Greetings fellow beer geeks, I'm traveling to Indianapolis IN in a few weeks and want (need) to know the must-do beer places. I've got a couple of evenings free and will be staying downtown (near Monument Circle). Any suggestions? Also, any not to miss local beers to bring back that may not be available in Maryland (Founders, Cigar City, Glarus, Russian River, etc).
I would highly recommend going to Sun King Brewing Company. They are downtown, very close to where you are staying. They have some really great IPA's on tap right now, and they just won 2 medals at the GABF.
You can walk to the Crown Liquor store and get Founders Breakfast Stout. The others aren't here. Three Floyds bombers are hit and miss. http://seekabrew.com/distro/index.html
There's a place called Ale Emporium that was pretty solid - huge tap selection. I just missed Zombie Dust on tap when I was there, but they did have a couple 3F options. It's a bit outside of downtown, but might be worth a cab ride. I also second Sun King - they've got some good stuff (Osiris, Fist Full of Hops). Enjoy!
I'm likely to be the only one who doesn't love SK, so I'll just suggest some other places. Best breweries, in my opinion at least, are Black Acre, Bier, and Brugge/Outliers. Best bars to grab a beer at would be Tomlinson's Tap Room, Twenty Tap, Hop Cat and Pint Room. Favorite stores would be Kahn's, Crown, and Parti Pak on the south side. These are just my own personal choices. There are many more options beyond what I've listed. And as usual, is be happy to play beer tour guide if you want. Most of my evenings are free and I always enjoy showing visiting BA members around the area. If you're interested, just let me know and I'll make sure my schedule is free.
Every time we're down in Indy we stop at Black Acre. They've been consistently solid and lately they've been putting out some amazing beers. I also second the recommendation for Sun King, although what they have on tap can be hit or miss, depending. Twenty Tap is a great place to grab a late-night pint.
