Trip to Indy

Just got back from a short trip to Indianapolis, where we visited (for the 2nd time) Buffalo Wild Wings downtown. Now if you're not an Indiana beer geek, you might be wondering why one would go to such a place looking for beer. I didn't manage to take home a menu, but here are a few of the beers I remember them having on tap today:

Bell's Double Cream Stout (hand-pulled, no less)
J.W. Lees Harvest Ale, aged in Sherry Casks (also on the hand pull-- more on this below)
Bell's Two Hearted
Bell's Sparkling Ale (Bell's calls it an American Triple-- I've had it in bottles and it's pretty interesting)
Three Floyds Robert the Bruce
Three Floyds Alpha King
He'brew Jew-belation (holiday ale-- very yummy)

Well, you get the idea. They have about 40 taps all together, and they're mostly like the ones I've listed (only a few crap beers).

They also have a bunch of bottled stuff, including several different "vintage" beers, like Bell's stouts from 4 or 5 years ago.

Now don't get me wrong-- the place looks just like you'd expect it to look (with the exception of all the taps behind the bar). It's thoroughly chain-restaurant, sportsbar, blech. But the beer. Oh, my, the beer.

They even serve their beer at true beer geek temperatures-- not too cold for the regular drafts, and positively cellar-temperature for the casks.

That JW Lees Harvest Ale is truly sublime-- creamy, tons of wood, some definite sherry flavors, ridiculously complex and smooth. It's worth the trip all by itself.

I also had Robert the Bruce (that's what I'm drinking in the photo) from the amazing folks at Three Floyds. It's a Scottish style ale, but like all Three Floyds beer it has lots of hops. Not sure I've had it on draft before. I definitely enjoyed it.

Then of course I stole samples from my drinking companions (my fiancee Daniela and our friend Ingrid). The Jewbilation was excellent (I'd had it this year in the bottle but it was definitely different on draft)-- lots of butterscotch, dark and rich with great complexity. And the Bell's Double Cream Stout was marvelous on the hand pull-- as the name might suggest, it's plenty chewy, outrageously malty, lots of crystal malt and other dark toasty roasty yumminess.

What a great place....