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