Long time readers may remember our late, dear friend Chris Maples. Chris founded this blog in 2006 and went on to serve the community in other ways besides spreading the word about craft beer. Before his untimely passing earlier this year, Chris was the Director of Advancement for Partners in Housing, a local non-profit devoted to providing housing and social services for the homeless in Indianapolis. Needless to say, we miss Chris terribly and heartily support PiH's great service to Indianapolis.
Not only did Chris share a love of craft beer with us, he also was into the zombie craze that leapt into America's public consciousness with the debut of AMC's acclaimed series, The Walking Dead. So for the last three years, Chris and Partners in Housing held an ingenious fundraiser for PiH: Brains & Beer. The event provided zombie fans with a venue to watch The Walking Dead Season 2 finale and Seasons 3 and 4 premiere while enjoying pints of craft beers and contributing funds to a great cause.
The event has been so successful that on Sunday, October 12, from 6 to 11 p.m., Partners in Housing will stage Brains & Beer 4 at Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company for the long-awaited Season 5 premier of The Walking Dead. We are very proud to be one of the event's sponsors, and we encourage you to come. Thr3e Wise Men's taps will be flowing for your drinking pleasure. In addition, there will be a zombie costume contest, free psychic readings, and, perhaps best of all, Sammy Terry will be the event's host. You can find full details about the event here.
Warning: don't let the poor quality of the photos deter you from trying this beer.
I'm not sure why it took so long to get a beer named in our honor. I mean, we're cool kids. Right? Well, it finally happened, though it took a bet to make it happen (for the record, I offered up Mike's virginity in the bet).
So the beer: a Double Brown. The idea was inspired by an article that Mike read in the Atlantic. I think that browns are often under appreciated. My first craft beer love was, in fact, the Brickway Brown at Rock Bottom Downtown.
So we told Omar at Thr3e Wise Men that we wanted a malty bomb without roasted, coffee flavors. Omar wanted to add in a healthy dose of Galaxy hops. We were hesitant at first. But it only took a drink to make believers out of us.
It turned out to be a beautifully crafted malty beer. Not big on mouthfeel, but not too thin. The malts are front and center, but the hops come in at the end playing the clean-up batter. It finished with 7.5% abv, but be warned: it doesn't seem boozy at all.
I want to thank Scott Wise for making the bet and Omar for making the beer. And thanks to all of our friends for coming out. If you couldn't make it tonight, make it out soon to Thr3e Wise Men to try Hoosier Beer Geek Double Brown. You'll also find it at HBG5 (have we mentioned the party recently?).
Join us Tuesday as we reap the benefits of a bet made between Scotty and Jason. You can read more about the bet at Scotty's blog, or on the TWM post for our upcoming anniversary party, where you will also be able to sample this brew.
See you there!
August 23rd, from 6-7pm (for complimentary samples & snacks)
Tapping of Hoosier Beer Geek Double Brown Ale at Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co.
The lineup for our fifth anniversary is a closely guarded secret. Why? Because we're bad salespeople. NO! Because we like to build anticipation. It's fun watching people freak out. And we think we've got a freak-out worthy lineup coming together.
Not many people know that Scott Wise and I have been each other's gambling nemesis for a number of years. It started when we were a part of the same fantasy football league. He selected Ryan Leaf as his quarterback in his rookie year. Went down in flames. A couple of years later, our horses were racing against each other in the Kentucky Derby. My horse, "Beer for My Horses," beat out his horse, "Frat Boy Fury", by three lengths. And just a few years ago, we ran into each other in the back room of a seedy Yorktown bar where an illegal game of Xíng Háishì Bùxíng was being played. I yet again came away victorious.
Furious and desperate for a win, he offered a bet in the Miami Heat/Dallas Mavericks NBA Championship. He selected the Heat to win. I knew that "King James" was cursed so I took him up on it. If he won, he received Mike (known in the Twittersphere as @hoosierbeergeek) for his own "personal" biddings. If I won, he had to brew a beer of my choosing at Thr3e Wise Men. He said "Challenge Accepted!"
It should come as a surprise to no one that I won. Yet again. What do I plan to do with the Hoosier Beer Geek Double Brown? Drink it. And after every sip, I will yell, "Hey Scotty, victory tastes so sweet!" I'll probably tweet it too. Or buy a billboard. I'm not sure yet. But I'll be enjoying it at the tapping party at 3WM as well as at the HBG5 Anniversary Party on Saturday, August 27th.
All I know is that the next time he bet's against me, it will be a big time bet.
The true story is that Scotty and Jason made a bet, but the beer story goes a little deeper. Shortly before the bet took place, I had read this piece from The Atlantic, and it got me to thinking about how it had been a while since I had a really nice brown.
After winning, we sat down with Omar and Scotty and described what we wanted - big chocolate character, big maltiness, and toffee - but not any roasty or coffee character, nothing that would push the beer into porter territory. Omar had already started a recipe, but tweaked it to our specifications, and let us know that a healthy dose of hops would be added to bring the beer into double or imperial brown territory.
We haven't had it yet - hopefully we'll be trying it along with you at both the tapping party and at HBG5.
Please remember that this list is tentative and subject to change based on availability. We will keep you updated if anything changes.
About HBG5:
It will be held Saturday, August 27th, starting at 6pm. Sun King Brewing will again be hosting us at their brewery at 135 N. College Avenue, Indianapolis. Tickets are $30 (plus $1.99 for online fees) for regular tickets and $15 (plus $1.99 for online fees) for designated drivers. Tickets are available online only and limited to just 150 paying customers. Like beer festivals? Don't like crowds? This is your event. And yes, the tickets are on sale now.
If you didn't attend last year, you can see what you missed here. But if you did attend last year, you'll find it to be similar. We can't promise that Jason will be performing from Cats (or will have a mustache). But here is what we have so far (please note that all of this is subject to change).
Regular attendees will receive a commemorative tasting glass that can be used to sample various quality beers from our favorite Indiana breweries as well as a few other breweries. Additionally, you'll be able to select a few larger pours of your favorite beers. Designated drivers will have a selection of non-alcoholic beverages such as soda, pop, cola... whatever regional term you like. And bottled water, of course.
All attendees will get to enjoy food from Papa Roux.Menu coming shortly. There will be vegetarian options.
And what's a party without gifts? And by gifts, I mean us giving stuff to you! That's right, prizes and giveaways and all sorts of stuff.
We're still filling in all the details, but if you've been to our events, you know it is a good time. And all tickets will be sold online. Tickets are not available at Sun King nor will they be available at the door. So don't miss out.
There are more details coming soon, but here's a reminder of the participating breweries/distributors to wet your whistle -
Barley Island Brewing Company - Barrel-Fermented Rust Belt Porter
Bee Creek Brewing Company - Alien Abduction Wheat
Bier Brewery
Broad Ripple Brewpub
Brugge Brasserie - Superkitty Fantastico!
Cavalier Distributing
Crown Brewing Company
Flat12 Bierwerks
Lafayette Brewing Company
New Albanian Brewing Company - Naughty Girl (Struise Colab)
People's Brewing Company
RAM Brewery - Bjava Disorder Porter
The St. Louis Brewing Company aka Schlafly - Raspberry Coffee Stout
Sun King - House Lineup (Osiris, Bitter Druid, Cream, Wee Mac)
Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company - Hoosier Beer Geek Double Brown
Upland Brewing Company - Rad Red and Mother's Milk
We appreciate that you follow us for the latest and craziest in the Indiana craft beer world. And we hope you'll come out and celebrate with us our fifth and perhaps best year of better beer buffoonery.
Hoosier Beer Geek is almost five years old. That's correct--five years old. As Jason said recently, we've made it to craft beer kindergarten. Or, if you like to think of anniversaries in wedding terms, this is our Wood Anniversary. Yes, I said "wood." Now get your minds out of the gutter. This isn't a Beavis & Butt-Head episode.
In our modern world, where attention spans are getting shorter every month, five years is a long time. A milestone for sure. Thus, when we met last week to do our first ever roundtable at Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co., milestones were on our minds. In particular, we thought of an important milestone in writing history: Who was the world's first blogger? If you Google "world's first blogger," you'll get a variety of answers. But anyone who was a regular television viewer in the early '90s knows who the world's first blogger was: Doogie Howser, M.D. You remember Doogie Howser, don't you? The teen prodigy physician who, at the end of each episode, would sit down at his computer and type an entry into his computer diary. While the diary wasn't published online, it certainly provided the template that today's bloggers have borrowed.
Doogie, of course, was played by the talented Neil Patrick Harris. You really have to admire NPH; he avoided the curse that many child actors fall prey to--substance abuse/ending up in the gutter--and became a successful actor and entertainer in adulthood. Indeed, he's hosted the Tony Awards. He's been in two Harold & Kumar movies. He was the central character in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. He's the undisputed star of How I Met Your Mother. And who can forget Neil's memorable turn in Starship Troopers?
Therefore, in honor of milestones, we offer you our review of Thr3e Wise Men's Golden Zoe IPA as Neil Patrick Harris would have done it. First up is Chris, who substitutes Mike and Jason for Harold and Kumar...
[Mike and Jason are on a mission to find Thr3e Wise Men when they happen upon Neil Patrick Harris, alone, staggering down Pennsylvania St.] Mike: Neil, you wouldn't happen to know how to get to Broad Ripple from here, would you? Neil Patrick Harris: Dude, I don't even know where the fuck I am right now. I was at this party earlier tonight and some guy hooked me up with this Golden Goo -- next thing I know I'm being thrown out of a moving car. I've been trippin' balls ever since. Jason: Golden Goo? You mean Golden Zoe? We've just been driving around looking for Thr3e Wise Men so we could get some Golden Zoe too! Neil Patrick Harris: Yeah, Thr3e Wise Men, whatever. Forget the Golden Goo, let's go get some pussy! Mike: Huh? Neil Patrick Harris: It's a fucking sausage fest in here, bros. Let's get some poontang, THEN we'll go to Thr3e Wise Men. Jason: No, Neil, you don't understand. We've been craving this beer all night. Neil Patrick Harris: Yeah, yeah. Beer, beer, beer.... what do you guys do, write for a beer blog or something? Fuck that, dudes, let's pick up some trim at a strip club. The Doogie line always works on strippers in BRV.
[sings] "NPH ain't nothin' ta fuck wit. NPH ain't nothin' ta fuck wit." Neil Patrick Harris: Lapdance... Jason: [Pause.] There's a gas station. I'm gonna see if I can get some directions. Neil Patrick Harris: You don't need dir- gah! Hurry up, dudes, hurry up! I'm losing wood.
[They park, pause.] Neil Patrick Harris: Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry... Jason: Look, chill. Drinking this beer and writing about it is important. Mike: We have hund.... millions of readers counting on us! Jason: We'll be right back, Neil.
[They exit the car.] Mike: Dude, what is the deal with Neil Patrick Harris? Why is he so horny? Jason: I don't know, but we need some Golden Zoe pronto.
[Neil Patrick Harris silently climbs into the front seat.] Neil Patrick Harris: [Peeling out] SAYONARA, GEEKS!
Next up is Mike, who takes us to a galaxy far, far away...
Gina tunes us in to How I Met Your Mother...
Barney Stinson reporting for duty...
These beer geeks asked me why I usually only drink scotch or whiskey at the bar when I am out with my friends and I told them that I didn’t mind beer, but I didn’t think there was a lot of depth to it. They asked me what beers I tried and I asked them what difference does it make what beer I tried, weren’t they all the same? They all worked to just get you drunk, right? They just shook their heads. One of them told me I just haven’t tried the right beer.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
I agreed to meet them at this newer place (new is always better, one of my rules) in Broad Ripple, Thr3e Wise Men if they agreed to play in a laser tag tournament with me. They told me they would be reviewing a beer called Golden Zoe. It immediately reminded me of Ted’s girlfriend and that she was the one standing in the way of my sweet new office that should be in place of the stupid old Arcadian building that I was supposed to blow up a few months ago. We were taken back into a secret meeting room, like VIP. I was hoping that there would be some ladies there to meet us, but the geeks told me they were just having their business meeting and that I could join them for business or go hang out in the bar. I chose to stay so I could teach them a few things about “business”.
I sat farthest from Jason, because he was in a suit as well. Couldn’t have him showing me up. What if some ladies walked by?
We ordered some food and drinks and they began their meeting. I don’t remember what their meeting was about because I was thinking about how I wanted to get the waitress’s number, but I learned she had the same name as my half-sister. That’s too weird.
They brought this Golden Zoe to the table and it did look a little different than what I am used to, though I mostly drink beer straight from the bottle anyway. The geeks asked me if I would drink my scotch straight from the bottle and I told them that I wouldn’t...usually. I get what they mean, I guess. I raised the glass to my nose and took a sniff. Not bad, I thought. The beer appeared cloudy and had a nice fruity aroma. The flavor had a nice mild sweetness to it. They said it was from the malt and hop balance. Whatever it was, it was going down easy. That is...wait for it...what she said. True story.
Here's Jason with the debut of Dr. HoosierBeerGut's Drink-Along Blog:
Email readers, click here to view this can't miss video on YouTube.
Finally, we have Matt behind the scenes at this year's Tony Awards...
Welcome back to the Tony Awards. I'm your host, Neil Patrick Harris. I'm honored to be hosting for the third time but even more honored to recognize the works of Mr. Scott Wise. The hardest working man in the restaurant, Twitter, hair care product, photo posing, brewing, and now live theater business.
NPH: How did it all start?
SW: At the Harvard of the Midwest, Neil: Ball State University. My first place started in the Village as Ball State Cardinals call it, and from there I grew my business aggressively.
NPH: You've now conquered the business world, but what made you go into live theater, and what made you do The Book of Mormon, War Horse, and Good People in the same year?
SW: Well, I follow everyone I can on Twitter and they put out casting calls, so I went to all of them and much to my surprise scored roles in all three programs. I'm surprised you didn't know this Neil. Do you follow my many Twitter handles?
NPH: Uhhh.....Is that all?
SW: No, I like to drink heavily as well. Particularly my head brewer's beers. His name is Omar. He doesn't have a Twitter handle though.
NPH: So you've been drinking when you are on stage?
SW: A little bit, but all I do is read one of my massive menus for my wildly successful restaurants, eat some dill chips, have another Golden Zoe and I'm good for the night.
NPH: What is a Golden Zoe?
SW: Its our house IPA at Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company, an @brewhouse production. It's well balanced, deep copper in color, good bready malt character to stand up to our bittering hops. It has a pretty big aroma of big American hops. If you like your IPAs on the balanced side of life, this will be one you will enjoy Neil.
NPH: Running any specials soon?
SW: Well, if you followed me on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, or use the bathroom in one of my restaurants, you would know you can get 10% off with a FourSquare check-in, buy a discounted gift card, or take a picture of yourself in one of my t-shirts to get money off of your meals.
NPH: Are you accepting an award or talking about your businesses?
SW: I never waste an opportunity to talk about my businesses. Have you followed me on Twitter yet?
NPH: How do you keep your care-free curls looking so good?
SW: I dry my hair with a Dyson hair dryer that you just put your whole head in. It makes all the difference.
NPH: I'm a bit uncomfortable...
SW: Come on down for a $20 dollar large pizza and growler fill. It will make things much better. Follow me on Twitter to find out more of our great specials, Neil.
NPH: Do you ever sleep?
The latest installment in the Scotty's Brewhouse restaurant empire opens today. Since Scott Wise has developed a borderline stalker obsession with Mike, we felt obligated to check the pizzeria brewpub out. Thr3e Wise Men is not quite your typical brewery startup. With 6 other restaurants in his portfolio, you could say Scott Wise knows how to run a business. Much like Scotty's Lakehouse was a burger departure from the standard Scotty's Brewhouse formula, Thr3e Wise Men fully embraces pizza. If you've been to Piece in Chicago, you know the formula. A simple, build your own pizza menu with a few appetizers and a selection of brewed-on-premises beers. That's not to say Thr3e Wise Men doesn't take a few risks as well.
The first thing you'll notice when you enter the brewpub is the dominance of communal picnic tables. Traditional Scotty's Brewhouse towel napkins line each one and an iPad-based menu system is available for an enhanced ordering experience. If you don't feel like meeting a few new beer fans, there are also two seat tables, a large U-shaped bar and cocktail tables made from barrels. Personally, I think the solid wood decor gives the entire place a more welcoming feel than the other Scotty's restaurants.
The pizza is thin crust and based on a recipe that includes their Golden Zoe IPA. Cheese pizzas start at $7/11/13 and toppings are an additional $1.50 or $2.50. Appetizers include pepperoni stuffed breadsticks, goat cheese marinara dipping sauce, hummus pizza and Brewhouse standbys such as dill chips and buffalo wings. Perhaps most notably impressive is that the style of pizza they're offering has not already been done to death by other Indianapolis pizzerias.
But enough about the food; let's move on to the beer. Omar Castrellon previously held a long tenure as brewmaster at Alcatraz downtown, so chances are you've had his beer before. The late Alcatraz wasn't Omar's first brewing gig, so to say he's experienced is an understatement, and it shows in the initial offerings at Thr3e Wise Men. The beer concepts are the product of Scott Wise's brewery dreams and Omar has produced recipes to fulfill those dreams. Now that's an awkward statement.
On the lighter side of things are a well-balanced Blonde with a lemon twist and a Blackberry Wheat that carries a heavy wheat body and a simultaneously sweet and tart blackberry overtone. Moving over to the hoppy side of things, the flagship beer of Thr3e Wise Men is a Double IPA that masks its 8% ABV incredibly well and is actually a great intro to hoppy beers thanks to a hefty malt sweetness. The IPA, on the other hand, is full forward with hops and was my favorite beer of the initial lineup. A Brown Ale, similar to an English Mild, is currently on their hand pull. The Amber Ale combines the ubiquitous brewpub Amber with fruity Belgian yeast. Stout and porter offerings include a Coffee Porter that is light in mouthfeel with a heavy coffee presence and an Imperial Stout, which carries all the chocolate and coffee notes but has the mouthfeel of a regular stout. In total, all the beers are quite impressive for just opening and should be incredibly solid with a year of refinement and experimentation under Omar's direction. Within the next 2-3 months we should be seeing these Thr3e Wise Men offerings available at all of Scotty's Brewhouse and Lakehouse locations.
I'm saving the best for last. $20 gets you a carry-out large cheese pizza and a growler fill. Other specials include $1 off pints on Mondays and Thursdays, $2.50 pints on Wednesdays and $6 growler fills on Tuesdays. Behind the bar, it's hard to miss a row of coolers filled with six packs. Thr3e Wise Men also offers carry-out beers from other craft breweries, just in case you'd like to compare notes.
Brewer Omar Castrellon and his team have been working very hard in their new space at 1021 Broad Ripple Avenue, and as a result you'll be able to visit and drink beer from Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company on Monday, January 17th.
Inside you'll find a very welcoming space, with many familiar Scotty's touches, but a completely new vibe. Here is my Metromix piece on what you can expect at Thr3e Wise Men. Read the story and let us know what your thoughts - Do you think Scotty has another hit on his hands? What are you expectations for the brewery?
Hoosier Beer Geek worked with Metromix to create their 2010 Local Brewing Guide. It was published in the November 18th issue and we are republishing the articles we wrote. Enjoy!
NOW OPEN:
Bier Brewery & Taproom
5133 East 65th St., Indianapolis
Website: www.BierBrewery.com
Bier Brewery owner and brewer Darren Connor was most recently working at Great Fermentations, a homebrewing supply store. His new brewery will produce small batches and sell them in-house only. They hope to have six to eight beers available at a time with a focus on seasonal beers. According to their website, they hope to open by Thanksgiving.
Flat 12 Bierwerks
414 N. Dorman St., Indianapolis
Website: www.Flat12.me
Ph: 317-635-2337
Another production brewery is opening up in downtown Indianapolis, this time in the Cottage Home neighborhood. Rob Caputo, director of brewing, is teaming up with Steve Hershberger and Sean O’Conner. They have already been spreading the word about their operations through social media and their “Hopstar” fan program. Their goal is to have beer available yet this year.
Scotty’s Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company
1021 Broad Ripple Ave., Indianapolis
Website: www.Thr3eWiseMen.com
Owner Scotty Wise (of the local Scotty’s Brewhouse chain) has hired Omar Castrellon (formerly of Alcatraz Brewing Company) as head brewer. The brewery is currently under construction in Broad Ripple and will have a tasting room as part of their operations. The Scotty’s Brewhouse and Lakehouse restaurants will have the beers on tap as well. They are hoping for a January opening.
Triton Brewing Company
Fort Benjamin Harrison, Lawerence
Website: www.TritonBrewing.com
Head brewer Jon Lang was most recently at Barley Island Brewing Company but has partnered with Michael DeWeese and David Waldman on this new production brewery. They hope to have their beers available in kegs and bottles in January with their tasting room opening soon after.
The Black Swan Brewpub is open as a restaurant and bar, serving 15 different beers on draft from Indiana breweries. Owner and brewer D.J. McCallister has worked previously at Oaken Barrel and Lafayette Brewing Company. They hope to open their brewery in 2011.
Tom Hynes has been homebrewing for twenty years and hopes to make his professional brewing debut in January. The restaurant is now open and will start off serving Indiana craft beer until their brewing operations are on line.
Brownfield Brewing Company
Fountain Square neighborhood, Indianapolis
Website: www.BrownfieldBrewing.com
Kenny Allen, formerly from Delaware’s Old Dominion Brewing Company, is working with Ken Warren and Arifah Aronson to open a brewery that is sustainable and organic. A location and opening date have not been announced.
Back in late July we tried to get you up to speed on the new craft breweries that are soon to call the great Indianapolis area home. Since that time there have been even more new brewery annoucements - 10 total at last count. We stopped in at perhaps one of the most prominent - Scotty Wise's Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company - to see how the space is coming together.
The building's outside shell remains the same, but the plans below give a better idea of what's to come.
The restaurant/dining space proposal calls for a patio to extend from the north side of the entrance, wrapping around the Broad Ripple Avenue end (and giving a clear view of Monon trail traffic and the scenic McDonald's building across the street).
A grain silo will sit adjacent the brewery entrance. The silo will sit on a scale, allowing brewery staff to keep close track of materials.
A panorama of the under contruction space from the front door (click image to enlarge). One thing worth mentioning here is that the space will hold both a restaurant and brewery, and is split in order to function as both. The brewery space will only occupy the western half of the building.
The former Sunflower Market walk-in produce cooler will now hold the brewery's brite tanks.
This space (located in the building's northwest corner) will house the brewhouse portion (the mash tun and kettle in this diagram) of the brewery's equipment. The building's north side windows will be extended east to reveal the brewhouse to Broad Ripple Avenue traffic.
These two rooms - built on the west wall of the space - will house the mill room and water treatment sections of the brewery. The brewery plans to utilize an reverse osmosis water treatment system in addition to city and softened water.
The brewery will start with four fermentation tanks, but has plenty of room to expand with demand.
Thr3e Wise Men head brewer Omar Castrellon repeatedly mentioned his pleasure at the way things were coming together, being sure to mention that the crew of riggers and fitters helping put things together have done an excellent job. Omar would not speculate on when he thought things would be ready, though Thr3e Wise Men owner Scott Wise said he was hoping for a January 1st opening for the space in a recent email.
It's a long and arduous process to get a brewery off the ground - just the process to be approved as a brewer by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) involves completing and submitting six forms, a diagram and description of the brewery premises, a legal description of the brewery, and a statement describing the security at the brewery.
Before a brewery can file the diagrams and descriptions, they must first have zoning approval with the state. Once zoning and TTB approval have been completed, breweries also have to complete the appropriate state paperwork as well.
As a result of this process, we know that any brewery still working on a location has a long way to go before they're brewing beer. Breweries that have completed all these steps appear on this page, giving us a heads up that they're almost there.
The following new breweries are all going through these steps now, but only one of them has reached the final steps of gaining a state permit. We'll start there.
Brewery: Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. (website - coming soon) Players: Scotty Wise, Omar Castrellon (former brewer at Alcatraz Brewing Company) Location:1021 Broad Ripple Avenue, Indianapolis Focus: (cliché but, true) - "Big beers, West Coast style IPA's, double IPA's, Chocolate Imperial Stouts, being different and using local ingredients for some styles." - Omar and I want to do a few small bottle runs (where we will hand cap the bottles and hand fill them) a couple times a year and just have fun with our creativity. I want to offer one organic/local seasonal beer, if possible. We are looking into this. I look up to Founders, Dogfish Head, 3 Floyds, Stone… if I would want to emulate a brewery, it would be these guys. Long Term Goals: No long term goals. Don't want to get over my skis. I want to try to put out a great, original, quality product. Start small, get it right and then grow. That is the goal. I want to exclusively offer this at our Scotty's concepts only. We might look to offer this in the northern and southern parts of the state too, at some point. If we open in Ft. Wayne, as expected in the Parkview Ballpark, I have a goal to be THE craft beer of the ball park. More from Hoosier Beer Geek:Coming Soon to Broad Ripple: Another Hoosier Brewery (February 28, 2010)
Although his efforts to put together a brewery with the folks behind what has now become Triton fell apart, Scotty Wise may come out smelling like a rose. Brewer Omar Castrellon has a long history of producing quality beer at Alcatraz, but producing for Scotty's ever-expanding empire of restaurants should give him plenty of volume and beer turnover, providing plenty of room for creativity.
Brewery: Triton Brewing Company (website, twitter) Players: Mike DeWeese, David Waldman, Jon Lang (former brewer at Barley Island) Location: The last time we spoke, the brewery was looking for space on the northeast side of Indianapolis, along the Binford Boulevard corridor. Actual location still unconfirmed, but Triton is in the process of finalizing their location. Focus: "Our aim is to provide happiness and joy through beer and to become the most successful and respected brewery in the State of Indiana. Triton Brewing Company will produce Indiana’s 'Flagship' beer, providing outstanding quality, service, and value." (from Facebook) Long Term Goals: Indiana and Chicago distribution in year one, statewide distribution within two years of opening. From Facebook:
Our products and services will be "best in class" in terms of value received for dollars paid. We will deliver excellence, strive for continuous improvement and respond vigorously to change.
We are dedicated to satisfying our customers. We believe in respecting our customers, listening to their requests and understanding their expectations. We strive to exceed their expectations in affordability, and quality.
Triton Brewing Company will produce five brands year-round:
Railsplitter IPA Brown Ale Amber Ale Wheat
Stout
Additionally we will distribute a number of seasonal beers and some 'Brewer's Choice' beers will be available in the tasting room.
After the collapse of the Scott Wise/Thr3e Wise Men collaboration, Triton was left looking for a new location to house their already purchased equipment. We've seen Jon Lang out and about at various brewery functions, and it's obvious he's ready to get back to brewing. Hopefully we'll see something from him soon.
Brewery: Flat 12 Bierworks (website, twitter) Players: Steve Hershberger (CMO), Sean O'Conner (President), Mr. X Director of Brewing Operations (name to be announced soon), Bob Weaver, Community Manager Location:414 Dorman Street, Indianapolis Focus: Brewing top line craft beer the old school way. Quality, craftsmanship and customer focus first. Brewing Blonde (wheat), American Wit, Amber, IPA/Organic IPA, a family of Porters, as well as a number of seasonal beers. Long Term Goals: Establishing Flat 12 as a leader in craft beer brewing in the Midwest. Create an onsite experience that caters to craft beer fans and Hopstars, who want to travel from around the Midwest to visit. Distribute Flat 12 products to fans east of the Mississippi, as well as introduce Midwestern craft to beer fans in Canada and select EU countries. From the company website:
This summer, Flat 12 will be launching six new craft beers, although the brewery is capable of producing over 30 (yes, we said 30) different beers. Working with our current group of Hopstars, we tasted and tested and then we tasted and tested some more. In the end, we settled on six beers we want to introduce to you this year. Although more will come, you'll love these six.
Flat 12 is surely not lacking in ambition. With a distribution and marketing deal already in place with Pelican Brands, Flat 12 seems to be ahead of the game.
Brewery: Bier Brewery and Taproom (website) Players: Darren Connor (formerly of Great Fermentations) Location:5127 E. 65th St., Indianapolis Focus: Small batches, particularly seasonals, and sell in-house only, rather than recruiting outside accounts like Sun King does. (source:ibj.com) From the company website:
Bier will serve anywhere from six to eight different beers once we are open. These offerings will reflect the seasons and Darren's specialties
Darren's experience at Great Fermentations means that he knows good beer. With in-house only sales, it will be interesting to see how much exposure the brewery receives. At worst, Bier Brewery and Taproom should be a valuable asset to those in the neighborhood seeking out good beer.
Brewery: Brownfield Brewing Company (website, facebook) Players: Ken Warren (start up manager for bottling facilities), Kenny Allen (former brewmaster for Old Dominion Brewing), and Arifah Aronson (owns a green renovation and contracting company) Location: The brewery will be located in Fountain Square Focus: The focus will to create a sustainable (leed certified) organic brewery from a brownfield that will use local raw materials (as much as possible, as we know, organic hops will likely be from New Zealand so we will use carbon offsets for those but we do have local farmers that can supply a portion of the hops we need) and cap the distribution radius to 500 miles to stay local and as keep our carbon footprint as small as possible. If the business becomes successful enough to expand outside of 500 miles, it will be done from another facility outside that radius and will be built from remediating another brownfield. We don't want to ship beer (which is 95% water) across country like many large scale brewers. Our goal is to be as green/sustainable as possible, and teach others in Indianapolis - through on site education - how to convert a brownfield to a sustainable business. There are lots of opportunities in Indy for this and the city greatly needs leaders in this arena to help revitalize the areas where the auto industry left its scars. Long term goals: Long term goals are to be a leader in our local market on how to operate with the lowest carbon footprint possible, and teach this model on-site from a remediated brownfield. We want to show everyone how to create a sustainable business that increases local revenue for our local residents in Indiana. From the company website:
Brownfield's approach is one that not many have taken, but the ownership group's combined experience should make for an interesting effort. Owner Arifah Aronson has a background in green building - her company, Aronson Custom Homes, specializes in offseting the negative effects of conventional building techniques, conserving natural resources, and reducing the "carbon footprint" of the building process. (source) Brewer Kenny Allen's experience at Delaware's Old Dominion (a BeerAdvocate.com A- overall) should mean that we can expect a quality product.
