450 North Brewing Co., in partnership with Indiana On Tap, is excited to announce the Inaugural Corn Maze Beer Fest, to be held Saturday, October 1st in Columbus, IN.
The festival, which organizer Brad Brookbank believes to be the first of its kind, will feature 25 of Indiana’s best and brightest craft breweries, specialty beers from the Columbus-based brewery, food trucks, and a full blown corn maze for festival goers to try their luck at during the day. Breweries will be scattered throughout the inside of the maze and serving unlimited samples to all attendees.
To Brookbank, a sales representative for the brewery, the idea came to him in a flash.
“I was standing in the brewery one afternoon and walked over to the back door and just stared at the corn in the field and it just clicked – Corn Maze Beer Fest… I did plenty of research online trying to find anything similar done somewhere else. When I couldn’t find anything, I knew we had the idea for something big.”
Brookbank is looking forward to how much of 450 North’s own spin they can impart on the festival.
“Having all the breweries coming down to our location and being able to show them around and what we do is something we’re really looking forward to,” he says. “We’re kind of in our own rural pocket down here, and that’s different from a lot of breweries around, so we’re really excited for our friends to see that.”
“This event is going to be an interactive experience for both seasonal craft beer veterans and novice beer drinkers,” added Brenda Simmons, Co-Founder of the winery and brewery on the property. “What better way to get a new view of the uniqueness of craft beer.”
The brewery is also looking to incorporate the community around them as much as possible. The restaurant will remain open during the day (with a limited menu), and the maze will be open beyond October 1st for families and children to wander through.
The Corn Maze Brew Fest will be held from 1:00 – 5:00 PM. People coming to town for the festival will have access to discounted rates at local hotels, complete with shuttle service to and from the festival. There will also be festivities and special events happening at the brewery leading up to the inaugural event for all to take part in.
“This event stands to really benefit the brewing community as well,” according to Co-Founder and husband David Simmons. “Everyone in attendance will have an opportunity to see a bit more behind the scenes of the farming aspect of the alcohol industry, which is exciting to us.”
The Simmons family has owned and farmed land in Bartholomew County for the last 176 years. The first land was purchased in 1840. The farming traditional remains alive and well with the Simmons family farming 300 acres around the county to this day. With the Corn Maze Beer Fest, they hope to create a new tradition that will also stand the test of time.
To learn more about this event or to purchase tickets, please visit www.CornMazeBeerFest.com.
