The Bier Brewery and Sun King

I was back home again in Indiana (no pun intended) to visit relatives and celebrate my parent’s 50^th wedding anniversary.  On Friday, 5 August, we stayed at Karen and Darren’s home.  Darren had went out earlier to the Bier Brewery and picked up a growler of Weisengoot and a liter of Apricot Wheat Bier.  The Weisengoot is a Hefeweizen and both poured cloudy yellow with a nice two-finger head.  I enjoyed both of these very much and I thought the Weizengoot reminded my of Avery’s White Rascal with a taste hints of spice, banana and perhaps a Belgian yeast taste.  The Apricot Wheat Bier was the first fruit beer that I can say that I actually enjoyed.  I wish I had stopped by the brewery to sample more of their biers, but the schedule was too tight.  I have since learned the Bier Brewery was awarded the Indiana State Fair Champion Brewery this year and I have traded email with the brewer congratulating them on their win and brewing some mighty tasty bier. 

I also had the opportunity, thank you Darren, to try Sun King’s Wee Mac (5.3% ABV and 23 IBU) a Scottish-style Brown Ale that is described as a “Scottish Style Brown [with] a nice hazelnut character and with rich toffee undertones”, which was awarded the “Gold Medal, 2010 Indiana Brewer’s Cup, English Brown Ale”.  This one poured from the can dark tan with a nice head.  This is a really nice tasting beer and easy to drink.  I can see why Sun King was named one of the ten brewers to watch in 2011 by Draft magazine. 

I was really impressed by these three samplings from Indiana craft brewers and I look forward to trying more from them on the next trip back to Indiana.

Good JuJu and Kinda Blue

Good JuJu (4.5% ABV and 20 IBU) is a Herb / Spice Ale because it is spiced with ginger and it is a seasonal offering from Left Hand.  This is a session beer because of the low ABV.  Good JuJu pours golden amber with a nice two-finger head.  Left Hand describes Good JuJu as “Fresh ginger kisses the lithe malty body, copulating with the hop in this pale ale ancestor.”  This one did not match my taste and I am not a fan of this one.  I could not taste the ginger in it and I was thinking it would be sweeter than it was.  It might be a good pairing with food that has ginger as an ingredient and it may be good to cook with. 

Boulder Beer’s Kinda Blue (5.2% ABV and 15 IBU) is a Fruit Beer that is an ale infused with blueberries.  Kinda Blue pours an orange tan with a small head and the bottle states that Kinda Blue is a “blueberry wheat beer” that is a summer seasonal release.  I could not discern the blueberries in this beer, but the overall taste is very good.  Boulder describes Kinda Blue as “a filtered American Wheat, placed in perfect measure with muted tones of blueberry.  Kinda Blue, a tasty and tasteful summer brew that you can’t turn your back on.  It’s as cool as the day is long.”  Kinda Blue is very tasty and I would try this again.  I am not a big fan a fruit beers, but Kinda Blue is an exception for me - Boulder Beer did a good job with this one.