Coming Soon to Indy (maybe): Upland Brewing Company

Earlier today, jtoshua sent us the following tweet:

@hbgeek or anyone else in town know what the deal is with upland beer applying for a liquor permit for a spot at 49th and college

My response: f*ckin' sweet.

Mr. I-get-to-drink-beer-at-lunch Architect response (a.k.a. Knight Jason): Indianapolis permit search.

Turns out Upland is indeed looking to open a new space at 49th St. and College Ave. From the address -- 4842 N. College Ave -- that's the southwest corner of the intersection, a building called the Uptown Business Center. As far as I can tell, there are three retail spaces there and they're all full right now (Pawpatch, Second Chance Boutique, and 60 Minute Cleaners). The address on the Liquor License also says "Suite 2" which could mean that they're looking at the second floor. If you take a look at Google Street View you can see a fuzzy "For Rent" sign in a second floor window, so that may make sense.

We'll let you know when we know more.

UPDATE: Jason just did a drive-by -- he's a bad shot, no injuries reported -- and it looks like the Second Chance Boutique is no longer in business. Upland's orange liquor license application is in the window of that space.

Whatever Happened to Beer?

An article on Slate yesterday focused on the death of beer sales in America, which have grown less that one percent since 2000. Where have the customers gone? To wine. In fact, the article highlights, a 2005 Gallop poll showed that Americans preferred wine to beer.

What's this mean for the aspiring beer geek? Maybe not much. As the article points out, one of the reasons for the switch to wine is that the American middle class is becoming "connoisseurs of everything". So maybe the issue isn't so much that Americans are turning away from beer - maybe the issue is that Americans are asking for more from their beer. Which, if you ask me, is a win for everyone.

On the German beer trail

Very cool article from today's New York Times (registration required; go to Bugmenot if you don't want to be bothered with registration). During his travels, the author stayed in a brewpub that doubles as a hotel. That sounds like a heavenly place to stay....