Taxman brewing in Bargersville hitting their stride

Can a brewery in Bargersville, IN, prosper with Belgian style beer? The answer seems to be yes (& as Belgian style beer lovers, we certainly hope so). Taxman Brewing only recently started brewing their beer in their Bargersville brewpub. (They've had beer under the Taxman name since 2010.) Our experience at Taxman this past week was wonderful. Solid muscles: while the marinieres are the traditional, the buffalo were a huge hit at our table!. Very nice frites (crispy fries) and for $10 you get ample mussels + frites.

One very nice feature with the brewpub is the fact that you can not only make a flight of beer to sample but you can order most house beers in a sampler glass at a small charge so if you love variety you can have multiple beers without over-ordering. While two of us love Belgian style beer, the two who joined us don't know the styles. One often goes for hops and the other for lighter beer.

We started with the Standard Abbey blonde. This beer provides complexity in a balance between the malt and light hops delivering soft sweetness in the opening and a dry finish with wonderful flavor from the Belgian yeast. La Maison farmhouse ale at 7% is a delightful lighter beer finishing dry with enough hop flavor to note grapefruit and light citrus. Both of these beers satisfied a light beer drinker who joined us.

The beer that got the most attention among our small group was the Exemption tripel. The two full-flavor, even hop-heads among us went immediately to Exemption. As a tripel, this is a big ale at 8.5% alc. It provides a bit of sweetness and then finishes dry. Even with higher alcohol than most beers exemption is not 'boozy' yet provides some apple sweetness with complexity of the Belgian yeast tang. The light beer lover went for..... The Qualified, quad.... go figure! Complex, warming, notes of the 10% alcohol with fig character. Deliciously alluring.

The Frozen Assets cocoa milk stout was another wonderful treat with lots of roast, coffee quality, and the tang of the lactic acid, or milk. That could make a dessert. You could also fall in love with the Northwest hops in the finish of the Per Diem Belgian Pale at 'only' 5% alc. and slightly floral. And for a nice easy-drinking beer there is the W-2 winter wit with lemony citrus, some spice of the hops and a bit of the grain from the wheat.

So the next time you are on the South side of Indianapolis or perhaps in Brown County and you get a yearning to be in Belgium, this should take you there.

But hey, suppose you are just near Bargersville and want craft beer; Taxman won't force you to drink Belgian style beers with up to twenty-four craft beers on tap. For our visit there were nine other Indiana beers available besides theirs and a few other special taps. Oh, the burgers looked great... so, maybe next time!

Open most days at noon, Tues.-Thurs. 'til 10, Fri.-Sat. 'til 12am. Sun. 10am-10pm with growler fill only Mondays 4-8. Lunch and Dinner daily except Monday + Sunday brunch. From highway 135 you can take State Road 144 West 1/2 mile to Harriman Avenue, turn left 3 blocks to Baldwin and they are on the corner with parking nearby. see the map and other info at www.taxmanbrewing.com

The Saturday after IRS taxes are due, Taxman celebrates with their Death and Taxes day releasing their 12.5% Belgian Imperial Stout, a first-ever, hand-bottled beer. Death & Taxes is an Imperial Belgian Stout, a rich, roasted and robust ale aged for two weeks over Indonesian vanilla beans. Expect both an original version and one aged for 2 months on Kentucky-whiskey barrels. In addition they have a tasting festival featuring 12+ Indiana breweries, select wineries and food trucks. You need a ticket available HERE.