Fishers on tap 2014 Winter edition a huge success

It was a record setting afternoon for the Fishers On Tap craft beer tasting event that took place this last Saturday, Feb. 22nd.  Not only did they break their previous attendance record, but they also raised a record amount of proceeds that will be going back to the Fishers Community–which is the purpose of the event and its host, the Fishers Rotary Club. Oh yeah…there was a lot of great beer as well.

The eight guest breweries had anywhere from 2 – 6 beers on tap for the thirsty 500+ attendees.  The guest breweries who participated were: 

Bier Brewery – Indianapolis
Sun King Brewery – Indianapolis
Barley Island Brewing – Noblesville
Flat 12 Bierwerks – Indianapolis
Upland Brewing – Bloomington
Union Brewing – Carmel
Daredevil Brewing – Shelbyville
People’s Brewing – Lafayette

The event was also a big success for the IndianaOnTap team.  A special thanks to Huston Electric out of Kokomo for donating an 84″ SmartBoard (and their time) to allow us to demo our website to the attendees and create a true interactive experience with them.  To learn more about Huston Electric, visit their website at www.hustonelectric.com. 

As for the beers…our team was able to taste nearly every one at the event (we may have missed a beer from the Bier Brewery–they had several great selections on tap–it was our loss). One of the clear winners of the event was the Winter Cycle Double IPA from Flat 12 Bierwerks. It was so good, we had to taste it a few times. This beer is a big hop bomb of an IPA featuring 6 different hops from 3 continents.  It’s brewed using Juniper as well–which gives it an incredible balance.  It was so great that we’re going to feature it as this week’s ‘Beer of the Week’ on our homepage.’  We weren’t the only ones who loved this beer…it created quite a buzz for the majority of the attendees we spoke with as well.  It’s available on limited release and is currently for sale (in bottles) at the brewery. 

Barley Island’s Damien, a Belgian Strong Ale, was also a big hit at the event.  This Belgian features Saphir hops with a spicy Belgian yeast aroma.  Everyone also seemed to genuinely appreciate the hand pulled real ales from Union Brewing Co. They featured their Cannonball Doyle, an Irish Dry Stout with intense coffee and dark chocolate flavors. 

We tried our best detective work to get some information from Daredevil Brewing about the anticipated ‘Big News’ they expect to announce sometime this week, but they wouldn’t budge on any details. It’s speculated that they may be opening a tap room somewhere in the Indianapolis area–but again, that’s just speculation.  The Daredevil team was pouring their Lift Off IPA, Muse Belgian Golden Ale, and Carnival Saison.  We heard a lot of excitement from attendees over the Saison, which is a creative balance of spicy phenols, fruity esters, noble hops and Belgian malts. 

It’s worth taking a moment to mention the food.  There were several vendors in house and the food was diverse and plenty.  From Eddie Merlots to Rockstone Pizza to Simeri’s Italian to Moe’s Southwest Grill to Peterson’s Steakhouse to Gigi’s Cupcakes, there was literally something for everyone.

In all, the event can only be labeled as a huge success and was a nice precursor to the great spring and summer beer festivals that are already right around the corner (most notably, Bloomington’s Craft Beer Fest which concludes their craft beer week, slated for April 12th, and the 5th Annual Crown Beer Fest in Crown Point, IN on May 17th).  To stay up-to-date on all of the upcoming festivals in 2014, be sure to bookmark the ‘Featured Upcoming Events‘ on our homepage.