I woke up early outside of Dayton Ohio, and get my shower for the day at my La Quinta Hotel…. to find my room’s hot water isn’t working. (The check out lady gave me a run around saying I should have turned the knob a bit to the left, then back to the right to bypass something…. yea, ok lady.) So that was my wake-up for the day. Then it was on the road for what Google Maps had listed as a 1 Hour 18 Minute Drive….. which turned into a 2 Hour and 34 Minute Drive….. because Google Maps didn’t reload until I was on the road that I-70 was having massive road work done for a giant long stretch.

Whatever.

I made it to Indianapolis and to the Vonnegut Museum at 12-noon, just in time for everything to start. In my full detailed travelogue I’ll discuss it, but the reason for the trip was to get here on Wednesday (today) – November 11th, – Armistice Day – Veteran’s Day – Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday. He would have turned 98 years old today.

Like I said, I’ll go into much more detail about the museum and library, but suffice it to say it was fantastic, and any fan of Vonnegut owes it to themselves to come out and check out the museum and library at least once in their lives. I’m looking to come back in two years for his 100th Birthday.

After the Museum, my first Indianapolis brewery was TwoDEEP Brewing. Fun little brewery, beautiful inside. I had a roasted amber ale and a pilsner. (No flights, just drafts.) Both were fantastic.

I of course had to drive and stop (illegally parked – at a meter – might I add) and get out and grab a picture of this. I also later in my day stopped by his childhood home and then the cemetery where he was buried. (I was unable to find his grave, but I did find President Benjamin Harrison’s gravesite.)

An absolute must stop for everyone in Indianapolis. This is THEE brewery in the city, and it shows. They’ve won a ton of awards in the past, and several more this year at the 2020 GABF. Amazing beers, not a single bad one. Even my least favorite from them was nearly a four cap beer. The nacho and taco place inside was also really great. Be sure to visit Sun King if you are ever even remotely in the area.

So after driving out to his childhood home and grabbing a picture, and going up to the cemetery and driving around looking for ‘him’, I had to stop at BLUEBEARD for dinner. Why? Well, the tavern is named after his novel ‘Bluebeard’ and even has a picture of him with a replica of a typewriter he used. This is a very hoighty-toighty place, (baby octopus was 28$) and very heavy sea-food (which when you are deathly allergic, is a slight scare). But I had a fantastic beer from a local brewery in can and great pasta.

About three businesses down from Bluebeard was a brewery (just happened on it by walking to / from my parked car). So I ducked in for a pint, and picked up a four pack to go.

I ended my night (as far as breweries go) at Ellison City Brewing. Looked like an old apartment building reimagined, not quite sure though in the dark. When I entered they had two food trucks or two kind of party trucks or something outside, and a lot of younger (20s) dancing and carrying on by them. After I had my pint and read, which I nursed a bit, and came out, the revelers and trucks were gone. Shrug.

Then it was off to another hotel for the night, where I wanted to finish A Man With No Country by Vonnegut, but sadly, I stayed on the phone with a co-worker til about 12:30AM and then soon passed out watching Chappelle Show on Netflix.

Tomorrow’s itinerary is Cincinnati, with a dip into Kentucky. Then moving on towards Hocking Hills, Athens, and Ohiopyl and back home to Central Pennsylvania. Nearing the home stretch of the trip and tour. We’ve gone, now we’re coming back.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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The Trip to Indianapolis:

• The Trip to Indy
• The Trip to Indy – Day One Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Two Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Three Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Four Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Five Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Six Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Seven Recap
• Recap and Stats

Another night, another Flyers win, and another new beer on my 30 for 30 journey here. And like in usual fashion lately, the Flyers win in another shoot-out. Its a little nerve wracking to win that way, but y’know what? I’ll take it. Its a W in the column and thats all that matters at the end of the day.

Started this review in the morning before work, but ran out of time, so now finishing it up, post-work, and post-stop at Tattered Flag. So this might be a short and to the point review, and not quite like the others I’ve done. (I tend to get a bit wordy at times.) So if you like brevity, (which apparently is the soul of wit) you might like this one then. Who knows. Hopefully either way you like it, but we’ll see.

Beer: Adjective Animal
Brewery: WISEACRE Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.6%
IBU: 78
Untappd Write-Up: This beer is going to change your life. It is dry hopped twice, in two different vessels, along with a great wasteful pile of hops in the kettle, and another huge tongue beating heap of hops in the whirlpool. This is as hop forward as it gets. Orange, tangerine, papaya, pine, grapefruit, and mango shall waft forth. Very tropical. Denali, Citra, Falconer’s Flight, and Centennial hops perfection. Grumpy Giraffe, Funny Ferret, Sophisticated Owl, Ostentatious Ocelot, Cantankerous Coatimundi…you know the drill.

Did this beer change my life? …..not really. Is it a good DIPA? Yea, its not bad. I won’t drain pour it. Is it an EXCEPTIONAL DIPA? Certainly not. Would I be upset with dropping 4-7$ for this at the bar? Probably not. Same with spending 2-5$ for a can at the local store. But…. it definitely is not life changing in the least.

Aroma is a bit all over the place. It is definitely hoppy, and it is mostly fruit and citrus based hops. You get mango, you get orange / tangerine, you get grapefruit. You get just a genuine hoppy aroma. Not much else to really say or go on about it here.

Appearance is your normal IPA coloring. Dark straw color to going towards a light brown / orange-like hue. It is filtered, but it is on the darker spectrum, so its not fully transparent. There is a decent nice head to it that stays for a bit but not an abundant amount of time.

Taste is very hoppy. A well deserved amount of bitterness, and just lots of hop flavor. Not much to say about grain or malt bills as this is all hop flavor. You get obvious notes of grapefruit, mango, and an orange / tangerine mixture; unlike the description though, I didn’t really pick up papaya; perhaps a bit of a subtle pine to it.

Sadly, I wish there was more to say about this beer, and perhaps its because I’m trying to finish this review after a flight at Tattered Flag, or just that its a decent / solid beer but not much to say about it. I don’t know. I will say you won’t be displeased with it (unless you don’t like hoppy / IPAs) but you won’t be amazed or wow’d by it either.

My Untappd Review: ***.50
Global Untappd Review: 3.85 (as of 11.11.19)

Happy Veterans Day everyone. Thank you to all those who have served and are still serving. We – America – salute and thank you for your service.

Cheers All!

-B. Kline