Craft Beer--Beer Events Calendar--Information
Hoppy visited North High Brewing at their new location in Zionsville and first in Indiana. They have seven locations in Ohio and have since opened a second location in Indiana, in Indianapolis. (Check out Hoppy’s visit to their Dublin, Ohio location here.)
While in Zionsville, Hoppy enjoyed a Hopes West Coast IPA described as having floral, citrusy and piney hop aromas balanced by a clean and pleasing bitterness. It is 6.8% ABV; 70 IBU.
Pictures follow:
Stacker just released their list of the best beer of every type based on rankings by Beer Advocate. See here.
Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing was listed the best in three categories, including the number one overall ranked beer!
Their winners and overall rankings in the 35 categories are as follows:
Number 1 – Russian Imperial Stout – Marshmallow Handjee
Number 8 – American Pale Ale – Zombie Dust
Number 35 – Irish Red Ale – Brian Boru
Congrats to Three Floyds!
The brewery is temporarily closed until the sale is completed. Expected to reopen soon. See here!
Hoppy’s last visit in Prague was at a Pilsner Urquell taproom/restaurant in the Vaclav Havel Airport. You’ve probably heard someone say that a certain beer tastes better in its home country than it does after being imported to the U.S. In the case of Pilsner Urquell, I would heartily agree.
Pilsner Urquell is brewed using triple decoction which is described as heating a portion of the mash three times to add more flavor and color to the beer, as well as using parallel brewing in wooden lagering barrels. They use Moravian Barley and Saaz hops from the Czech Republic. In Europe, some of their beer is served from tanks.
Their description of taste is a refreshing crispness from natural carbonation, then subtle caramel tones and a clean finish with a pleasing hoppy bitterness. The reason that I feel that Pilsner Urquell tastes better in the Czech Republic is the way that they pour, which results in a much larger head of foam. This would be the use of the Hladinka pour which is three fingers of foam on top of the beer. That thick head of dense, wet foam seals in freshness and flavor giving the beer a perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness.
Pilsner Urquell is brewed by Plzensky Prazdroj, and is the original pilsner having been brewed since1842. It is 4.4% ABV, 40 IBU.
While in Prague, Hoppy visited the BeerGeek Bar which also serves as a taproom for Sibeeria Brewing, their own microbrewery which opened in 2014. They have 32 beers on tap which change regularly. During his visit, Hoppy sampled six or seven of the beers that were available, including three or four from Sibeeria. To no one’s surprise, most of these were IPAs.
Hoppy’s next visit was at Cafe Dacicky which is a traditional old Czech restaurant in Kutna Hora. It is named after Mikulas Dicicky who is the most renowned inhabitant of Kutna Hora who lived from 1555-1626. The life of this chronicler, writer, poet, drunkard and rambler inspired many other artists. His house is located next to the restaurant.
While at the cafe Hoppy enjoyed a Kutna Hora Vienna Lager. It had a 4.7% ABV; 24 IBU.
