TOW YARD BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

Inside a multi-storied red brick industrial warehouse a few blocks from Indianapolis Colts indoor football stadium, TOW YARD BREWING opened April 2014 (and closed March ’18). A large concrete-floored facility serving local downtown businesses with expressive libations and good bar food, its sportsbar atmosphere certainly suits the basketball, hockey and football fans attending nearby games.

Tow Yard’s main 20-seat pergo wood-ceilinged bar and smaller right side 6-seat bar serve two community tables, several stooled tables, a backroom banquet area and wraparound front deck.  An enormous well-kept beer can collection spreads across the spacious interior walls and an on-site deli provides sandwiches, burgers, chicken wings and salads to go alongside homemade draught beer.

Purdue bio grad and head brewer, Tony Fleming (who replaced Indiana University alumni, Bradley Zimmerman), provides a wide array of stylistic brews – some of which are slightly off-the-beaten path.

Visited April 2016, I quaffed the three flagship beers first. Each of these approachable offerings are also available in cans for outside consumption.

Easygoing Goldie Hops Cream Ale placed spicy Saaz hops and honeyed wheat malts above a soft biscuit bottom.

Using Goldie Hops as the base, Hook Up Shandler, a soda-like Radler shandy, brought ruby red grapefruit sweetness and tart lemonade-powdered granulated sugaring to the fore as iced tea nuances wavered below.

Splendid Horsepower Double Pale Ale plied orange-spiced piney hop dryness and subtle peach-mango undertones to barley-grained Maris Otter malting.

Briskly dry-hopped moderation,  Impound IPA, contrasted grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering against sugar-spiced sweetness.

English dark mild ale, Who’s That Brown Ale, tasted like day-old coffee with roasted chocolate tones and a brown-sugared candied walnut glaze riding above the light hop-charred bittering.

A bit unusual, classic brown-hued Japanese malt liquor, Beat Box Samurai, delivered sourly dark-roasted chocolate nuttiness and peated soy sauce brininess to earthen wood tones.

Dark-roasted coffee and chocolate dominated Creamy Behemoth Imperial Oatmeal Stout, deepening its mocha frontage with caramelized oats and wispy nuttiness.

My fave: Oatis Redding Imperial Red Ale retained a silken flow despite its heightened 11% ABV as roasted caramel malting, subtle bourbon sweetness and sugary oats coalesced above mild dry-hopped bittering.

towyardbrewing.com

BARLEY’S SMOKEHOUSE & BREWPUB – GRANDVIEW

Beers A-Z,

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COLUMBUS, OHIO

On the outskirts of Columbus in urban village, Grandview Heights, BARLEY’S SMOKEHOUSE & BREWPUB retains a friendly roadhouse atmosphere with its genteel blue collar feel and signature hickory-sauced barbecue entrees. Just minutes away from the initial downtown Barley’s brewpub, this casual highway-sidled joint proved wholly impressive. A yellow advertising sign and silver grain silo welcome hearty beer and food lovers to the green-windowed yellow stucco retreat with large license-plated beer garden and metal-furnished covered patio.

An L-shaped bar with 20 stools, one TV, Edison lamps and three separate tap stations serves four booths, several metal-wooded tables and a huge backroom dining area. Exposed ducts mark the ceiling and olden brewery trays cover the walls. Excellent guest drafts include Epic Big Bad Baptist, Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA, North High Hefe, Rhinegeist Panther Porter and Rhinegeist Dinghy Pale Ale. Thirty bottled beers, specialty martinis, wines and bourbons also adorn the menu.

On April 2016 sojourn, shared hearty Combination Platter (rib tips, wings, sauerkraut balls, fried cheese curd, shoestring onions and pickles) with long-time friend, Dennis, while quaffing eight reliably well-balanced in-house brews boasting Scottish and British stylistic roots.

First up, flagship wee heavy, McLenny’s Scottish Ale, placed caramel-spiced malts alongside sweet floral fruiting atop a dewy peat base. In comparison, Robert Burns Scottish Export Ale saddled dewy peated malts with sweet n’ sour cherry-plum-fig conflux and sticky toffee spicing (as well as Band-aid-like beechwood-smoked astringency). Another UK-styled moderation, Red Molly, an Irish Red Ale, draped toasted caramel malts and citric spicing above mild pine hop resin.

Brit-styled Centennial IPA brought stylish dewy earthen mustiness to brown tea herbage, wood-dried hop foliage, musky grain bill and moderate grapefruit-orange bittering.

Blending Centennial IPA with Robert Burns Scottish Ale, Barley’s Smokehouse creates Highland Hammer, a meandering ESB-like “peated bitter” with spicy dried fruiting, piney grapefruit spell and resinous hops that never fully coalesces.

Hopped-up pale wheat ale, Hoptopus, possessed yellow grapefruit-peeled bittering, ancillary orange-pineapple tang, light floral accents and mineral-grained herbage.

Prestigious Alexander’s Russian Imperial Stout, a creamy mocha-bound full body, let its peat-smoked dark chocolate roast outdistance vanilla-spiced caramel and coffee notions to its oats-toasted spine.

Another fine dessert treat, Woody Haze, honors legendary Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes by barrel aging Robert Burns Scottish Export in a Woodford Reserve cask. Its silken soft-toned Scotch whiskey nip sweetened caramelized rum spicing, oaken cherry tones and red wine esters, leaving Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey illusions in the wake.

When visiting Columbus, there are many fine brewpub choices. Anyone with a taste for British Isle-modeled brews or great barbecue will enjoy Barley’s Smokehouse. As we left, the lunch crowd grew to a full house and the sun came out of the clouds. Cheers.

smokehousebrewing.com

 

(WILD ONION) DRAGO BOURBON BARREL AGED RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT

Beers A-Z,

Bodacious bourbon chocolate stout retains creamy mocha molasses richness. Syrupy chocolate-vanilla fudging nudges Jack Daniels whiskey sweetness and dark cherry tartness as well as light smoked oak char, creating heavy dessert luster. Distant burgundy, black grape and raisin illusions bring mild sweet ‘n sour sideswipe to engaging chocolate whiskey finish.