Craft Beer and Local Art – What a Great Combination

MA, my lovely bride, and I adventured last Friday night to the First Friday event at Indiana City Brewing located at 24 Shelby St. near downtown Indianapolis. The first thing you notice when you pull up is the marvelous building which obviously has a lot of history behind it. Indiana City is located in a pre-prohibition era brewery which was the bottling house of the Home Brewing Company, 1880–1920.

This First Friday event showcased the artwork of Justin McIntosh, whose unique pieces celebrate craft brewing. You can see Justin’s work hanging in several local Indiana breweries including Taxman, Sun King and Two Deep. Justin is delightful to talk with and we enjoyed his stories of painting in breweries and taprooms all over Indiana. Even though I am a Boilermaker, it was interesting to hear Justin’s first foray in this field was a painting of the bar at Nick’s English Hut in Bloomington. I was also a bit concerned with his choice to have a cold one, to calm his nerves, before climbing a ladder to paint a large mural; but, what would you expect from a Hoosier fan?? Hey!! Just kidding! I encourage all craft beer fans to take a look at and even purchase some of Justin’s work to show how much we appreciate his support of the craft beer culture and his enthusiasm for everything craft brewing has to offer. You can see Justin’s work on his website JJMartwork.com. Go check it out. You won’t regret it!