Rodenbach Grand Cru is a Belgian sour ale brewed by Palm Brewery.  It is a blend of an 18 month oak-aged Rodenbach (2/3) and a younger batch (1/3) that could be found in 750mL, 12oz and draft.  Note the emphasis on 'could' back there.  A few weeks ago Bob Mack from World Class Beverage explained that Rodenbach is currently no longer distributed in the US for at least the near future while responding to some comments about the beer at Hoosier Beer Geek.  Here is what he had to say:

"The rumor about Robenbach is sort of true - Rodenbach has no more import arrangements for the US as a whole, so there is no way for World Class to order it until another import arrangement is made.
Palm Breweries, owners of Rodenbach, have just recently terminated their import arrangement with Duvel USA who also controls Duvel and Maredsous import. At this time, there are no Rodenbach bottles at Duvel USA or at World Class Beverages in Indiana. We do have a few 30 liter kegs of Rodenbach left, but that is the last of them.
Palm Breweries has a couple of friends who are former InBev execs who have started their own import company and I expect that this company will ultimately bring in Rodenbach to the US, but I have no idea how long it will take for that arrangement to be finalized.
At the moment, there is no source of Rodenbach in the US for us to order from!"

Hopefully that situation will be resolved shortly, but until then I will just have to nurse the 1/2 case of 750's I purchased, starting with this bottle.  Rodenbach Grand Cru pours a dark amber that in some light almost looks like a bourbon and in other light is too dark to be seen through.  With a proper pour you will get a pretty robust lightly tan head that hangs around for a while before settling back into the beer.  Very minimal lacing with this one, just a few ghost images spotting the glass.

The most noticeable quality of Rodenbach Grand Cru is the aroma.  It makes it's presence known as soon as you start pouring with a sharp fruity acid scent.  There is hints of dark cherry that quickly gives way to a dominant vinegar aroma.  The scent alone can help clear out your sinuses and maybe curl a few nose hairs in the process.  There is no hiding the fact that this is going to be a fairly sour beer while you are inhaling the goodness that is Rodenbach Grand Cru.  That sourness definitely makes it's presence known immediately when you take a drink. 

An interesting thing to do is swirl a mouthful around inside your mouth and feel how your tongue processes the flavors.  I have always heard that different parts of your tongue process individual flavor types, and this beer can actually demonstrate this exceedingly well.  Sour comes in loud and clear on the sides and a very subtle sweetness is there up front.   A mildly oaked and tart finish leaves the palate feeling clean and refreshed... and ready for more.  Another interesting thing to note is that the beer displays no real carbonation while sitting in the glass but there is a very distinct effervescence once it is on the tongue.

Rodenbach Grand Cru is not at all for everyone, and is probably about as sour of a beer as I would want to handle.  It is only 6% ABV so if you can handle a tart beer, you can drink a few glasses without getting knocked down by excessive alcohol.  I personally enjoy this tremendously and think there is a ton of possibilities if one were inclined to cook with it.  I am certain one amazing vinaigrette could be made with this, but with the uncertainty of when it will be available again I am not offering any bottles for experimentation!

My dad came down for the Indiana Microbrew Festival and paid for use of the guest room with some beer from Fauerbach Brewing.  I had never heard of this brewery before I was handed a bottle each of their Amber and Export beers.  A quick look around their website indicates they have been brewing for 121 years now and are located in Madison, WI.  But the bottle itself states that the beer is brewed and bottled by Gray's Brewing in Janesville, WI.  Well I have had Gray's before at a Wisconsin microbrew festival held yearly in Chilton, WI, so I figured this was a good sign.

So I cracked the bottle of Fauerbach Amber tonight and it poured a fairly dark reddish brown with about a finger's worth of cream colored head.  Within moments that head was dissipating quickly and there was really no lacing to be found on the glass.  The aroma seemed just a bit musty and actually reminded me more of what I would expect from a canned beer then a bottle, but then a subtle nuttiness emerged.  I am still fighting off the remnants of a summer cold, so I don't really trust my judgement on how the aroma of this beer really was. 

Taste on the other hand has been working fine.  And this beer definitely had some nut flavors mingling around with a mild bitterness from the hops.  I actually got a fairly strong citrus presence towards the end of a swig, more like lemon then anything else.  This gave the beer an overall dry and semi-bitter finish, but not at all unpleasant.  For as dark as the beer was, this has a nice light body and is surprisingly refreshing.

All in all I enjoyed this beer, but I won't be making any special trips to Chicago to buy any, which is as close as it is distributed to Naptown.  Depending on the cost of a sixer, this would make a pretty nice session beer. 

Side note.. dig the old Indianapolis Brewing poster in the background. :-)

This is the first year I have been able to attend the Indiana Microbrewer's Festival, and I am kicking myself for having missed the previous 12.  I had this grandiose idea of bringing a notebook and recording a list of everything I sampled with a simple thumbs up or down indicator next to each.  But in the end I decided that I really didn't want to be burdened with keeping track of unlimited samples and fumbling around with a handful of stuff.

We arrived to the Opti-Park area closer to 3 then I originally wanted to, more like 2:45, and still hadn't parked.  We got really fortunate though and parked along the street that would make up the back wall of the event and only had a short one block walk to get to the entrance.  The line of people waiting to get in was enormous and having been to multiple beer festivals elsewhere, we were wondering why nobody was allowed in prior to 3.  They could have easily gotten this massive amount of people off the street and onto the grounds, then at the appointed time signaled that beer could be poured and avoided some of the hassle.  It's a minor complaint as that line was jet fast once it opened, but it could have been even smoother if they had opened the gates at say 2:30 and allowed people to at least enter the park.

The first beer the Womanizer and myself had when we walked in was Darkhorse Double Crooked Tree IPA, a 13.6% beast of a DIPA that goes for about $14 / 4 pack at the liquor store.  To be honest I was utterly shocked to see something like that pouring and that is just a testament to how great the beer selection was.  I would say I easily sampled over 75 beers and there was only two I didn't like.  One of those I went so far as to actually dump out, I found it that horrible, but being from one of the smaller Indiana breweries I am going to leave them anonymous.  The other beer I hated.. Three Floyd's Darklord. 

I waited in line about half an hour with my dad and I had my wife's glass while she took a breather and sat for a bit.  The anticipation was great knowing that we were going to be able to try this top rated beer for the first time.  Then we got our samples.  I waited to get back to my wife and we all took a drink and looked at each other with a somewhat pained look on our face.  My wife's sample got added to my glass when I made a run to the restroom, so I had a double helping and was struggling with the decision of what to do with it.  I was seriously about to dump a full glass of Darklord out when Matt from Hoosier Beer Geek walked over and I traded my glass for his Brooklyn Weisse.  So thanks to Matt I avoided committing what would have probably been the ultimate beer sin to many of you.

All in all, there was just a fantastic variety of beer to sample and I will try to give a brief list of some of the highlights in my mind:

• New Albanian Hoptimus as well as their Cherry Imperial Stout which was mind blowingly good even on a hot day.
• Lafayette Brewing Co's Big Boris Barleywine from 1997 which was aged in wine casks was amazing.  Again, not the ideal day for that style, but it was great. Kind of wish now that I had made it back to try the 1998 variety as well.
• Brass Monkey in Kokomo made a believer out of me with their See No Evil Belgian IPA and the Green Tea Pale Ale. 
• Sierra Nevada brought a keg of their Anniversary Ale which is one of my very favorites now, and I am happy to hear that they brew this yearly as a seasonal, as I was under the impression that it was a one time thing originally.
• The Womanizer was a big fan of the Darkhorse offerings, as was I.  And you can never go wrong stopping at the Founder's or Stone booth either.

Anyway, here is a bunch of photos from the event.

I got a call yesterday from my buddy Action Jackson asking what I had planned for the evening and being told that he had a surprise for me.  So without further ado I agreed to meet over at his place with the idea that we would probably head out to MacNiven's as well.  Only knowing that the surprise was some kind of beer, I set off after work to his place.  And was greeted by a case of Three Floyd's Fantabulous Resplendence XI Anniversary Ale.  I had no idea the Fantabulous Resplendence was going to become a yearly offering, but I can tell you, this is definitely worth seeking out.  We both agreed that this is probably a different recipe then the X Anniversary Ale I reviewed a while back.  We both drank a bomber of that and then he pulled out another surprise, a couple bottles of Bell's Batch 8000, an imperial wit beer.  Somehow this beer had eluded me until last night and I was floored with how good it was.  In fact the whole time I was drinking it I couldn't help but think of how much it reminded me of the many great beers I had drank in Belgium last year.  Really really amazing with about a year of age on it.

After that, we set off for MacNiven's with the knowledge that they had Victory Prima Pils on tap and both of us wanted to try it.  It was also rumored to have Oaken Barrel's Superfly IPA on draft and we were happy to see both of these fine beers listed on their chalk boards behind the bar when we walked in.  Prima Pils is great from the bottle, and I would seriously say it could be in the running for one of the very best pilsners in the world.  On draft, served in tall pilsner glasses adorned with the Victory Prima Pils logo, there isn't another pilsner served in Naptown that can touch it.  After that we both had a pint of the Superfly IPA.  At the Hops for Pops festival a few weeks ago I all but begged the Oaken Barrel guys to start bottling this.  A very liberal amount of hops and rich mouthfeel make Superfly a total winner in my book.

Not content with the stupefying list of beers at MacNiven's, I suggested we head to J. Gumbo's to see what they had going on.  And we were rewarded for the effort by getting to sample some 1999 and 2005 aged Gale's Prize Old Ale.  That '99 was one of the most amazing beers I had ever tasted and did edge the '05.  I think I am going to have to seek some of this beer out and cellar it myself.  That was followed up by the last two bottles of 2005 Stone Double Arrogant Bastard they had.  I had never been able to find the Double Arrogant Bastard, so getting an opportunity to try some that had been aged was too irresistible.  We also got a nice opportunity to chat with Mike DeWeese, the owner of J. Gumbo's.  Action Jackson also got a Three Floyd's Dreadnaught from the hand-pull that was nice to try side by side with the Stone.  We finished the evening off with a run to the Waffle House for some late night grub.  The only drawback of the evening.. staying out till 1am on a school night doesn't agree we me so much anymore.  Was not enjoyable getting up this morning.

Tonight I tried the lone bottle of Celis Pale Bock that my dad brought down from Michigan for me.  This is another beer from the Michigan Brewing Company in their Celis line-up.  This beer is a fiery copper color when held up to a light and is very clear.  A very solid stream of carbonation bubbles drifts to the top and there is a huge pillowy tan head that dissipates at a nice but not too fast pace.

The aroma was really difficult to nail down.  Seems to have a really malty, almost sweet bread scent with a touch of maybe brown sugar and nutmeg.  Really very unusual to get this type of aroma from a beer this color that didn't have 'Holiday' somewhere in the name.  I am dealing with a touch of summer cold so I could be a bit off on this too.

Celis Pale Bock is a semi-sweet beer that has touches of maple syrup, raisin and maybe even the barest hint of cinnamon all floating around.  There is a bit of lemon peel bitterness on the tail end of a swallow to round this out.  I found it to be medium bodied with a somewhat dry finish.  Interestingly enough, that steady stream of carbonation that you can see seems to disappear during a drink.  This didn't feel flat, but it was fairly light on the carbonation which went against what the eyes tell you.

All in all, not a bad beer but it didn't do a whole lot for me.  I personally think the other beers I have had in the Celis line-up are better then this one.  Specifically the Celis Grand Cru and the Celis White.  If I had another bottle I would actually like to compare this to the JW Dundee's Pale Bock that is routinely in the Dundee's Craft Pack sampler.  I think they would probably be fairly close to each other.

The annual E3 conference is going on this week and is the source for some of the biggest news announcements in the tech, gaming and electronics industry.  This annual event is usually dominated by the big 3 in the video game console market, namely Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, followed by the myriad of publishers and developers who make the games for all those systems.  This year, Microsoft has some very exciting announcements for the future of the Xbox 360 console.

First off, for the gaming fans out there, the once exclusive to Playstation 3 game Final Fantasy XIII was revealed to be coming to the Xbox 360 afterall, much to the chagrin of the Sony fanboys.  The undisputed king of the RPG genre is finally making it's way to Microsoft's console and that is very welcome news to me.  On top of that, three other RPGs are set to be released by the same developer of the Final Fantasy series.  In the last generation of consoles, the original Xbox was somewhat picked apart by the gaming enthusiast for it's distinct lack of traditional RPG games.  That is no longer a case, and in some ways, there is almost too many.  RPGs generally include 70-100+ hours of gameplay to get through the entire story.  Start doing the math and you can see how that may be a problem if you are a fan of that genre.

Second off, and probably more exciting to the average electronics fan out there.  Microsoft officially announced what had been rumored for at least a few months now.. that being a partnership with online video rental giant Netflix.  What does this mean?  Anyone with an active Xbox Live Gold membership (me) and an active Netflix account (me) will have instant access to stream over 10,000 movies to their Xbox 360 console.  Even better then that, there will be an 'Instant Queue' that will show all the movies you have queued up that are available for immediate streaming.  I know our queue is in the 80 movie range currently and the thought of being able to pick a movie to watch at any given time and not have to shell out money is just awesome.

Lastly, there are just a dumptruck full amount of amazing games set for release between now and early next year.  Other enhancements to the Xbox 360 dashboard to further the online community feel are on the way soon as well.  All in all, the future is beyond bright if you own or are planning to own an Xbox 360.  I guess with that in mind, I should mention the price just dropped $50 for those still sitting on the fence.  Anyway, for a more complete roundup of what was announced, you can check out this article from Gamespot and their live blogging of the Microsoft press conference.

Saturday the family and I went out for a bite to eat at the Broad Ripple Brewpub.  This served two functions for me, one being a chance to pick up tickets to the Indiana Microbrewer's Festival and avoid 'convenience charges' from the online vendors, and two, drink some good beer.  I started with their pilsner and the Womanizer tried the Replic-ale 80 Schilling Scottish.  The boy decided that we had to sit outside, regardless of the fact that it was sweltering and muggy, so the pilsner really hit the spot.  Nice and crisp with a pleasant amount of hop bitterness.  Really a very refreshing beer and one that I personally think could / should replace the Lawnmower Pale Ale on the standard beer list.  The 80 Schilling Scottish was also pretty tasty, although it was probably not the best beer to be sitting outside that day drinking.  I followed the pilsner up with the Amarillo Lager which was on cask pull, and was warned that it would be a bit warmer.  No matter, this beer was a nice coppery red and had a great citrusy, grapefruit hop flavor.  Probably the hoppiest beer I have ever had at the Broad Ripple Brewpub.  Highly recommended.  A good time indeed and we now have our tickets for the festival this coming weekend. 

I was shown a pretty fun website to create your own 'motivations' style posters using your own pictures and figured I would share one I made of the boy in front of the Monk's Cafe in Philly. 

Other then that it has been a quiet week.  I meant to put a quick run down of how the 4th weekend turned out, but I got busy at all the wrong times and it is almost a week late.  Anyway, the highlights of the weekend start on Friday with the barbeque that was coming off the smoker.  Early in the day we had some smoked drumsticks marinated in Creole Butter and Cajun spices along with some smoked sausages.  Later on the 6 1/2 lb beef brisket came off the smoker and was absolutely the best brisket I have ever smoked.  Nice and tender with close to 1/4" of pink ring.  I am ready to make another right now just thinking about it.  We had 6 adults and my son sharing this huge piece of meat, a bunch more sausage and some chicken with all the sides, and when it was all said and done, 7 slices of brisket were left.  I really expected to have a couple meals worth.

Saturday went to a nice cookout in Brookston and drank PBR.. from a can.. which brings me to a huge complaint.  I went to 4 liquor stores looking for long necks of PBR and couldn't find it at all.  Liquor stores that used to carry it.  I know Monarch is the new distributor of Pabst products since they bought out Rhoades, and initially I was fairly happy with the sounds of that.  Now I am thinking that Pabst is just an afterthought to Monarch compared to Miller and Coors products, while it was the big brand for Rhoades. I know most of my readers could care less about the availability of Pabst products in bottle around Naptown, but I was sorely frustrated with the situation.

Lastly, getting set to go grab some tickets for the Indiana Microbrewers Festival.  This will be the first time I have been able to go.  Not sure why I managed to miss it year after year, but I can say I am really looking forward to going this year.  Hopefully see some of you other Indy beer bloggers out there. 

Well the holiday weekend is almost here and the plans are set.  We are going to have a cookout featuring a selection of meats on the smoker grill and a massive selection of beer tomorrow.  Really hoping this rain clears out quickly so I can get the pit fired up easily tomorrow with minimal hassle, then kick back and enjoy some tasty beverages.  I have specifically put a 12-pack of 16oz Ballantine Ale in the fridge, as well as some Victory Prima Pils along with all the other stuff that was already in there.  (I really need to take a picture of my main beer fridge to share)  Not to be forgotten is the two kegs on tap, one of my Bavarian Hefeweizen and the other my Floor Model Pilsner.  My dad is coming to visit starting this evening and I have a couple of nice bottles in mind.  He has not tried the Three Floyd's Blackheart, so we might crack one of those, and I have a Stone Arrogant Bastard in the wine fridge at a comfortable 55 degrees.

Saturday we are heading to visit the Womanizer's family and have another cookout.  I may have to pack a cooler as I would expect the beer selection to be of the macro lager variety.  I don't necessarily mind that, but the macros I drink tend to come from the Pabst Brewing Co...

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!  Be safe and drink and eat well!

As you may recall I mentioned the coming of a new product coming soon called Budweiser American Ale.  Well, I picked this off of the Brew Blog earlier today. 

A-B has aggressive roll-out plans for Budweiser American Ale, Beer Marketer's Insights reports. From the story in today's Beer Marketer's Insights Express (subscription required): "It targets 40% on-premise and 70% off-premise distribution by Jan 1, it said in letter to distribs. Bud Ale "will be supported with more than $28 million in media merchandising and sampling," including $18 mil in media. ... Why is AB going after this oppy? 'Double digit growth in craft, particularly ales,' sez AB."

Hmmm.. sounds like Anheuser Busch is going to cram this new ale of theirs down our throats with a media blitz and a ton of store displays.  I can't wait for that.