Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
First up in our three part trip around the US is the Civilian Brewing Corps from Spencer, Indiana.
Not a lot of pun filled or fancy names and refreshing to see some older, less seen on tap styles.
Here are my initial taster tray choices: Dry Hopped Wit, then the Noble Red made with Noble hops, Belgian IPA, Altbier and then finish it off with a hearty Weizenbock.
I wish that Function Brewing was functioning normally. Having to navigate an online ordering and contactless purchasing world is weird.
Here is what I would order to-go from their online store if I was in Bloomington…
Archimedes Pale Ale, Digit Red Ale, Equidistant IPA – notice a math trend? I really like breweries that have a theme to their names.
Anyway, here are a couple more fun sounding beers…
Bernoulli Saison and then one or both of their American Porter’s, Hypotenuse or Hyperbolic.
Indiana’s Upland Brewing will be making a splash into the L.A. marketplace. Known for their sours, they also have a much wider portfolio of beers. They will be making stops at the following on September 12th:
Sunset Beer Company, 5-7pm
498 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles 90026
Button Mash, 7:30-9pm
1391 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles 90026
38 Degrees Alehouse, 4:30-6:30pm
110 E Colorado Blvd, Monrovia 91016
Craft Beer Cellar, 7pm
353 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles 90041
Our third stop on the Indian brewery tours is Upland. I have featured their beers a few times on this blog so it’s about time that I talked about the whole place.
They are famous for their sour beers with odd fruits as well as this big beer….
A dark and robust beer brewed in the traditional stout method. Teddy Bear Kisses features an abundance of dark malts and high alpha hops for a powerful impact of roast, chocolate, and sweet bitterness. The lucky few who cuddle up to a warming session with Teddy Bear Kisses sense the velvety malt character, balanced bitter intensity, and soothing chocolate notes created by long aging on fair trade cocoa nibs. Teddy Bear Kisses will make you feel warm and happy inside, but it’s definitely not your childhood cuddle toy.
Baltic Porters are an Eastern European take on classic English Porters. Influenced by Russian Imperial Stouts, Baltics are higher in strength than traditional Porters, and feature multiple layers of flavors and aromas. Badder Elmer’s is a meaty dark lager, utilizing cold fermentation temperatures to achieve a quaffable and clean brew, with malty highlights ranging from nutty to licorice and candy caramels. Fruity aromas lead to a complex malt character and supportive continental hop bitterness.
Our second Indiana stop is People’s Brewing of Lafayette. Like most medium to large cities. Lafayette had a thriving beer scene and it looks ready to revive thanks to beers like these….
Layflatter Lager
German Lager beer… Light and refreshing lager made for ball games and yard work. We used our Midwest malted Harrington malt and Centennial hops. This beer is brewed for the people of Lafayette, also known as “LayFlatters”.
Aberrant Amber
American Style Amber with an twist. We started with a classic American Amber, 22% Caramalt giving it an Amber hue. Then added a large addition of Amarillo and Centennial hops for the bittering and dry hoped with Amarillo, giving it notes of grapefruit and tangerine. The complexity of the malts and hops in this beer make it a great ale for anyone who loves flavor.
Our tour of selected Indiana breweries begins at Bee Creek. And their 3 signature brews…..
Hoosier Honey Wheat
“Our signature brew. This beer is brewed with the addition of Clover Honey from Hunter’s Honey Farm located in Martinsville, Indiana.
The use of Weihenstephan Weizen yeast gives this wheat beer a hint of clover, orange, and banana flavors that blends well with the added wheat malt to produce a crisp, refreshing ale perfect for any time of year.”
Clay County Coffee Stout
“A dark, rich beer brewed with roasted malts and combined with Brazil Santos Coffee (from Jameson in Greencastle). Expect a full-bodied beer with a sumptuous coffee aroma topped only by it’s opulent flavor.”
Blond Ale
“A clear, crisp, cold filtered Blond Ale carefully hopped to reveal a mild flavor and aroma. The lightness of the hops makes this Blonde Ale perfect for those familiar with mass-marketed beer; but with a major exception, this one is made right here…..in Indiana.”
I had my first sip of Sun King beer this year and now I want more!
Their winter offering comes with an ominous name and the word “imperial”. I recommend this beer because it is from a small place working in the shadow of 3 Floyds and because it is an ESB which is an undermade style the rest of the year. Let alone at Christmas.
Plus I love that these guys do the can beer thing too.
# 42 on the list comes from Indiana and Sun King. Courtesy of the Beer Bloggers Conference.
To get a better view of the rating, click on the image.
42!!
UPDATE: NOW I HAVE 43!
The inital goal of 40. Check. Now onto the next goal. 45!
Ambitious? Maybe, considering my only travel was to Oregon and Colorado this year.
I still have feelers out there that might garner me some local brews from Tennessee, Alabama and North Dakota. And thanks to the Beer Bloggers conference, I got Indiana and the incredibly hard South Dakota knocked off the list.
As usual, if you have access to these states:
Alabama
Arkansas
Kentucky – THANKS TO ALLTECH BREWING – OFF THE LIST
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia
Send me an e-mail and I we can work out the details. Including a donation to a local food bank.
Just when you think the beer world has pulled all the rabbits out of the hat, here comes another new idea…
from the Indiana brewery…
“The persimmons were provided by Aaron Persinger, a local singer/songwriter who is currently the drummer for Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band.”
They have a whole slate of fruited lambics coming this year, including KIWI!