19 Sep 2nd Annual Whitestown Brew Fest Closes Summer Festival Season with a Bang (and a Lot of Beer)
By Kristina Traxler
The first thing that came out of everyone’s mouth when I told them I was going to a beer festival in Whitestown was: “really?”. That is correct. The Whitestown Brew Fest happened on Saturday September 17th for the second year in a row. Judging by people’s reaction to my weekend plans, many of you missed out.
This 4 hour, unlimited sampling event had breweries from all over the state. The folks from Burn Em’ made the trip down and the crew from Tin Man made the trip up. There were plenty of Indianapolis faves such as Triton and Fountain Square alongside some new breweries like Four Day Ray and Centerpoint Brewing. Each brewery brought at least 3 different brews to the event which was more than enough for any craft beer lover’s palate.
The event took place at the at the beautiful and conveniently-located Whitestown municipal complex. Inside of the actual building was the Corporate VIP area and brewer’s lounge. This space had clean indoor bathrooms, air conditioning, pulled pork with mac & cheese, and Scarlet Lane beer pouring beautifully from a customized Bottoms Up beer dispensing system. I’m so glad that the event was held on brand new pavement with so many modern amenities. I was able to leave the day mud-free and decently dry!
Another great perk for Indiana craft beer fans was the homebrew competition (also in its second year and larger than it was last year) sponsored by our great friends over at Great Fermentations. Each attendee received a bottle cap upon entry which was used to vote for their favorite beer from the bunch (how cool, right?). Last year’s winners, Moontown Brewing Company, recently announced their plans to open a commercial brewery in the town of Whitestown in the former and historic high school building, which goes to show the quality and level of expertise that local Hoosier’s bring to the table. The winning homebrew was a summer shandy that was truly unique. There were SO MANY great homebrews from so many talented homebrewers. What an awesome spin on an already great event.
My favorite part of this event was the overall selection. Being one of the first festivals before fall, people were eager to bring out their pumpkin ales, ciders, harvest ales, and Oktoberfest. Wooden Bear Brewing and Bier Brewery both had some great cinnamon spice pumpkin ales. I tried the Ash & Elm pumpkin cider as well as their grapefruit ginger which was a nice bubbly game changer. Redemption’s Queen of Tart Harvest Ale was crisp and just as tart as you would hope. And finally, Grand Junction’s Oktoberfest reminded me of how much I love fall.
The Whitestown Brew Fest is something that should be on your calendar for next September. It’s pretty incredible that even after going to over 20 beer events this year alone I am still discovering new Indiana craft breweries. This was a great prequel to represent what the incredible fall craft beer scene will bring.
No Comments