Sun King Sunlight Cream Ale

For those of you who are not familiar with Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis, you should become familiar. They make some great beers. In only a few years of existence, they have expanded rapidly to become the second largest brewery in Indiana (after Three Floyds Brewing Company in Muncie), and for good reason—their beers are really, really good.

Sun King's Sunlight Cream Ale is a great example of the Cream Ale style of beer: it is a light, smooth beer with a crisp finish that is easily drinkable, and a fantastic introduction to craft beers for any of your friends who are used to drinking what we call the "American Light Lager" (but all too often do not call "beer"). It has a good flavor for a lighter beer (again, for those who know me, you know I mostly drink darker beers)—good, but not as good as the company's Wee Mac Scottish Ale (more on this beer in another post).

If you have a friend who drinks swill—excuse me, American Light Lagers—do them a favor and introduce them to a Sunlight Cream Ale. They'll eventually thank you for it.

Broad Ripple Brewpub

I'd have a hard time telling you much about Broad Ripple Brew Pub itself, what with the fact that we sat outside on the porch. An approach I highly recommend because, if you're not familiar with Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, sitting outside puts you right in the middle of one of the most interesting parts of the city. Broad Ripple is very much a college town without a college. Broad Ripple Brew Pub is one of those places where the outside provides as much atmosphere as inside.

Broad Ripple Brew Pub also has, hands down, my favorite beer that does not come from the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in Munich. The Extra Special Bitter. This cask beer has a near-perfect color at just the right shade of caramel with a think head colored a little off-white. The taste was a perfect blend. Hoppy enough to appeal to my inner "Hop Head" but malty enough that you're not just drinking an IPA. Add in a very light lacing and a think-but-smooth texture, and this is one I could drink and keep drinking. The ABV of 5.6% and the 35 IBUs make this a beer you can keep enjoying all through a hot afternoon.




The other beer of note that day, unfortunately, wasn't quite ready when we went there. The decor, the beer, and the scenery all made it very pleasant to wait out the afternoon for it to get tapped, but unfortunately we did not get to try the Holla Jala Jalapeno Cream Ale. The BRBP website describes it as a lightly infused cream ale. Giving it an ABV of 5.4% and 16 IBUs, I expect that's about right, although it's likely that tomorrow will see me back at BRBP to properly try this 2012 Indiana State Fair Homebrewers Best In Show.

BRBP's IPA, Big Boy IPA, and Kolsch rounded out my afternoon. All good, solid beers. All meeting Love Craft Beer's philosophy that beer does not have to be like sex in a canoe¹. But the ESB was the star of my afternoon, leaving the Holla Jala as the next White Whale.

Call me Ishmael





¹ F**king close to water

Beer Friday

I used to work at a startup company that was truly the embodiment of "Work hard, play hard". The hours were long, off-hours work was the norm, and the pace was intense. For the most part, I considered it a good experience. The pace and the expectations forced me to focus on prioritizing needs and making good decisions quickly. However, there was one amazing perk that helped make it worthwhile.

Beer Friday.

It didn't happen every Friday. In fact, one of the underlying reasons to my departure might very well have been the decline of Beer Friday. But at least once a month, plus anytime there was a company meeting, plus whenever we did a major release, plus the night before a major release, there was Beer Friday. The owners would bring in several brands of beer- swill for those who insisted on calling Miller Light "beer", an import- usually Heineken- for those who considered themselves having more discerning taste, an Sun King brand for those of us who insist on a microbrew.  If we had a meeting, we'd all pull our chairs together and have our meeting, drinking our beer. If it was just a Beer Friday, we kept working. There wasn't an issue with people getting trashed on the job- we were all professionals and acted that way. It was just a nice little perk to end our day.

I have a lot of fond memories about that place, although I don't miss the pace. I do miss the idea of, at least for a little bit, breaking the "Manager/Employee" relationship and turning work into a more casual experience.

It's interesting how beer, even if it's swill, can bring about a casual tone to something. I don't mean frat-style beer pounding, but rather how just cracking open a couple of cold ones can turn anything into a more casual affair. Even if you're still working, still in a meeting, or whatever.

So, here's to beer, and here's to Beer Friday.

A Nice Evening at Upland Brewing Company

As Matt Osbun has already mentioned, we spent a very nice evening this week at Upland Brewing's original location in Bloomington, IN, which was much more enjoyable than sitting in heavier than normal traffic trying to get out of downtown. For those not familiar, Upland is one of Indiana's larger breweries, although you wouldn't know it from the quaint little tasting room that is attached to the front of the original brewery in Bloomington.

Doug Dayhoff and his staff do a great job of providing consistently tasty brews in a variety of styles, and they complement the beer with some outstanding food options. But let's face it... Matt and I were not there for the food.

For my first beer, I opted for Upland's most popular style: Upland Wheat. Upland's wheat beer is an American-style wheat beer with citrus. It even came served with an orange slice on the glass. And while I don't normally like fruity beers, I do like Upland's wheat. It's a great, refreshing summer beer and it goes down easily.

My next beer was Upland's Rad Red. This beer is everything I look for in a red ale: rich and full-flavored. I wish that when I brewed my red, it came out this good. Maybe someday, but I'm not there yet. If you like red ales, this beer deserves your attention.

I finished with a pint of the Champagne Velvet pilsner. Now, if you know me, you know I'm not a pilsner drinker, but I like to try things I've never had before. The CV, as they call it, has a delicate flavor, like other pilsners, but it's very smooth and easy to drink. If more pilsners were like this, I might like the style better. Still not one of my favorites, but much better than average.

One thing to note about this visit is that the beers on tap at this brewery are not kegged—they are served from taps whose lines are drawn straight from the pressurized tanks in the brewery visible through the glass behind the bar. It doesn't get much fresher than that.

If you've never heard of Upland Brewing Company, you will. This brewery's distribution is growing throughout the Midwest, and with the kind of quality they are known for they should expand to more of the nation in time. If you live in the Indianapolis area, the company has three tap- or tasting-rooms for you to choose from: the original location in Bloomington, a tasting room south of Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, and their newest tasting room in Carmel.

Upland Brewery- Bad Elmer!

Upland Brewery in Bloomington, IN is a little bit like a Volkswagen. It’s not flashy, but it is well made. You don’t have to know a lot about beer to know you’re drinking good quality beer. And you won’t be embarrassed if your friends see you drinking in one. In an Upland brewery, that is. If you get caught drinking an Upland beer in a Volkswagen, you’re on your own.

The decor in this Indiana University location is very much “We’re a brewpub. Go drink something”. It’s very minimal, some local artwork and Upland merchandise on the walls, and fairly basic tables and chairs. Not a lot to distract you from sitting down and having a beer with friends. It’s as if they’ve deliberately cut away anything that might get in the way of the beer drinking experience.

The wait staff were pretty great to watch. Indiana summers don’t get hot, but they do get humid. The day we went was a prime example of that, too. The waitresses were sharing the tables in Upland’s outdoor patio, which was more of a sweat lodge that day. Still, though, no complaints from the wait staff. They kept smiling and kept the brew coming.

And speaking of the beer, Upland didn't disappoint. Not that it ever does.

Bad Elmer's Porter

I started out with a Bad Elmer's Porter. Partially because I've had it and I knew I'd like it. But mostly for the name. Part of the fun of craft beer are the names, and this one is no different. Are we talking "Leroy Brown"? "Bad" like Shaft?

Whoever Bad Elmer is, his porter is pretty darn good. It's a good, dark colored beer, dark brown to almost opaque. Can't tell you much about the head or lacing because I drink from the bottle whenever possible. It's got the malt flavor you'd expect, is fairly creamy, and has a low carbonation.

But who cares about that? How about this- Bad Elmer's Porter is one of the better porters I've had and is a beer I'll be having again. It's heavier than a session beer but not so much so that you can't sit down and drink a few. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it went down well, and if I wasn't intent on having a varied selection, I'd have happily stuck to this one.

But it was not to be, so we go on to...

Ard Ri Imperial Red

It amused me to no end when my Ard Ri showed up in a brandy snifter. Nice touch, Upland. The beer has a good red color to it, and very little lacing. None of that really matters, though, when you taste it.

Now, a note about Imperial beer. The name first came into use when English brewers were sending beer to the Russian czar's court. Wanting to impress the czar, the ABV was fairly high, and needing to survive the trip, the beers were very hoppy. Very similar in the last regard to the IPA. Today, in the craft brew world, "Imperial" is kind of a code word for "Intense".

I bring that up, because that's a pretty good way of describing Ard Ri. The ABV clocks in at 9.3, and you can really taste the hops and malt. This is *definitely* not a session beer. It's a good, heavy beer that definitely earns its Imperial name.

Champagne Velvet Pilsner

Before I talk about this one, I need to give a bit of a caveat, in the name of full disclosure. I don't like pilsners. They're too light for my taste, and this one is no exception.

Now, I'm not saying this is a bad beer. Just the opposite, in fact. If you like pilsners, you're probably going to love this one. It's very light- almost airy. The "Champagne Velvet" name fits it well. It's got a very light, almost clear, color to it and quite carbonated.

The taste was somewhat hoppy and a bit sweet. All in all, I didn't care for it. But then again, I didn't expect to. It's a good quality beer. Just not a kind I like.

Infinite Wisdom Tripel

Anyone familiar with Tripels already knows where this one is going. Infinite Wisdom is an example of a classic Tripel. It's a golden Belgium ale that's both sweet and heavy. It's got a very slight banana taste, which is in line with other Tripels I've had, and it has the one main aspect of a Tripel. The alcohol content. 11.3 ABV, to be exact.

As a side note, we asked the waitress about serving sized. Much like other places I've been, Upland doesn't serve Infinite Wisdom in a pint glass. I wonder why.

I like Tripels, but in moderation, and not just because of the alcohol content. I like the taste when I start the glass. When the glass is empty, though, I'm about done with the taste and am ready to go on to something else. That said, I've had a few different kinds of Tripels and this is in my top two or three.

Overall, I really like Upland. It's a good place to spend some time with friends and it's a place where you can get a good beer or two. Part of the reason I like craft beer, aside from the whole "I can drink beer that doesn't suck" bit, is that You're almost always supporting local businesses. Upland is one I'm happy to support.

Working.... and beer.

As an independent contractor I have a pretty mobile office. Living and working in the Central PA area affords some great opportunities to mix mobile office-ing with beer drinking. Today as an example, with my meetings of the morning and afternoon finished a tad early, and still needing to get some correspondence done, I checked into the incredible Al's of Hampden aka "Pizza Boy Brewing."

Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing

MMMmmmmm beer!

A great microbrewery combined with some of the great pizza and pub food around.  I'm enjoying a late lunch of cheese-steak stuffed pizza and a basket of fries.  The restaurant is still known as Al's of Hampden here in Enola, PA, but the attached microbrewery goes under the excellent name of "Pizza Boy Brewing." He has a total of 99 taps with several of them nitro. A large LED sign lists each brew by its brewery, name, style, ABV and of course, prices. Please note, this is all craft brewed beer of the finest qualities. About 10-12 are brewed right here on location and I haven't tried one yet that disappointed. (and I know beer disappointment)

My first beer of choice is departing from my usual tastes of BIG tasting beers, but I thought I'd try one of Al's own "Freefall" a Grisette beer.  Very light, but very flavorful with a refreshing mouth-feel and a nice "pear" finish. It was very refreshing on a hot Summer day, and actually paired well with the heavier tasting pizza. A nice change of pace!

...now what will my second beer be?   A quad, imperial stout, or an over-the-top IPA?