LATE NITE UPDATE!!!....Now on tap: Goose Island Bourbon County! This beer is RARE in bottles, let alone draft....come and get it because this will go fast. (97 on BeerAdvocate, 100 on RateBeer) Style: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, ABV...: 14.5%, IBUs: 60 Brewed in honor of the 1000th batch at the original Clybourn brewpub. A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer. Great American Beer Festival Recognition: Judging Category: Wood & Barrel Aged Strong Stout 2010: Bronze Medal World Beer Cup Recognition: Judging Category: Barrel Aged Beer 2006: Gold Medal

General
admission tickets ($35 advance/$45 day of) include: UNLIMITED samples, a
souvenir tasting glass, MEAL and water. A VERY limited number of $60 VIP Packages
are also still available. These add early entry, 1-hour prior sampling,
commemorative t-shirt, glass-holding lanyard. Designated driver tickets are
only $5 and include a meal and unlimited soft drinks. Buy
tickets online here or at the Trion for cash only.

Also,
a small number of tickets are available for the inaugural Brew Haven Pre-Fest
Private Beer Feast being held the evening before the festival on Friday, August
3 at 6pm. More info and menu here….”gourmet beer dinner” doesn’t even
begin to sum up this dining opportunity. Tickets can be purchased at the Trion
Tavern for cash only.

Nuvo's article about Matt Colglazier's sorgrhum rhum is very enlightening. It's a collaboration between him and Stuart Hobson, the owner of Heartland Distilling. There's also a video.

Rita told us about Ray Kamstar's upcoming Indiana City Brewing in Nuvo's Beer Buzz. They are giving pre-production tastings around town such as the one next Friday, Aug 3, at the Red Lion Grog House in Fountain Square, Indy. 7-10pm.

The "old pre-prohibition brewery building" Nuvo pictured will become a brewery again when Indiana City goes into full production. It was the old Home Brewery / American Home Brewery that was in business from 1891 to 1920. They made up to 60,000 bbls per year. You can still read "Bottling House" on the building's north fascia.

Kudos to the Hoosier Beer Geeks for being Nuvo's send place Local Blog/Web site in their annual poll.

Stuff that's almost so common as to be ignored:

The "truck spills beer, blocking I-270" story is sponsored by the letters A, B, and Delaware. But there are good helicopter pictures.

"A trailer of imported beer was stolen from Lugoff (NC) on July 5 and the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office is looking for the driver of the truck used to hijack it, and a man suspected of peddling the beer in the Columbia area." a

Today's story of a dispute over Steinlager features a chainsaw and a door.

Story Brewhouse is looking for creative writers who would like to submit short stories that feature beer to their Six Pack of Stories project. The story can be of any genre or length (under 10,000 words) with entries accepted through October 26th. The final product will be a collection of stories with a selected beer that can be paired with each story to enhance the reading experience. Check out the Six Pack of Stories website for more details.

Next is the beer karma story of the week that makes me smile. We previously mentioned the story of Coronado Brewing filing what appeared to be an unnecessarily mean-spirited lawsuit against Elysian Brewing for allegedly infringing on their “idiot” trademark. Elysian relented and renamed their Idiot Sauvin IPA, but this victory was quickly followed up by news that the trademark infringement game has caught up with Coronado. Their Stoopid Stout, which has been marketed for years, has suddenly been renamed Stupid Stout (apparently they’re big fans of turning insults into beer names) due to another brewery’s trademark. While it has yet to see distribution in Indiana, I know some of you are familiar with the Lagunitas Hop Stoopid product and have already connected the dots here.

So I was kidding about taking notes on the beer selection at Deer CreekVerizon Wireless Klipsch Music Center, but it turns out there is evil afoot that warrants a mention. As we passed through the concession area between acts last Thursday, the short line at a Blue Moon hut looked inviting. Apparently these geniuses are pre-mixing Blue Moon with some type of artificial orange flavoring. Because, you know, it’s fair to assume that everyone wants an orange in their beer and this method probably saves precious profit margin on an $11 dollar beer. It was nearly intolerable (though I’ll be damned if I’m dumping an $11 dollar glass of anything), so I recommend avoiding the Blue Moon hut if you’re out at a concert this summer!

I wanted to dig up a little more perspective on the growth of Indiana’s brewing scene and how it compares with the rest of the country. According to the Brewers of Indiana Guild, there are now 49 breweries operating in the state with another 12 in the works. Capita per brewery statistics released by the Brewers Association in 2010 ranked Indiana, with 35 breweries at the time, 25th in the list of U.S. states. This ranking placed us ahead of neighboring states Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio, but well behind Michigan. Now, I’m not suggesting we all throw a party to celebrate how average we are or that Indiana should be recognized as a pioneer in the craft brewing revolution. But we do have a pretty nice scene working here and I don’t think it’s credible to insinuate we’re just starting to emerge from the Stone Age.

And what exactly is this “craft beer” thing that we’re always kicking around on this site? Greg started the discussion earlier in the week and I think it’s an interesting topic. Who defines what qualifies as “craft”? Well, the ranking authority appears to be the Brewers Association, which asserts that a brewery producing less than 6 million barrels a year can qualify as a regional craft brewery. That production limit isn’t exactly set in stone as the Brewers Association raised the cap from 2 million barrels to 6 million in 2011 essentially to protect Boston Beer Co’s (Sam Adams) preferred designation of “craft brewery”. And where do you place a brewery like Goose Island that is now owned by InBev?

I’m inclined to give the Brewers Association a pass on their production limit stunt, in part because I respect some of the innovative products that Sam Adams continues to produce, their support for the craft and homebrewing communities, and consideration that the idea of a craft brewery growing this large probably seemed ridiculous when the initial standard was adopted. I also still think of Goose Island as “craft” based on their apparent operational independence and the type of products they produce. But it’s certainly debatable.

Even trickier is trying to sort out that ‘X’ beer is craft but ‘Y’ beer from the same brewery is not craft. I just don’t see how you can do that, the categorization criteria becomes too focused on personal taste. For example, I have a difficult time fitting the growing number of “craft” Cream Ales into my spectrum of craft brewing, but they obviously appeal to others. A recent session studying that style included tastings of several craft examples and Little Kings. Little Kings was easily my favorite. Guess I should have appreciated it more in high school.

Sun King is creating a special WTTS beer to celebrate the radio station's anniversary. The Sun King 'TTS 20th Anniversary Tapping Party is tomorrow (Thursday 7/26) from 6-10pm at Sun King Brewing (downtown at 135 N. College). Taste the new "Hazy Daze Summer Wheat," enjoy live music and local food trucks, and help a good cause (proceeds benefit Gleaners Food Bank).

Sun King also will have Grapefruit Jungle available on August 30. And Oktoberfest from SunKing will be appearing in cans for the first time starting September 10 (on tap in the tasting room Sept 6)

Thursday, July 26th Brewer-Butcher Tour and Dinner. Flat 12 and Smoking Goose team up for a joint tour and taste on Dorman Street. The Dorman Street Butcher-Brewer Tour, held jointly by Flat 12 Bierwerks and Smoking Goose has the brewers and butchers taking you behind the scenes in an informative tour complete with time for Q & A, sampling and socializing. Ticket Cost – $65.00 per person (Limited to first 50; To register – call Brittany @ Smoking Goose 317-638-MEAT (6328)
Event Details: Registration begins at 6:15pm in the Flat 12 Taproom.
-Guided tours at 6:30; Included with tours: Meat Treats from Smoking Goose grilled out on the mobile smoker, 2 tickets for pints of beer at Flat12, F12 Pint Glass, Smoking Goose Hat

RAM Third beer in the RAMAGEDDON series to be tapped August 2, at 6. Doomsday Scenario Imperial Red. Look to taste this new concoction at a tapping on August 2nd. All five RAMAGEDDON beers will be brought back out Dec. 21!

According to the Brewer's Association, 1 in ten beer drinkers drink "craft beer" while the Distilled Spirits Council says nearly 1/2 of all alcohol consumed is beer.

ONE-THOUSAND of today's U.S. Breweries are Brewpubs while small and independent brewers are up 1.3 million barrels in 2011, and trending up in 2012.

We see new craft breweries opening regularly and we see expansion underway for so many breweries.

As of April 30, there were 2000 Small craft breweries with another 1184 in planning stages.

There is even a struggle about what is a craft brew. Is Sam Adams Boston Lager a craft brew today? Well, let's see. It came from a homebrewer who started out brewing on his kitchen stove just like Nathan and I did (and so many who read this site). The brewers have true passion for beer. Yet, it is the flagship of the largest American Owned brewery in the U.S. Maybe THAT beer is not craft. But is "Thirteenth Hour" Belgian Stout from Boston Brewers a craft beer? I certainly think so. This wonderful roasty beer with Belgian Yeast is brewed artfully in small batches.

Here's to craft beer. Cheers to all of our local, regional, and even national craft brewers!

Greg Kitz
Thanks to Julia Herz of the Brewer's Association for some of the statistics.

2 Carmel Breweries coming up:
The all-cask conditioned Union Brewing should open in September at 622 S. Rangeline - article.
Plans and approvals for the Abbey Tap House at 32 First Ave. are not yet finalized.

Just a brief rundown with some exciting Indiana news items to pass along before tonight’s date with Iron Maiden. I’ll try to take good notes on the diverse and affordable beer selection at Deer CreekVerizon Wireless Klipsch Music Center. But let’s start with a few leftover notes from the Blogger’s Conference:

Friday night’s gathering at Tomlinson Tap Room presented the first opportunity to sample some beer from Indiana City Brewing. Both the Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout were nice offerings and I’m looking forward to the chance to try their full lineup. The Pale Ale is sort of a hybrid of American/Belgian characteristics with spices that make it a little more distinctive than your typical flagship offering. They are targeting an opening of this fall with the exact location yet to be announced. If you want to help support Indiana City, check out their Kickstarter campaign where donations can earn you various rewards up to designing and brewing your own recipe.

We had the chance to try a couple beers from Sam Adams that should be showing up in retail outlets in the near future. Fat Jack is a “double pumpkin” 8.5% specialty ale that manages to give the impression of a pumpkin beer complemented by spices rather than the other way around. Fat Jack should be available this fall in bombers and it worth a try if you’re in the market for new pumpkin ales. The Thirteenth Hour addition to their Barrel Room Collection is an imperial stout brewed with Belgian-style yeast and blended with oak aged ale. I don’t know what the price tag will be on this, but I’d highly recommend it if you’re able to pick one up in the $10 range.

Another upcoming addition to Indiana craft brewing is Union Brewing Company in Carmel. Union will be unique in their approach to serving all of their beers cask-conditioned through a hand-pulled beer engine. Union is targeting a mid-to-late September opening at 622 S. Rangeline Road and will have a dining menu provided by nearby SoHo Cafe & Gallery. You can read more about their plans and see a floor plan of the new brewery in an article from Current Night and Day. Note to the Night and Day author and local media in general: I’m starting to think that continuing to perpetuate the idea that Indiana has “very few microbreweries compared to other states” is becoming a bit outdated. Unless your benchmark state is Oregon.

If you’re heading to New Albanian’s 25 Years of Beer & Loathing on Sunday, you can find the full beer lineup here. There will also be a keg of Three Floyds Alpha King tapped at the NABC Pizzeria and Public House on Saturday at 4pm in memory of their friend Margaret Bauman. If you knew Margaret, raise a glass of hoppy ale in her memory this Saturday wherever you may be.

2012 Great American Beer Festival tickets go on sale July 31st at noon for members of the Brewers Association or American Homebrewers Association. General public sales begin August 2nd at noon. If you can only attend select sessions, I highly recommend attending Thursday night and skipping Saturday night based on past experience. Unless the idea of a frat party in a convention center seems appealing. Or you enjoy feeling like this ==>

It is GREAT seeing more and more beer events taking place in Fort Wayne as more and more people are taking the leap into trying microbrewed beers and liking them!! Having said that, I met up with a friend last week who was not extremely familiar with microbrews and my friend started sampling like there was no tomorrow! After all was said and done, my friend not only ended up drinking not one, but two of the Flat 12 Moustache Rider beers, and wants to get together soon and go to a couple of beer establishments in downtown Fort Wayne! It just goes to show that one doesn't know unless one tries!!

Here is a list of upcoming events:

Thursday, July 19

Belmont Beverage, 5806 Bluffton Rd., Ft. Wayne, will be having a FREE beer tasting from
5p.m.-7p.m. They will have beer from Stone, Sam Adams, Boulder, and Goose Island to name a few. Come out and sample some beers! (Must be 21 or older with valid Government-issued ID).

Thursday, July 10

Dicky's Wild Hare, 2910 Maplecrest Rd., Ft. Wayne, will be tapping a firkin of Bells Two Hearted starting at 6pm. A representative from Bells will also be in attendance. Pints of this beer are $5.00.

Friday, July 20

Cap n' Cork, 5430 Coldwater Rd., Ft. Wayne, will be having a FREE beer tasting from 5p.m.-7p.m. They will be having beer from Four Horsemen, Blue Moon and Michelob. (Must be 21 or older with valid Government-issued ID).

Saturday, August 4

Brew Haven Craft Beer Festival, New Haven, IN, - Have you bought your VIP ticket yet? If not, less than half remain and the event is two weeks from this coming Saturday!!

Mad Anthony Brewing Company will have a new location for their annual OktoBEERfest this year. The event will take place at Headwaters Park West in downtown Fort Wayne from 2p.m.-6p.m. The ticket price is $25 and includes a commemorative t-shirt, tasting glass, unlimited beer samples, and live music. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at http://www.madbrew.com/ or any Mad Anthony location. There are also various other beer events scheduled the week of the OktoBEERfest and there will be more details forthcoming.

The Peach Wheat beer is currently on tap at Mad Anthony Brewing Company in Fort Wayne and I will be going there this week to check out this beer. Also the Dark American Wheat is on tap at their Auburn, IN location.

This past weekend was the Beer Blogger's Conference 2012, where over 100 beer bloggers from around the nation, and even a few from over seas, flocked to Indianapolis - this year's chosen city. We gathered from Friday night through Sunday afternoon for education, networking, and of course - drinking.

If I had only known what laid in store for me that weekend, I may have cut back days before, but certain opportunities can not be missed when scrumptious beer is available.

And thus it begins --

Wednesday --

Left - Pere Jacques, Right - Bourbon County

Once a month I try to do a beer meetup with some of my friends. Usually it is the tap takeover's that are at the Sinking Ship. This month, I decided to get a group together to meet up at the Beer Sellar for the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and Pere Jacques tapping. I figured the popularity of the Bourbon County Stout would be high, so even though the tapping didn't happen til 7pm, we were there at 6. Beer Sellar has a new deal now that a variety of about 15 taps on their wall are now $3 for a pint - everyday. (Previous deal was on Mondays and they had a special on Indiana beers on Wednesdays.)

First pint up for me was Brooklyn Brewery's Sorachi Ace - a light, crisp saison, which I recommended to two other friends.

Then came the Pere Jacques and Bourbon County. Those two were worth every pennyof their $7 and $10 respective prices. I shared both of these as I could not have partaken both and walked out easily. The Bourbon County had every complex layer of an aged stout, slowly sipped out of its snifter and felt every ounce of the 14.5% ABV. I actually enjoyed the Pere Jacques more. It was creamy, a caramel finish but also required a great deal of slow drinking.

In capping the night off, I had a pint of Victory Brewing's Summer Love. Not my favorite of the evening; something about the American and German hops used in the Blonde ale was slightly harsh to my tongue.

Unlike previous Brew Bracket this one is only 8 breweries. A little more social fun time, participants will be up at the Tomlinson Tap Room and the beer will be brought to you! Along with a tastings of Harrison Bourbon

All of the beers will be aged in bourbon barrels from Harrison Bourbon, an Indiana Bourbon company. Indiana Beer - Indiana Bourbon. All in recognition of National Bourbon Heritage Month.

During this huge weekend of beer activities for central Indiana, I split off from the Blogger’s Conference on Saturday to take in the full five hours of the 17th annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival. I heard that ticket sales were down a bit this year, and the crowd did seem to be a bit thinner than I recall from last year. This may have something to do with the oppressive heat we’ve been dealing with, but Saturday was kind enough to give us an afternoon of “only” 89 degrees and some clouds to break the sun.

Since the early days of a modest festival contained in Optimist Park, the festival today boasts 64 breweries serving 300 beers and spans the grounds of both Optimist Park and the Indianapolis Art Center. It now guarantees plenty of space, a little bit of shade, and the next day’s realization of how many breweries you didn’t get the chance to try. The unlimited sampling also included the Hopapalooza trailer featuring massively hoppy beers and a cask tent. Some of the standouts from my limited run of personal tasting included New Albanian Knobentinus, Oaken Barrel Super Fly IPA (recent gold medal winner at the Indiana Brewers’ Cup), The RAM Java Porter (another gold medal winner), Sun King Velvet Fog (yet another), and Upland Infinite Wisdom Tripel.

Overall, it was another outstanding festival – great beers, small lines, and plenty of space leave only minor complaints. While the expansion to the Indianapolis Art Center grounds several years ago was badly needed at that point, this year’s layout almost seemed like it was too spread out. And while I would be the type to personally applaud the Brewer’s Guild for the environmental sensitivity of eliminating the bulky programs of the past (attendees were still able to find more information through the www.beer2012.com and by scanning a variety of QR codes throughout the grounds), providing a small one-page map and encouraging recycling would have been helpful to naviagate this year’s expansive layout. But enough of my opinions – on to the pictures!!!

Just an FYI. An anchor/reporter, Nicole Pence, of Channel 13 was just at the house for a quick interview about the beer scene, beer bloggers convention, festival, and some history. They're off to Broad Ripple Brewpub now for more action. Should be on tonight's 6pm news.

Our theme this fest is "The Flat12 Open" so for it we
did 4 special beers....
The Grand Slam Series:
Winbledon - Grassy English Mild
US open- the Sisters Double Cherry American Stout
French Open - Red Clay French Saison
Australian Open - Aussie Lager Dry Hopped w/ Galaxy Hops
BONUS: Firkin of Backspin Blonde - Dry hopped with Australian and NZ hops

Here is
everything else.
Bottles of Pogues Run Porter and Hello My Name is Amber

General Admission tickets are still available for the Microbrewer’s Festival for $40 and can be purchased here. Be warned that online sales end tomorrow and there will be no tickets at the gate. Many local breweries have tickets available if you miss out on online sales or don’t want to pay their “convenience” charges. The Brewers Guild has posted a list of confirmed breweries for the festival on Facebook (you can add Bell’s to this list). Don’t be left out, we might have some rain that will just enhance the festivities.

Combining beer and hot peppers has become a very successful endeavor for homebrewers. Bell’s Brewery will tap a Bit of Heat on July 21st, which apparently is an IPA brewed with paradise seeds, rose hips, and habanero peppers. The recipe’s origin comes from Bell’s second annual homebrew competition that was won by Geoff Groff of Climax, Michigan. In case you were wondering (just admit you were), the town of Climax received its name when the settler’s son climbed a tree upon arrival and declared “this caps the climax of everything we saw.” Climax launched the first Rural Free Delivery mail service in Michigan in 1896 and a memorial to this event now stands next to the Lawrence Memorial Library. The memorial features four bronze tablets, one of which was contributed by the Climax Men’s Fellowship Club. So there you have the story of Climax. Now what were we talking about again?

Ah yes, beer. Dark Horse Brewing, in good company as one of my favorite imports from Michigan, is in the process of an expansion that will double their production capacity. What makes this case unique is the additional plan to add a creamery, candy shop, bakery, and distillery to their Marshall facility. If you’ve visited their current facility, which is reminiscent of a garage sale explosion in a trailer, you can imagine the spin they might put on the new facilities.

This has been making the rounds already, but the IndyStar’s article on women in microbrewing is well worth a quick read if you haven’t seen it yet.

In the modern age of political correctness, the world of craft beer is still the oddity where people sue over the right to brand their product with an “idiot” label. Southern California’s Coronado Brewing Company has filed a lawsuit against Washington’s Elysian Brewing claiming that the brewery’s new Idiot Sauvin IPA violates Coronado’s trademark for Idiot IPA. The gloves really came off in this one as Coronado claims the “Defendant’s goods are not of the same quality as CBC’s goods” (Elysian’s Beer Advocate rating of exceptional might suggest otherwise). These proceedings could be nervously viewed by Pennsylvania’s Weyerbacher, whose Blithering Idiot barleywine is available year-round.

The enterprising folks at floatingsheep.org decided to pursue a Twitter analysis of all geotagged tweets sent within the continental U.S. between June 22 and June 28. They extracted all tweets containing the word “church” or “beer” and determined which one was more popular in each county. You will still need some good eyesight to pick out your county, but clicking on the picture to the right should provide a somewhat easier view. I’m fairly certain there is a block of “much more beer” in the middle of the state that represents Marion County, which is then surrounded on all sides by the “more church” and “much more church” designations. Take that suburbs!

So it has been over two months since Dark Lord Day 2012 and neither Indianabeer.com reporter present at the festivities has anything to say about it yet. Maybe it is the fear of the Three Floyd's torch bearers amassing an angry mob and setting out to destroy any human being on the planet who mouths a bad word about the assumed god of beer; maybe it has taken this long to shake the hangover of the festivities as it is a marathon of drinking; or maybe, just maybe, there was not anything really worth writing about it.

Rather than relay the tales of my adventure, I thought it would be better to lend more of a perspective on the run up to the release of Dark Lord in comparison to the release of another Three Floyd's beer. This is not a criticism or critique of the brewery, but an observation that I find rather interesting that made the topic click in my head today.

On January 10, 2012, Three Floyd's offered a blog post simply offering the public the following information, "We're working on Dark Lord Day details." This post on their Dark Lord Day website elicited 19 comments from readers. I'm not sure an Indianabeer post has ever received that many (but I'm fairly new here so I'm sure I could be wrong). The aura of Dark Lord is so powerful that radio silence was freaking out people because they hadn't heard information about an event more than three months away.

On February 13, 2012, www.darklordday.com finally informed the public that the date was set for Dark Lord Day and 59 comments followed. So we were about two and a half months from the event and some ground rules were offered for those who would be fortunate enough to attend. March 8 announced ticket sales for St. Patrick's Day, March 18 announced some brewery ticket sales, March 26 was the band announcement, and April 26 were final ground rules.

This is a beer that has been dubbed by more than one prominent person the best beer in the United States and/or world, so there would be a certain level of pomp and circumstance surrounding its release. The interesting fact is that this beer is released every year at the same time of year and people have gone to this event every year of its existence. The odds of procuring a Dark Lord are fairly good. Even though secondary ticket sales were ridiculously priced and the amount of Dark Lord that flooded eBay and craigslist immediately after the event (and in some cases before the event) were gouging those unable to attend, it is not out of the realm of possibility of obtaining this beer. Even if you attended Dark Lord Day you were given an allotment of four bottles and could even walk away with a barrel aged specialty beer.

Let's juxtapose this beer release with another Three Floyd's release today: Battle Priest.
"The first all Brett beer from 3 Floyd's, named Battle Priest, which has been fermented in Pinot Noir barrels is available in 750 mL bottles for purchase today. Limited release today with one bottle per person allotment."

Dark Lord is a known quantity, Battle Priest is an experiment, a rarity unlike any other, the first release of a beer that may or may not get famous. This matters not, as Three Floyd's has already established itself as a brewery that excels in providing beer that is decidedly, "not normal." Even if you were a fan of brett beers you would have to expect this wouldn't taste anything like them. And if you didn't like brett beers you would have to expect this wouldn't taste anything like them.

Battle Priest's release was announced over social media at 2:00pm CDT. By 4:00pm CDT it was sold out. The rumor is that the amount produced was 480 bottles (or the amount set for release today). Sight unseen, taste untouched to the tongue, this beer sold out in two hours at the brewery itself to 480 different people. Can any other brewery pull that off?

I was at work, unable to get close to the brewery and my local guy was out of town and couldn't snag a bottle for me. With such a rare gem, and with Three Floyd's beer notoriously present on the secondary market, I went to eBay and craigslist to find the fetching price. Nothing. I got nothing.

Dark Lord is a phenomenon that has grown rapidly and its release takes an enormous amount of effort on the part of the brewery and creates a buzz outside of the beer community that puts Northwest Indiana on the map and brings renowned brewers and chefs into Munster, IN to see a little warehouse tucked in an industrial park that produces wonderful beer. However, it seems that the cult following of this beer will force any new beer that Three Floyd's could possibly develop into the hands of only an inner circle of people who follow their every move and flock to the brewery every time there is a hint of anything brewing (pun intended). My hope is that Battle Priest is a successful brett so that more people will get to enjoy it. My fear is that people gobble up Three Floyd's beer just because of who makes it and refuses to share it with anyone they deem unworthy.

As planned when the brewery started, all of the Scotty's locations are now selling their Thr3e Wise Men beer. That includes Scotty's Brewhouse, Scotty's Lakehouse, and Scotty's Burger Joint. $14 refills ($12 on Tues & Fri).

Well, it appears I am the loser in our internal race to bring you the highlights of this weekend’s Brewers’ Cup competition. So I’ll ask you to check out Greg’s summary of winners in the next blog post or by clicking here. The only additional item I have to add is that the Homebrew Club of the Year went to the Foam Blowers of Indiana - led by Homebrewer of the Year Tom Wallbank.

Worth noting on the professional side is that Upland Brewing has earned back-to-back Best of Show awards with their Persimmon Lambic in 2011 and Flanders Red (commercially known as Gligamesh) this year. It is also the second consecutive Brewery of the Year award for Bier Brewery.

Since I had the opportunity to work with the wonderful Brewers’ Cup staff this year, I was able to snap a few pictures that hopefully will give you an interesting “behind-the-scenes” look at a competition of this scale.

The full results including all homebrew and professional award winners will be posted at the Brewers' Cup website in the near future. Congrats to all of the winners for taking home awards in a very difficult competition! And a big thanks to the staff, judges, and stewards who work very hard to make a competition of this size run so smoothly.