Indiana Beer love

Are they doing fills downtown? I imagine they are but want to make sure before driving down there tomorrow. The 2 I had at College Park before they closed down were damn good.

 

I'm not for sure if they're doing fills of this new IPA, I think it just went on today. I was sitting at a table with family (all non-drinkers) so I wasn't able to cozy up to the bar and check things out. First time I've been in the downtown Rock Bottom in at least 10 years. They had 3-4 beers on that sounded really damn good.

 

This thread is dying slowly. Looking forward to Uplands new beers slated for this year!

https://www.uplandbeer.com/news/celebrate-20-years-upland/

 

For those looking for the Calendar:

https://www.uplandbeer.com/beers/2018-release-calendars/

Also - I'm not sure this thread has ever been super alive. There does not seem to be very many people that talk about Indiana beer, and most Indiana residents that participate seem to be concentrated in NW near Chicago.

I don't visit breweries much or I'd participate more - If it is not on shelves (even limitedly), my ability to participate is limited.

I did enjoy BA Beard Tax this year.

 

The lack of Pawpaw on the Upland schedule concerns me.

I would agree on you assessment of Indiana beer. Our neighbors from across the state line even think fff is an Illinois brewery. The Indy area and NWI are cluttered with breweries, many of which are not good. There is just not a lot of buzz on the good Indiana beer. If I had to fill a box for trade to impress the hell out of somebody with Indiana that is not from fff, I might be challenged.

 

Seems like we may have covered this ground before, but at the beginning 18th was pumping out some stuff to damn near rival FFF. He seemed to slip some for a while but I believe he's back to putting out good to great product. For a lot of Indiana breweries, northwest Indiana for sure, just putting out stuff that isn't offensive is an accomplishment.

 

Not sure about Indy, but south-centralish and even other parts of Indiana don't really seem to get anything from 18th street that isn't a complete shelf beer. I've yet to see any hunter variant except for coffee (that was at a whole foods in Indy).

It'd be nice if they had more distro.

 

This year has largely gone the same way as last year, and the year before. As usual no one really stepped it up in Indy, no one tried something different or particularly interesting. Upland is a classic example of the beer scene in Indy right now. I live close to the Carmel taproom they have and when I saw on Twitter and they said 20th anniversary, check for details, I was excited. Breweries do cool things for anniversaries. One off beers, different styles, a special barrel beer or two that isn't the usual bourbon. An anniversary weekend with aged classic beers. Nope. Not upland. A Pilsner. That's their 20th anniversary beer. Nothing else. Forgive me while I roll my eyes.

Edit: sorry to add, but I can join their Barrell society for 175 for the right to buy $25 bottles. Which, you know, is more expensive than a better sour brewery in Side Project. Or I can pay 75 to buy 1 single bomber at Indiana city. The reasons go on and on for why Indy breweries just aren't cutting it.

 

The good news is we are now one step closer to Sunday sales.

 

https://www.indystar.com/story/news...committee-approves-sunday-alcohol/1021383001/

 

I think Indiana has a lot to offer in terms of good beer, my biggest complaints are the prices for cans/bottles. It's hard to pony up $20 for a 4 pack from 450 N or Bare Hands when I can get a 15 pack from Founder's for less. $25 for 750 of Upland sours isn't much better... I paid that for CBS!

I'd really like to support local more than just draught poors, but these prices are getting out of hand quite frankly.

 

I'd rather stand up for lower prices than support local shops. With such high prices, it is frustrating.

 

Its a valid point. Its one of the reasons I lost interest in 18th Street. I can get two six packs of zombie dust for the price of some 18th street 4packs. And i have an unwritten rule that I won’t pay more than $20 for a non-barrel aged stout (unless its for a trade). Pricing is going to be the death of some of these breweries.

 

I hope so. Ridiculous.

Also, agree so much on that $20 policy.

 

Agreed to all of the above statements about Indiana beer. Made these same statements in this thread pages ago.

Hate to see this thread die. It's the only one other than the Deviate thread that's specific to Indiana I believe.

I'd be more than happy to help contribute to converting this thread into a means to discuss and share the knowledge of availability of limited releases on non-Indiana beer. I seem to find myself searching the national threads for release information when I feel like we should do a better job sharing information locally to get our finger to the pulse on when things hit Indiana.

 

I actually started a thread awhile back called "Great Lakes Limited releases." The idea was anything that has limited distro and will hit the region that this forum represents. That thread (probably because it was at the start or during the summer - or due to a poor name choice - got disowned. No one responded to it. I pretty much follow the Chicago thread for that, now, as they get everything before we do.

Also, just to repackage my statement from yesterday: I'm all about supporting local. I'd much rather buy local produce, go to a small-town (or chain, but locally owned) butcher, local restaurants, etc. That extends to beer. But, I won't pay gauging prices. I suspect what at least some of these places are trying to do is quickly recoup their loss from investing in brewpub locations + canning systems (because, apparently everyone has to can now). In doing so, they are pricing themselves at the top end of the market - and I can't stand that. I won't pay some of the Farmer's market prices because they are exorbitant.

 

Was happy to see Sun King hit the shelves in Illinois but have to ask if I will ever see any Osiris on the shelves that isn't months old. Last time I saw it a couple of days ago the packaging had a canned on date from October. Not very good for a pale ale.

Cheers

 

Good luck. Stuff rots on the shelves in Indy too. You likely have much better fresh options sitting on the shelves any way, so don't feel too bad about it.

 

As much as 450 continues to make nice hazy ipas, as someone else said, they're getting a bit similar.

I really wish SK would focus more on the small batch stuff and make some better unique canned options. Them moving into IL/Chicago was going to be a bust IMO. Maybe they're too focused on their distillery?

I enjoyed Deviate when I was there, but some of their styles were just too bizarre.

With the exception of FFF, Indy beer just seems very generic and built to not offend people.

 

I think Central State is pretty special, and consistently brews unique, interesting beers. Their Uber Gose Freunde was probably the best Indiana beer I've had since moving back here a year and a half ago. Tia Hugs was great. Barrel aged Gute Nacht was really great. Even their standards, like Garden and Table, are excellent--Garden is tart and lemony and refreshing; Table is a classic Belgian farmhouse beer that I like to drink when I'm eating, especially fried chicken.

We drank a lot of Wicked Weed beers when we lived in North Carolina, and my wife, who is a much more critical drinker than I am, appreciates how every CSB beer tastes like what they say is in it--cranberry, lemon, raspberry, watermelon, etc.--unlike all the WW sours that you kind of can't really tell much difference between.

And not to keep going on and sound like too much of a fanboy, but Goose the Market/the Koelschip has become one of our favorite weeknight dates--we get sandwiches at Goose and take them next door to eat with a beer. I think it's kind of crazy that they aren't always packed.