LA PORTE, INDIANA

La Porte’s BACK ROAD BREWERY, a yellow-bricked warehouse building tucked away in La Porte, offered fine bottled fare August ‘04 (reviewed in Beer Index). Though sharply spice-hopped blueberry pie-like Blueberry Ale was only available on tap, I’d tried Back Road Brown Ale with prime rib at Rolling Prairie biker haven, Nowhere Bar & Grill, the night after.

Nearby Michigan City’s now-defunct DUNELAND BREWHOUSE offered ample open barroom-dining space, brushed aluminum brew tanks, exposed ductwork, fireplace, and fair brews (before closing doors in ’05). August ’04, quaffed arid yellow-fruited wheat-husked Kolsch-styled Lighthouse Ale; tangy raspberry-seeded yellow fruit-spiced Raspberry Wheat; grainy hop-bitter red-fruited Replica American Pale Ale; off-dry raspberry-red apple-black grape-induced Open Hearth Amber Ale; grapefruit-lemon-orange tart Salmon Tail Pale Ale; resin-y black cherry-bitter cocoa-parched Bubba’s Brown Ale; and wood-burnt espresso-milked Shoreline Oatmeal Stout.