Thr3e Wisemen Brewing Co.

This past weekend my wife and I went to the Notre Dame vs Navy game in South Bend, IN. We stayed in Indianapolis for the weekend and visited Thr3e Wisemen Brewing Company located in the Broad Ripple community.

Atmosphere

The interior is all hardwood and the tables are picnic tables and each have a growler in the center. The tables are setup as two four tops but can easily accommodate a group of ten to twelve people by removing the table decoration/separator. Instead of napkins the patrons have a dish towel. I believe this is an excellent idea; not only is it reusable, it is also easy to stock and replace when the time has come. There were multiple flat panel televisions hung from the ceiling, each with a different football game on. I would liken this to an upscale sports bar atmosphere. Instead of bread, patrons are greeted with a small bucket of popcorn and a wide-mouth Ball^tm jar filled with water.

Beer

Thr3e Wisemen only carries a total of seven beers; four beers and two seasonal beers that are produced on premise, and a "guest" tap. The beers are:  Two Lucy's Blackberry Wheat, Golden Zoe IPA, Centennial Martyr Double IPA, and Snow Bunny Blonde. The seasonal beers while we were there were a cask aged Martyr Double IPA and a Belgian Trippel called the Abbey. The guest tap was a locally brewed Imperial Red Ale. 

My wife ordered the Two Lucy's Blackberry Wheat and I ordered the beer sampler, which comes with any three beers. I ordered the Golden Zoe IPA, Centennial Martyr Double IPA, and the Abbey. The Abbey an the double IPA were both well balanced beers, however they tasted the same with the exception that the double IPA had a centennial hop finish. I had a few of the Imperial Red and I was my favorite of the evening.

Food

All I can say is it was incredible. We started with two appetizers, the first was Goat Cheese Marinara.

The bread on the side was made from the same dough as the pizzas. I cannot describe the taste other that a sweet marinara paired with a tart goat cheese that was a perfect match.

The second appetizer was a loaded chips. The chips were homemade and covered with bacon and your choice of Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing. The last thing we ordered was the pizza special of the month, the Octoberfest. The pizza was covered with Dijon mustard, beer braised bratwurst and sauerkraut. It was a really good pizza, not too much Dijon and just the right amount of sauerkraut. 

If you ever find yourself near the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis, please stop in as I promise you will not be disappointed. 

  

Review - Abita Pecan Harvest

Beer
This is another single I picked up from World Market. Abita Beer was founded in 1986 and is located 30 miles north of New Orleans, Louisiana. In its first year, the brewery produced 1,500 barrels of beer and now produces 109,000 barrels of beer and 6,000 barrels of root beer. According to the bottle:

Pecan Harvest is and ale brewed with  pale, Munich, biscuit, and caramel malts and Willamette hops. Real Louisiana roasted pecans are added in the brewhouse and give the ale a subtle nutty flavor and aroma.

This beer has no discernible hop profile or flavor. It is slightly malty biscuit flavor with a light hint of pecans. I cannot detect a pecan aroma. While I do not like heavily malted beers, the Abita Pecan Harvest does not fall into that category, but just barely. If you want a beer that has a nice pecan aroma and flavor you should try the Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale from Lazy Magnolia. 

Food
Tonight for dinner I am having a ribeye, cooked medium, and a baked potato with butter and sour cream. The steak is seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning. In my opinion, the flavor of the beer was not affected, good or bad, by the meal.

Review - Marble Brewery Red Ale

Beer
I picked up a single Red Ale from World Market. Marble Brewery is a relatively new brewery located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The bottle reads:

Our red ale is rich with caramel malts and balanced with a bold, bright blend of Crystal, Cascade, and Simcoe hops.

On first taste the malt comes through but is well balanced with a slight bitter from the hops with a medium Simcoe hop finish. There is a lot of character in this beer and if you like the Simcoe finish you will like this beer.

Food
First, I have no experience pairing beer and food. I like beer and I like food. Tonight for dinner we are having Cajun Style lentils with Cheesy Mettwurst. The cajun spices really hide the malt in this beer but the Simcoe hops are still there and noticeable. Since the meal I am eating takes away the malt flavor from the beer I will say you probably should not pair this beer with any dish that has pronounced spices.

My honest guess is that this would pair well with steak or pork a with basic seasoning or marinade. I would definitely have a few of these at my local pub.

Beer Dinner = Good Times!

For the past couple years, Tabitha and I have been regularly attending the most wonderfully awesome beer tasting dinners hosted by one of our favorite local restaurants: Sunspot. These delightful dinners happen the second or third Monday of the month and feature five incredible courses paired with five great beers for in the $40-45 range. The beers all come from a single craft brewery (although last month was the first ever "collaborative" beer dinner - did I say awesome already?), with examples like Terrapin, Sweetwater, New Belgium, North Coast, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Yazoo, Starr Hill... the list is only limited by the distribution (which, in TN, sadly is limited - but they do quite well nonetheless).


Yesterday we dined a Sweetwater-themed dinner with Rocket Scientists AJ, Vikki, Les, Ann, and John, and some other good friends. As usual, Chef Brandon rocked an incredible menu with each course pairing perfectly with the beers. My favorite was the Sweetwater Blue paired with duck pastrami topped pickled cabbage on a rye crostini biscuit surrounded by tomato dill aioli. Now Blue (or any fruit-flavored beer, really) isn't at the top my list, but it is a solid beer, and the blueberry flavored wheat really balanced well against the perfectly cooked meatyness of the duck and the sweet pickeled onions and cabbage, and the dill gave it a great herbal savor. Yum. Before I knew it I had more more blue in me than a smurf. It takes a great chef to take a beer that I'm not super crazy about and make it my favorite pairing of the night.


The best part for a beer lover about these beer dinners is the chance to try beers new to the Knoxville market and beers that aren't available around here yet. Out of the five beers (or sometimes six if it's a really awesome brewery and they throw in a bonus brew!) typically one or two are the mainstay or flagship labels, and the other 2-4 are seasonals and cool new beer. There have even been times when a beer that isn't sellable in TN due to our crazy liquor laws was trucked in straight from the brewery to our table. How great is that? Some highlights that stuck in mind included Terrapin Hopsicutioner, Big Hoppy Monster and Gamma Ray, New Belgium's Tripel and Dubbel, Sierra Nevada Celebration and Big Foot, and Pranqster and Brother Thelonius from North Coast.

So, this time next month be on the lookout for the next great beer dining experience in Knoxville. I also encourage everyone reading to check out what their local restaurants are doing with craft breweries and get excited about great beer!

Miller/Coors Light Home Draft Keg for Homebrew?

A friend is investigating the Home Draft Keg.

I purchased the Coors Light Home Draft Keg with the hopes of reusing it with home brew. First impression is that is not possible, they have completely incased the CO₂ canister in plastic such that it is not replaceable. But I still have to empty the keg before I can do more testing.

It's good that he is taking one for the team.  Meanwhile, if you're a fan of that style of American lager, check out an Associated Content's review.  There is some discussion of these on the HomebrewTalk forums and a whole forum dealing with them otherwise.