Coney Craft Beer Sampling?

Just got the Vecenie beer news email - lo and behold, there's a Craft Beer Sampling scheduled at The Coney. Next Thursday, March 1, from 9-11pm. No details available on the Coney website yet.

I'll post more details as they come in. Hopefully, we will see some of you there.

UPDATE: At least two of the 3-4 beers will be Church Brew Works products. I was told the event is free and will be held Upstairs (in the nice bar).

We are still beer... er, here.

Despite how it seems here, the Club did not fall apart after the Gazette article. I think we've all just been a tad busy.

Me, I'm getting ready to brew my first batch of homebrew tomorrow night, so I've been busy planning, stressing and thinking about good brewery names and logos. You know, the important stuff.

We had a pretty good response to the article and I think things are going to just keep picking up. As the weather warms and winter goes away for a little while, I think we'll have more things planned beyond our meetings.

Speaking of meetings, we've not yet decided on a beer style/theme or meeting place, so if anyone has any ideas, please speak up or drop us a comment.

Lets try this instead, the Gazette article in digital form.

Here is the Indiana Gazette article that Nate posted on. Now, after some tweakery, it's readable. You'll have to click on it to get the big version, but you'll definitely be able to read it.

Good Gazette Article This Morning

That was a nice article by Bill this morning in the leisure section. I wish there would have been more homebrewing than wine making ;) but hopefully the plug for this blog and the club will help us grow and raise awareness about craft beer.

If an electronic version of the article ever comes available, we'll post the link.

To those who found us by reading the Gazette article - Welcome!

Ironwood Grill's New Bar Is Open

Visited the Ironwood tonight and checked out their new bar. Full report can be found here, if you're really interested.

I encourage everyone to check it out (the bar, not my review) and give your opinion in the comments below. I think it's good that local bars are taking up the challenge of providing a place for craft beer drinkers to enjoy a pint or two. Whether or not they'll garner a lot of business from our unique niche of customer base remains to be seen - as we tend to be a bit more savvy when it comes to beer purchasing.

The beer tastings at the Ironwood should start in April and run on the first Tuesdays of each month (what a happy coincidence for the club!). Perhaps we can assemble en masse for April's meeting and share our thoughts while sampling some new beers.

Beer Club coverage in the Post-Gazette.

Ok, its not our Club, but any coverage on clubs devoted to the appreciation of good beer can't be a bad thing.

As they describe it, the new group is all about exposing people to different, good brews.
"We're not people who know everything," Mr. Sunderman says. "We're just common guys who like beer."

That sounds a tad familiar.

February Club Meeting Notes

First of all, a big thanks to Jon and Lacey for hosting last night's meeting and for providing food and some good beers!

We almost tripled our 'membership' last night, with 11 people and we hope that our new guests will continue to join us. Welcome to TJ, Todd, Pete, Erick, Mark, Steve, and Carl and thanks for bringing a wide array of beers for us all to try.

Last night's lineup was quite varied, but considering the limited selection in town it would have been hard to stick to Belgian ales!

We sampled:
*Hoegaarden Witbier (Belgium), a Belgian white
*Victory Golden Monkey (PA), an abbey tripel
St. Feuillien Tripel (Belgium), an abbey tripel
Unibroue's Seigneuriale (Canada), a Belgian strong/dark
Southampton Biere de Garde (NY), a biere de garde
Lindemans Cuvee Rene (Belgium), a gueuze lambic
*Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (DE), an India pale ale
East End's The Ugly American (PA), an abbey tripel
*Stone Ruination IPA (CA), a double IPA
*Stone Arrogant Bastard (CA), an American strong ale
*Guinness Extra Stout (Canada), a dry stout
Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere (MI), a saison

*denotes beers available in Indiana; majority of others found in Pittsburgh

To find out more about these styles and their characteristics, you can check out the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Style Guidelines. To find out how these beers are judged by the average beer lover, you can search for them at either RateBeer or Beer Advocate.

Many of our guests got to try some really good stuff that they probably hadn't had before. Many were surprised by the Cuvee Rene, as gueuze lambics aren't really well known around here. Some were surprised to find that they really enjoyed a heavily hopped beer, like the Stone beers and the DFH 60-Minute. Spread the word!

The only disappointment in the line up was the Southampton Biere de Garde. A couple of us felt that it was off, with a lot of DMS (dimethyl sulfide) and buttery notes. Those of us who keep notes on the beers we try didn't bother to record this one, since it would have been unfairly judged. Better luck next time.

In all, I think everyone enjoyed the evening. The company was varied by age, profession, and interests, but everyone seemed to appreciate the beer. Great side discussions on music, travel, and coffee, too! We hope to see everyone next month and we'll provide details in the coming weeks for theme and location of March's meeting.

Cheers!