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.

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.