MashCraft Brewing! Greenwood's New Microbrew opens!

Craft beer expands on the South side of Indianapolis in Johnson County as Mashcraft is open (at noon on Friday, May 6). Mashcraft Head Brewer Andrew Castner brings his experience back to the Greenwood area from his brewing roots at Oaken Barrel after winning many awards at the Great American Beer Festival, the North American Beer Awards, Brewers Cup, and Indiana Brew Bracket for The RAM restaurant and brewery. Castner demonstrated great brewing flexibility and quality by knocking out mainstream beers like an amber, pale, blonde and more as well as specialty beers from great barrel aged versions to an Anaheim Chili enhanced IPA (multiple award winner) at The RAM.

Mashcraft, located at 1100 N. State Road 135, Greenwood, just South of County Line Road and across from Hal's Las Vegas Bar & Grill, offers 4 beers for their initial opening: a crisp MashCraft Gold blonde, a sessionable Scots Ale Scottish 70 with solid malt flavor and a nice layer of light roast at only 3.3%, a HopJam Imperial IPA at 7.6% using Centennial and Falconer's Flight hops, and MashCraft IPA citrus and herbal delivery at 6.4%. Coming soon will be an American Amber MashCraft Red. Castner tells us MashCraft will plan to feature several sessionable beers with flavor and promises that ultimately he will showcase his flair for the unusual with specialty beers in different categories. We found the Scots Ale a delightful beer that will likely satisfy many beer drinkers whether looking for a bit of roast, an easy drinking beer, or just an alternative to hops. Mashcraft offers an Italian style sandwich from local Zoey's Pizzeria and a beer infused chili to handle hunger.

Grab a pint in unique Mashcraft glassware, get a growler or "howler" (half-growler) filled, daily with hours M-W 5-7 P.M.
THURS 4-8 P.M., FRI-SAT 12-8 P.M., & SUN 12-4 P.M.

By locating in the Greenwood area, Mashcraft joins one of the original Indiana breweries, Oaken Barrel of East Main Street, Greenwood which opened in 1994, as well as Planetary Brewing also blocks off of East Main, Greenwood with local craft beer. Rounding out the area's beer places is beer bar Shallo's which serves Planetary's beer along with many other craft and imports plus the BJ's chain which does not brew locally but serves their own craft beer.

There was a bit of a reunion to celebrate the opening as Brewer Chris Knott, now at Scarlet Lane of McCordsville which plans to open in a few weeks, came by to congratulate Andrew. Knott was Assistant brewer to Castner as Head Brewer of the RAM. Andrew Groves of Planetary also showed up to celebrate the opening as did many, many other brewers and friends.

With 50,000 cars passing daily on Indiana S. Road 135 in front of the shopping area where Mashcraft is tucked-away called Country Center we expect many Southsiders will stop in to grab a local craft brew. Greet manager Sarah and step up to the bar, sit on one of the picnic tables or enjoy the old stadium seats rescued from the former Victory Field, where the Indianapolis Indians played!

Cheers to you Andrew and crew at Mashcraft! -- GregKitz

Planetary Brewing orbits onto the Greenwood, IN, beer scene: big name, nano-brewery

There's a new brew in town!


The first flow of beer from the Planet... ah, er, Planetary Brewing flowed at 4:00 PM, Friday, March 8, 2013, in a small almost off-the-beaten-path space (like a galaxy far, far away!) but actually just minutes from Oaken Barrel Brewery in Greenwood, IN. This new nano-brewery (yep, very small) rises from the dreams of a home brewer with previous business experience (sound familiar). Andrew Groves was a home brewer who had friends really enjoy his beers! So what does a brewer do when friends want more of your beer? You dream of better equipment, bigger production, and growlers of beer. Andrew, who had already worked with his father to grow a small business, had such a dream. Planetary Brewing with new stainless steal brewing equipment, a tap room, and opening for growler fills is the result! Open Fridays 4-8, Saturdays 12-6

The first brews available are a Creme Ale ($10 growler/$6 bullet), a Stout* ($12 growler/$7 bullet), and Dunkelweizen ($12 growler/$7 bullet). Growler fills only! No Pints, no food, just beer to go. Note how these three likely complement a Greenwood beer run.... Oaken Barrel can fill you up with their famous wit, or SuperFly IPA while you get over to Planetary for one of these different styles.

UPDATE We visited on Saturday for samples of the actual commercial beer. The Stout is a deep chocolate oatmeal stout with a lot of body and deep, dark flavor. The cream ale is deeper and richer than most of those in this style.

As these rotate off tap the next three will be (not necessarily coming in this order) a pale, a brown ale, and a honey wheat. Eventually, Andrew plans to add a porter, an amber, an IPA, even a triple, dubbel, and Belgian dark strong based on home brew recipes. By the way your first empty growler will cost $6
but he is prepared if you bring your own he can paste a sticker on it. Empty 32 oz bullets cost you $4.

My first introduction to this venture was through Planetary's Admiral of Planetary Explorations (um...I'd call this a beer ambassador) Doug Goins, who is a fixture in the Greenwood beer world as long-time bartender at Shallo's, home of hundreds of beers.
I had some of Andrew's beers from homebrew batches and the ones I tried were very solid beers, the ones his friends like drinking. For those who like more technical information brew batches are about 62 gallons but fermenation and holding capacity is much more. Rough calculations are that at the start customers can expect about 700 pints per week.

To find Planetary (my GPS takes me to the wrong place) use Greenwood's Main street. If exiting off I-65, head West, 1.2 miles to Polk Street. From Central Greenwood head East, over the railroad tracks to Polk Street. Turn South. Look for the sign that says 500 South Polk Street! Turn East and the third door on the right has the Planetary sign above it. Limited parking either on the street or across from the brewery in a small lot of a neighboring building. (see photos)

The street sign where you turn, the stainless,
and the growlers

Cheers.... see you there! Greg Kitz