Earlier this month I made a trek to Indianapolis ostensibly to attend Gencon but I ended up doing various other things besides, which I'll write about later. While there, beer was drunk and, as always, I endeavored to locally source my brews.
This was rather easy as Sun King beer was everywhere. I get the impression that they are the Revolution of Indiana, the New Glarus of Naptown. Sun King has some deal with Gencon and the brewery gets to brew an official beer of the con. Earlier this year there was a poll asking gamers what style of beer they wanted to slake their thirsts after a hard day of rolling dice and rubbernecking at Sailor Moon cosplayers. While I voted for a Kölsch, an English mild made with honey proved victorious. It was christened Hive Mind.
I sampled it the first evening we were there at a place that I cannot recall. My friends and I were disappointed to see that our usual hangout, Claddagh, had been replaced by a more trendy joint. The new sleek, IKEA-like interior and steep drink prices were tailored to keep the unbathed, black t-shirted hordes out. And so we found respite elsewhere. Hive Mind was just OK. A bit too sweet with the honey flavor too forward for my taste. Instead of being a pleasant accent, the treacly, golden goodness was like an ochre jelly oozing over my palate so that I couldn't taste the fine malty-leathery flavor that I expected from the mild. And so I switched to Sunlight, Sun King's cream ale which was everywhere. Its ubiquity in downtown bars and restaurants led me to believe that this is their Spotted Cow. I ended up drinking the stuff at multiple venues including the hotel bar at the Omni which, I noticed, auctioned off the Hive Mind tap handle after the kegs were emptied. It was hot down south and Sunlight was easy going yet flavorful with a nice grain taste and without Citra-Mosaic-Simcoe overload. (Or is that Mosaic-Simcoe-Citra?)
One day I decided to go in search of local brews that weren't from Sun King. The Crown Liquors outpost at Ohio and Delaware was close to our hotel so I paid it a visit. A young gentleman behind the counter noticed a bewildered look on my face and asked me if I needed help. I did and he directed me to the local beer section of the coolers.
But, not only did he do that, he hung around unbidden and offered some handy advice. He gave me the 411 on the various breweries I'd never even so much as heard of and he seemed to be honest in his assessments. A couple of breweries were deemed sub-par and he noted a couple more that were hit or miss. One of the breweries he lauded as consistently brewing good beer was the rather unexcitingly named Bier Brewery. My local beer guide asked what kind of brews I like and, upon hearing that I was not an IPA kind of guy, he promptly pulled a 6-pack of Bier Brewery's Special Kölsch out of the cooler. Like a master addressing his novice, he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "You'll like this."
Bier Brewery appears to be a brewpub while the can notes that my sixer was brewed and bottled by South Broad Ripple Brewing which, as far as I can tell, is a subsidiary of Bier Brewery as they have the same address at a website I found. Perhaps this arrangement is just a quirk in Indiana law that requires brewpubs and packaging breweries to be separate legal entities or some such thing.
While I was the liquor store, I noted that Founder's Oktoberfest and Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale were both on display. Uff da!
I never cracked a can while in Indy but was eager to try my Special Kölsch out when I got home. For the occasion, I dug out a Stange from the basement.
The label features the Cologne Cathedral and what I think is the Hohenzollern Bridge so I was expecting a fairly true to style brew here. It certainly looked the part with its lovely light yellow hue. The bier was clear as day and I managed to pour a nice, big head of firm foam in my Stange. And this stuff had staying power - enough for me to actually get a decent photo of it. Some bubbles were seen inside. It had a wonderful Kölschy aroma too, just like the ones from Cologne that survive a trip across the ocean. My nose caught some delicate cracker, a slight fruity scent like -berry, and a bit of grass from the hops.
My first sip revealed a moderate fizziness permeating a nice, light bodied beer. The malt was biscuity and complemented very well by the grassy-herbal tasting hops. This combo made for a tasty earthy-grainy gestalt that was accented by a bit of -berry fruitiness. But there wasn't much sweetness to be had.
On the swallow, the grainy and fruity flavors slowly faded and gave way to a more herbal tasting hoppiness. At 14.4 I.B.U.'s, the finish had only a dash of dryness and a modicum of bitterness.
This is a very fine bier. Very fine indeed. The label evoked Cologne and the liquid inside was what I would expect from a genuine Kölsch. All of the flavors were deployed with a light touch, nothing heavy or overwhelming. The malt taste was clean and not sweet while the hops added balance and some flavor but they didn't try to run roughshod over my palate. And those yeasty fruit flavors complemented all of the other ones very well, even if they were a bit stronger than I am used to. Not cloying at all. I do wish the bier had been slightly hoppier to add a bit more of its herbal counterpoint, but this is a minor quibble.
Junk food pairing: The pork tenderloin sandwich is the unofficial sandwich of Hoosierland so pair your Special Kölsch with a bag of pork rinds. Go with the plain variety to ensure that the delicate flavors of the bier aren't overtaken.
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