Event Preview | Scarlet Lane Scarelastic Book Fair

As bookish adults, many of us get nostalgic at the memory of the Scholastic Book Fairs from our school days, when we got out of class to spend our allowance money on cheap reading material. A horror-themed brewery in Indiana is bringing the delight of those book fairs back for adults, this time with beer.

Read More

Bean to Barstool Podcast | The Glorious Horrors of Scarlet Lane Brewing

Spooky season is upon us, and today we’re talking with two brewers for whom spooky season lasts the entire year. Eilise Lane is the founder and head brewer at Scarlet Lane Brewing Company in Indiana. As you’ll hear in the interview, Eilise is obsessed with horror movies and literature, and books in general, and uses Scarlet Lane to celebrate all things macabre. Josh Hull is a brewer at Scarlet Lane who is also a screenwriter and filmmaker. His new horror comedy Glorious is available for streaming now on Shudder.

The three of us discuss our love for horror and how that theme gets celebrated in fun ways at Scarlet Lane, how Eilise comes up with the ideas for her beers, and Josh’s process for writing the grimy but delightful cosmic horror movie Glorious.

Read More

Book Review & Interview | Indianapolis Beer Stories by Amy Beers

Indianapolis, Indiana, is often overlooked among the great beer cities of the Midwest, but a brand new book by an Indianapolis author with an auspicious last name aims to change that. Amy Beers is a Certified Cicerone® and leads walking beer tours around Indianapolis with her company Drinking With Beers. She’s the author of the new book Indianapolis Beer Stories: History to Modern Craft in Circle City Brewing, a guide to the Indy beer scene both past and present. The book takes us behind the scenes of the personalities and breweries that have shaped this underrated beer city.

Read More

Bean to Barstool Podcast | Indianapolis Beer with Amy Beers

In this episode of Bean to Barstool, David Nilsen talks with Amy Beers, the author of the new book Indianapolis Beer Stories: History to Modern Craft in Circle City Brewing. Amy is a Certified Cicerone® and she leads walking beer tours around Indy through her company Drinking with Beers. In this conversation we discuss her book, the invisible history of Indianapolis beer prior to Prohibition, and the vibrant modern beer scene in central Indiana.

Read More

Central State Brewing | Table Rustic Blonde Ale

January 2021 is here. Finally.

A time-honored tradition among many craft-beer drinkers every January is Dryanuary or, a month without alcohol. But this January, craft breweries need our help more than ever. And, let’s face it, we all need a beer more than ever. So what’s a good compromise between cutting out drinking altogether for a month and giving craft breweries our support? Let’s go with drinking more low-ABV beers. If you indulged in a lot of high-ABV beers over the holidays like we did, it’s time to cleanse the palate anyway.

Read More

An Interview with GABF’s Biggest Winners, Sun King

When one thinks about the state of Indiana, a few things may immediately come to mind. Corn, basketball and the show “Parks and Recreation” are all likely answers but for many, craft beer is not necessarily one of them. That is a shame, considering that at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival competition, the Hoosier State picked up an impressive 10 medals and was home to the brewery with the highest number of winning beers overall: Sun King Brewing.

Read More

5 Questions With Taxman Brewing Co-Owner Colin McCloy

To mark this year’s pandemic-extended July 15 Tax Day, we talked with Bargersville, IN-based Taxman Brewing Company‘s co-owner and chief production officer, Colin McCloy. Normally the brewery hosts an annual Death & Taxes Day festival around April 15. However, much like the IRS, the brewery had to delay the festival. This year’s festival is planned for August 29, 2020.

Taxman’s Belgian-style Ales and farm-to-table restaurant menu reflect the owners’ love and passion for Belgian culture. Their enthusiasm for beer also extends into American Farmhouse Ales and Midwest Saisons, along with a strong barrel-aging program. The brewery operates a 20-barrel brewhouse plus several satellite restaurant/taprooms in central Indiana. Read More

New Oberpfalz Brewing | Feurgeist India Pale Ale

My hometown of Griffith, Indiana is lucky enough to have two breweries that have seen strong support from the locals during the quarantine period. While other states have seen a spike in reported cases, the Chicagoland area and northwest Indiana have seen a much needed, steady decline in recent weeks. Many of the area’s smaller towns are starting to bustle with an activity that feels reminiscent of the days before a pandemic disrupted our lives. New Oberpfalz is a quintessential small-town brewery with a twist. Located in an old 1930s Main Street storefront building that has been renovated, the small taproom and patio is a cozy and comfortable place to spend an afternoon. While the main focus continues to be old-world German-Style Ales and Lagers, they do offer a variety of American style varieties as well.

Read More

Ultimate 6er | Summer Lawnmower Beers

Summer is here. Yes, it’s a pretty weird summer, but it’s here all the same. Even with all of the craziness going on in the world these days, the grass needs to be mowed, there’s yard work to do, and the garden needs to be … gardened. It’s time to drink some lawnmower beer!

Read More

5 Questions with Taxman Brewing Co-Owner Colin McCloy

In honor of what would have been Tax Day, April 15, it seemed appropriate to chat with co-owner and chief production officer Colin McCloy of Taxman Brewing Company in Bargersville, Indiana. This is normally a celebratory time for the brewery as it hosts the annual Death & Taxes Day festival. However, much like the IRS has extended Tax Day to July, the brewery had to reschedule the festival for late August.

Taxman’s Belgian-style Ales and farm-to-table restaurant menu reflect the owners’ love and passion for Belgian culture. Their enthusiasm for beer also extends into American farmhouse Ales and Midwest Saisons, along with a strong barrel-aging program. The brewery operates a 20-barrel brewhouse plus several satellite restaurant/taprooms in central Indiana. Read More

Fair State Brewing Cooperative & 3 Floyds Brewing | Partying Past Burning Bridges

Christmas came early for Midwest craft beer enthusiasts this year as Minneapolis’ Fair State Brewing Cooperative and Munster, Indiana’s 3 Floyds Brewing gave us Partying Past Burning Bridges, a collaborative dip-hopped IPA.

Read More

Windmill Brewing | Mema Colada

In 1979, Rupert Holmes released his defining hit and lyrical earworm “Escape.” The song was an immediate hit, rising to prominence and becoming the last U.S. No. 1 song of the 1970s. While Homes would go on to win two Tony Awards, the defining song of his career is better known by its alternate name the Pina Colada song.

Read More

A Drinker’s Guide to Griffith, Indiana

While I can’t say anything bad about the Chicago beer scene (we DO have the most breweries per capita), everything else about this city is exhausting, to say the least. From the rampant corruption, violent crime, high taxes and crumbling infrastructure, there is no shortage of issues that make a resident of Cook County want to drink. When I am in need for some fresh air, fresh ale and small-town charm, my day drinking location of choice has always been my hometown: Griffith, IN, located right over the border, 30 minutes south of Chicago.

Griffith’s downtown has the charm of a small town, but also the amenities of some of Chicago’s most sought-after neighborhoods. It’s no wonder people are leaving Illinois in record numbers; many of them are moving here. Real estate is hot and the secret is out—Griffith is a pretty hip(ster) place to be. The town of 17,000 now boasts a small but bustling downtown complete with a bowling alley (with a large outdoor patio area), gourmet popcorn shop, meat market, coffee house, arcade bar, vegan hair salon and three microbreweries. All of the three microbreweries are within a short walking distance from one another with plenty of cool local businesses between to browse, shop or grab a snack to soak up some of Griffith’s fine local beer. On a personal note, I grew up here (my most of my family still lives here) so this small town and its breweries have a special place in my liver. It’s my pleasure to bring you a drinker’s walking guide of downtown Griffith, IN.

Read More

18th Street Brewing | Candi Crushable

Living in Cincinnati, there’s no shortage of great beer. In fact, as of next week, we will have 42 breweries in the area. That’s more than enough to keep me busy.

But that doesn’t mean that I occasionally get the itch to try something from outside my area. When that happens, I drive across the Ohio / Indiana border to a place called Whitey’s. This is the local liquor store in Lawrenceburg, Indiana and is just minutes off the highway.

Read More

Brewery Showcase | Saint Benedict’s Brew Works

Featured image courtesy of David Nilsen

I had never met a nun before. That feels important to establish at the outset.

Though I grew up religious, the spiritual instruction of my youth came mostly from non-denominational preachers with overactive sweat glands and a predilection toward sermons about the end times rather than from black-clad Catholic nuns. So I had no idea what to expect when my wife and I arrived at Monastery Immaculate Conception, home of the Sisters of St. Benedict in Ferdinand, Indiana. I was there to interview Bruce Luecke, the brewmaster at Saint Benedict’s Brew Works, the only brewery in the country housed on the grounds of a women’s religious community. The graceful but imposing dome of the monastery’s century-old chapel rose above us on a hill as we stepped out of our car in front of the Kordes Center, the monastery’s guest lodging facility. The brewery was nowhere in sight as we entered the doors of the retreat center.
Read More

Upland Brewing Company | Champagne Velvet Pilsner

ABV: 5.50% | IBU: 29

After a long week at work, I felt I needed something light and simple to drink. While pilsners are usually one of styles of beer I avoid, I’ve found plenty of pre-prohibition style beers that surpassed my expectations. When I realized that Champagne Velvet was originally released as a part of Upland Brewing Company‘s 15th anniversary, I was intrigued by this modern take on the early 1900s beer that originally put Indiana brewing on the map.

Read More

Fountain Square Brewing Co | Stay Classy Scotch Ale

Fountain Square Brewing Company has delivered a great beer with Stay Classy Scotch Ale, which is a Ron Burgundy, from Anchorman, inspired scotch ale. Before I even started drinking the … Read More

People’s Brewing Company | Mound Builder IPA

ABV: 6.50%
IBU: 88

I am proud of my home town. Being from a small, tight-knit community, in rural Indiana, it is difficult to share the greatness with people in Denver. For such a small place, I am very impressed with the local breweries. Both Lafayette Brewing Company and People’s Brewing Company make quality and tasty beer, but I was never able to bring it back to Denver with me … until now.

Read More