I Spent The night With Yelp! At Deviate And All I Got Was Seriously Awesome Beer

I Spent The night With Yelp! At Deviate And All I Got Was Seriously Awesome Beer

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By Tyler McCord for Indiana On Tap

On the busy corner of 96th Street and Michigan sits a fun little brewery that has the most unique beers that you will ever try in Indianapolis. That is where Deviate Brewing is located and the location is surprisingly “homey.” This quaint (I’ve always wanted to use that word) brewery isn’t for those who are scared to experiment and push their taste buds to the limit though. You see, Deviate Brewing Company isn’t your typical brewery. They specialize in brewing the most unique flavored craft beers you will ever have a chance to taste.

So on October 29th I went and spent a night with Deviate and Yelp! The Yelp sponsored event of A Night with Deviate was a chance for “Yelpers” to spend a night with the awesome brew masters Greg Ortwein and Mike Orkey  in their northside brewery. We were gracious enough to be given a behind the scenes tour of the brewery and even got to ask some (a lot of) questions that they were more than happy to answer! Orkey gave us a personalized tour got bombard with at least 1,587 questions.

All together Deviate has been brewing for around 18 years now. Starting off as most craft brewers do as homebrewers, they slowly began to define their brewing styles. It wasn’t long before they realized that the styles that they were looking for weren’t really out there at this time. So they worked and they refined their taste until it was exactly what they were looking for. Because of the amount of work that goes into all of their beers, it is not a surprise that you won’t find them in your local brew pubs or liquor stores. This isn’t because they can’t sell their beer either. Quite that opposite actually: they choose not to distribute outside of the brewery.


Right now the biggest challenge that they face is keeping up with demand, which in the case of “best problems to have,” that is at the top of the list! Right now, they are facing limitations on growler fills, but this is due only to a supply problem. The growler that I got to grab on Thursday night was their IPA, which is the oldest recipe that they are working with today. Orkey and Ortwien have a relationship that is 23 years in the making, and you can taste those years of effort when some of their speciality beers are released. You don’t need to worry either: if you happen to miss one of the special releases it will be back around! 

One of the things that they all love about their location, and their size, is that they can experiment and not need to do it the “home brew” way in how they started. With the current equipment that they have they are able do trial and error brews so they can make sure that it is exactly right for consumption. They spend about 15 hours a day brewing up the deliciousness that you will find in their brewery and you can taste and feel the love they pour into their craft. It’s obvious when you taste these very different and unique beers that these guys love what they do, and that they have plenty of experience to bring Indianapolis some of the best and most unique beers that you will ever find. 

If you haven’t made it to Deviate Brewing Company yet I highly recommend that you go and check them out. It’s easy to get to, right on the corner of 96th and Michigan on Indianapolis Northeast side. You want to go here because unless you are at a Beer Fest there isn’t anywhere else to grab their tasty little pints of happiness. You’ll enjoy the rustic but homey atmosphere of the place and even be able to take home a growler or two. 


No Comments
  • Doug B.
    Posted at 11:38h, 02 November Reply

    Are they going to join the Tasting Society Marketplace?

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