Indiana Brewers' Cup Awards

In its 16th year, the Indiana Brewers’ Cup is one of the nation’s largest beer competitions featuring home brewers and professional brewers. Nearly 1,300 entries were expertly judged by approximately 120 trained judges with help from dozens of volunteer 'stewards.' The Indiana State Fair, in partnership with the Brewers of Indiana Guild, hosts event. Sponsors include:
- Broad Ripple Brewpub: “Brewer of the Day” to the Best of Show Home Brewer
- Blichmann Enginering: A Boilermaker pot to the Indiana Home Brewer of the Year
- Great Fermentations: A $50 gift certificate to second place home brewers
- Brewers Art Supply: A $25 gift certificate to third place home brewers
- Sun King Brewery: The space, time and energy required to cellar beers prior to the event
- Sugar Creek Hops
- IndianaBeer.com

Entries were received from as far away as California in 2014 while the local Indiana Competition is still intense.

News This Year: Breweries open a relatively short time took home medals. The landscape is changing as Indiana nears 100 breweries and brewers from out of state continue to enter this competition. Two newer breweries in Evansville, IN, walked out with a host of awards! Tin Man Brewing opened in late 2012 and has been fine tuning their operation and their beers. They took a total of 4 medals winning gold for their stout and a spiced beer. Carson's Brewing was on a pilot batch back in Spring 2013 and has had their full commercial brewery opened for less than a year. Former Home Brewer John Mills made the switch to Pro Brewer for Carson's and left with 3 medals!

Perhaps the quickest brewery to win an award is Scarlet Lane, distributing only since May, with their tasting room to open July 20 in McCordsville. The power of female owner Lane who learned beer in Oregon and Head Brewer Chris Knott, formerly of the RAM came through with 3 awards.

Upland swept the last few minutes of the Award Ceremony with Pro Best-Of-Show, Brewery of the Year, and Grand Champion awards (UPLAND TEAM SHOWN AT RIGHT)

Following is our unofficial list of Gold Medal First Place Winners (as noted from announcements at the Saturday reception). Forgive Spelling and attribution of cities based on our notes.

PROFESSIONAL BREWERS CATEGORY: Gold medals

Light Lager: Mad Anthony Brewing, Ft. Wayne, IN
Pilsner: Sun King Brewing, Indianapolis, IN
European Amber: Mad Anthony Brewing, Ft. Wayne
Dark Lager: RAM Brewery, Indianapolis, IN
Bock: Latitude 42 Brewing, Portage, MI
Light Hybrid: Salt Creek Brewery, Bedford, IN
Amber Hybrid: Oaken Barrel Brewing, Greenwood, IN

Scottish & Irish: Indiana City Brewing, Indianapolis, IN
American Ale: Rhinegeist Brewing, Cincinnati, OH
English Brown: Bier Brewery, Indianapolis, IN
Porter: Latitude 42 Brewing, Portage, MI
Stout: Tin Man Brewing, Evansville, IN
IPA: Scarlet Lane Brewing, Indianapolis, IN
German Wheat/Rye: Christian Moerlein Brewing, Cincinnati, OH
Belgian/French Ale: Upland Brewing, Bloomington, IN
Sour: Upland Brewing, Bloomington, IN
Belgian Strong Ale: Bier Brewery, Indianapolis, IN
Strong Ale: Bier Brewery, Indianapolis, IN
Fruit beer: Destihl Brewery, Bloomington, IL
Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer: Tin Man Brewing, Evansville, IN
Smoke Beer: Indiana City Brewing, Indianapolis, IN
Specialty: Hailstorm Brewing, Tinley Park, IL
Indiana Specialty (Corn): Crown Brewing, Crown Point, IN

Shown are pro-brewers Elyse Lane (owner) and Chris Knot (Head Brewer) from one of Indiana's newest Breweries, who are planning to just open their tasting room on July 20. They received 3 medals including gold. They've only distributed since May 2014.

PRO BREWER BEST OF SHOW: VinoSynthRed (collaboration with Indiana's Oliver Winery), Upland Brewing, Bloomington, IN

PRO BREWER OF THE YEAR: Upland Brewing, Bloomington, IN

Grand Champion Pro Brewery: Upland Brewing, Bloomington, IN

HomeBrew Club Foam Blowers of Indiana made a strong showing again with multiple medals taking both major Club awards! Interestingly the Home Brew Best-Of-Show and Home Brewer of the Year went to Louisville based brewer, Evan Brill.

HOME BREWER CATEGORY Gold Medals

Light Lager: Chris Ingerman, Muncie, IN
Pils: Brian Eichhorn, Chicago, IL
European Amber Lager: Evan Brill, Louisville, KY
Dark Lager: Brian & Dean Steuerwald, Indianapolis, IN
Bock: Brian & Dean Steurewald, Indianapolis, IN
Light Hybrid: Jonathan Robinson & Peter Argiris, IL
American Hybrid: Paul Till, Ft. Wayne, IN
English Pale: Tim Palmer, Indianapolis, IN
Scottish & Irish: Russell Bankert
American Ale: Josh, Kent, Eric Bertsch
English Brown: John Gladden, Alameda, CA
Porter: Kevin Paul, Royal Oaks, MI
Stout: Andrew Johnson, Noblesville, IN

IPA: Ryan Mills, Indianapolis,IN
German Wheat/Rye: Bryce Hooper, LaPorte, IN
Belgian/French Ale: Edward Kilroy, Carmel, IN
Sour: Tom Wallbank, Zionsville, IN
Belgian Strong: Jeremy Dunn, Evansville, IN
Strong Ale: Jim Jimerson, Indianapolis, IN
Fruit beer: Brian Spaulding & Kurt Conwell, Ft. Wayne, IN
Spice/Herb/Veg beer: Bill Staashelm, Indianapolis
Smoke/wood aged: Scott Pointon, Crest Hill, IL
Specialty: Hugh Gardner, W. Lafayette, IN
Indiana Specialty (Corn): Steve Kent

SHOWN (right) TOP PIC: Judges busy scoring during the day, including Master Judge Sandy
BOTTOM PIC: Foam Blowers members sitting waiting for the news!
Thanks to Nathan Compton and Bob Ostrander for contributing to this blog.

Home Brewer Best of Show: Evan Brill, Louisville, KY
Brewer's Cup Homebrewer of the Year: Evan Brill, Louisville, KY

Home Brew Club of the Year (most total points): Foam Blowers of Indiana

Bill Friday Home Brew Club Award (most points/total entries of the club) Foam Blowers of Indiana


Bill Friday was a home brewer from West Lafayette, IN, who traveled not only Indiana but to beer events far and wide spreading the connections between people and beer. This writer recalls Bill best for his many buttons he made and sold to make money for the local THC club. Yet, most memorable for me was a visit to Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee right after Bill passed on. Owner and Brewer Russ Klisch asked if I had known Bill. We almost spent more time talking about how much Bill had done for brewing than about Lakefront's beer! Bill had been to Lakefront a few times and since Bill and Russ were both tall guys Bill jokingly started the Tall Brewers Society with Russ as Charter Member. Bill would be too humble to have an award named after him which is likely why it is so fitting.

Remember the rest of the week!

Tuesday July 15 is Indiana Girl's Pint Out's gathering at Mass Ave Pub, 745 Mass Ave, Indy, 6-9 PM with the unveiling of the top three beer cocktails recipes from the GPO contest with samples and available to purchase the drink! The Winning beer-tail will be featured at Mass Ave Pub for the rest of July!

Saturday July 19 is the largest beer festival held in Indiana as nearly 6000 converge on Broad Ripple's Optimist Park for the 19th Annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival with over 350 craft beers from 80+ brewers, mostly Indiana. Tickets are likely still available at Big Red Liquors and online HERE. The main event is 3-7PM and sold out last year. A portion of ticket sales benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

And a shout out to bartenders and servers: HopCat Broad Ripple plans to open August 16, and is now hiring
for all positions with interviews until Aug. 1 (M-F 9-6). Those interested inquire at jobs@hopcat.com

Chilly Water to open near downtown, Speedway July Beer Fest, GPO beer contest, and more....

Chilly Water Brewing is the brainchild of veteran professional brewer Skip Duvall. It opens today (Friday, July 27) at 11:00AM, at 719 Virginia Avenue, about half-way between downtown and the heart of Fountain Square in what is officially the Holy Rosary Neighborhood but also identified as Fletcher Place by Indy Downtown, Inc. This is a great walk to or from a many places with a bike path and wide walk in front. The starting lineup of beers will be Built to Last Pilsner, Sweet Revenge Pale Ale, 5 String Hafe, Harmonica ESB, and Space Circus IPA.
This brewery has been months (and more) in the planning for Skip. Skip has experience from the old Alcatraz Brewing Company, one of the very early downtown Indy brewpubs. Skip took over for Omar Castrellon as Omar helped found Thr3e Wise Men (Omar this year returned to Little Rock after many years in Indy). Skip then moved to Fountain Square Brewing and eventually dreamed of his own place. The dream becomes a reality today with upscale panini sandwiches MENU HERE and five beers for now. I plan to be on hand today and plan to update on the beer and the food soon!

SUN KING's big SOLD OUT Fourth Anniversary party (which we have written about several times) is this Saturday afternoon and night with headliner entertainment, food trucks, and, um, beer. While popular Grapefruit Jungle will be available in pints and cans at the event, there are no growler sales until next week when it is released on Monday to bars and restaurants. For those with tickets, lawn chairs are allowed, and the event is rain or shine.

Sun King's TASTING ROOM is only open Noon - 3PM this Saturday (no loitering acceptable) due to their Anniversary Party! If you've not tasted Laverne and Shirley (I just love those names) these are best-friend beers brewed the same except different yeasts: Laverne is spicy as a Belgian blonde and Shirley is a crisp American lager. Great summer session beer at 4.1 & 4.6% respectively. Both in the tasting room and on tap at the party.

We know some people will be downtown Indy this evening (June 27) for Party on the Plaza 3:30-7 PM with beer flowing from Flat 12 Bierwerks, Fountain Square Brewing Company, Sun King Brewery, Bier Brewery, Triton Brewery, & Outlier Brewing Company as well as wine from Easley Winery. Don't have tickets yet? Party on the Plaza Tickets

Other beer news: we don't often catch personal news, but Scott Ellis, brewer at the RAM just had a baby! I think that is worthy of a MUG at the RAM.

LADIES: Name a Beer, For Girl's Pint Out Indy's FIFTH Anniversary! Deadline is fast approaching on Tuesday July 1 ENTER HERE: http://tinyurl.com/GPO5beer
and/or Name a Cocktail. Name the Cocktail here GPO will meet at Mass Ave Pub on Tuesday, July 16, at 6PM. click poster at right for more information

Scarlet Lane Brewing is already on tap at nearly FIFTY bars and restaurants around Indianapolis, and has a Tap Take Overs on Wednesday, July 2, at Fat Dan's Chicago Style Deli in Broad Ripple, and Friday July 11, 4:30PM - 10:30PM, at DC's Pub, 6537 Whitestown Parkway, Zionsville, IN.

A NEW beer festival has been announced by Daredevil Brewing, co-hosts. Hops & Flip Flops Festival will be held at the Dallara IndyCar Headquarters at 1201 E. Main Street, Speedway, where over 20 local, regional, and national breweries will provide samples of beer along with street vendors, music, food, and more from 5:30-10:00 PM. Proceeds benefit the Speedway Lions Club. Breweries such as Founders, Jolly Pumpkin, Against the Grain, Country Boy, Bells, Flat 12, Boulevard, Stone, Rheingeist, Oskar Blues, Triton, and, of course, Daredevil, are expected to bring some prized highly hopped plus not-so-hoppy beers to share! Special food, wine, and chocolate pairings are being considered! Tickets on sale July 2, HERE

And of course, the 19th Indiana Micro-Brewer's Festival is coming up on July 19 in Broad Ripple.

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

Indiana Beer News, Dec. 8, Holiday Beers and Brewer Moves

'Tis time for special beers and apparently for brewers to play musical chairs with brewing systems.

RAM Indy seems major changes. On the heels of former award-winning Head Brewer Andrew Castner leaving The RAM in Indianapolis in Mid-October , former Asst. Brewer Chris Knott solidified his move to Scarlet Lane Brewing with his announcement this week. Scarlet Lane is another new operation with plans to be brewing soon. It appears the RAM has become another stop on the way to independent brewing since Dave Colt and Clay Robinson of SunKing fame departed the RAM just four years ago. Castner, once with Oaken Barrel, made a major mark on Central Indiana with many award winning beers and now temporarily assists at Flat12 (corrected from earlier misprint) and Great Fermentations Brew Shop on his way to his own start-up brewery on IN 135 in Greenwood, set to open this Spring. Knott did more than shovel grain at The RAM and had his imprint on a number of great beers. I had a chance to wish both Andrew and Chris well on future adventures on Nov. 19, with their great tasting Barrel Aged Olaf as well as this year's S'No Angel Weizenbock. S'No angel remains on tap. We hope each of them continues some of the "big beer" and barrel aging tradition in their new spots.


Nate Scruggs, formerly of Fountain Square, will start brewing at The RAM although corporate will have to anoint a head brewer.

Bell's Brewing brings its "Twelve Bell's of Christmas" to Chatham Tap on Mass Ave. this week Thursday, Dec. 12, starting at 5:00 PM with a special keg of Black Note barrel aged stout (Whoa.. one of my favorites), Christmas Ale, Hopsoulution DIPA, Oarsman Ale, Porter, Third Coast Old Ale, Two Hearted, Winter White , Raspberry Ale, Harry Magill's Spiced Stout, Wedding Ale, and... either Bell's can't count or there will be one additional beer. I'd vote for Expedition Stout but we'll see. Bell's does this event other places with 12- beers but not the same so in Elkhart, IN, on the same night you can visit The Chubby Trout after 5:30 for 12 Bell's favorites or in Newburgh, IN, near Evansville visit Beef O'Brady's at 6:00 where the Rednose ESB is one of the 12 Bell's beers. If you really want a road trip, Bell's Comstock, MI, brewery unveiled a wood sculpture this past week commissioned by Larry Bell called, "From Seed to Senses." It is less beer related as all Bell required is that the piece from a tree that had to be taken down become art.

Thinking of spicy for the Holidays? Bare Hands Brewery in Mishawaka, IN, yesterday tapped their popular Mango Habanero 574 Pale Ale on Dec. 7. Growler fills available.

Flat12, Indy, is well on their way to this year's Twelve Beers of Christmas! 12/5 = Glazed Ham Porter, 12/6 = Cranberry Maple Amber, 12/7 = Chocolate Orange Porter and 12/8 = Cocoa Beware Milk Stout, , 12/12 = Wholey Ghost Porter, 12/13 = Brandy Walkabout Pale, 12/14 = Juniper IPA, 12/15 = Snickerdoodle Blonde, 12/19 = Chocolate Mint Porter,' 12/20 = Apple Bottom Blonde, 12/21 = Gingerbread IPA, and as the last volly the ever-popular and odd 12/22 = Grandpa’s Glazed Ham Porter! And if you must taste all 12 at once, visit City Market on December 14, for The 12 Chef's of Christmas where local participating chefs have drawn one of these 12 holiday beers and created his/her culinary masterpiece to be unveiled at this event. The Pairing Party is free and open to the public Saturday, Dec. 14, 5-8PM at the City Market.

Check out your favorite local brewery or brew pub for their holiday seasonal. Triton has Gingerbread Brown on tap and in bottles. Rock Bottom brew pubs Indy have their Tartan Scottish Ale, Fountain Square currently has Count Nibula Chocolate Stout, and several of us are going to visit Black Swan this week to see what DJ has brewed up!

Cheers! GregKitz