I'm moving to South Bend in early August and found a place near ND. Looking to find some new brews, pubs and/or breweries. Any input is highly appreciated! Cheers!
You're in driving distance of 18th Street in Gary, 3 Floyds in Munster (both about an hour or a little more). Tapistry and Greenbush are north in Michigan. Bells is about an hour and a half from South Bend. There's a couple breweries in South Bend, but I'm not 100% familiar with them.
I'll second Greenbush as a great brewery about 45 minutes from ND. As far as South Bend goes, for bottle shops you'll want to check out the City Wide Liquors on Grape Rd in Mishawaka and any of the Belmont Beverage locations (there's one right next to ND at the corner of SR 23 and Angela). The Martin's Supermarket at the corner of SR 23 and Ironwood has a pretty good selection as well. For breweries, check out Bare Hands Brewery in Granger (about a 15 minute drive from ND). You're also only about 2 hours away from Founders and all the other breweries/brew pubs in Grand Rapids. Hope this helps. Indiana doesn't get the best in distro, but with our proximity to 3 Floyds, all of lower Michigan, and Chicago, South Bend isn't a terrible place to be. Welcome to town!
I'll second Bare Hands...that's a great spot. Also I really like Fiddlers Hearth....they usually have a strong selection and solid food.
Thanks for all of the great information and details! This is very helpful for deciding on some new craft beer options. If you guys are ever up for a trade or have a bottle share, feel free to send me a message.
Go to the City Wide downtown South Bend and talk with Dan. Also check out South Bend Brew Works, right around the corner from City Wide and Fiddler's Hearth. Also about a mile away is Crooked Ewe Brew House - great food and beer. Bare Hands has already been mentioned - they just had a great bottle release of their barrel aged Mail Order Bride Russian Imperial Stout - they may even have a few bottles left. Lots of new breweries not far away over near 3F including New Oberpfalz, a German style beer hall. Also check out 18th St. in Michigan City. To the East you have Iechyd Da in Elkhart and just a bit farther East, Goshen Brewing Company in Goshen. Just got back from the soft opening of Bell's new dining room - incredible food and of course always have a great beer menu including many pub only. Welcome to Michiana. I write Hop Notes, a beer column for Flavor 574, the local food publication. http://www.flavor574.com/Drink/Column-1/hop-notes Let me know if you have any more questions about the beer culture up this way!
Going to be in South Bend in a few weekends, coming down from Michigan. Looking on Seekabrew to see what kind of stuff is available bottle-wise I can't get up here. Anybody know how readily available the following are around here? 3 Floyds Crooked Stave Jester King Prairie Thanks!
I'll second Founders, and the Grand Rapids area in general. I lived in Mishawaka for a couple years and used to drive up to Grand Rapids every few months to hike on trails near there and eat (this predated my interest in craft). It is not terribly hard to get to and at this point has a pretty great range of breweries. It is a solid day trip destination from South Bend.
Three Floyds is available all over Indiana, although what you can find varies quite a bit. As mentioned earlier in the thread, City Wide Liquor is your best bet in South Bend. Some of the Prairie offerings are around - mostly the farm house ales. I've only seen Bomb twice in our area, Oh Si & Christmas Bomb once, and Pirate Bomb never. Doesn't mean that it's never been here, just haven't seen it. Jester King and Crooked Stave may be available farther South, but never seen either one this far up north.
Jester King barely makes it out of Texas. Once they got the right to sell beer at the brewery, they send very little out to distribution and what little does get sent out mostly stays in the state.
I currently live in SB, so here are a few of my go-to places. Be sure to check out City Wide Liquor in downtown South Bend and peek in the cellar. Fiddlers hearth is right down the street from there for a great tap selection or even the new South Bend Brew Works(J's IPA is money). Another great bottle shop is Michiana Mini Mart. Great singles selection, and pricing is the best anywhere. Hope this helps. Reach out if you have any local questions at all.
