Indianapolis recommendations

Sun King does some pretty good stuff..

 

Sun King and Flat12 are both solid, local choices. New Albanian (Southern IN) also does some great 22oz releases. On the west side near the airport, you might hit United Package Liquors in Speedway. Indy is also pretty easy to get around if you wanted to hit Kahn's on 86th street or Payless on 96th street and I-69.

 

Start here for where to stop: http://www.hoosierbeergeek.blogspot.com/p/where-to-drink-in-indianapolis.html

If you get a chance, stop at Flat 12 (or pick up a few of their bottles--they just started bottling). Triton is on the opposite side of the city than you'll be on, but you should be able to find some of their beers around (they're also bottling; Railsplitter is my favorite IPA in the city).

20 Tap, in south Broad Ripple (or "SoBro" to be hip) is my favorite beer bar. Bit of a misnomer now, as they have far more than 20 taps now, but they're still all regional craft beer.

 

I went to the Crown Liquor on Ohio, I think it was, and walked to Sun King from there. Definitely stop by the 'King, the people were cool as hell and I was able to get a killer growler(Cream Dream V)

 

I'm going down to Indianapolis this weekend, and was just about to ask the same question.

I'm actually doing an "Indy Brew Bus Tour" that's supposed to stop at three places from the following:
-Sun King
-Flat 12
-Fountain Square Brewing
-Bier Brewery and Taproom

Any particular beers I should look out for at these places?

 

Don't get your hopes up for HotD...seems like lately their Indy distro has dried up a bit.
Kahn's just started getting Pretty Things and Jester King.
Definitely get some cans of Sun King Osiris.

 

Flat 12 has Moustache Ride on right now (I think it's on nitro). Barrel aged vanilla amber. Damn good, highly recommended.

 

I wouldn't look past Triton Brewery if you get a chance. Great people and the Railsplitter IPA is the best in the city.

 

I talked to Alan from HotD and he said there are not currently plans to bring more HotD into Indiana.

 

I'm actually doing an "Indy Brew Bus Tour" that's supposed to stop at three places from the following:
-Sun King
-Flat 12
-Fountain Square Brewing
-Bier Brewery and Taproom

Any particular beers I should look out for at these places?[/quote]

Keep an eye on the websites as they update for this week on Weds/Thurs.
- SK "3" is their anniversary beer
- F12 Kiwi Kiwi Hefe and Moustache Ride were well received at Great Taste of the Midwest
- not sure what FSQ has on other than house
- Bier announces their taps on Weds and they go quickly before the weekend

 

That and Sun King....

No one Mentioned Upland or Black Acre? Both awesome.

 

I'm unfamiliar with the airport side of town. i really don't think there is anything over there though....your best/quickest bet is to head downtown....go to the Crown on Ohio St. for bottles, hit up Sun King and Flat 12 while you are there. You can also go to Tomlinson Tap Room, 16 taps of all Indiana beers....

 

I've never been to any of the bottle shops close to the airport, but if you had to make just one stop I'd recommend Kahn's (the closest one to you would be the downtown location) or Parti-Pak...both are about a 20-25 minute drive from the airport.

Also there is a new-ish brewpub right by the airport called Black Swan...I didn't love their beer (ranged from decent to bad IMO) and they didn't have any guest taps...but they did have some pretty damn tasty burgers and fries.

If you're looking for bottle shops on the west side the best ones I know of are the Crown in Avon (8125 East US highway 36) and the Toddy Shoppe in Brownsburg (1447 E Main St).

 

Went on the tour Saturday afternoon. Flat 12 and Bier were head and shoulders above the other two. Kiwi Kiwi Hefe was, indeed, quite a treat, so it was nice to pick up a growler of that. I also quite liked their nitrogen lacto stout, but only grabbed a bullet since I (correctly) guessed it wouldn't stand up to transport well.

Bier had some really solid offering all the way around, but I found Sessie to be their best.

I was really disappointed by the stuff at Sun King. Only their pale ale really held up; everything else lacked a lot of mouth feel and seemed pretty tame. Fountain Square had a couple OK things, but was pretty solidly mediocre.

I'll definitely need to hit up Bier and Flat 12 again. Good places and good people at both.

 

I've only been to Upland, but I dug it. Great little coffee shop vibe, and there was a delicious Italian food truck outside. I would totally drive to Indy just to go back there

 

My wife and I's first date was at Upland in Bloomington. A biased toward's them because of the nostalgia.

 

If anyone is going to Kahns they really should make the extra effort and go to the main store on Keystone. It has the largest selection by far.

 

Yeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhh...Sun King does frequently disappoint me, but Osiris has always been good to me.
Some of their offerings have been fantastic...I liked Grapefruit Jungle, the latest Cream Dream, Firefly, Malus Pi...heard great things about Velvet Fog.
Flat 12 and Bier have definitely been more impressive in my experience.

 

Osiris was the best of the 6 they had for tasting, by far. A lot of people had great things to say about the "Ale of Destiny" they brewed for the weekend, but I didn't get a chance to try any. The Ram's Omnipotent Ale was a pretty good black DIPA though. Really hop forward with a surprisingly rich malt finish. Should've gotten a growler of that, but the line was enormous.