NABC Beer Descriptions, for the Great Taste of the Midwest 2011 official program.

NABC beer descriptions for the Great Taste of the Midwest 2011 official program, as submitted earlier this summer. We're only a few days away!

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At the NABC main station, C02 pour:

*B’Urban Trotter
Elector
Hoptimus
Jaxon
*Naughty Girl
Solidarity (special timing TBA)
Thunderfoot
Tunnel Vision
Yakima

Cask-conditioned NABC (pins at the NABC station; tapping time TBA):

Scotch-pin-aged Quadrageddon
Scotch-pin-aged Solidarity

Cask-conditioned NABC (firkins at the real ale tent):

Beak’s Best
Community Dark

* Collaboration with De Struise Brouwers and Louisville Beer Store

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NABC beer descriptions

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At the NABC main station, C02 pour:

B’Urban Trotter
Double India Pale Ale
ABV: 9.2%
IBU: 208
OG: 21 degrees Plato
Finish Line at the Starting Gate
If the Kentucky Derby is the greatest two minutes in sports, then B’Urban Trotter is the finest few moments of sipping, because what better place for a brewer/ostrich rancher from Flanders to seek inspiration than Louisville’s annual Run for the Roses? With collaborative assistance from NABC and Louisville Beer Store, De Struise’s Urbain Coutteau created this “Derbied” Double India Pale Ale to be dry-hopped and bourbon/oak aged, with a suggestion of mint for the home stretch.

Malts: Rahr 2-Row, Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner, Castle Biscuit, Simpsons Medium Crystal

Hops: Cascade (mash, dry), Summit (first wort), Summit (bittering), Chinook (bittering, flavor, dry), Northern Brewer (flavor), Simcoe (dry)

Yeast: American (Chico) Ale

Special additions: Vanilla beans and honey were added during the whirlpool.

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Elector
Imperial Red
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 62
OG: 18.5 degrees Plato
Makes Democracy Pointless
Richly malty and excessively hopped, Elector was first brewed on Election Day, taking its name from the Electoral College. In like fashion, Elector’s unique character makes democracy utterly pointless. It severs party affiliations, crosses the aisle, and commands you to drink early and vote often. That’s because whenever Elector is on the ballot, there’s only one real choice.

Malts: Rahr Pale and Simpsons Medium Crystal

Hops: Nugget and Cascade

Yeast: House American

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Hoptimus
Imperial IPA
ABV: 10.7%
IBU: 100
OG: 22.6 degrees Plato
Sterner Stuff
Living vicariously through others is a sad compromise meant only for rank amateurs and subpar international lagers. Rather, we all might profit from the principled example of Hoptimus, which lives vivaciously, audaciously and capriciously through itself. With a snarky hop character that is blatantly unrepentant, Hoptimus ensures that meek palates surely will not inherit the earth.

Malt: Special Pale

Hops: Four additions of high alpha Nugget, one late addition of Cascade, dry-hopped with whole cone Cascades

Yeast: House English

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Jaxon
Barley Wine
ABV: 11%
IBU: 100
OG: 28 degrees Plato
Drop the Leash and Let Him Run
The newest member of the Brewers’ Best Friend Series teasingly asks the question, “With a bark like that, who needs Pat?,” because Jaxon, NABC’s properly pedigreed Barleywine, is brewed and aged by David Pierce (creator of the legendary Bearded Pat’s Barley Wine) at Bank Street Brewhouse. Only the first runnings are collected from the mash tun, with no sparge. Three separate mashes make up one batch.

Malts: Special Pale, Dingeman's Biscuit, Cara 45, Special B

Hops: Centennial, Simcoe, Chinook in two additions;
Cascade in the whirlpool; dry hopped twice with whole cone Cascade

Yeast: House English

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Naughty Girl
Belgian India Blonde Ale
ABV: 6%
IBU: 69
OG: 14.4 degrees Plato
Naturally Naughty -- by Nurture
It all began as a Belgo-American ménage a trois, but then the brewers arrived and transformed the trans-oceanic affair into a beer love pentangle. The collaborative minds at Louisville Beer Store, De Struise Brouwers and New Albanian Brewing Company offer this, a willfully disobedient India Blonde Ale with a hop on her shoulder.

Malts: Rahr 2-row, Rahr Premium Pils, Castle (Belgian) Aromatic, CaraPils

Hops: Cascade, Galena, Golding, Cascade for warm dry-hopping

Yeast: De Struise House Ale

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Solidarity
Baltic Porter
ABV: 8%
IBU: 18
OG: 21.1 degrees Plato
Solidarity or Death
In the 1980’s, the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland helped end the
Communist Party’s hegemony. In 2011, we watched as Wisconsin fought its own battles against repression. We tip our hats to Solidarity, both as a concept and a movement, with this robust liquid reminder of Baltic foresight in activism … and strong beer.

Malts: Special Pale; Simpsons Aromatic, Dark Crystal, Chocolate and Black; CaraPils

Hops: Magnum in the kettle; Willamette in the whirlpool

Yeast: Common Lager

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Thunderfoot
Cherried Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%
IBU: 90
OG: 25.2 Plato
Ultimate Urban Renewal
There can be no doubt. Thunderfoot actively renounces the gentle tweak, the mild revision, and the imperceptible hint. Thunderfoot neither seeks to make a plausible case for adaptive reuse, nor can it be bothered with the nuances of historical preservation. Thunderfoot puts its elongated foot squarely down, advocating your palate’s restructuring the old-fashioned way – whole cloth, entire, complete, irresistible, certain and inevitable.

Malts: Special Pale, Simpson's Roasted Barley, Simpson's Dark Crystal, Flaked Oats

Hops: UK Challenger, Willamette

Special treatment: Hop-backed with dried Bing tart cherries. Aged for one year on oak and dried tart cherries.

Yeast: House English

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Tunnel Vision
ABV: 9.5%
IBU: 20
OG: 22.1 degrees Plato
The Ultimate in Sexy Subterranean Chic
Those hardy immigrant gnomes who came from the venerable hills of the Ardennes to take up residence beneath the mysterious Knobs of Southern Indiana get lonely, too. That’s why NABC gave them Tunnel Vision, a potion reminiscent of home, and sufficiently versatile for consumption in all seasons -- and on all continents.

Malts: Castle Pale, Castle Aromatic, Weyermanns Vienna, Flaked Rye, Honey Malt

Hops: Magnum

Special: Orange Peel, Coriander

Yeast: Belgian Chouffe

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Yakima
Rye India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 130
OG: 17 degrees Plato
How the Midwest Was Won
“Yakima is simple in design: This beer is for me, the hophead Brewmaster here in the land of no coast. After many years of liquid research, the time came to satisfy my inner desire to craft a Rye IPA so immaculate that it would ‘up’ our revolution even further. Mission accomplished.” -- Jared Williamson

Malts: Rahr 2-row, Flaked Rye, Weyermann CaraFoam

Hops: Columbus, Centennial, Cascade

Yeast: House ale

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Cask-conditioned NABC (pin at the NABC station; tapping time TBA):

Scotch-pin-aged Quadrageddon
It’s Belgian, it’s strong, and that’s all any of us know. Aged in a wooden pin that formerly held Lagavulin-conditioned JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale

Scotch-pin-aged Solidarity
As above; Baltic Porter aged in a wooden pin that formerly held Lagavulin-conditioned JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale.

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Cask-conditioned NABC (firkins at the real ale tent):

Beak’s Best
American ESB
ABV: 5.3%
IBU: 35
OG: 14.75 degrees Plato
American Bitter & Soul Liniment
Brewed with English malts and American hops, and named in honor of globetrotting historian and educator Don "Beak" Barry. You really need to meet the Beak, and sample his ale.

Malts: Simpsons Golden Promise, Simpsons Medium Crystal, Castle (Belgian) Aromatic and Special B

Hops: Triple hopped with Cascade pellets

Yeast: House English

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Community Dark
English Dark Mild
ABV: 3.7%
IBU: 12.5
OG: 11.5 degrees Plato
Inside Is What Counts
Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup gold medal winner, 2011. Inspired by traditional English Mild, the style that fueled the factory workers who made the Industrial Revolution, Community Dark is revolutionary in its own way: Dark-colored but light-bodied, and a session ale suitable for New Albany’s emerging downtown renaissance.

Malts: Special Pale, Dark Crystal and Chocolate malts

Hops: Double hopped with EK Golding

Yeast: House London