I admit, Indianapolis is not exactly world-renowned for its breweries. Okay, Indianapolis is not known for a whole lot of anything (see how fast you can name ten things about Indianapolis - or even five - okay, go!)... But what Indy is certainly not known for is its beer. In fact, before 2009, the Indianapolis Brewing Company was the last active brewery in the city, and the IBC shut its doors shortly after WWII.
On July 1, 2009, at long last, Sun King Brewery tapped a locally brewed beer (available for commercial distribution) for the first time in over 60 years. The brewery has since been welcomed by the city like a girl at an all-boys camp. Everyone seems to be talking about it, and most are thrilled to have it around. The brewery has already been written up in the city paper on numerous occasions, and it's rare to find a restaurant in the area that doesn't carry at least one of the brewery's offerings (see their listing of draft locations: http://www.sunkingbrewing.com/locations).
Still in its infancy, Sun King made Indy proud by bringing home two awards at this year's World Beer Cup: a Silver for the Sunlight Cream Ale in the Blonde or Golden Ale category and a Bronze for the Dominator Doppelbock in the German-style Doppelbock or Eisbock category. Our parched community has finally begun to slake its decades-long thirst for local beer, and I decided to stop by the brewery today to pick up something for tailgating at the big Indiana rivalry football game tomorrow between Notre Dame and Purdue.
I had visited the brewery on a quiet Saturday several months ago, but on a Friday afternoon, the brewery was hopping (with pun very much intended). Don't know if it's part of a Friday special, but when I walked in, I was given 6 tickets to sample the beers. Free. Just for walking in. Gotta love that hometown hospitality. Obviously, I had to sample all six on tap, including their four year-round house beers and their two seasonals (Oktoberfest had just gone on tap yesterday and the other was a brown ale called Crabón Sustantivo Marron - or Crab Apple Brown). I also came armed with half-gallon and quarter-gallon growlers and, inevitably, agonized over which beers to get, and then which would be the half-gallon and which the quarter-gallon. Sometimes life is hard...
The photo above is me waiting in line to get them filled (not pictured: the tasting tables and the sweet brewing warehouse). If it's not obvious from the length of the line or the growlers on the tables, people were loving their growler fills - and what's not to love when Friday is $5 fills?? If I may quote my friend Luda - "Don't stop, get it get it."
Drink local beer! (Especially when it's good - and affordable!)
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