Upland Brewery - Winter Warmer Barley Wine

Upland Brewery - Winter Warmer Barley Wine

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 46.7

SRM / Coloring: 18.5, medium brown to red

Helios pale ale and some Floribbean Flair was awesome, excellent combination, add some sun on my back and sand between my toes and it would be damn near perfect. After that though I wanted to try one of the seasonal's that Upland had going on, so I went up to chat with the lovely young woman standing behind the counter.

"Good tidings fair vendor of beers and enjoyment," I sexily proclaimed. "I would like to inquire about your most recent addition to the list of artisian alcoholic beverages."

"Indeed gov'nor," the handsome woman replied. She was a vibrant breath of alternative style and feminine allure that draws in the usual customer with smiles and quirky acts of intrigue and childhood sweetness. She wore a mottled green satin gentleman's jacket with a ruffled collar, over black knickerbockers complimented with a worn top hat.

"What'd my lord be interested in this evening?" She was also a street urchin character actor circa sixteenth century England.

"I've recently tried your Helios Pale Ale, to my utter enjoyment, but I must confess that currently my mood has changed. I'm looking for a drink much darker to warm my spirits on this windy Autumn's night."

"Too right you are suh, might I be reccomendin the Winter Warmer barley wine? It'll put you in a good spot it would, even when you'd be out on the cobblestones makin your way back to the mrs. you'd be feelin top notch you would yes suh."

"Pour me a tankard then," I proclaimed as I threw her a sixpence. Naturally she bit it to see if it was real, since she's a sixteenth century street urchin.

A beer couldn't have been named better. The winter warmer is a barley wine variation, thicker than most other beers and stronger to boot, but also has a greater emphasis on the grains and spices added into the mix. As a result is has more of an earthy flavor to it, and you can really taste the malts and grains mixing around in it. It's got a full body and maxed out flavor and aromas. Where as the Helios lager is more prone to cool you off on a hot summer day, this baby will bring out the color in your cheeks and your face as well, heating you up from your head all the way down.

Floribbean Flair Island Food

So I don't typically do food reviews (I like to stick with I know best ya feel me?), but I've been noticing that all of these awesome food trucks have been parking around Broad Ripple and downtown, specifically around breweries and places where you can get craft beer. I've seen the Scratch Truck and West Coast tacos everywhere in Broad Ripple, Byrnes, grilled pizza, downtown a lot, and most recently the Floribbean Flair Island Food truck. Most of these vendors have amazing food and I've been blown away by every single one, so I decided to jump in head first on this one. And, I got to talking with the guys who ran the truck, both owners and head chefs, and they sold me on the product.

I gotta say, I made fun of the Florribbean Flair truck at first. Most other food trucks look pretty professional; fancy paint jobs or full body wraps, colorful menus, QR codes and information, reviews, the works like any other restaurant. This is a small little guy that looks like it could be pulled around by a Prius; the size of a small Uhaul with a dry erase board menu with four items, and a tiki light hanging out front. If there wasn't someone sitting inside of it, you'd think that people were moving kitchen supplies to another location. My dad and I were examining the truck from inside Upland, trying to figure out what the hell it was, when one of the guys standing beside it came in to see what was up.

As it turns out, the man was actually the head Chef of the company, as well as the Italian restaurant Iozzo's downtown, and they had just started their food truck business several months ago. With renowned crab cakes and fish tacos that are shipped all over the country, we all decided that we had to bag our previous dinner plans and try this shit out.

Damn, Floribbean Flair follows suit with it's food truck brethren and makes some damn good caribbean food. It's very hard to make a niche for yourself in the food industry, especially one centered around street food and catering to either walking or drunk, but Floribbean Flari does this effortlessly making seafood classics as well as others that are both portable, accessible, and scrumtrulescent. The crab cakes were fabulous and had a nice mixture of meat and vegetables mixed in. Fish tacos were great and made with Basa, a light white fish similar to grouper but firmer and less "fishy," which is typically a big problem for my mom. They also had an Island burger that old man Neff went for, complete with a slice of pineapple on a Hawaiian bun, and a cuban sandwich which was quite the treat. Throw in some horseradish dipping sauce, some sriracha, and some coleslaw and you got a dope dinner to accompany some dope beer. Their truck is small, their menu is small, but in this case they take what they make and really warp it into a piece of culinary art.

Upland Brewery - Helios Pale Ale

Helios Pale Ale

ABV: 4.9%

IBU: 21.7

SRM / Coloring: 6.2, light gold as you can see

It's Thanksgiving Weekend, my sister is back in town and my parents are looking to spend some time together. My first thought, let's go have a few drinks and really unbutton the collar a little bit, eh? Ol pops totally agrees and we head out to grab some cocktails, but I'm thinking about getting some good beer in the process, so I grab the reins and navigate the family mini van over to the Upland Tasting Room to see whats going on.

It's starting to cool off a little outside, naturally being November in Indiana, but any of you who live in them Midwest or more specifically Indiana will know that the weather here has a better turn radius than my car; this weekend alone has gone from mid 30's and rainy to mid 60's a gorgeous. Typically I'd go for a darker beer to warm me up on the inside, something spicy and full bodied, but I was feeling a bit saucy and wanted to go for a lighter drink, refreshing and all, so I bit on the Helios Pale Ale.

When I think of lagers and pale ale's I typically think of your standard American beers, Budweiser, Coors and the like, clean tasting but with a heavy emphasis on the grains in the beer. The Helios is quite a different story. Though your typical grainy, hoppy flavors are still present, it is nicely complimented but a citrus aroma and flavor giving it an extra edge / leg up over those other run of the mill variations. Perfect for a hot day or a thirst quencher, and for those trying to find something beyond the king / banquet / triple hops brewed. This beer is served year round, so need to sprint out your door, but a great place to grab it in a growler, especially with Upland's unique carbonating growler filling machines. Tubular.