Craft Beer--Beer Events Calendar--Information
Hoppy attended Fall Fest at the Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis, last Saturday. It was described as a celebration of Barrel-Aged and Sour Beers. All of the beers tasted were superb! If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be the Hot Rod Lincoln – A Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with Chocolate and Cherry. It is 11.4% ABV; 55 IBU.
This is a list of the beers that were offered:
The following are images from the Fall Fest.
Yes, Hoppy made it to the Brewers of Indiana Guild Winterfest. He enjoyed sampling many of the brews available at the fest including the cask conditioned ales, the Sun King Reserve Barrel-Aged and Sours and Metazoa’s GABF gold award winning Trash Panda Blonde Ale made with coffee from Blue Mind Roasting.
As usual, it was good to see a large number of breweries from all areas of the state, as well as a large number of beer lovers. It was disappointing that Three Floyds did not attend the event this year.
The waiting lines seemed longer than ever. Mayber it’s time for the organizers to think of moving the VIP session to Friday evening or splitting Saturday into two separate sessions.
There are only a few pictures of the attendees below. This is because the purpose of a beer festival is to sample the beers and engage in revelry with others, not picture taking. However, if you took a picture of, or with, Hoppy and email it to gary@beerblogIN.com with your mailing address, he will send you a “Hoppy” sticker for your collection, or to ward off evil spirits!
The second stop on the beercation was in Asheville, NC at Cellarest Beer Project, where I had the pleasure to attend their first annual Cellarfest. I drank three tasty beers, of which my favorite was the Hellion. The description of each are as follows:
Xanadu Oak Aged Festbier – Brewed with Zillicoah Beer Company, this fest style lager was made with German grown but NC malted Ursprung Grain and Crystal Malt from Epiphany malt house. Hopped with Northern Brewer hops and fermented in stainless steel before being lagered in our American oak puncheons with French oak heads for 16 weeks. Notes of baked rye bread, honey and woody spice. 6.5% ABV.
Etiolation IPA – Fermented in cherry wood with our house wild yeast caught on Haywood Road. Made using our custom single source NC malt and Streaker Oats from Riverbend Malt House and Idaho 7 and El Dorado hops. Notes of pineapple, grapefruit and papaya. 7% ABV.
Hellion Oak Aged Helles Lager – Brewed using Riverbend Southern Select and Mt. Hood hops and fermented with our choice lager yeast. It was then lagered in our M+ American oak puncheons with French oak heads for 19 weeks. Notes of wood vanillin and spice, soft dough with a noticeable tannin structure. 5.5% ABV.
Other trips to Asheville have included visits to these breweries: Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Burial, Greenman and Wicked Weed.
The following are pictures from the 1st Annual Cellarfest:
Outdoor Seating
Hoppy attended the Anderson On Tap Fest yesterday that was presented by Keg-N-Bottle in collaboration with The City of Anderson and Indiana On Tap. It was great to see the largest crowd of people enjoying themselves at a festival that I’ve seen since the Brewer’s of Indiana Guild Winterfest in 2019! The festival took place at the Dickmann Town Center and the Paramount Theater in downtown Anderson. The four breweries on the stage at the Paramount, for the initial VIP hour, were Dot & Line Brewery and 2 Toms Brewing from Fort Wayne, Tarnished Hollow Brewing from Anderson, and Hog Molly Brewing from Columbus. There were many good beers available at the festival, and two that I found to be both enjoyable and unique were the 2-A-Days Session Lemon IPA from Hog Molly and the Dill Sour from Field Brewing.
Hoppy learned that the much anticipated opening of Goodwood Brewing in Indianapolis will take place on July 5th.
Photos from the event follow.
It’s 93 degrees out, what should Hoppy do? Stay on the bine or head to a beer fest? Why the latter of course! He decided to partake in the offerings at the Southside Sudzfest in Indianapolis last Saturday, since it took place in German Park, which has a pavilion and shady trees. Also, this beer fest is different than most, in that it is not limited to ages 21+ and allows for families with children to attend. Included are pictures from the event.
Hoppy attended the Taxman Block Party and Deadline Release last Saturday, April 17th. This was a miniature version of their Death & Taxes Day Brew Festival, which was canceled last year, and again this year, due to COVID-19. The Party featured Taxman house beers and the various Deadline (formerly Evasion) variants for 2021, and wines from Mallow Run Winery, also from Bargersville. As well as the original Bourbon Barrel, my favorite, the Deadline variants for this year were Toasted Coconut, Peanut Butter Cocoa, Maple Vanilla and Mexican Chocolate Cake. Hey Taxman, how about bringing back the Port Wine Barrel-Aged Version?
You might also enjoy a new release from last month, The Extension, which is a collaboration with Upland Brewing. It begins with Taxman Exemption Tripel, a swaggery Belgian ale with orange zest, coriander and lemon. After primary fermentation in The Upland Wood Shop foedres, it was aged for six months in wood barrels then blended with 1.5 year Upland Basis for a dry and fruit sour ale. I enjoyed it on tap at the Bargersville Taproom.
Here are a number of pictures from the event:
