Headed to Indy for the weekend...

Here's a good start, courtesy of Hoosier Beer Geek:

http://hoosierbeergeek.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-to-drink-in-indy-hoosier-beer_8990.html

 

Tomlinson Tap Room at City Market is a great place that has all Indiana craft beers. Sun King and Flat 12 both have tasting rooms downtown, you can also get pints at Flat 12 (which i prefer over sun king). Macnivens is a good bar with lots of good selections. If you feel like venturing north a little, I highly recommend Twenty Tap, which now has 38 tap lines of all craft beer, easily the best craft beer bar in the city....it's at 54th and college.

 

This^^^^Twenty Tap rocks, 10-15 minutes north of downtown. Flat12 is awesome and only about 5 minutes from where you are staying. I greatly prefer it to Sun King as their beers are high quality and you can chill out there and have a pint, hang on the patio, eat some food, etc.

Macnivens for late night drinking on Mass Ave is always a good time.

 

Fountain Square Brewing is a little farther south. I have been happy with the beers there on 2 visits.

The beers at Sun King have been variable.

The beers at Flat 12 are pretty good, but the first time there my wifes second beer was a drian pour.

 

Anyone been here yet?
http://www.stelmos.com/1933-lounge/

 

This is the fourth or fifth "what to do in Indy" thread in the last month or so. Search the forum for more details.

 

I just wish people would give a little more info on exactly the type of (bar/store/restaurant) they enjoy the most.

 

You're making fantastic choices and I approve whole-heartedly.

 

i'll be hopping around town this saturday, starting from new palestine around 2pm. tentative schedule includes:
1. (maybe) triton brewing
2. black acre
3. bier brewery
4. flat 12
5. sun king
6. twenty tap
7. brugge

not sure what order makes the most sense with numbers 1-3. especially bier. thinking it may make more sense to stop in there after my downtown stops, and on the way to broad ripple.

hoping that i can stop in at flat 12 without having to purchase a $75 ticket for the pre race party they're holding. additionally hoping to try some of that smoking goose. while in the neighborhood.

any suggestions / recommendations from the local pros?

 

First of all, let me be the first to suggest a designated driver. None of those places are easy walking distance to the next, with the possible exception of Sun King to Flat 12.

Assuming that you want to end in Broad Ripple, I would suggest downtown first, then Black Acre, Triton, and Bier. From there, Brugge first, then Twenty Tap would be a straighter line, but BB is closer to the heart of BRip than TT. Not that there isn't plenty down that way on College in SoBro to help you finish the night.

 

Assuming you have a DD I would go in this order:
Head out to Black Acre and swing back in to Sunking, cut up and over to Flat 12.
Next if you want to trek out to Triton go there and then loop back to Bier next. Hit Brugge next and if you're up for it might as well stop in at Thr3e Wisemen and Broadripple Brew Pub as they are blocks away. Assuming you are still sober enough to walk, make your way back downtown on college and 20tap will be on your left a few blocks south of Broadripple Ave. From there its a straight shot back downtown to pass out after a day of drinking.

Once again I wouldn't recommend this without a DD.

 

Triton may not be a bad one to hit first because they open at 11 am. If you start there I'd hit the downtown stuff last. Bier brewery is awesome but since they dont do pints it might be a quick stop on the way to Brugge and twenty tap.

 

thanks. i grew up in new palestine, and stayed in broad ripple for several years before moving to chicago, so i'm familiar with the area overall. i forgot however how far north fort ben was, so jtosh's plan makes the most sense now. for the record, i'll have the lady with me helping on the DD tip, but i also don't plan on staying at some of those spots for long. i'm primarily just trying to peep the new / newer breweries / brewpubs in recent years with hopes to bring beer back to my chicago brethren. cheers.

i'm excited to check out twenty tap. i stayed at 56th & college for a year. yats for days. i'm guessing twenty tap is in what used to be the news stand.

 

Yeah, 20 Tap used to be Northside News. Sam's just expanded into the old Army/Navy surplus that was there, looks a lot nicer too. There's a Fresh Market across the street, the rest is still the same.

Kahn's on Keystone is pretty close by and could be a good store for grabbing some carryout. My favorite store is the Payless at 96th/I-69, but that's kind of out of your way. Still, a very worthwhile trip, especially if the store's beer manager Joe is working. And bring some empty growlers for your stops at Bier, Sun King and especially Flat12...not sure what the law is in Illinois, but in Indiana they'll just slap a new label over whatever it's already branded with and you can save a few bucks on glass.

I work in New Pal (ugh...), I think jtosh's plan of attack is probably your best route, too. Since Triton is bottling at least a couple of their beers...if you don't have the time/inclination, I think that stop could be skipped in lieu of picking up a couple bottles or a sixer of Railsplitter.

Indy's beer scene has definitely improved since you moved, hopefully you have an enjoyable visit!

 

Yes.

 

when you are downtown you could also swing by Fountain Square Brewing, i haven't been too impressed with some of their stuff, but they are a local craft brewery and are worth checking out.

Bier and Sun King should both be very quick trips since you can't buy pints or anything there. I was just at Bier yesterday and tasted 9 biers in like 15-20 minutes, and felt very relaxed and not like i was rushing though them. I have been in and out of Sun King in like 5-10 minutes before just because i was only there to taste brews. You can sample and get pints at the other places. Black Acre has an awesome guest tap selection, but they haven't had a lot of their own stuff on tap, you might check their FB to see what they have on tap and if they don't have their own stuff on you could just skip them. I mostly prefer Bier and Flat 12 over the others. Triton probably third. I think starting at Triton, then going to Bier, Broadripple Brewpub, late lunch and brews at Brugge, then downtown for Flat 12, Sun King, Fountain Square, and ending up at Twenty Tap makes a lot of sense to me.

 

thought i'd chime in and share my experience for those who may care.


the highlight was black acre. It was our first stop, and if we weren’t trying to stop at other places, I would’ve been happy to stay. I’ll take the blame for not knowing sun king’s hours, but closing at 4pm on a Saturday is lame. We showed up just after 5. flat 12 was ok. The lacto-matic was my favorite out of the one’s I tried. But the charcuterie from smoking goose won me over more than the beers did. They closed at 6, but I can let that slide as I know they had an event later that night. At this point it’s about 6:20, and I wanted to stop at bier before they closed at 7. made it there in time, sampled all their beers, and walked out with a few growlers. Their beers were good. Nothing over the top, but good no less. They have an interesting operation going on there, so I was glad to stop in and see it first hand. Brugge was fun. Met up with old high school friends drinking pooka and double trouble. No complaints here. Twenty tap was cool. not that I didn’t care for the news stand back when I was a local to that area, but I would’ve preferred twenty tap instead. That’s a nice lil intersection these days.

Black acre’s space is nice. Really diggin the bar and draft selection. We ordered a portabella Panini, and enjoyed it while washing it down with their strong ale. I found the strong ale dangerously good. I also couldn’t help myself from ordering a flying dog kujo served from a nitro tap. Solid brew, but back to locals. Their watermelon wheat wasn’t my thing. But the sample was appreciated. Even more appreciated was the sample of their upcoming citra pale ale still carbing. Personally, it was carb’d to my satisfaction, and I assure you it’s a fine libation. One of my favorites of the day in fact. Out of about 15-16 taps, 5 or 6 were locals, on top of the two they had of their own. I can dig that. In fact I was impressed seeing as much local offerings as I did where ever we went. Loving the community vibe.