hop (Citra hops from Yakima Valley) American Pale Ale, one of my favorite styles. Rumor has it that 3 Floyds is going to start bottling Zombie Dust within the next few months, a move that I fully embrace. This brewery was already in my top 3 before; Zombie Dust makes them #1 in my book. I can't say enough about this beer... drop what you are doing, drive to Munster and get some. If they don't have it on tap when you get there, camp out until they do.

Food Pairing: Typical Pale Ale pairing, pizza, spicy food, burgers... this will complement a lot and is very refreshing.

Grade: A+ (Yeah, it really is that good.)

Blue Chip Casino BrewFest Reminder

Out beer hunting at one of my local bottle shops this evening, I came across a reminder about the first annual Blue Chip Casino BrewFest in Michigan city on April 9th from 1-5. 

In case you haven't heard about this before, there will be over 125 brews to sample from a ton of regional breweries. The list of beer that will be at the BrewFest is available in a post from a few weeks ago on this site. Space and beer is limited, so make sure you order your tickets before they run out!

Buy Tickets

Brew Masters killed by Big Beer?

Have you ever seen the show "Brew Masters" on the Discovery Channel? It's a very entertaining and informative five show series (six, if you count the filmed but not released episode) that follows Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewing Company on his journey to create some of the greatest beer in this country. From the first 10 minutes of the opening episode, I was hooked. Since I had no previous knowledge of this show until after all of the episodes were aired, I had the opportunity to watch them all, commercial free and at my convenience over the course of two days. Maybe I'm biased by being a beer enthusiast, but this is one of the best shows I've seen in a long time.

And like most shows I get hooked on, it has been canceled...

"No Reservations" host Anthony Bourdain, of whom I'm a big fan, tweeted "Big story there. Brew Masters goes--or our Ads do" and "See what happened to Dogfish/Discovery deal. Big Beer threatened to pull ads." I've read that Bourdain's show shares a production and/or film crew with the Brew Masters show, and you could draw a conclusion that he is someone who would know these details.

Although I'm not a fan of MillerCoorsBudweiser and often drink nothing if those are my only choices, I'm not so eager to hang them on this based on only two tweets. Discovery claims they are pulling the show due to poor interest. However anecdotal, everyone I've talked to about this show that has seen it really enjoys it, but many others haven't even heard of it. I wouldn't be surprised at all if "Big Beer" threatened to pull ads in the face of Brew Masters success. Craft beer sales rose over 10% last year, seemingly impervious to the economical dip, which must have companies like InBev worried. In the end, I doubt we'll ever hear the full story on this.

Go to the Beer & Whiskey Brothers website to read more, they have a great article on this situation.

Meanwhile, if you haven't seen this show, I highly recommend you click on over to iTunes and download all five. You can thank me later.

KBS available at Belmont on S.B. Ave in South Bend

There is still some bottles of Founders KBS available at the Belmont on South Bend Ave in South Bend. Make sure you stop by and pick some up, along with other great beer. Last chance until next year!

Goose Is Cooked

It's official, Goose Island Brewing Company of Chicago, IL has been purchased by the macro-brewing mega-corporation Anheuser-Busch for 38.8m.

Although G.I. is not my favorite brewery, or even in my top 10, I would consider it a good brewery with a few solid beers such as Night Stalker and the Bourbon County series. It seems beer connoisseurs have mixed emotions over this change, ranging from the blase to the uber-angry, most of which makes some interesting arguments.    

To get the facts straight, it should be mentioned that AB already owned a little less than 20% of Goose to begin with, so taking complete ownership of the brewery is not all that unexpected. One popular argument I'm seeing is that this is a good business decision for them; letting the brewery expand beyond what they are capable of themselves. Strictly from a dollars and cents perspective, that's probably accurate, however I believe they will lose a great deal of followers inside the craft beer community. I live in a state that was recently dumped by Dogfish Head brewery, along with 3 other states, and their rationale was that they were growing too quickly; they wanted to consolidate their products to fewer areas. This would have been a great opportunity for DH to sell-out and cash in, but they didn't. The beer, the brand and the craft beer community was too important to dilute and despite my inability to purchase their beer locally, they did the right thing.

Does this mean that Goose Island will suddenly start making terrible beer? Probably not. What I firmly believe however is that time will slowly erode the brand. Little "inefficiencies" will be "fixed" as years pass, ingredients might be swapped for cheaper alternatives and eventually we'll see such gems as India Pale Ale with Lime! In all seriousness, maybe this is good for craft beer in general, a stepping stool from the swill Anheuser-Busch pushes on the masses, to the sweet nectar of Founders, 3 Floyds, Russian River and Bell's. I guess only time will tell.

Potawatomi Zoo Brew 2011

Have you ever wanted to drink great craft beer while hanging out with animals that could probably eat you?  If so, mark your calendar for the annual installment of South Bend's Potawatomi Zoo Brew that will take place at the zoo on September 10th (This is an away game day for you Irish fans) from 7-10pm.

If you have never been to a Zoo Brew before, this is a great opportunity to sample regional beer from the likes of 3 Floyds, Bell's, Upland, Dark Horse, New Holland, and the list goes on.  For $35 dollars ($30 for Zoo membership holders and $25 for Designated Drivers), you will receive a 4 ounce commemerative mug, unlimited craft beer sampling and area restaurant food samples.  Best of all, proceeds from this event supports wildlife conservation, new exhibits and education!

Tickets generally go on sale a few months prior to the event, so check back here and the Potawatomi Zoo Brew site for more information.

Bell's Oberon Release

Great weather, grilling outside and baseball is so close you can taste it; as of Monday that taste will be Oberon.

Some people have certain cues that tell them when spring has arrived.  For some people, it's a specific date, to others it might be the first warm and sunny day but for me, it's the release of Bell's Oberon (American Pale Wheat Ale, 5.8%).  This year, Oberon will be released on Monday the 28th and should hit area bottle shops such as Chalet, Belmont and Citywide the same day or Tuesday.  According to the Michiana Beer Nuts blog, it will be tapping at Fiddler's, Chubby Trout and Constant Spring on Monday.  I'll also go out on a limb and say that it will be on tap over at BW3's and Bar Louie shortly as well.

Get your grill ready, pick up a sixer of Oberon and some hamburger meat, spring has sprung!

Dark Lord here I come!

On April 30th, I will be heading down to Munster with my wonderful wife and two great friends for Dark Lord Day at 3 Floyds.  Due to a slight case of OCD, I frantically hit refresh on my browsers starting at 1:55 from two separate computers in order to score 4 tickets.  Luck?  Preparation?  Who the hell knows, but I'll be there.

I know there are several craft beer enthusiasts from the South Bend area attending, so hopefully I'll see you all there!  For those unable to make the journey, I'll be sure to share my DL experience on this blog, along with some delicious Dark Lord Imperial Russian Stout with my brothers from the 6.

Now I just need to figure out what beer to bring and share!

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

For many of you that follow my twitter feed, or craft beer news in general, the loss of Dogfish Head in Indiana should come as no surprise.  Without going into great detail, the demand for their product increased exponentially over the last 5 years and has severely outpaced their ability to fulfill orders.  To avoid being spread too thin in too many states, they decided to pull back from four; Indiana, Rhode Island, Tennesse and Wisconson.  Holding near the top of my list of favorite breweries, Dogfish will be sorely missed, specifically their 90 minute IPA and Indian Brown Ale.  On the other hand I feel very fortunate that South Bend is surrounded by a number of exceptional breweries like FFF, Dark Horse, Founders, Bell's, and the list goes on.  Not only can I still find lots of great beer in my area, I can also make a short trip to Chicago when I need to get my Dogfish Fix.


In tribute to Dogfish Head, this review is about their Indian Brown Ale.

 
Style:  American Brown Ale
Brewery: Dogfish Head
Package: Bottle into Bruges Glass
ABV:  7.2
Gravity: Unknown
IBU:  50
Location: Citywide Liquors (Downtown South Bend)

Aroma: Roasted Malt, Coffee, Caramel sweetness and a touch of chocolate.


Appearance:  Very dark, leathery brown with subtle red highlights under light with a thick tan head and sticky lace that clings to the glass.

Taste:  Huge robust coffee with a reasonable amount of bitterness.  The roasted malt and chocolate is balanced well with the sweetness from the caramel and molasses.  

Mouthfeel: A little chewy, mild carbonation with a bitter dry finish.

 
Drinkability:  I really enjoy this, not a session beer but is a nice relaxing brew in moderation.


Notes:  This is a brown ale, one of my favorite categories, on steroids.  If you enjoy coffee, you will probably like this.  I have two more of these in my refrigerator and will miss having easy access to this great beer when it's gone. 


Food Pairing: Barbecue, stews, steak, etc

Grade:  A

Dark Lord Day ticket info

For all those attending Dark Lord Day 2011 at the 3 Floyds brew pub in Munster, below is updated ticket information. Good luck!

1. Dark Lord Day tickets will go on sale Saturday, March 19th at 1pm central time.

2. Check the 3 Floyds website, twitter, Facebook, ratebeer and beer advocate sites for the link at the time they go on sale.

3. Only two tickets per order.

4. Everyone must have tickets to attend, and each tickets permits you to purchase an unknown quantity of Dark Lord.