When You Care Enough To Brew The Very Best

The very first Anderson Brewfest was today in downtown Anderson, Indiana. I did not go to a fiber festival JUST so I could go support the brewfest and the local breweries. Whatta gal.

Without further ado.....

My friends came from Indy and the very first place I take them is Gene's Hot Dogs. We must prep our stomachs for the multitude of beer samples.

The brewfest was right on the snake of Meridian Street, where the Paramount Theatre is located. Brilliant and beautiful place to have it!

resting in the shade

The line to get tickets was pretty long, but luckily, my friends and I pre-purchased our tickets online, so we just flew right in. We were handed a swag bag that included a pint glass (which was our tasting glass) and a pamphlet with all the brewers, sponsors and bands and a place to take notes. Having not seen this pamphlet earlier, I had my own little notebook out taking notes. Geek... I am one.

That's me with the red purse. Photo courtesy of We Are Madison County.

We did bypass Sun King only because we've had a lot of Sun King. It's already a favorite and they had the three basic: Osiris, Wee Mac and Cream Ale. All delicious but seeing as I have limited space in the belly, I wanted to try things I haven't tried before (lie number one).

Artist's Alley was right up front but we decided to hit that on the way out. We initially started with the first brewery in line, Quaff On. Let me preface by saying, I'm now looking up a lot of this on the internet because my handwriting got atrocious by the end of this and I can't read my notes. But I recognize the pictures!

Quaff On is from Nashville, IN and had 3 selections to sample. I'm not an IPA fan so I did forgo ALL IPA samples. Sorry, IPA lovers. I tried the Busted Knuckle (which I wrote down as Knuckle Buster - this was my first sample! geesh), which is a hybrid porter. Delicious. My friend tried the Yellow Dwarf, an American Wheat. Also very tasty. See, this is why you bring friends. Three times as many samples to try!

From here, we tried to devise a plan of attack. It was getting really crowded and the lines were pretty good sized to each brewery. We had to think. We had to plan. We had to drink. Onward....

We went to the very end of the line, near the food trucks, and worked our way back. Let me say that Anderson has done up this little area well. There is plenty of seating and shade and it was a damn gorgeous day to be out there. Bravo!

The Big Easy Cajun food truck

Some of the brewers just sent beer and volunteers gave the samples (like Sun King and Upland). We stopped at the Daredevil tent and we sampled the Vacation Kolsch and it too was very good. But better yet, it was ice cold. Perfect.

People's Brewing Company. Their sign should have clued me in. It was covered in hops. They are from Lafayette and I opted to try their rye malt liquor, which I can't for the life of me remember the name for and I don't recognize on their site. This might be deemed the most unusual beer I have tasted. I didn't dislike it at all but I don't think I could have drank a whole glass of this bad boy. I finished my sample and was still wondering "Do I like this? I think I like this?"

A view of the entrance from the second floor of the parking garage.

The next tent was a brewery I had already tried from my time on the Indy Brew Bus. Fountain Square Brewery is it's name and I knew it was good. Although, if I remember right, it was the last stop on the Brew Bus and things got hazy and then scary about that time (a sudden snowstorm came at us while we were imbibing). I opted to try Hugh Hefe because I know I liked hefeweizen . The Hops for Teacher Pale Ale sounded... hoppy. They also had Workingman's Pilsner, which I have tried before and is excellent. Hugh was quite good and cold annnnnd.... break time.

 

the ballerina fountain - not the official name

 

The people!

These folks weren't on the list because they aren't technically a brewery... yet. But they were a sponsor!  Cartel Brewing sells brewing supplies and has classes (and loads other stuff - check their site). As a side note, some breweries were running out of beer which induced audible sighs and groans from the crowd. Hopefully next year that won't be an issue.

Cartel offered up 2 beers, Renaissance and a Saison, I think. Here's where my handwriting is just stupid. My friend had the former, I had the latter and both were good although I did like hers better. Crisper, had a bite to it.

Scanning the list, I realize I have to cut back on the breweries I know and just hit the final ones that I've never tried before *cough*.

Cutters Brewing made me a liar once. I've had their Monon Wheat, bought at Meijer, and it is one of the better wheat beers I've had and they were right there and my glass was empty and they had a Scottish Ale for goodness sake!!! Give me a break. One friend got the Scottish Ale (Floyd's Folly), one got the pale ale (Knobstone) and I went in full force for a brown sour (General Brown). *screeeeech*  I've never ever had a sour beer before. I think all of my tastebuds jumped out of my mouth and went screaming into the ballerina fountain. Of course, I then made my friends try it and I finished the sample because that's the kind of gal I am. It reminded me of a very tart very hard cider but beer. And that makes no sense because I don't know how to describe a brown sour beer. Except just try it once.

*clap* BREAK!

 Taking a breather and showing that the glass could be empty. and sad. sad glass.

I think around this point, Susan threw in the glass and went to sit down and wait on us. Becky and I wandered to the Flat 12 tent where I was made a liar AGAIN. Flat 12 was also on the Brew Bus route and their beers are magical. It's like some evil genius throws all flavors into a hat and they randomly pull out a handful and make a beer. Mudbugs Cajun, anyone? Kiwi beer? Cucumber Kolsch? How about a strawberry/bourbon/vanilla beer? I tried the strawberry beer and it was fantastic. Again, can't remember what it was called and I don't see it on the website but if I find it, I'll update my page.

We went to find Susan and listen to some music. Bands played all day but this was the first we sat and listened. The Apathy Wizards from Muncie were on with a big ol' bass and a guy playing a suitcase. Yes, it was that good.

 Apathy Wizards

Alright, 3 more breweries to go.... I can do this.

Now I am really only going to the ones I've never been to, I swear. But I'm saving the belle of the ball, my most favorite beer of all, for last.

Mad Anthony has a Summer Daze pale and a Raspberry Wheat. I sampled the raspberry from my friend's glass and had some of the Summer Daze. Both were good, but then I saw someone who poured BOTH into his glass. Now that had to be amazing.

Taxman Brewing from Bargersville had almost all Abbey style belgians. I got the Exemption, the Abbey style Trippel. Very, very good but I am also a fan of the Abbey style so I feel that one was a gimme.

My most favoritist beer of the day (spell check doesn't think that's a word... hmm) was from Scarlet Lane Brewing Company  and I almost didn't get it. I do love stouts and dark beers but it's near the end of the day and a nice farmhouse ale sounded good. The beer-woman handing out samples saw me deciding and let me know that they were almost out of Dorian Stout if I wanted to be one of the last to try it. Ah... ok. Hands down, one of the best stouts I've had and it was made from coconuts. The coconut wasn't overwhelming but it was there and it made it *smacks lips* perfect.

We did hit the Artist Alley on the way out and I bought a very cool lap blanket (part fleece/part crochet) from the Crooked Hookers. A little smack was talked re: knitters vs crocheters but I left happy and with a new, cool blanket. I also picked up an Anderson Brewfest tee shirt.

And I left a happy camper who can't wait for next year.