Idianapolis- Part 1

My wife and I had an opportunity to go to Indianapolis this past Friday and Saturday.  We arrived in Indianapolis Friday night and decided to go to the Ram Brewery and Restaurant http://www.theram.com/ .  This is a chain brewpub with over fifteen locations in five states.  My wife and I had previously eaten at one and knew that we would find good food and decent beer, which was necessary since we had our eldest daughter with us.  They delivered on that thought.  My wife and I split a sampler of their six core beers; it comes in a holder the shape of a ram's horn.  The six beers were Big Horn Blonde, Big Horn Hefeweizen, Big Red Ale (an IPA), 71 Pale Ale, Buttface Amber Ale and Total Disorder Porter.  These are all at least decent beers and some in our opinion are better than others.  Both my wife and I thought that the beers overall were a bit thin in body.  We did not care for the blonde and the Hefeweizen became more complex as it warmed.  My favorite was the porter and my wife liked the amber best.  After we finished the sampler my ever sharp wife noticed that they had four seasonals as well.  The four were a weizenbock, which I had a pint of, a Black IPA, an American Wheat and a java porter.  The weizenbock was good, but not exceptional; they call it S'no Angel Winter Weizenbock.  It did have a bit of roast and was malty but just did not go the extra bit to be a great beer.  We all had our fill of good food as well.  Ram is a good brewpub chain, but there are better chains and better independent brewpubs.

Saturday afternoon we dropped off our daughter at her interview and decided to do a bit of exploring of Indy. (I hope the nickname is allowable because typing Indianapolis takes too long.) First stop was to suppose to be Sun King Brewing after we read that they had won eight medals this year at the GABF (Great American Beer Fest), but the driver was not paying attention and missed the turn, so instead I pulled into the winery across the street.   We had thought about visiting Easley Winery since it was located close to our intended stop and afterwards we were very happy we did.

Easley Winery http://www.easleywinery.com/ is not your normal Midwest fruit based winery.  They truly make only grape based wines, no fruits added.  To accomplish this feat they use grapes from California, New York and Indiana, which they press on site to make their thirteen wines.  My wife and I were greeted quickly and asked if we wanted to go on the tour for $3. The benefit was the tour ending with a tasting of eight wines.  The tour was lead by Larry whom had good information to pass along and kept the tour fast paced.  The tasting part is well thought out, the first six samples a person could chose between a pair of wines, so if you are there with someone else you can share and try them all.  The seventh sample was the same for everyone and the eight was a bonus of mulled wine, they included for the season.  We enjoyed the wine sampling very much. A couple of the standouts were the Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2008 Chardonnay.  I forgot we actually had nine samples because they added the 2008 Chardonnay during the tasting.  We purchased a bottle of the 2008 Chardonnay to bring home, for $8 it was a steal.  We bid our adieu to the winery and walked across the street to Sun King Brewing Company http://sunkingbrewing.com/.

As I mentioned this brewery did something basically unheard of by winning eight medals at GABF!  Just do the math; it is a huge accomplishment. Eighty-three categories and three medals in each category means that they won eight out of two hundred forty nine medals. Not even breweries such as Firestone Walker or Dogfish Head can match that.  Unfortunately for my wife and me currently none of the medal winning beers were on tap, but we did bring home a four pack of Wee Muckle which won a gold medal at GABF.  We also brought home a four pack of Osiris Pale Ale and Wee Mac, a Scottish Ale.

When you walk in the door you are quickly greeted and provided four tickets and two can tops, once they verify that you are over 21.  Yes they card everyone, even old people like me!  We walked into the tap room and are introduced to the process of sampling the beers.  The tickets are good for their house beers and the can lids are for the seasonal/specialty beers. While we were there they had three house beers and three seasonal/ specialty beers, so again we shared the seasonals and tried all three.  All of the beers were delicious. The house beers were Sunlight Cream Ale, Wee Mac and Osiris Pale Ale.  The seasonals were Sink the Clipper, an Imperial ESB, Cowbell, a milk porter and a Vienna Lager.  Sink the Clipper was both of our favorites.  Plus it has a great back story.  To be quick, they named the beer and was served with a cease and desist order by Clipper City Brewery, thus the name Sink the Clipper.

Besides the beers there is an opportunity to tour the brewery, so needless to say my wife and I jumped at the opportunity.  The tour was lead by Chris or better known as Moose and Mark, the cellar-man, was along as well.  Right away Chris asked if there were any homebrewers in the group so besides my wife and I there was one other gentleman.  We were then admonished to be good and let other people in the group answer and ask questions.  Which we did.  They have a thirty barrel brewhouse and this year are scheduled to double what they produced last year and much more than what they produced in the initial brewing year of 2009.   This brewery is growing at a great rate and unfortunately they do not distribute outside the state of Indiana.

My wife and I greatly enjoyed the tour and had a chance after the tour to talk more with our guide and the cellar-man.   It was interesting to see the passion these people have for beer and their company.  I would highly recommend making it to Sun King for the beer and to see the brewery.

Watch for part 2 as I finish our day in Indianapolis.

QC Beerguy

Malt- the backbone of beer

Continuing on in my ramblings of the 4 ingredients in the German Beer Purity Law, I will discuss Malt.  As stated in the title, to me Malt is the backbone of beer, actually it is more like the whole skeletal system, but the backbone will work.  Often when a beer is being judged in a contest you will hear a phrase like "the malt backbone..." or "malt structure..." or something else along those lines.  They all mean basically the same thing; the malt provides the structure to build a beer on.

As you may be thinking malt is more than just a backbone or a structure to build on.  Without various colored malt, beer would be just one color, whatever that might be.  Just imagine a world where beer was so harmonious, unfortunately that is not too difficult to imagine.   Also malt is the main sugar that the yeast uses to turn the alcohol in the beer.  Malt provides various flavors for you to enjoy in your beer.  So yes malt is probably more than a backbone, but to me that is the best image I can come up with.

Malt simply stated is the kernel of grain that was soaked and allowed to sprout.  Then at the proper time of growth it is dried and then kilned to a desired outcome.  You may notice that I said "kernel of grain" and did not say barley, since just about any grain can be malted.  Also various malts are kilned a different amounts of dryness. Caramel/ Crystal malts are kilned fairly wet allowing for the sugars to become "caramelized" during kilning.  There are many different methods and tricks malt makers use to come up with the desired malt.
Before I get to much further I want to point out that the term malt is used in regards to the malted grain used in all grain brewing.  Also there is the term malt extract describing the syrup or powder used by extract brewers.  I will try to clarify what exactly is malt extract.  A few malt producers take the malted grain and run water through the grain bed to produce wort, a sugar filled liquid that is fermented by yeast to produce beer.  Once they have the wort they handle it one of two ways to produce malt extract.  Liquid malt extract is produced by boiling the wort in a vacuum to concentrate the wort. Dry malt extract is produced by spraying the wort and is dried as it falls and by it hits bottom it is a dry powder.  They both are readily used in extract brewing; it is totally up to the brewer to chose which one or both to use.

Back to malt.  There are companies around the world that make malt.  A few of the more recognizable names are Briess, Simpson, Rahr, Weyermann, Crisp and Fawcett.  Each maltster has its own way of producing malt, so one companies Crystal 90L may not look or taste the same as another companies malt.  So if you have a favorite beer and want to "clone" that beer try and find out what brand of malt the brewer used to make the beer.  Also you can try different brands of malts to brew the same beer and find out which brand you prefer.  So there is a lot of experimenting a brewer can do to find the "perfect" beer.
Besides different brands there are different types of malts, from light roasted to the heavily roasted malts.  A good place to see the various colors and types of malts is at http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/grain-malts.  The lighter roasted malts are usually used as base malts.  Longer roasted malts are used in smaller amounts due to their attributes, such as color, taste and the caramelization of the sugar in the malt.  For an example a beer such as a stout will have around 85% base malt and various amounts of different dark malts to add color and flavor.  For a good primer on what malts are and how to use them go to http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Homebrewing/Products.htm .  Briess malt is a name recognized by most brewers and they do a good job in plain English explaining the malt.

Barley malt makes up the majority of the malt used in brewing and by strict application of the German Beer Purity law the only malt that can be used in beer.  There was an exception for wheat malt to be used in the German wheat beers.  Other grains that I am aware of that have been malted for usage in beer include wheat, oats, corn, sorghum and milo.   I'm sure there are many more around the world that I am unaware of. 
I have only just scratched the surface of malt and its usage.  If you want to find out more I suggest going to the above websites to start with and then explore on from there. Like the backbone, malt does carry the beer and allow the other ingredients to build upon it and produce a beer. 

QC Beerguy

Vienna Lager 3A

Category 3 European Amber Lagers are more exciting and flavorful than the previous two categories in the BJCP style guidelines.  History has it that this beer was developed by Anton Dreher and has become nearly extinct in the land of its origin.  Thankfully the style continues to be made in Mexico; the style immigrated there with Austrian brewers in the late 1800s.  Many of today's examples are using adjuncts which lessen the rich malt complexity of the traditional examples.  Traditionally the beer was made with a Vienna malt and a triple decoction brewing process. 

Aroma:  Moderately rich German malt aroma.  Light toasted malt aroma may be present.  Clean lager character, no fruity esters or diacetyl.  Noble hop aroma may be low to none. Caramel aroma is inappropriate.

Appearance:  Light reddish amber to copper color. Bright clarity. Large, off-white, persistent head.

Flavor:  Soft, elegant malt complexity is in the forefront, with a firm enough hop bitterness to provide a balanced finish. Some toasted character from the use of Vienna malt. No roasted or caramel flavor. Fairly dry finish, with both malt and hop bitterness present in the aftertaste. Noble hop flavor may be low to none.

Mouthfeel:  Medium light to medium body.  Moderate carbonation.  Moderately crisp finish.  May have a bit of alcohol warming.

Comments:  American versions can be a bit stronger, drier and more bitter, while European versions tend to be sweeter. Many Mexican amber and dark lagers used to be more authentic, but unfortunately are now more like sweet, adjunct-laden American Dark Lagers.

Numbers:  IBUs (Bitterness) 18-30, SRM (color) 10-16, OG (potential) 1.046-1.052, FG (finish) 1.010-1.014, ABV 4.5- 5.5%

Examples:  Great Lakes Eliot Ness, Boulevard Bobs 47 Munich- Style Lager, Negra Modelo, Capital Wisconsin Amber

Vienna malt provides a lightly toasty and complex, melanoidin-rich malt profile. As with Oktoberfests, only the finest quality malt should be used, along with Continental hops (preferably noble varieties). Moderately hard, carbonate-rich water. A brewer can use some caramel malts and/or darker malts to add color and sweetness, but caramel malts shouldn’t add significant aroma and flavor and dark malts shouldn’t provide any roasted character. This beer does pair well with Mexican food, as the malt sweetness helps off set some of the spiciness in traditional Mexican food.  Many times Negra Modelo  is served with a lime, which is not really necessary in my opinion.  When made properly this is a good style of beer to enjoy.

QC Beerguy

RIBCO (Rock Island Brewing Company)

This past Wednesday night RIBCO held a special tapping of local craft beers.  The beers featured were Bent River's Jingle Java Stout, Blue Cat's Count Magnus Belgian Dark Strong and Great River's 7 Reverends Abbey Ale.  As usual with the special tappings, the beer is featured in logo glass ware that the customer gets to keep.  These tappings are a good time to try some beers that are normally not available or are available in such small quantities that most craft beer drinkers do not get to try them.  In the past such beers as Canadian Breakfast Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout and the lineup of Stone Brewing on the release night in Illinois.  Keep an eye out for the next special tapping; they usually post the tappings on their website http://ribco.com/ or on facebook.

 This is the Quad Cities premier beer bar that is not is not a brewery!  The name is a bit of a misnomer since they do not brew any beer.  What they do have though is a really nice selection of craft beer both on tap in cans and bottles.  They have at least 10 tap beers and well as over a 100 beers in the cooler.  Some of the beers they have are not available anywhere else in the Quad City area, so if you are looking for a specific beer there is a chance that it is at RIBCO.
 RIBCO is more than just a craft beer bar, they also have serve food and are known for their concerts.  The food is along the lines of typical bar food but for some reason it not your typical bar food in taste.  So a person can go enjoy some good craft beer as well as some good food.  The highlight for many people is the concerts held at RIBCO.  Half of the building is built to show off the bands, with an ample stage and multi-level seating to watch the action.  Also during the warmer months of the year they move the concerts outside to the plaza in front of RIBCO, allowing more people to enjoy the music.

I really like RIBCO and enjoy their efforts to be the premier craft beer bar in the Quad Cities.  If you are looking for good beer, good food and good music this is your place.  The only drawback for me is that they do not open until 5pm, which means I cannot enjoy a favorite craft beer and a burger for lunch or watch a football game and have a craft beer.  If they opened up say at noon in that would make them the perfect craft beer bar in my opinion.  I am sure that they know better than I do though so I will defer to their experience as far as their hours.

QC Beerguy

Classic American Pilsner 2C

Continuing on with the BJCP Style Guidelines, I find it is time to do Classic American Pilsner 2C.  This is one of the styles I find myself asking why it is included instead of some other styles.  Why you ask?  Here is why it is not commercially available other than a chance production by a brewpub or microbrewery.  Basically for all purposes this style of beer is dead, so why include it if it is not being made?

Yes it does have a storied history of being made by the wave of German Immigrants that came to the U.S. and used the local U.S. ingredients to make a Pilsner.  Beyond its historical importance why include it in the style guidelines?  As a beer judge when this beer is entered into a contest it is very difficult to judge since I have no commercial examples to call up in my memory.  Ok enough of my rant now onto the beer style itself.
As I mentioned this is a beer that immigrated with the influx of Germans coming to the U.S., but was made using the traditional process and yeast but U.S. ingredients.  The evil experiment known as Prohibition helped kill this beer, which is now mainly being produced by homebrewers.  Prohibition led to a great public anti-German up swelling that caused many things associated with Germans to die out.  

Aroma:  Low to medium grainy, corn or sweet maltiness may be evident.  Medium to moderately high hop aroma, often noble hops.  Clean lager character, no fruitiness or diacetyl.  A hint of DMS is acceptable.
Appearance:  Yellow to deep gold color.  Big, long lasting white head.  Bright clarity.

Flavor:  Moderate to moderately high maltiness similar to Continental Pilsner but a bit lighter due to the use of up to 30%  flaked  corn or rice.  Slight grainy. corn-like sweetness from use of corn offsets the hop bitterness.  Rice-based versions are drier, crisper and lack the corn-like characters.  Medium to high hop flavor from noble hops.  Medium to high hop bitterness.  No fruitiness or diacetyl. 

Mouthfeel:  Medium body and rich, creamy mouthfeel.  Medium to high carbonation. 

Comments:  A substantial Pilsner that can stand up to a European Pilsner, but exhibits native U.S. ingredients.  Refreshing, the hops and malts stand more than in American light lagers.  Corn lends a grainy sweetness, while rice lends a crisper, neutral character.  The CAP (Classic American Pilsner) had some differences pre- and post-Prohibition, namely a drop in OG and IBUs post-Prohibition.

Numbers:  IBU (Bitterness) 25-40, SRM (Color) 3-6, OG (Potential) 1.044- 1.060, FG (Finish) 1.010- 1.015, ABV 4.5- 6 %

Examples:  Occasional Microbrewery or Brewpub specials.

Six row barley with up to 30 % corn or rice.  Native American hops, noble hops or modern noble hop crosses are also used.  Modern American hops such as Cascade are inappropriate.  You should avoid high mineral water to avoid harsh off flavors.  Since there are not widely available examples of this style it is difficult to say much more about this beer.  One thing I can say is that most of the examples I have judged have been less than stellar.  I believe that is mainly due to no commercial examples being available for reference. So if you feel like trying to brew this style I wish you luck.

QC Beerguy 

This Coming Weekend

 Just a few things in the local craft scene happening this coming weekend.

First up on Friday, December 2nd Mississippi River Distilling will be holding their monthly "First Friday" Event at the distillery.  The event runs from 5:30 - 8PM and will be featuring the release of their Cody Road Bourbon.  As usual they will have samples to try and some inventive food recipes to samples as well.  If you like bourbon and want your own bottle I would suggest arriving early since they only will have 120 bottles at the distillery at the open of business Friday.  My wife and I are looking forward to this event.

Also on Friday, December 2nd the Rock Island Hy Vee will be holding a Scotch tasting starting at 6 PM in the Club Room.  Beside sampling 9 varieties of Scotch they will have light food pairings to sample.  Cost is $15 per person and the class is more than half sold.  Call 309-793- 0684 for more information.

Another Friday event is Great River's Cellar Man's Series Tapping starting at 3pm.  They will be tapping a Pen (5 gallon cask) of real ale, meaning that the beer is naturally carbonated and will be served  at cellar temperature.  This tapping will feature a Pale Ale aged with Lavender. 

On Saturday, December 3rd Great River will be hosting a tapping of their 7 Reverends Abbey Ale at the brewery.  Golden keg is at 1pm and the party runs from 2 - 6 PM.  Bring a dish to pass and enjoy the day.

Those are the events I am aware of for this weekend, so head out and enjoy as many events as you can.
QC Beerguy

RIBCO's Drink Local Special Tapping

RIBCO (Rock Island Brewing Company) in the District in Downtown Rock Island will be hosting their next special tapping night on December 7th at 8pm.  This time around they are featuring the local guys!  With tappings of Blue Cat's Count Magnus Belgian Strong, Bent River's Jingle Java Stout and Great River's 7 Reverends Abbey Ale and of course they will be served in logo glasses that you can keep.  Make sure to come out and support your local favorites and enjoy some really good seasonal brews.  A big plus is that representatives of each brewery are scheduled to be there to discuss the brews and answer your questions.

As well RIBCO will be offering a $1.00 off on their selection of micro brew in bottles and cans.  Also on Wednesdays they feature a special on wing baskets.  To find out more info please go to http://www.ribco.com/ or http://beeradvocate.com/events/info/50137.  I am looking forward to this one and plan to be present if I am in town.  Hope to see a lot of people there enjoying some local craft brew!

QC Beerguy