Indiana Beer love

I don't know how many enter.

As for the breweries never on the winners list, they may not have entered. One way you could try and find out is to contact those breweries you like and see if they entered. If you know one of the Brewers they might say. Or maybe they won't.

 

Great question. Number of entries are all over the map for competitions. This is one reason that we (Daredevil) don't do very many competitions. We only are going to participate in a competition if there a a natural connection to be involved. We will do 5 this year. For example we just started participating in the Indiana Brewers Cup in 2016 (we won 6 medals & tied for 2nd overall) and this year in 2017. We started participating because the Brewers Cup is a way to help promote Indiana Craft Beer and it's our local Indiana-centric competition.

The Indiana Brewers Cup is one of the largest regional competitions. This year breweries from 19 states entered the Indiana Brewers Cup & 650 entries were judged across 32 categories. To compare, GABF & World Beer Cup are national & international competitions. At GABF this year there will be around 1200 breweries enter and 5000 entries across +90 categories. With 5500 breweries in the United States that means about 1 in 4 or 5 participate.

I heard this year about 70 breweries participated in the 2017 Indiana Brewers Cup but they did not break that out for Indiana Breweries and out of state Breweries. However with around 150 breweries in Indiana it means the participation rate was pretty good. Likely most of the larger breweries (top 10 for example) all participated as that is normally the case. Hope that helps provide some color. Also just because a beer you enjoy is not on the list does not mean it was entered or that it is not "better". Judging in the Brewers Cup is to style so on any given day different beers can show better or worse since it is blind judging.

 

Just talked to our rep. The closest stores that still have it: Cask n Cellar in Highland, Liquor Stop in Highland, and Delocks Discount Liquors in Munster. That's as of 11am Tuesday morning, anyway. It never hurts to call ahead.

Thanks for drinking our beer.

 

Thank you so much for the heads up, I will definitely be calling ahead. Can't get your beer in Chicago (yet at least, heard the good news recently). Munster and Highland are close so that helps a lot.

 

Not a huge fan of anything I've had from them aside from Fistful of Hops, and now that it is once a year, it isn't helping my opinion.

That being said, I was thrilled when I went into the beer store in Richmond and found some on the shelf.

 

Really appreciate the great information, Shane! It was good to see you guys do so well. Loved the Pils and the NEX IPA #3 I had on my visit there last week. Looking forward to grabbing some Pils in cans soon.

Hearing that you guys just started participating in this event last year makes me wonder if one of my other local faves (Black Acre) might also not have entered the competition the last few years. They were the brewery I was thinking of when I mentioned being surprised that I don't remember seeing them on any of the category winners lists recently. (Or maybe they have entered and just struck out due to the nature of blind judging to style).

I do enjoy reading about these events and often use the winners list as a guide for some new breweries/beers that I need to try.

 

Felt obligated to make a post. As someone who has lived in Connecticut, can safely say Indy has finally struck gold in the most unlikeliest of places.

Maui Wowie at Rock Bottom in College Park is the best NEIPA I've had out here. Reminded me of Trillium to be honest. Not sure how a chain brewpub beat every other Indy brewer to the punch with this but it's certainly worth mentioning on here!

 

You're the 2nd person I've seen/heard rave about this beer. Must be very good indeed.

 

Taxman Fortville had their soft opening late last week (grand opening later this week but open 4-10pm until then).

My wife and I stopped in for a few drinks before dinner at Foxgardin. It was REALLY nice. Food menu looked really good too; higher-end than the Bargersville location. They were pouring cocoa vanilla Evasion and it was fantastic...Looking forward to getting back there for a meal.

 

Finally got to try a 450 North hazy brew...Super Juicer. It was canned a little over a month ago, so not the freshest example.

It was decent; mild grapefruit & a dry wheat finish. Way too mild for my palate but not a drainpour either. I'd try it again if it was a week or two old, but not one I'd hunt down.

Folks that have had more experience with them, are any of the other NE IPA's they make better? One I should keep my eyes peeled for?

 

That is my general consensus when it comes to them. They are solid offerings, but nothing has jumped out and made me want to chase them down.

 

Yeah I agree. I bought and consumed a growler of it on thursday. I don't think it's quite Trillium level but it's not out of the discussion. Definitely the first of its kind in Indy. Many years ago when Liz was the brewer that location had a lot of the best beers in the city. It's cool to see them come back to prominence a bit. The stout and the dipa are also fantastic. I'd like to be able to give you a reason why Rock Bottom is the first to get there but the only thing I can think of is that all of these other breweries just don't know how to do it......see Indiana City.

 

Agreed. Their Niko Liko stout, or something like that, was a take on the Abraxas/Huna-style beer and it was damn good for a local spot. They've definitely caught the buzz of some of the locals here in Indy.

 

I stopped in this evening based mostly on the buzz from this thread and wasn't let down. I haven't had any of the NEIPAs that were actually brewed out east so I don't have much to compare Maui Wowie to, but it was very solid. I was kinda blown away by the Niko Liko. It compared favorably to Stone Xocoveza and was knocking on the door of Mexican Cake imo. Not quite there on the nose, but the flavor was top notch. The brewer (Jason, I believe) is definitely someone to watch.

 

I don't think it warrants its own thread (because there are already too dam many brewery specific threads in Great Lakes), but Windmill is doing some excellent Milkshake style IPAs. Their Memes & Dreams line is worth checking out. I don't think those make distribution because they sell out at the brewery pretty quickly.

 

My fridge is stocked with 3 different types of memes and dreams currently. The peaches & memes is an absolute crusher.

 

Its cliche to suggest that they are the best Indiana brewery that nobody knows. I will suggest it anyway. They are even conveniently located on a hospital campus.

 

Another chime in on Rock Bottom's Stout and NEIPA - both are really fantastic. Not having been to Rock Bottom before but only having a vague negative prejudice, I was excited to be surprised.

 

Went to Rock Bottom last night. My sister lives in Boston and I have had my fair share of Trillium including a shitload about 1 month ago. Maui Wowie is not Trillium, but it's damn close, and far and away the best NE IPA I've had in the midwest, including a bunch from the Chicago breweries focusing on the style.

Last night they tapped their next NE IPA as well, I believe the name is Low Rider; better than Maui Wowie, though that could just be freshness since this style tends to fall off a cliff fairly quickly. I will probably go back again tomorrow...

 

Good to hear.

Anyone have any idea what will be the next Deviate club offering and when? Over 2 months since last release.