The Hoosier Beer Geek Six Pack: D.J. McCallister, Black Swan Brewpub, Plainfield, IN

Indiana's brewery and brewpub renaissance is spreading to areas wider than just Indianapolis - Plainfield is next in line with not just one, but two brewpubs opening soon. Today we'll focus on Black Swan Brewpub and head brewer D.J. McCallister.


1. Who are you and what do you do?

Black Swan Brewpub is located in Plainfield, IN and owned by D.J. and Erin McCallister. D.J. is a native of Beech Grove and has been associated with the Indiana brewing community since 1996. Erin is a journalist and works for BioCentury Publications Inc., a California-based BioTech/Pharma publication. Black Swan Brewpub will be a restaurant and brewery, with growler sales but no further outside distribution. We will have about 110 seats between family dining and the bar, with an additional 50 to 60 seats on our patio. We will also add room for interactive Brew Master Dinners as part of the brewery construction.

2. What inspired you to start brewing? How did you get your start?

I studied physics at Wabash College, but at the end of the day, I knew I was not interested in it as a career path. Instead, I realized the enormous amount of time I was spending thinking, reading, and living beer. Whether it was beer history, style exploration, home brewing, or learning about water chemistry, I couldn't get enough of it. It was about that point that I decided I wanted to transition from being a home brewer to being a professional brewer.

The following summer, Brooke Belli from Oaken Barrel allowed me to come in occasionally to clean kegs, scrub floors, and take out grain. I loved it! The street credit I gained through that experience, along with some good timing, parlayed into an apprenticeship under Greg Emig at Lafayette Brewing Co. I stayed with LBC until May 1999 when I decided I needed to take on some other challenges, and put myself in a position to open my own brewpub some day. Greg and Brooke taught me nearly everything I needed to know about commercial brewing, and it was an honor to serve under two of the founding fathers of the Indiana brewing industry.

3. What is the philosophy of the brewing operations/restaurant operations at Black Swan Brewpub?

Our overarching philosophy has four pillars: Simplicity, Freshness, Craftsmanship, and Customer Service. Our goal is to make these four things play off of one another in a way that creates a rare, unique experience for our customers or a “Black Swan” per se.

From day one of this project we have been committed to keeping the menu clear, concise, and appetizing. You will not come in BSBP and be inundated with a 10 page menu. For us, that is too much to process. While we may not have 100 items on the menu, the 20 (or so) things that we do have will be high quality, well made items.

We have a commitment to using local farmers and suppliers whenever we can. Tapping into the resources around us gives us a fresher product with a distinct line of sight to the people who grew, packaged, and sold it to us. Those things translate into a better product for our customer.

Whether we are talking about our brewery or our kitchen, artisanal excellence is imperative. Our award winning chef, Nick Carter loves what he does, as do I, and we are wholly committed to using our resources to put out food and beer that screams of hand-made goodness. For us to create meals and beers that our guests would probably not make at home will set us apart.

But at the end of the day we know our fate lies in customer service. Warm, hospitable, family-friendly service is what all of the guests should expect at BSBP.

4. What styles do you plan on brewing for the brewpub? Seasonals?

We are putting in an 8bbl custom brewery, and expect it to be operational and licensed by early next year. The real question is, what style of beer won't we brew? We have a 16 tap draft system in place as well as two hand pulls for cask conditioned beer and we are going to have a great time filling those taps with exciting beers. Right now we are expecting our line up to be categorized into three basic groups: standard, heavy, and seasonal.

Our standards will sit on 4-7 taps and rotate with familiar craft beer styles: IPA, Cream Stout, Brown Ale, ESB, Porter, and Hefewiezen to name a few. Our heavy's will take 2-5 taps and highlight beers with higher gravities, ridiculous hop contents, and bold flavors. Seasonal beers as well as one-off creations will occupy any remaining taps we have. With these beers we are going to have a lot of fun. You should expect to see lagers, several different Belgian styles, a few sour beers, and any experimental beers we are trying out. Of course, I can't forget our truly seasonal beers for winter, spring, summer, and fall. Our cask conditioned beers will be no holds barred.

Admittedly it will take time to fill all of the tanks and taps filled, but we are going to get there and have a great time doing it!

5. Plainfield is going from having zero brewpubs to two brewpubs instantly. How do you feel about that?

For the residents and travelers around west and southwest Indianapolis I think it is a great thing! For too long, new brewpubs have been drawn to other pockets of the Indianapolis area. It's high time the drought ended on this side of town, and it's only appropriate that the people get what they want, better beer and more of it.

From a business perspective, I do not give it much thought at all. Every day I wake up and execute my plan to the best of my ability, and that is my sole focus. With that perspective, the number of brewpubs around me is irrelevant. We have neither a rivalry nor a friendly competition with Three Pints Brewpub, but I'm certain we could share a mutual laugh at the timing of our projects. Who would have guessed it would work out like it has?

Overall, I genuinely feel that having more breweries in Indiana is a good thing for everyone.

6. Any insights on the menu yet? When is the projected open date?

Our award-winning chef, Nick Carter, has brought to the table a combination of creativity, pragmatism, and flat-out deliciousness. You can see it all at www.blackswanbrewpub.com. His goal is to match the level of creativity and craftmanship found in Indiana brewing right now – producing high quality, interesting food with a local and seasonal flavor.

For appetizers, we offer Brewpub Stuffed Peppers, which are peppadew peppers stuffed with chorizo and served with goat cheese fondue. We will also offer frites with a variety of flavorful tosses and aioli dips sure to please any palate.

Nick won 2nd place this summer at the State Fair in the Shoup Family Farms Backyard BBQ Cookoff for our “Hoosier” sandwich. This is a great sandwich, with sliced pork, tomato onion chutney, Capriole Farms goat cheese and mixed greens. Our reuben features house made corned beef. If you haven't had freshly corned beef, you are in for a treat.

Our entrees feature Indiana farm raised pork, lamb, and chicken. Some of the highlights are the Braised Lamb Shank, Brewpub Porterhouse (this is a 14 oz. Porterhouse style pork chop - a great piece of meat!), Pan Fried Chicken with mac & goat cheese, and an incredible meatloaf with chili pale ale sauce. We are proud to partner with out hardworking Indiana farmers from Fischer Farms and Viking Lamb to provide an excellent dining experience for you.

For dessert? Fresh baked warm cookies and milk: God Bless America!

Anything else about the company or yourself you'd like to add?

Look for Black Swan Brewpub to open in early October with a line-up of about 15 or 16 great Indiana beers. Nick and I are always here, so feel free to say 'hi' if you catch us walking through the dining room. Like any new business we appreciate your support and we can't wait to get our own beers on line and get your feedback. For more information on what's going on at Black Swan Brewpub, go to www.blackswanbrewpub.com, search Black Swan Brewpub on Facebook, or find us on Twitter @BlackswanBP.

The Hoosier Beer Geek Six Pack: Tom Hynes of Three Pints Brewpub, Plainfield, IN

Indiana's brewery and brewpub renaissance is spreading to areas wider than just Indianapolis - Plainfield is next in line with not just one, but two brewpubs opening soon. Today we'll focus on Three Pints Brewpub and head brewer Tom Hynes.


1. Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Tom Hynes, and I was born and raised on the west side (Ben Davis area), got married to my high school sweetheart, Pam, while we were at Purdue, and returned to the west side (Avon) following a six year stint in the Navy. Pam and I have raised three wonderful children, and are due to be grandparents in January. We currently live in Monrovia.

Pam is a senior vice president at Interactive Intelligence, a local software company. Although she will participate in the business side of the brewpub, she plans on keeping her full-time position at Interactive.

I also work at Interactive Intelligence, though I will be resigning my position there in mid October to assume full-time brewing responsibilities at Three Pints. I have been home brewing for a about 20 years, and although the last 21 years have been spent as a software engineer, previous occupations include: a reactor operator on a nuclear submarine (USS Ulysses S. Grant), a control room operator at a polymer plant (Cablec), and an industrial electronic control technician (Bridgeport Brass). I am currently enrolled in a professional brewing course from the Siebel Institute of Technology, and plan on continuing my formal brewing education after the brewpub opens.

2. What inspired you to start brewing? How did you get your start?

I have always loved to tinker with things, and had often thought about brewing my own beer. One evening at a Mexican restaurant I remarked to Pam just how much I liked the malty flavor of Dos Equis Amber, and if I ever started home brewing, a clone of that would be the first thing I would try. Pam remembered that and bought me a basic home brewing kit a few months later for Father's Day.

BTW, my first attempt at Dos Equis was a disaster, as were my first dozen or so attempts at other beers (even dark ales). I had all but given up on home brewing when I visited the newly-opened Broad Ripple Brewpub and had my first taste of heaven, in the form of their incredibly delicious ESB. I kept thinking: 1) This is like liquid candy, and 2) I have GOT to keep trying until I get something approaching this good! It took quite a few years, and a switch to all-grain brewing, but eventually I achieved that (or so I've been told by friends...unless they were just humoring me :-).

3. What is the philosophy of the brewing operations/restaurant operations?

We are excited to have recently hired Jackie Stebbeds as the General Manager. Jackie comes with over 10 years of restaurant management experience, including management positions at Bob Evans, Max and Ermas, Chilis, and The Library Restaurant & Pub. Jackie will have complete control over all restaurant operations, including hiring of the assistant manager and kitchen manager.

I will be running the brewing side, though Jackie and I will be working together on many common goals.

Since we are small brewpub (approx. 140 seats), we are going to focus on a smaller menu with higher-quality items. The menu will feature contemporary American cuisine, along with some traditional English pub foods such as Sheppard's Pie and Fish 'N' Chips.

Although approximately 75% of the dining area is technically family dining (in order to qualify for a needed zoning variance), we will be promoting the beer in a big way. In fact, beer and brewing is the theme of the brewpub. Because of the emphasis on beer, we will have a lot of appetizer-type foods that go well with beer, such as chicken wings (in multiple flavors and heat levels), a variety of pizzas, chips and home-made salsa (in multiple heat levels), etc. We do plan on integrating beer and some spent grains into the menu, but the extent of that is yet to be determined.

4. What styles do you plan on brewing for the brewpub? Seasonals?

In the first year we will be brewing four different beers. We have room to expand - hopefully in the second year - to five in-house beers. So, we will be augmenting our beers with other Indiana craft beers; the goal is to have a minimum of six beers on tap at any time, with seven or eight being the usual.

Although this is subject to change, the tentative list of the beers we intend to brew is:

a blueberry wheat
an amber ale
a steam beer (err, a California Common beer :-)
a pretty unusual IPA (unusual due to unique grain bill, not hops)
an Oatmeal Stout (for year 2+)

For the local craft beers that will be augmenting our beers, that list will almost certainly change over time as we rotate beers in and out, but is likely to include some of the following:

an all-malt German lager
an American lite lager (or possibly a Kolsch or Cream Ale)
an Oktoberfest
either a Belgium White or a Hefe-Weizen
a Porter

I would love to brew seasonals at some point, but for the first couple of years we will probably only offer seasonals from local microbreweries.

5. Plainfield is going to go from having zero brewpubs to two brewpubs instantly. How do you feel about that?

That is a great question. Admittedly I was at first little bummed when I found out about The Black Swan opening up. But, now I think the best thing will be for both of us be very successful - which will drive more people to the area (instead of towards the mall area). Competition really can be good. One thing is for certain: we will have to break out our "A Game" from the start!

6. Any insights on the menu yet? When is the projected open date?

The menu is still being worked on, though my answer to question #3 gives an idea of what it will be like. Our projected opening date is November 1st, 2010. At that time we will be serving local (Indiana) craft beers on tap; we hope to be serving our own beers by mid-to-late December, though admittedly things have to fall in place just right for that to happen (January is probably the better bet).

Cheers!

Tom

We wish the best of luck to Tom and everyone else involved in the Three Pints effort. Look for a HBG follow-up as things get up and running.