Indiana Beer love

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by speedydd6, Feb 4, 2017.

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  1. eppie82

    eppie82 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,341) Apr 19, 2015 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Deviate Brewing is my second favorite Indiana brewery after FFF. Small little taproom, but packed with quality brews.
     
  2. speedydd6

    speedydd6 Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2016 Indiana

    Could we consumers be the problem as well? Most of said ticket events revolve around barrel aged beers. There is just too much hype around those beers. Plus those events usually sell out, so why wouldn't they do it?
     
  3. darklord2011

    darklord2011 Zealot (614) Nov 18, 2011 Indiana
    Trader

    While I complain about the pricing of some of the Indiana beer I do want to give some props and feedback on a few beers I've had lately.

    18th st. - Cone Crusher. Very Good.
    18th st. - Sex and Candy. Pretty Good.
    18th st. - Steel Hands. Not Good.
    Sun King - Lupulin. Pretty Good.
    FFF - Space Station Middle Finger. Pretty Good.
     
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  4. Jason1221

    Jason1221 Zealot (666) Apr 7, 2015 Illinois
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    So...I'm heading to Indy this week for business. I have to ask, any good bottle shop (or brewery) reco's from the path of central Illinois to Indy? Last year, on a family vacation weekend, I stopped by Crown Liquors downtown and thought that was a nice place. Any other good reco's from the Indiana fans? Happy to trade info if you head the Chicago (or Central Illinois) way :slight_smile: Feel free to message me if you want to trade a few 'hot' spots!
     
  5. JohnnyHopps

    JohnnyHopps Grand Pooh-Bah (3,036) Jun 15, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I really want to like Sun King more, but everything I have ever liked from them is not distributed. If Sunlight and Wee Mac disappeared permanently, it would clear some needed shelf space. Their King's reserve stuff is so good. It was also nice when GFJ started receiving distribution.
     
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  6. speedydd6

    speedydd6 Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2016 Indiana

    [​IMG]
    One of my absolute favorites.
     
  7. darklord2011

    darklord2011 Zealot (614) Nov 18, 2011 Indiana
    Trader

    The only TaxMan I've had is Death and Taxes. That's a solid brew. Had a buddy that went to the festival last summer. Heard it's pretty cool. Want to try to check it out this summer.
     
  8. darklord2011

    darklord2011 Zealot (614) Nov 18, 2011 Indiana
    Trader

    Will you be downtown or on another side of the city?
     
  9. Jason1221

    Jason1221 Zealot (666) Apr 7, 2015 Illinois
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    We'll be near downtown, but I'll have a car and lots of time when heading home on Friday.
     
  10. darklord2011

    darklord2011 Zealot (614) Nov 18, 2011 Indiana
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    Your main liquor store chains are Crown, Payless, 21st Ammendment, and Big Red. Each has a pretty good selection and I think each has a location downtown or near downtown. There is also a popular store called Kahn's that has a great selection and about 15 min directly north of downtown. If you decide to venture to Kahn's there is also a nice store about another 15 min north in a town called Carmel. The store is Vine & Table. They have a great selection too.
     
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  11. weirdbeer

    weirdbeer Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2007 Indiana

    HopCat in Indy had a Taxman takeover with almost 30 beers last Friday. While I would wager that not all are available, I would think they would be plenty to try.
     
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  12. ja1022

    ja1022 Crusader (468) Sep 27, 2009 Indiana
    Trader

    So much for Indiana beer love. 55 pages of Chicagoland NE Style IPAs but crickets here.
     
  13. cetherid

    cetherid Savant (1,081) Aug 23, 2010 Indiana

    FFF, New Oberpfalz and Four Fathers are the only breweries I need from NWI (and honestly from all of Indiana)
     
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  14. JohnnyHopps

    JohnnyHopps Grand Pooh-Bah (3,036) Jun 15, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Do we have enough pages to list all of the bad breweries in Indiana?
     
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  15. TheodorHerzl

    TheodorHerzl Initiate (0) Mar 30, 2007 Indiana

    We have a shockingly high amount of terrible beer in Indiana, but we do have some great beer. FFF (obviously) Black Acre, Deviate, Daredevil, Central State, and Mashcraft. Those are my personal favorites.

    I'm amazed that several places around Indianapolis are still open. I've never had a good beer from several downtown breweries. It makes Indiana beer as a whole look terrible. You can open a place with shitty beer and somehow make it right now.
     
  16. DrippingI

    DrippingI Zealot (617) Apr 12, 2012 Indiana

    Man, I tried 3 or 4 of New Oberpfalz beers that they bottled and all of them were either 'meh' or a drain pour. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since those were probably the first time bottling. But, still, it wasn't anything salvageable.
     
  17. JohnnyHopps

    JohnnyHopps Grand Pooh-Bah (3,036) Jun 15, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Same goes for NWI. There is one brewery in NWI (that I have mentioned in other threads) that literally has no idea what it is doing. Purposely making malt forward IPAs, I'd rather cellar a 90 minute IPA for a year.
     
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  18. JohnnyHopps

    JohnnyHopps Grand Pooh-Bah (3,036) Jun 15, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'd be curious to find out what you had and when you had them. They are a different kind of brewery since they don't focus on IPAs and am told they will never get into barrel aging. But I think the styles they do are well done for the most part.
     
    #38 JohnnyHopps, Feb 8, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2017
  19. DrippingI

    DrippingI Zealot (617) Apr 12, 2012 Indiana

    I had their RIS, Elucidator, Imperial Rye IPA, and I think the Toad Storm. The RIS was probably the best out of the bunch, but it was still just meh. I bought all of them right when they popped up in Indy, so about a year or so ago.
     
  20. JohnnyHopps

    JohnnyHopps Grand Pooh-Bah (3,036) Jun 15, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Elucidator wasn't terribly impressive to me either (and I'm a pretty big dopplebock guy). At least on tap, I like the others. Perhaps its a matter of freshness.
     
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