From our inception our plan has always been to incorporate ourselves into the Indiana beer community so strongly that no beer event could be thrown without our help. Many years later we're well on our way to that goal. Actually, that was never the plan. But we have managed to put together some considerably great events, thanks to the help of many great people.
In 2009, Hoosier Beer Geek (and our production company, KOTBR, LLC) took on the task of helping organize both of the Brewers of Indiana Guild's big events - Winterfest and the summer Microbrewer's Festival. For these events, we contact and coordinate for breweries to attend the festival, layout and set up event grounds, provide event poster art and advertisements, put together event programs, coordinate volunteer staff, and (with the help of a group of dedicated and hard working volunteers) do our best to make sure these events run smoothly.
We also throw parties for ourselves - you may know then under such monikers as HBG3 (or HBG4 or HBG5), CBMTCBL, or TFN. These events our the highlight of our year, and stand as unique opportunities to drink with the friends we've made over the course of our history.
Despite all that beer, Hoosier Beer Geek is about people and camaraderie. Beer is meant for sharing, and it's thanks to folks like you that Hoosier Beer Geek continues to be a rewarding project for us all.
Listed below are our events and our coverage of them. We hope you'll join next time.
Anniversary Parties
Held annually in August. Usually held at Sun King Brewing Company. 150 tickets are sold for an unparalleled tasting featuring the best of Indiana's breweries, with help from our friends at Schlafly, Cavalier Distributing, and World Class Beverages.
HBG1: The First Anniversary Roundtable at Deano's Vino
Old Chris' Notes | Jason's Notes | Jim's Notes | Kelly's Notes | Mike's Notes | Gina's Notes
HBG2: The Second Anniversary Roundtable at Brugge Brasserie
HBG3: The Third Anniversary Roundtable at Sun King Brewery
HBG4: The Fourth Anniversary Roundtable at Sun King Brewery
HBG5: The Fifth Anniversary Roundtable at Sun King Brewery
The Craft Beer & Fine Food Symposium
This one-time event was inspired by a conversation started by a guest post by New Albanian's Roger Baylor: "Can a great restaurant serve mass-market beer?" L'explorateur Chef Neal Brown weighed in and before we knew it we had a dinner planned.
We look forward to bringing this event back on a larger scale soon.
Jason's notes (and photos) | Gina's notes | Jim's notes | Mike's notes | Event menu
Craft Beer Breakfast/Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch (CBMTCBL)
Held annually in the spring at Brugge Brasserie. We combine a list of 6-10 beers with a specially altered breakfast menu, providing the perfect excuse for a relaxed Saturday.
HBG Craft Beer Breakfast #1
HBG's Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch (#2)
Due to a legal agreement, the event changed to its much better new name in 2010
HBG's Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch (#3)
HBG's Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch (#4)
Tailgate for Nothing (TFN)
Held semi-annually in the spring and fall in the Sun King parking lot. We gather to show of our culinary skills in addition to sharing all the beer we've collected throughout the year.
TFN1 Our Coddog release event.
TFN2: DIPA Dischord In addition to food and beer, we asked folks to bring along a Double IPA for a blind comparison tournament.
TFN3: Tricks and Treats A tribute to prostitutes and craft beer.
TFN4: Something for Everyone We couldn't decide on a theme.
TFN5: Gravyfest What better combination than gravy and beer?
TFN6: International Breakfast Hey, this event starts in the morning.
TFN7: Wiener Time! Beer and wieners lead to rampant tomfoolery.
TFN8: Pot Food Food cooked in pots.
TFN Nein (9): Deutschland! German food. German bier. German fun.
Bloomington Craft Beer Fest
Owned by the Brewers of Indiana Guild, this new festival was built from the ground up with help by Hoosier Beer Geek.
Scenes from the first annual Bloomington Craft Beer Fest
Indiana Microbrewers Festival
Owned by the Brewers of Indiana Guild, this festival occurs every July and has been coordinated by Hoosier Beer Geek. The event was once held on Broad Ripple's Optimist Park grounds, but in 2010 was expanded to include the Indianapolis Art Center campus.
We don't cover this event on the site as much as we once did, as we're usually pretty busy just making sure the event goes off.
2008 Microbrewers Festival
2009 Microbrewers Festival
2010 Microbrewers Festival
2011 Microbrewers Festival Program page
Brewers of Indiana Guild Winterfest
Owned by the Brewers of Indiana Guild, this festival occurs every January and has been coordinated by Hoosier Beer Geek.
2009 Winterfest Our first attempt at organizing an event for the Brewers of Indiana Guild.
2010 Winterfest Scenes from the event build-up
2011 Winterfest The "How Was Your Winterfest" Post
2013 Winterfest A festival recap
Bus Trips
KOTBR #100 Bus Trip to New Albany We gathered 45 appreciative folks to celebrate our 100th Roundtable review by way of bus trip to New Albanian Brewing Company
Beer Tastings
KOTBR #75 with World Class Beverages For our 75th Roundtable, we gathered a crowd of folks (including a future Indianapolis brewing icon) at Union Jack in Broad Ripple to sample a collection of Belgian beers provided by World Class Beverages
