Flat 12 Bierwerks on the near eastside of Indianapolis has proved a lot of things in its short existence. To start, they make fantastic beers; if you live in Indianapolis or have had a beer of theirs at your watering hole, you can attest to this. They also embrace and love the city of Indianapolis and try to infuse its history into their branding and labeling as much as possible, with names like the Pogue’s Run Porter, BlueMile Extra Pale Ale, and Hinchtown Hammer Down (the official beer of IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe), to name a few.
And after this past weekend, they proved that they know how to throw a damn good party.
Celebrating their fourth anniversary Saturday, Flat 12 opened their doors all day to anybody looking to celebrate with them, with food trucks, live music offered in the cleared-out cold storage room, a roaring fire on their patio, and free samplings of specialty beers and one-offs that even the more experienced craft beer fan would gawk at. But more on that in a bit.
I have a warm place in my heart for Flat 12. They were one of the first local beers I tried when I moved to Indianapolis over two years ago (Half Cycle IPA), they gave me an opportunity to hang out with Hinchcliffe and some of his crew on the HandleBar back in the fall, and they truly make exciting, diverse beers for the Indiana community. At a Pacers preseason game I found myself sitting with co-founder Sean O’Connor, where we discussed the greater world of craft beer, its impact on Indiana, and even the practice of making sure your beer is being served fresh in bars and arenas. So I was happy to show up Saturday afternoon and give them as many dollars as I had in my wallet, and then some, to thank a brewery that has been good to my friends and me, among the entire Indiana craft beer community.
After catching lunch at Tow Yard Brewing Co. (their carnitas fries are a must for any visit) and taking my friend, Drew Ogborn, on his first-ever trip to Sun King for a growler fill and a taste of their Sink The Clipper ESB (also worth it, folks), we made our way to Flat 12 for the festivities. Only planning to stay for an hour or so, we managed to hang out for 4.5 hours until the party ended, taking the chance to chat with patrons and employees about Flat 12, and even listen to O’Connor himself spin yarns around the fire pit about the four year ride the brewery has taken him on.
I am not saying I am upset I only had samples of these beers, because truly everyone should have tried them and every other offering. But I am upset I only had samples of these beers.
8:00 PM rolled around eventually, and with Flat 12 staff all but kicking the revelers out Drew and I retired with our four packs of Winter Cycle to the Sinking Ship in Broad Ripple (I struggle to even type “SoBro,” so sue me) for some dinner and recap. As birthday/anniversary parties go, Flat 12 surely did it right. Still in its early years, Flat 12 has so much room to grow and expand if they choose to do so (they did recently open a taproom in Jeffersonville, IN; Cory Huffman previously wrote about it!), but even in a short amount of time the brewery has made a strong and exciting name for itself, something O’Connor, co-founder Rob Caputo and all of the Flat 12 brewers and employees should be proud of.
So cheers to you, Flat 12. I can’t wait to see what another year of growth brings you.
