01 Nov Great Crescent Brewery Breaks Out Great Beers To Commemorate A Great Nine Years
by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
The southeast portion of Indiana doesn’t contain many breweries. Cincinnati is near by, as is northern Kentucky, and they both have a plethora of good breweries. So there is something to be said for a craft beer brewery that can draw patrons from both Cincinnati and Newport to the small town of Aurora in Dearborn county.
And yet they come to Great Crescent Brewery; heck, Cincinnati beer groups even hold their meetings at Dan Valas’ brewpub. Established in 2008, Great crescent is situated in the old Gaff distillery, just a couple of blocks from the Ohio River. The old town itself is worth seeing, and having great beer and food close by makes it an even better trip.
Great Crescent is getting ready to celebrate their ninth anniversary on November 11. For the anniversary party, Dan will be focusing on the beer – as is his custom. The brewpub will be open regular hours, and you’ll need all those hours to taste the new and flagship beers that will be on tap. The newest beers will include a tapping that day of their latest In Orbit India(na) Pale Ale. The Indiana part is that this beer uses all Indiana grown hops, from seven different hop farms (Indy High Bines, Howe Farms, Crazy Horse Hops, Liberty Hop Farm, Tigerclaw Hop Farm, Waltz Valley Farm and Avlahare Farms). By using all Indiana hops, with the characteristic that the good Indiana farmland imparts to them, this beer is just full of “terrior,” the flavors of the local land. The hop blend for the pale ale includes Chinook, Tahoma, Nugget, Michigan Copper. Cascade, and Pacific Gem.
The party will also see the release of Great Crescent’s latest Gaff Brothers Legacy beer, the Chocolate Brown Ale made with Indiana malted barley and aged in 95% rye whiskey barrels. And even more, there will be a second Gaff Legacy beer to be tapped that day. The Industrious Stout has been aged in Jack Daniels barrels. As a special that day, the Industrious Stout will be available as a 9 oz. pour in a Jack Daniels glass you get to keep, all for $8.50.
Both the Gaff Brothers Legacy beers will also be available in 32 oz. glass howlers for purchase, with proceeds going to the Crescent Brewery Caverns Park. Along with the new beers, the anniversary party will have some of the popular beers from Great Crescent’s ninth year in operation. This will include the last of the Altered Space Monkey, the 2016 homebrew competition winner, brewed in collaboration with Four Monkeys Brewing.
Make the drive down to the river for Great Crescent’s anniversary this year. It will be a low key affair, but the beer will be great, the folks are wonderful to talk to, including all the people from Cincinnati who can clue you in to craft beer in that city, and it will give you a chance to compare this years anniversary to next years, which will be a blowout to celebrate a decade of craft beer brewing in Aurora.
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