A One-Of-A-Kind Craft Beverage Event That Takes A Step Into The Past To Help Preserve An Indiana Venue's Future

19 Dec A One-Of-A-Kind Craft Beverage Event That Takes A Step Into The Past To Help Preserve An Indiana Venue’s Future

Posted at 18:55h in Musings, Scarlet Lane Brewing Co, Sun King Brewing, Uncategorized by Justin Knepp 0 Comments

By Justin Knepp of Indiana On Tap

“Ok, so please tell me again what I’m drinking, exactly? And why are you cooking it over an open fire?”

“Well,” he said, “It’s pretty simple, really. It’s an unmeasured mixture of cinnamon, black pepper, juniper, cloves, clementine oranges, brown sugar, water and red wine. Oh…and I topped it off with some rum because…well, just because. I’m cooking it over a fire because it’s so cold outside.”

I couldn’t argue with his logic on why he was serving it to me warm, nor could I argue with the taste. It was delicious. And it wasn’t even craft beer—but hey, that’s ok. He went on to tell me that this same type of concoction was once used by doctors to treat “anything and everything that may be ailing you.”

Wait a minute. Let me back up and offer some context here. What I was actually drinking was some type of a German spiced wine, known in other circles simply as Mulled wine. It depends on who you ask, really. The portly gentleman serving it to me had what sounded like a genuine German immigrant accent, but I couldn’t be too sure. He was, after all, just an actor. Ok, ok, not an actor…an historical interpreter. Honestly, I didn’t care. He made a damn good hot wine and it was hitting the spot on this cold, mid-December night while standing in a log cabin that was being heated by only a couple of wood fireplaces. This is 1836, after all.

Well, sort of.

It’s the 1836 Prairie Town Village at Conner Prairie in Fishers, IN. Prairie Town is considered to be one of the finest outdoor living history museums in the US. Its historical interpreters make up a real-life fictional living and working community struggling to survive during this difficult era.

Enough about history for now. Where else can you get an authentic cultural experience accompanied by such an authentic warm beverage? Here at the 2nd Annual “Holiday Cheers” craft beer, wine and spirits event organized and hosted by the Conner Prairie Horizon Council—an energetic group of 100+ young professionals who share ideas, engage in strategic planning, fundraise, and take part in special events—just like this one. Basically, it’s their job to envision the Conner Prairie of the future. I was fortunate enough to learn this thanks in part to my unofficial tour guide, Joe Zielinski, a Horizon Council board member. He gave us a tour of the village before the event and insisted on educating me and my guest—while also making sure that our tasting glasses were kept full the entire time. Enter Union Brewing Co. out of Carmel.

Fire cooked wine, anyone?

In my opinion, Union Brewing had the best location at the event. They were set up at the tiny bar inside the ‘Golden Eagle Inn’ building in the village. They were pouring their Diffie Milk Stout, Bloody Bollocks English IPA, and Sunnyvale Cream Ale. All were incredible, but the Milk Stout was an eye-opener for me. I’ve never gravitated towards milk stouts in the past, but this one was simply too good. It was originally brewed as a custom beer for 1990’s country music legend Joe Diffie. It contains lactose, which is a non-fermentable sugar that contributes sweetness to the beer to balance the big roasty and chocolaty flavors. Coming in at 5.0% ABV and 40 IBU, it was so good I had to try it a second time. Visit their brewery and taproom off of Rangeline Road in Carmel (next to the Monon Trail) to try it yourself.

After touring the rest of the village and chatting with the great guys at Union Brewing, we worked our way into the main building and event center at the Conner Prairie entrance where the rest of the vendors were pouring. I immediately noticed Scarlet Lane Brewing (from McCordsville) and Sun King Brewing of Indianapolis. I first visited Scarlet Lane and spoke with Founder and Chief Brand Officer, Nick Servies, who was there pouring their Lenore Pale Ale, much to everyone’s delight. (He was also wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater in the room, which I enjoyed). The Lenore has already received so much critical acclaim. You won’t be disappointed if or when you try it. As described on SLB’s website: “Lost no more is the radiant Lenore. With a silhouette of a dreaming demon’s glare, Lenore is a mysterious pale that carries a flavor like none before. Select hops and allied malts flirt and flutter intensely with the pour.”

You gotta love beer descriptions. The only real mystery is how they were able to make such a sensational Pale Ale. Well, it’s not really a mystery at all if you’ve ever tried their Dorian Stout. Scarlet Lane knows how to make exceptional beer. Period.

My visit was Sun King is what you’d expect—just really great beer. In addition to their flagships that were available, they were offering their Java Mac, which is one of my favorites. Java Mac is a coffee-infused version of their Wee Mac Scottish-Style Ale, which includes locally roasted coffee from Bee Roasters, also of Indy. It offers a true hazelnut character and toffee undertones to create a vibrant symphony of rich coffee flavor. Weighing in at 5.3% ABV and 23 IBU, it was a perfect choice for this kind of a night.

My guest and I eventually made our way to the food. To be honest, I didn’t take any notes on the food. I do remember, however, that it was great and there was a lot of it. The sliders were especially good. A special thanks to Matt the Miller’s Restaurant & Tavern of Carmel for providing the delicious spread. It tasted as good as it looked.

We had 2 more stops to go. At the request of my esteemed guest for the evening, JT, we first visited the table with what he insisted to be moonshine. He was right. A distributor was there pouring Hidden Holler Corn Whiskey (i.e. moonshine) from Bear Wallow Distillery in Brown County. Since it was corn based, it was sweet and we loved it. We next tried some Silver Sweet Corn Whiskey from The Indiana Whiskey Co. of South Bend, IN. They produce small batch whiskeys. Anything that touches their whiskey is Indiana-made…their stills, their grains, everything. That way, every dollar Hoosiers pay stays in our great state. Very cool. Oh, and also very good.

What’s a holiday event without some Indiana moonshine?

Our last stop of the night was to another table manned by a distributor pouring an array of wines. I wish I could tell you what wines I tried. In hindsight, I especially wish I made note of the Port. Ports are often served as sweet dessert wines, though they can also be offered in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties. This one was sweet and it was a great way to cap off such a pleasant evening. The point of even sharing this is to illustrate how well-planned this event was when it came to the beverage selection. There was literally something for everyone.

Thanks again to Conner Prairie and the Horizon Council for hosting us. This is an event that everyone should know about and should be on everyone’s calendar in the future. It’s the most unique venue imaginable to try some of your favorite beers, wines and spirits. I’m told they’ll again be hosting their warm-weather version of this event with their upcoming, 3rd Annual History on Tap Event in the late spring/early summer of 2015. Please follow Indiana on Tap or the Conner Prairie website for more details once available.

Oh, and lastly, if you ever visit Prairie Town on your own and meet a wonderful elderly woman sitting next to a table full of old-fashioned cookies and desserts playing some instrument that vaguely resembles a guitar, don’t reach for a treat like I did. They’re 5 years old and for display purposes only. She saved me some embarrassment—and a broken tooth. Well, at least a broken tooth.