Indiana Beer love

On that note - does anyone know what the hell a Belgian Stout it? It's clearly less bitter than a RIS, but I don't know what makes it Belgian. A type of malt, or yeast? (I know nothing about brewing. -And, I actively chose not to try to search this out and ask here instead because I thought others would benefit from this information as well.)

 

I suspect it's type of yeast, which is uniquely a Belgian style thing.

Not exactly the information you were looking for, but some additional info:
https://www.belgianstyleales.com/product/beginners-belgian-beer-style-guide-stouts/3175

BA thread on Belgian stouts:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/belgian-stout-beer-style.542016/

 

They produce their own beer for draft and anything in bottles or 16oz cans. 6 packs are brewed by the same place that puts out Horny Goat, but are Brewlink's recipes as far as I know except for the Nuttercup, which is a relabel of HG Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter.

 

Central State brews a solid belgian stout called, "Gute Nacht". I've had it a time or two around town on draft and enjoyed it.

 

It's the yeast. Most commonly Belgian beers are made with Brettanomyces yeast which has a distinct flavor.

 

Wouldn't that make it a...wild/sour stout? Or am I misunderstanding what brett is?

 

A wild ale is just that - a beer that was fermented with "wild" yeast. Meaning, that Belgian brewers would open ferment, where the wort (the malt prior to fermentation) was exposed to the environment in a wide, flat container (called a Koelschip, which looks like a sauce pan), and airborne wild yeast would spontaneously ferment the wort. I believe the airborne strain most associated with Belgian beers is brettanomyces yeast.

And sours are pretty much just beers where the brett yeast has continued to ferment the yeast in the wort to the point where the beer becomes sour.

I think.....

but the Super Bowl just ended, and I may have had one too many ales....

 

The Northwest Indiana beer bubble may be beginning to burst. Route 2 Brews is no more

http://www.route2brewery.com/

 

I've honestly never even heard of them. I expect this to be the norm going forward though.

 

They cluttered up a lot of shelf space in NWI. Their borderline offensive labels and bad beer (though I don’t recall actually having it) won’t be missed by many.

 

I stopped in for a pint one day; their IPA was decent, drinkable. I did find their beer names / labels a bit off putting, but let's be honest, if their beer was excellent I wouldn't give two shits about what it was called.

I think more closures will happen over time, but I do have empathy for Route 2's owners, who will have lost their investment, both financial and emotional.

 

I don't talk much about Upland these days, even though their foeder-aged fruited sours are still solid. However, I just had a Juiced In Time from them, and it's a great cloudy NEIPA. Not quite up there with stuff from Windmill or the Chicago scene, but close, and fairly priced at around $3.50 a pint can.

I also saw that Taxman has a new round of Golden Parachute in 750 mL bottles. That's my favorite Taxman beer I've had so far, aside from Evasion/Death & Taxes and variants.

 

I am not an IPA guy, but I bought some tonight when I saw it (for me to try and to send to a friend), and man, I think it's damn tasty. I have it a 4.25ish. It's not very bitter, which I like a lot. Freshest IPA I have ever had. Damn tasty. I hope they make others in their new IPA series.

 

St John Malt Brothers is somehow expanding and they’ve yet to do anything buzzworthy or even a beer I’d drink twice. I don’t think the bubble is bursting, I think a brewery that had no hype and no “must have” beer went full Distro off the bat before they could support the model.

 

On that note, what do you think they’re doing with their equipment and space? That could be a great setup to buy into.

 

Glad to hear they're doing something different than just their sours. Feel like Upland spends all of their creative energy on their sours so I don't give them much attention. I'll have to check out Juiced In Time and give it a try.

 

Kahn's sold out in like a day and a half or something. Your best bet in Indy may be whatever of those smaller stores you know. Although, even in Bloomington not all the smaller stores seem to have gotten it. I ended up buying it at big red (and probably paying an upcharge) since the smaller (and cheaper) store didn't have it.

 

Did anyone hear about Tow Yard filing for bankruptcy? I think it has to do with the rent of their building going up. I went there twice and was not impressed with any of it. The beer, food, and service were not good at all. This was two years ago though.

 

Hey guys. Was checking in on my home state's brew chatter and felt like saying something here cause nobodies really said much...hopefully this comes off more helpful than arrogant cause it's not my intent, I'm just a big fan of Belgians!

There's only one well known standard Belgian beer I'm aware of that is well known for using Brett yeast. Orval, which is a unique experience to be sure. Brett is used in all sorts of wilds and sours (Belgian and American) but not in your standard wits dubbels, tripels, belgian strongs, saisons etc...There are several commonly used Belgian strains of yeast that give off all sorts of esters and phenols that give beers using those yeasts their unique "Belgian" character (often very spicy or fruity or both) that aren't Brett (more funky).

Yes, in general anything with Brett would be characterized as being a wild ale or a sour. I know, though, I've come across more standard type Belgian beers (not fruited lambics) with an addition of Brett that doesn't take the staring role but they're not nearly as common as "normal" Belgian brews. Most of the beers I've tried from Taxman seem to be fermented with some strain of regular Belgian yeast.

The Belgian stout question comes down to the yeast. You'll have all the dark malty sometimes chocolatey stuff going on with the distinct upfront yeast character of Belgian beers mixed in with the taste profile. The recipe could be exactly the same except for the yeast and you would be able to taste a very distinct difference in a side by side with two identical worts fermented with a standard ale yeast and a belgian yeast. It's actually a fun experiment in homebrewing if you get in to it!

This is pretty much right how Belgians wilds/sours have been fermented for 100's if not 1000's of years authentically. Besides Brett though there are all sorts of natural occurring bugs floating around (some bacterial) that will also go about fermenting wort as well (And actually if I understand correctly that's how beer in general was believed to be discovered and started to be made on purpose without any real knowledge of yeast or having to cultivate it intentionally) There are some brewers in the US that try to replicate the process of making true wild ales using naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria but most of the sours/wilds you find on the shelves these days are considered "kettle sours" where the make wort and ferment it like any other beer and are able to purchase and use Brett or other yeasts with wild origins that have been cultivated and produced for commercial sale/distribution.

Hope this is a little helpful and doesn't make me sound like a jackass!!!

 

PSA: Rock Bottom downtown has a new hazy IPA I tap that’s pretty tasty... Double Maui Wowie (Citra/Mosaic)