20 January 2010

Where to Drink - Great Beer, Bars, and Brewpubs in Indianapolis (Downtown, Mass Ave, and Fountain Square)

Over the course of the last few years we've been fortunate enough to visit many of the finer craft beer serving establishments in the city, but we've never taken the time to write a comprehensive guide to all those establishments. Despite Indianapolis' still-growing beer culture, coming up with a master list is quite a daunting task.

Our goal was to come up with a drinking guide for Indiana visitors and residents alike. Though this list is not all encompassing, we feel that it's a good start for anyone looking for better beer in Indianapolis.


Downtown Indianapolis


Ram Restaurant and Brewery - Indianapolis
140 S Illinois St, Indianapolis
(317) 955-9900‎
Website

HBG Visits:
Indiana Beer Week Bar Hop - Day Four - A Very Footy Pub Crawl


Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery - Indianapolis
10 W Washington St, Indianapolis
(317) 681-8180
Website

HBG Visits:
Rock Bottom Brewer's Dinner - Fall '09
Rock Bottom Brewer's Dinner - Summer '09
Rock Bottom Brewer's Dinner - Winter '09
Rock Bottom Brewer's Dinner - Summer '08
KOTBR #59 | A Likely Story
Beer Diary #10 - Jim | What would Batman drink?
Indiana Beer Week Bar Hop - Day Four - A Very Footy Pub Crawl
Guest Post: Rodney Weaver - Rock Bottom Spring Brewer's Dinner 08
Beer Diary #2 - Jason
KOTBR #33 | Rock Bottom Pumpkin Ale
Beer Diary - Jim
Chasing the American Dream | Rock Bottom Brewery's American Dream Ale


Scotty's Brewhouse
1 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis
(317) 571-0808‎
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #77 - The Socratic Beer Method
Coming Soon: Scotty's Brewhouse Downtown


Sun King Brewing Company
135 N. College Ave, Indianapolis
(317) 602-3701‎
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #111 - Polka, Wieners, and Beer
HBG4: Thank You
KOTBR #102: The Island of Misfit Beers
The Hoosier Beer Geek 2009 End of Year Readers Survey: RESULTS! (Part 3) - The Rise of Sun King
HBG3: The Hoosier Beer Geek Third Anniversary Roundtable at Sun King Brewing Company
The Sun King Rises Over Indy, Part 2
The Sun King Rises Over Indy


Massachusetts Avenue Area:

The Ball & Biscuit
331 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis 
(317) 636-0539
Website 

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #109 - The Mass Ave Craft Beer Pride Parade 
KOTBR #108 - A Great Divide at the Ball & Biscuit


Chatham Tap
719 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis
(317) 917-8425
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #93 | Jingle Bells
So what's on the telly? Football, you say? - Updated
Beer Diary #3 - Jason
KOTBR #31 in Review | Wychwood Hobgoblin Ale @ the Chatham Tap


Dorman Street Saloon
901 Dorman St, Indianapolis
(317) 237-9008‎

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #67 - Reader Submitted Locations - Ralph's Great Divide and Dorman Street Saloon


MacNiven's
339 Massachusetts Ave, Indianapolis
(317) 632-7268
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #91 - A Second Helping of BCS
KOTBR #54 - MacNiven's Broken Promise
KOTBR #3 - Three Floyd's Robert The Bruce

Mass Avenue Pub
745 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis
(317) 974-0745
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #109 - The Mass Ave Craft Beer Pride Parade


The Rathskeller
401 East Michigan St, Indianapolis
(317) 636-0396
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #81 - The All-Request Line
KOTBR #28: Roll Out The Barrels
KOTBR #2: Spaten Optimator


Fountain Square:


The Brass Ring Lounge
1245 Shelby St, Indianapolis
(317) 635-7464‎
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #76 - Do This In Memory of Jim

Imbibe
1105 Shelby Street
(317) 685-1959
Website

HBG Visits
KOTBR #99 - Stone Arrogant Bastard at Imbibe

Red Lion Grog House
1043 Virginia Ave. #6, Indianapolis
(317) 822-4764
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #105 - The Zoo That Is Fountain Square

White Rabbit Cabaret
1116 Prospect Street, Indianapolis
(317) 686-9550
Website

HBG Visits:
KOTBR #105 - The Zoo That Is Fountain Square

10 comments:

  1. You guys should check out Imbibe in Fountain Square. They just opened in early November. On opening night, they had $3 Arrogant Bastards. It is a bit small but it gives it a cozy feel.

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  2. What about Dorman Street Saloon?? Is downtown or eastside? It is only a couple of minutes walk from Mass Ave.

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  3. Also check out Northside Social where the Stone Mug used to be at 65th and College. I went last week, and their beer menu is top-shelf.

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  4. I appreciate the suggestions, and there are definitely things that aren't on the list that can be added later. I wanted to stick with places we'd actually visited as a group, so there will be some things missing.

    Dorman Street will be added shortly, I totally forgot that.

    As for Northside Social, we'll have Broad Ripple, the southside and the northside additions when I can get it finished - this post had been a "draft" for over a year before I finally got it finished.

    We also want to add liquor stores - it's a work in progress.

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  5. By the way, Imbibe had Hopslam on tap this past weekend. Bartender Brian Jones is an old friend of HBG.

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  6. this idea could be a website all by itself...

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  7. wow, Naptown Juice is a dorky new name. Great rundown though Geeks!

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  8. The top banner... where downtown is that? It kinda looks like the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. But different. I wonder if it is outdated. But surely no one at HBG would use an outdated photo. Just to piss off the architect. Who is a brilliant man, by the way...

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  9. I recommend Tavern on South. been a couple times and very impressed with their beer selection. Only micros on tap. Larger selection of botteld micros too. Great bartender (Hans) as well who knows his beer.

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  10. Thanks for the comment! We completely agree that TOS needs to be added and we are working on updating this list.

    We've known Hans since his days at Hot Shotz and we are big fans of his as well!

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