Hoosier Beer Geek is Five: We've got a lot of Friends

As we approached our fifth birthday, I began to wonder how we'd celebrate the occasion. Last year we wrote about what the site meant to us, how much we've enjoyed ourselves, and how lucky we feel to have the friends and audience we do. Our thanks go out to anyone who's ever gave us even a moment of their day. We would have never kept at it without your support.

On the inside looking out, we hope we've made some sort of difference here in Indiana, but instead of banging our own drum, we've asked asked our friends throughout the community to write a bit about what they think of us. We were thrilled when what came back seemed to be positive.


I remember my first glimpse of the HBG was at the Indiana Microbrewer's Festival in the Summer of 2008... They were standing around before the festival in a group chatting with Matt from Cavalier Distributing and a couple of brewery reps, yucking it up. I had heard of them and checked out their blog, but never actually made their acquaintance and was left standing on the outside looking in, hoping they might notice me and say hello to no avail. It was my last day in Indy before Staraya and my eminent departure to Alaska where I was going to clear my head and put together the plans Dave and I had been conceptualizing over the past 3 years, so it would be many moons before I had the pleasure of actually getting to know them...

Fast forward 10 months and I'm back from AK, Sun King is fully funded and in the middle of build out, and I headed over to Rock Bottom after a long day to see my friend Jerry and try his latest specialty beer. Just as I was about to leave, someone introduced me to a gregarious fellow at the bar named Jason who just so happened to be a member of the illustrious Hoosier Beer Geek. We spoke briefly, exchanged contact information and I invited them to come over and check out our progress... A few weeks later they stopped by for a tour and to sample some of the pilot batches our home brewing friends over at MECA had done (based on recipes Dave and I had been devising) and we had a genuinely good time. There was witty banter and laughter, which are two of my favorite things and it was the beginning of many new friendships!

Over the last couple of years I've had the opportunity to work and play with the HBG and it's been a great experience. I've even managed to make it through Mike's tough guy exterior and extract a smile or two on occasion. As Indiana's Craft Beer Community has emerged and grown, Hoosier Beer Geek has been there spreading the good word and helping advance the efforts of brewers everywhere.

We're lucky to have a group of people that are willing to put in the time and effort to promote good beer culture, so for that and for the friends I've gained, I am very thankful!

Happy Birthday Hoosier Beer Geek! May there be many more years of good times, great beer and amusing blog posts in your future...

Cheers!

Clay Robinson
Brewer / Owner
Sun King Brewing Co.


Congratulations on making it through the pre-kindergarten years. As a displaced Hoosier living in St. Louis, it took me a while to figure out that the term Hoosier meant something completely different…what we would have called a redneck. Or, even more appropriately, Mike Sweeney. Labels notwithstanding, I am happy to see that you’ve put the beer geek back into being a Hoosier.

Keep up the great work

Mitch Turner
Major Brands-Premium Beverage Distributors
Mitch gave us a tour of Schlafly once..