INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
June ’04 Mid-America trip brought wife and I to stylish central Indiana municipality. As the state capitol, Indianapolis is the third biggest Midwest city (behind Chicago and Detroit). Along the White River and surrounded by prairie lands, its neoclassical limestone-bronzed Soldiers And Sailors Monument overlooked fine downtown San Franciscan-styled ALCATRAZ BREWING (closed September 2013).
Done up in Southwestern motifs and offering decent mid-range brews to go alongside lunchtime fish tacos, burgers, and pizza, this centrally-located restaurant-brewpub attracts businessmen and families. Soft wheat-husked Search Light Golden Ale; light-bodied sunny-spiced citric-hopped sedation Weiss Guy Wheat; and dry red-fruited perfume-hopped caramel-malted Big House Red were readily approachable.
Black tea-embittered grapefruit-peeled floral-dried herbal-hopped Pelican Pale Ale; wood-burnt mocha-malted English-styled Birdman Brown; and mild chocolate-spiced cherry-wooded coffee-roasted dry-bodied Old Glory Stout each had greater character.
HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK
PREFIX: Perhaps the greatest bottled beer selection in America resides in Poughkeepsie, a rocky terrace town off the Hudson River sixty miles north of Manhattan. Even after sucking down 2,500 different beers by July ’03, I found 50 more (including new local selections by Wagner Valley, Middle Ages, Southern Tier, and Cooperstown) at spectacular HALF TIME, then 25 more, August ’04, another 22, October ’04, and 18 more, September ’07.
Up North ten miles from Half Time on Route 9W lies HYDE PARK BREWING, a cozy farmhouse sports bar with brew tanks both above the central wooden bar and to the right upon entering. Located in Franklin Roosevelt’s hometown, this New Hyde Park brewpub, across the street from Marist College, has dartboards, arcade games, and a fabulous antique beer can collection, visited October ’04, then September ‘07.
From lightest to heaviest, its fair-to-middling brews included lemony hop-embittered, wheat-strawed, corn-starched, Munich-styled Helles, Big Easy Blonde; softly carbonated metallic-rimmed maize-dried Saaz-hopped earthen-backed Bohemian-styled Winkle Lager; tart orange-peeled banana-dried Barrel 9; and cherry-orange-tart, tobacco-sweet, butter-nutted, wheat-biscuit-y Rough Rider Red Lager.
Prickly-hopped, Band-aid-wafted, dried-fruited, diacetyl-laden S.O.B; cocoa-nutty fig-soured coffee-oiled Schwarzbier-styled Von Schtupp’s Dark Lager; soft mocha-dried Mary P.’s Porter; and creamy espresso relaxant Chaos Dry Stout were only slightly weightier.
