FLAT12 Bierwerks

Baseball is full of traditions. One tradition they don’t have – the tailgate. We have embarked upon that time of year, and it’s about to go into overdrive with the Sept. 11 launch of the NFL, where we marry our love of sport with our fondness for grilled meats, pre-game shows, school colors, “camping chairs” that rarely if ever go camping, and beer. What’s at your tailgate? Any special rituals that you are sure have helped your team win? Any recipes that ensure you walk into that stadium the most contented man or woman alive? How do you like your burgs – charcoal, gas? Do fans speak only half-jokingly of raiding your tailgate spread.

Earn recognition as Tailgater of the Week. Carry along a Flat12 32 oz plastic growler.

We’d love to hear from you. We’d love to be part of it. If you’re including Flat12 at your tailgate, send us a picture/tweet/Facebook post. Let us know: what you’re drinking.What food are you pairing it with. If Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit there. If you make it into the stadium.

Are you the Flat12 tailgater of the week? 

Next post in this category: Where is your tailgate (We’ve got an idea for you)?

Baseball, beer and bikes. Not necessarily something you think of together, unless you happened to be in downtown Indianapolis this Saturday. Baseball and beer, yes. Beer and bikes, yes but all in one day? Why not?

If you happened to be driving anywhere near the War Memorial around 10:30 Saturday morning, you knew something was up. Barricades blocked a number of roads, including Meridian, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Pulling up to them, the police would direct you elsewhere. No exceptions. Yep, something was definitely going on. Banners, flags, tents, branded box trucks and the hustle and bustle of a major event.

So what was it? The second annual Indy Crit owned downtown Indianapolis streets from 11:30am until 4:30pm. A ‘Crit’, short for ‘Criterium’ is a short, closed course bicycle race, some would say are for racers who have either lost their minds or lost their sense of fear. Either way, it is one of the best types of bike racing for spectators. Sponsored Flat12 Bierwerks, the day of racing looked to be fast and intense.

Racers competing in the Indy Crit flew around a less than one mile course chasing a sweet blacked out Mini-Cooper pace car, that in some cases had to move so quickly to stay out in front of the riders, the tires squealed around the corners; the top racers-only inches apart-would regularly exceed 34 mile an hour in their sprints.

Lined up at the starting line, this year the racers saw something new, many of them nodding with approval. Flat12 Bierwerks. Bike races and beer? Yeahhhhhh.

As the racers flew by, spectators enjoyed the shade of the biergarten and quaffed draft beer from Flat12. For this year’s race, Flat12′s Biergarten was set up in a prime position on the end of vendor’s row that included international powerhouse cycling companies such as Zipp and SRAM (both of which had sponsored teams competing in the other race going on that weekend known as the Tour de France) the food trucks serving up some delicious wares, including Cottage Home’s own Duos Indy. The Flat12 team served up Upside Down Blonde and Flat12 Amber to a lot of thirsty fans who were passionate bikers, as well as, an equal number of curious and enthusiastic spectators.

Although we had nearly record heat, as well as, a short but intense rainstorm during the race that didn’t seem to happen anywhere else in Indy outside of the several block radius the course made up, the day went off with out a hitch. There were a lot of accidents; over 40 were recorded but no serious injuries. The beer was hit and it seems the bike race was too.

As the day wound to a close, a few blocks away baseball fans filed into Victory Field for a 7pm game. Late in the day, the heat seemed to give up some of its intensity and the sold out crowd found some relief in the breeze that blew through the ballpark.

Today was Flat12 Bierwerks day at Victory Field!

Stepping on the field just before 7pm was Eric Rauch, a Flat12 Bierwerks fan and the coach of the Westfield Varsity High School basketball team. Eric got a chance to wear a custom Indians Flat12 jersey from the brewery as he threw out the first pitch of the game. Eric joked as he stepped onto the turf that his brother, a high school pitching coach was more than a little jealous.

Off the mound, the basketball coach threw some heat to the Indians catcher, getting around of applause from the 75 or so Flat12 friends, fans and customers who took over Captain Morgan’s Cove for the game, as well as, the dozens in General Admission Flat12 fans who showed up in their Flat12 t-shirts to show their support.

Flat12′s baseball-themed Half Cycle was flowing unchecked from both taps at Captain Morgan’s Cove and unsuspecting Flat12 beer drinkers lined up for a beer were rewarded with all sorts of goodies, including balls autographed by both the Indians and big-leaguers alike as a thank you for supporting Flat12 Bierwerks.

As the game progressed, the Indians had a couple of chances to sew things up but unfortunately, Rochester’s hitting squad was a little too much for the Indians late in the game. No matter, everyone had a great time, enjoying one of the finest minor league ball parks in the country and some terrific IPA from Flat12.

All in all, Saturday was a great day to live in Indy. We need more days like this.

Holy Cross won the first Neighborhood Challenge at Flat12 for the most check-ins during the first three months of 2011. As reward for their heartiness and good cheer, we will open up our doors to a Holy Cross neighbors-only evening, Saturday, May 7th, beginning at our normal Saturday closing time of 6 pm.

The next Challenge is already underway and Cottage Home is out of the gates strong in April, leading by almost a dozen check-ins.

How it works: you visit the Flat12 Tasting Room at 414 N. Dorman St. for a growler fill or to hang out, have a pint and enjoy some Byrnes Grilled Pizza. Then, when you’re in the growler fill room, you check in for your neighborhood at the cashier station. That’s it. We keep track of each neighborhood’s check-ins, tally em up at the end of 3 months, then we have a private party and celebration for the winner. The neighborhoods we track are the neighborhoods listed in Indy’s Urban Times newspaper. If you have picked one up recently, you’ve probably seen the distribution map and know whether your hood is eligible. Or, just ask!

Cheers!

MEA CULPA!

We’ve got an apology to make and solution to offer. We’ve had a few promotions and run contests, primarily our Flat12FridayFreebie trivia where our weekly winner receives a prize coupon. These prizes have included free pints or growlers of Flat12 beer. We recently learned that providing free pints/growlers as part of a promotion would be in violation of state excise laws.

Please accept our apologies. We simply did not know.

A solution: We’d like to offer any pint or growler winner the opportunity to claim a substitute prize. We’ve notified as many winners as possible. If we missed you, please send a note to hopstar@flat12.me and we will get you set up with a substitute prize of equal or greater value.

Thank you for your support of Flat12.

The team at Flat12

Hopstars are here, there and everywhere. At the controls of Nate Montgomery’s commuter jet bound for the east coast, in Europe (more from Angie and Brent) and even Lambeau Field with Azure and Sam Arena.

Oh yeah, Hopstars were also seen in a time machine hurtling back to 18th century France. Thanks to Josh Hambright and these guys.

Angie and Brent report they found flavorful beer in England, but getting their hands on an IPA was a chore. No word yet on the beer, brats and cheese from Lambeau. Here’s a few outstanding Hopstar pics:

As we round out the year, we are going to be choosing our top five Adventures in Hopstardom pictures for the Hopstar nation to vote on.

The winner will get something really cool.  We’ll be running the images at the brewery on Channel 12, so when you come down for a beer, you can vote on your favorite Adventures in Hopstardom submission through the end of the year.  We’ll be announcing the 2010 winner in early January.  So the fate of all those who have submitted images from the far flung corners of the globe, as well as, those handful of Hopstars capable of time travel are in your hands.  That, along with consuming killer Half Cycle IPA is an awesome responsibility.

Hopstar post. Mail is 'post' in England, right?

Just take this picture in. Thanks to Azure and Sam!

Hopstardom traveled really far - back in time. JoshH!

Hopstars Command the Skies

Horsepower-themed Adventures in Hopstardom Roundup. Where will they show up next? Larry Fleming (Flat12 Mentor and  Do-Everything Man Behind-the-Scenes) modified his Benz. Test pilot Jeremy Reynolds incorporated Hopstardom into his post-flight plans and Jake and Rich from IBrewToo.com talked craft beer with tailgaters at Keeneland this fall.

There’s a nip in the air. If you’re going somewhere warm, hey, take us with you please!

Hopstars. Yo! Thanks for your participation in everything. Many of you have provided feedback on our beer recipes, given your friends a Flat12 ‘heads-up’ or left comments and suggestions for the website. We appreciate every bit of it. When you act on our behalf and/or show your true craft beer colors, we want to recognize it. Hence – the Hopstar Leaderboard.

The Hopstar Leaderboard points are being updated. For now, we’re doing it manually and will rely on your personal input (via DM @word317 or bob.weaver@flat12werks dot com). In “inputting” your points, we’re relying on digital records, personal memory, twitter archives, etc. to make an accurate rendering of point standings so we can properly reward you. Many of the Hopstar activities are dependent on Flat12 beer production – oh, the glorious beer! It will come soon. Soon, I tell you. So, take a look at your Hopstar profile today or the next time you visit. If you’re interested in seeing the list and checking the boxes of Hopstar karma activities you’ve partaken in, let me know at bob.weaver@flat12werks.com.

If you’d prefer, give it a little time and we’ll be programming the leaderboard to be more user-directed, where you can enter your activities/levels and then be checked-off/approved by fellow Hopstars. More updates soon. Cheers!

The new phone book is here!

Ok, well now that we have that settled…

THE NEW FLAT12 TAP IS HERE! THE NEW FLAT12 TAP IS HERE! THE NEW FLAT12 TAP IS HERE!

The sleek new pull which will soon grace your favorite restaurant or tavern is done. This is the real deal and tap #1 is on its way to the brewery, arriving on Wednesday. We like it and think it will stand out on the tap tree. Note, the top. There you see a big number 12. Each tap is equipped with magnetic rings that encircle the 12′s globe so that this cool tap can easily change from Upside Down Blonde to Half Cycle IPA to Puppet Show Pale to Glazed Ham. Here, you see the Upside Down Blonde Tap Ring. That little innovation was a Hopstar idea. Pretty cool, huh?

Thanks to our Hopstars for help in naming the brews and of course our tap design!