Brewery: Lafayette Brewing Company

Back Story:
Lafayette Brewing Co. opened their doors on September 17, 1993, they marked the return of the brewer’s art to the city of Lafayette after a near forty year absence. With a history of operating breweries dating back to the 1860s, the last in a line of proud local breweries, Lafayette Brewery, Inc. (known as Thieme & Wagner prior to Prohibition), had closed its doors in 1953, leaving a great void in the local beer scene. As a result, local residents’ beer choices were limited to the bland, mass-produced malt beverages from national brewers.

Location: Lafayette Indiana – Located in the heart of Lafayette’s historic downtown shopping district, this quaint brew pub definitely appeals to the neighborhood locals and visiting beer connoisseurs.

The atmosphere: Again, I am here during the ‘off season’ and at 4:46 PM the place is just about empty. A few locals and a few knowledgeable bartenders where hanging out doing their thing. I was greeted by Chad the bartender who in a matter of minutes quickly demonstrated his knowledge of brews to me. I was quite impressed.

Being the beer lover that I am, I SURELY couldn’t try just one or two beers here.. I had to go ALL of them!! So I decided to go w/ the sampler to give all the brews a try. Unfortunately for me, two of their top brews were out =( /cry

Starting at the top and working my way down the page..

Beer 1: Ouiatenon wit beer
Beer style: Belgium blonde ale
Brewer’s Notes:
This Belgian style wit bier is brewed with 100% USDA certified organic ingredients. A blend of wheat and pilsner malts along with German Saphir hops, coriander and Curacao orange peel create a refreshing ale with hints of citrus, banana and clove.
Taster’s notes: Banana notes, hints of cloves, clean crisp finish, refreshing
ABV: rather low, apparent by taste (4.6%)
IBU: 20

Beer 2: Prophets Rock Pale Ale
Beer style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 4.4%
Taster notes: Subtle hoppiness, not something you would expect out of a Pale Ale. Slight hints of fruity, and strong citrus notes. Head was thin and dissipated quickly even after a fair amount of agitation. I must note that the tasting glass is a factor. Clarity – filtered, light golden hues

Awards: Silver Medal – 2003-2004 Indiana State Fair

Beer 3: East Side Bitter
Beer style: ESB (extra special bitter)
Brewer’s Notes:
A traditional extra special bitter (ESB), this ale is the result of a blend of English pale and caramel malts to create just the right body. We then incorporate classic English hop varieties to create a harmonious balance with the malts. A rich copper color enhances this delicious brew. Sure to satisfy a bitter man~ or woman!
ABV: 5.3%
Taster Notes: Malty notes, amber hue, well filtered, not quite the balance I expect out of an ESB. Not my favorite ESB but its definitely something to try. Malty fans will enjoy this one.
Awards: Bronze Medal – 2004 ISF, Silver Mdel 2001 World Beer Championships (?)

Beer 4: Pipers’ Pride
Beer Style: Scottish Ale
Brewer’s Notes: Our take on a classic Scottish ale, this beer utilizes pale, crystal and chocolate malts with a small dose of smoked malt. The resulting brew sports a rich ruby color with distinctive notes of caramel and toffee, followed by a subtle smoky finish. Smooth in character, yet complex enough for the seasoned craft beer drinker.
Awards: Gold Medal 2004 ISF, Silver Medal 1999 ISF, Silver Medal 1999 World Beer Championships
ABV: 5.7%
Taster’s notes: gorgeous amber hues, strong malty aromas, clean finish, extremely drinkable. I was expecting a malty blast and was pleasantly surprised with the smooth balance. An outstanding Scottish Ale.

Beer 5: Dog Day’s
Beer Style: Summer Lager (seasonal)
Taster’s notes: Outstanding cross over beer. This is a fantastic transition from the *barf* yellow fizzies to the wonderful world of microbrew. Subtle hop aromas, I am not a fan of lagers by any means so this is at the top of my list. Too bad I cant get this back at home in Cali.
ABV: ??
IBU: ??

Beer 6: Black Angus Oatmeal StoutBeer Style: English Stout
Brewer’s Notes: The revival of a unique English stout, this brew combines five malts with 10% real oatmeal and hops from the Pacific Northwest. This black ale is full~bodied and roasty with hints of chocolate. Like mom always said: Drink Your Oatmeal!

ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 44

Taster’s notes: Powerful oatmeal aromas! DARK and definitely thick. Not for the faint at heart! Beer N00bs not need to attempt this one. This brew is for the connoisseurs only! Incredible oatmeal and malty goodness! Without question one of the top stouts I’ve come across in quite some time. (Although, I must admit, CoreBrewing’s Horse-Around Stout is a notch above in terms of drinkability). This is almost like drinking a bowl of oatmeal! Hearty but at the same time really refreshing with a clean finish! For such a dark beer, you would think that you could spoon it out of the glass but it was ultra smooth. And outstanding English Stout – hands down! This is my pick of the evening and that says a lot!

Beer 7: Weeping Hog IPA – Cask Condition
There’s no secret that I am a hophead and this one didn’t knock my socks off. I love cask conditions brews but Weeping Hog didn’t do it for me! Cask condition really brings out the complex flavors of a brew but this one was.. MEH ‘okay’. I was hoping for a bigger hoppy blast and this didn’t satisfy me. I’ll stop the review on this here.

The Food: Scotch Eggs

Okay, this wouldn’t be a “Sooks” review if you I didn’t take the time to review one unusual item off the menu. I asked my man Chad what I MUST try before I leave and he recommended the Scotch Eggs. It’s a bizarre!!! An English pub favorite, hard-boiled egg wrapped in a spicy pork sausage and bread crumb combo served with an ultra tasty Dijon mustard. INCREDIBLE! Ya sure it’s a heart attack waiting to happen but HELLO, I am not at a health club sipping on a protein smoothy now am I..RIGHT?!!!

Beer pairing of choice: N/A. I was really buzzed from the sampler and decided to hold back because I have to head back and pack for my trip back home to Cali.

Bartender spotlight: Meet Chad!

“How did you get into beer?” – Chad graduated school w/ a degree in film and wasn’t quite making millions just yet so he picked up a job at the brewery to take care of the bills. Chad learned about various brew styles and the entire brew process. I love the fact that LBC takes the time to educate their employees about the different beer styles and the entire brewing process! Everyone I spoke with without question had a good understanding the different brews.

Chad learned about the brews and of course like any fine brew fanatic, he started brewing his own beer where he learned the ways of the Jedi Brew Masters. He’s 6 batches or so deep and is very knowledgeable about the process. It’s people like Chad that really make LBC a special place. Thanks Chad!

Now, for CoreBrewing’s new feature.. the Beer Babe!

Meet Lindsey!

Name: Lindsey
Nicknames: Names not disclosed at this time. She asked me not to post her nickname to preserve her integrity. I’ll call her “beer geek gal”

Favorite beer style: Hoppy bitter brews ONLY. Favorite brew to the Tippecanoe Common Ale, 3 Floyds Alpha King and Bell’s 2 Hearted are among her favorites. If it doesn’t give her a hoppy blast then she doesn’t bother! My kinda girl!

Least favorite beer style: Stouts or anything that is overly malty. “I think NewCastle is one of the worst brews I’ve ever had!”

“How did you get into beer?”Before working here at the brewing company she was a huge fan of the domestics yellow fizzies. She really didn’t know better until she applied for a job here at LBC and became extremely knowledgeable about beer styles and the brewing process. This is her job and LBC does a fine job of training their employees.

Sorry gents, but my lady is taken and has a fine boyfriend who is also beer fan. How does that saying go? A couple that drinks together stays together?! (where’s my beer babe!?)

They are both very big fans of hoppy brews but they differ during the ‘seasonal’ months where her man will steer towards seasonal brews. She’s tolerant of it.. for now =)

Lindsey was on her way out the door and didn’t have a whole lot of time to chat with me but I believe that if she did, I’d probably have a new beer friend!!

Thanks for hanging out w/ CoreBrewing-West Lindsey!

Bottom Line:
This is Lafayette’s one and only brewery. LBC has put together a strong line-up of very flavor and distinguished beers that would make any beer lover rejoice. Unfortunately I came in during the slow time but I suppose it’s a good thing since I probably wouldn’t be able to concentrate on this post. I really enjoyed the brews and trying the very bizarre Scotch eggs which is a MUST try if you’re in town.

Lafayette Brew Co is a pioneer of brewing this small town and without question is converting students’ one brew at a time! Good brews, interesting food would definitely keep me coming back for more. When visiting Lafayette you MUST put this place on your must visit!

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Brewpub Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.