2011 Great American Beer Fest

Before we get into business, Friendly Package would like to thank all of the Ball State students that voted for us for “Best Liquor Store On Campus” through Ball State’s Daily News.

Here at Friendly Package we’re doing our best to get the best beer we can, and beer that you want. Wherever you are in the world come here to FriendlyPackage.com, click on contact us and we’ll do our best to have the beer you’re looking for when you come home. Even if you’re down the block, get ahold of us, or come in and talk to one of our clerks and we’ll do our best to get the beer you’re looking for.

So let’s get your beer-game up, and recap this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

2011 GABF

The Great American Beer Fest was just held over the weekend in Denver Colorado, so we’re going to outline which beers we carry so you can try some great American beers. Unfortunately, we are unable to get a lot of the winning beers because some breweries don’t distribute to Indiana, and some beers aren’t bottled, but anything we can get will be listed here.

A few notes before we start: Indiana won the most medals compared to entries per state, and a special congratulations to Indianapolis’ own Sun King Brewery for winning the most gold medals and medals overall.

Large Brewing Company, Brewer of the Year

Pabst Brewing Co. (Bob Newman)

American-Style Lager, Light Lager or Premium Lager: 


Old Milwaukee Light by Pabst Brewing Co. (Gold)

Busch Light by Anheuser-Busch (Silver)

Pabst Blue Ribbon Light by Pabst Brewing Co. (Bronze)

American-Style Lager or Cream Ale or Lager:

Red Dog by Miller Brewing Co. (Gold)

Old Style by Pabst Brewing Co. (Bronze)

Specialty Beers:

Hazelnut Brown Nectar by Rogue (Gold)

Gluten Free Beers:

New Grist by Lakefront (Silver)

American Belgo-Style Ale:

Boulevard Collaboration #2 by Boulevard (Bronze)

American Style Sour Ale:

Le Terroir by New Belgium (Gold)

Wood and Barrel Aged Sour Beer:

The Wanderer by The Bruery (Silver)

Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale:

Blue Sunday by New Holland Brewing (Silver)

Aged Beer:

Expedition Stout by Bell’s Brewery (Gold)

Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest:

Dog Days Lager by Two Brothers Brewing (Bronze)

German-Style Märzen:

MunsterFest by Three Floyds Brewing (Silver)

Sam Adams Octoberfest by Boston Beer Co. (Bronze)

International-Style Pale Ale:

Boulevard Pale Ale by Boulevard (Gold)

German-Style Wheat Ale:

Weizenbock by Sierra Nevada (Silver)

Belgian-Style Witbier:

ZON by Boulevard (Bronze)

Imperial Stout:

BORIS The Crusher by Hoppin’ Frog (Gold)

Old or Strong Ale:

Papier by The Bruery (Gold)

Barely Wine-Style Ale:

Horn Dog Barely Wine by Flying Dog (Gold)

Now this is a list of the beers that have won a medal at GABF 2011 that we do carry. Before you come in looking for a beer, it may be wise to give us a call to check availability because some of the beers are limited, seasonal or in high-demand.

Sour Beer...

Before we get into business, Friendly Package would like to thank all of the Ball State students that voted for us for “Best Liquor Store On Campus” through Ball State’s Daily News.

Here at Friendly Package we’re doing our best to get the best beer we can, and beer that you want. Wherever you are in the world come here to FriendlyPackage.com, click on contact us and we’ll do our best to have the beer you’re looking for when you come home. Even if you’re down the block, get ahold of us, or come in and talk to one of our clerks and we’ll do our best to get the beer you’re looking for.

We’re here to keep you on your beer-game and in this article we’re going to dig into the up and coming world of Sour Beers.

Sour Beers

Sour Beer is said to become one of the next big things. Before we go any further, let’s look at what makes a beer sour, the different styles of sours and then which we carry.  

Quick history lesson: Sour beers first became popular in Belgium (My beer capital of the world) where the most popular styles are Lambics and Flemish reds. Lambics are beers made in the open air which allow different organisms, bacteria and wild yeast strains to populate the beer leaving us with three types of beer: Faro, Fruit, and Gueuze. Fruit Lambics are like Upland’s Strawberry, Cherry or Persimmon Lambic or Lindemams Framboise or Kriek. These are all “fruit beers” and don’t necessarily fall into the “Sour” category but are made similarly. Faros are beer made with sugar or syrup and Gueuze are made with a mixture of old and new lambics. A Flanders Red Ale which is similar to a gueuze as it’s a mixture of young and old beer is the final style. For a more in-depth look at sour beers, you can just Google “sour beers,” check out beeradvocate.com or come in and talk with us.

Now, to get to what is really important: What sour beers does FPL carry?

Well, I’m glad you asked that- As of today, we have right around 10 sour beers, all of which are pretty solid. I can probably write a few pages on all the sour beers I’ve had in the last six months, but that would do us no good. Instead I’m going to pick out some of what I feel like are the better sours in our store so you guys know where to get started.

Also, remember, beer should be poured into a glass; with sours a chalice, snifter or tulip glass would be ideal, but a pint glass will work too.

Don't judge the beer by the photo

Monk’s Café, Flemish Sour Red Ale: I think that this is the best starting point for someone that has never tried sours. First, it’s pretty cheap in comparison to some of the other sour beers. Next, it’s pretty mild tasting with a small hint of cherries and raspberries. If you’ve never had a sour, it’s a weird thing to experience. Monk’s Café is perfect in that it gives you a small taste of what a sour is supposed to be. The sour-ness is mild enough that it doesn’t overpower your taste buds and it will help you judge if the style is good for you. Remember, just like not everyone likes ambers, or porters, or IPAs, not everyone will like sours.

Bottle does not actually stand crooked

New Belgium La Folie: From the Lips of Faith Series, La Folie was the first sour I’ve ever had and what started me on my mission to try as many sour beers as I can.  La Folie is a sour brown ale that is one of the better sours I think we have. If you decided to start with the Monk’s Café, and then move to the La Folie, hold on because the tastes will be turned up a bit. Also, one of the things I tell anyone I’ve given this beer to, or recommended this beer to- give it a shot, don’t make up your mind until at least halfway through. It’s sort of an acquired taste and for the first few drinks it’s easy to think the style is not for you, but trust me, after a few more drinks you’ll hope that the bottle isn’t going to end. La Folie will make your lips pucker at first, and because of that it’ll be hard to pick out any individual flavors for a while, soon your mouth will get used to it and you can look for hints of cherries, apple, and lemons.

May have been missing a shoe when I took this one

New Belgium Le Terroir: I had to write about this one real quick because it is so well done. I’ve not been a huge fan of New Belgium’s stuff, however they really nailed what I’ve had from the Lips of Faith Series so far. So this is another sour, except it’s a bit different from the other sours I’ve had. Le Terroir is dry hopped, so you can smell and tastes the hops a bit more than you would otherwise. It almost tastes like a sour combined with a light pale ale. Pretty awesome, give it a shot.

Take notice: you will need a corkscrew

Lindeman’s Cuvee Rene Gueuze: This is another one of the better sour beers we have here at FPL. If you’ve had Monk’s Café, this is definitely a step up, and it’s still pretty balanced. Once you get through the sourness of it, you can taste some grapes, lemon, and apple. Overall, I think it’s a pretty good gueuze.

These are four suggestions, however, like I said earlier, we have about 10 sour beers. Just because I didn’t write about the other six, doesn’t mean they’re not good. Just between myself and another employee we’ve had over 25 sours so there’s a reason why the 10 that we do have are there- it’s because they’re good. If any of these beers interest you, feel free to do your own research, or come in and talk to us. friendlypackage.com

-Seth