What type of proximity are you looking for? Driving, walking, etc? Close proximity to the stadium is tough (walking wise). There are a number of spots on Mass Ave (The Tap, MacNivens, to name a couple), which are a 25-30 minute walk. My recommendation would be Tomlinson Taproom, which is in the City Market Bldg, located in the second floor balcony above the market area. They have 15 taps dedicated to Indiana beer and it's always damn good. This is about 1 mile walking distance from the stadium in downtown.
Tomlinson is 1 block off the circle (you can find their taplist on twitter, right now it is excellent). Mass Ave is 5-10 min.
I haven't been to this, but there's something called "Taps and Touchdowns" happening Friday night at the Pan Am Pavilion downtown. Looks like about 20 local breweries taking part. http://www.indianasportscorp.org/taps
A friend and I went last year and had a great time wandering around near the circle last year before the game. We did not stop at the Tomlinson Taproom last year but will be sure to this year, it looks great. Last year we did stop at Scotty's Brewhouse, which has a decent tap list but is very popular. We stopped at Pearl Street Pizzeria & Pub, which had some good beers on draft and was fairly quiet. We also stopped at Winner's Circle OTB when we first got into town because Scotty's was packed and we needed to get our bearings, but it wound up being a great stop early in the day (noon or so). Their pints were $2 and they had 5-6 local beers on. However, we stopped back just before heading to the stadium and it was much busier and beers were being served in plastic cups instead of glass, so just fair warning on the timing. The Weber Grill Restaurant is a nice stop for a meal, but I'd recommend reservations. Last year the place was packed mid-afternoon because the whole OSU marching band was there. If you get a chance, Goose the Market is an excellent stop while in town. It's farther north, but worth stopping at while heading in or out of town.
Sun King has their core lineup in the stadium. Also - Lucas Oil stadium does not allow purses that are not see thru. Last time I went to a Colts game there was an entire trash can full of purses.
Tavern on South is right there and has a decent amount of local beer and decent food. Only been there once, but it was pretty good I thought. It's been a few years.
Apologies for not doing some research but first but I'm not at home tonight. An acquaintance messages me saying he's in town for the game and wanted to know a good bottle shop near 2750 fortune circle. Said he'd bring some things back. Not familiar with the area's distro (from Iowa) any chance of finding Plead, Black Ops or Zombie Dust? If not any stout suggestions?
The Tap located on Delaware near Mass ave is a great place for beer and food. Good beer selection including their own beers that are brewed in Bloomington. They also charge reasonable prices for their beers!
Crown Liquors downtown has a good selection and is reasonably close. Should be able to find the Black Chocolate Stout, the others are going to be a question of when they got shipments. If I remember correctly, Plead the 5th is in the spring and Zombie Dust flies off the shelf within a day or so of arrival generally. You might want him to grab you some Dogfish Head, 18th Street, or Shoreline. Just a few that came off the top of my head. Hoppin Frog is usually easy to grab as well.
