After 20 Years, A Little Rain Can’t Stop A Great Fermentations Party

After 20 Years, A Little Rain Can’t Stop A Great Fermentations Party

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By Writing & Reporting Community Member Drew Ogborn

On Saturday, October 24th, Great Fermentations celebrated their 20th anniversary with a party outside their Indianapolis location. If you looked out your front door at 8 a.m. that morning you might have said, “the weather’s going to be great today”. If you looked again at noon you’d say “nope, this is going to blow.” For those of you who skipped this event, yes it did rain for about the first hour; not that it really mattered to the people who attended. Luckily for us the restaurant Movable Feast, located next to the event, welcomed all of us inside to get out of the rain. This was an unexpected bonus, and their food was delicious!

By 4 o’clock the rain was pretty much done and the party really started. Around 225 signed up ahead of time and I’d venture a guess that around that many came. Along with the brews being served we all enjoyed a great show from the Indiana Boys, a band based out of Nashville Indiana. The beer being served came from Upland, Bier (located next door), Sun King, Daredevil, Chilly Water, Grand Junction, Flix, and McClures. As well, Cedar Creek Winery brought a few bottles of wine for those who prefer a different drink. I don’t know where I’ve been but I thought Chilly Water’s pilsner was one of the better ones I’ve had in a while.

​Something that event organizer/IT guy/everything, Bryan Johnson, informed me of was that all the breweries that were pouring had some connection to GF. It could be that their head brewer once worked at GF or they were one the original customers, but each brewery was specifically selected based on past relationships and connections.


About Great Fermentations: the brewing supply shop was started by Anita Johnson in 1995. Their original location was a small spot across the street from North Central High School. At the time the craft brewery craze was just about to really take off. Like many in the industry, Anita discovered the world of craft brewing and fell in love. GF now has customers across the nation and are working with 4000+ square feet of retail/warehouse space.

​If you check out their website they say the reason they do what they do is because they believe in three main things: “helping our customers make great beer and wine on their own, providing the best products and service day in and day out, and of course our daily 5:30 p.m. shift beers.” It was clear to me that their passion for what they do and the people they serve has been a big part as to why the business is successful and has been around for two decades now. If things keep going the way they’re going, we’ll suredly be celebrating their 30th anniversary. And who knows, maybe the Cubs will have won a World Series by then.

Last thing: one of the guys in the band was cool enough to take me home in the band bus, have a drink with me, and then drop me off at a buddies place. Thanks again.

(Ed. note: Indiana On Tap does not encourage getting in cars with strangers)

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No Comments
  • Kathleen Tracy
    Posted at 18:50h, 28 October Reply

    Our pleasure! Good to see so many happy faces and what a milestone for GF!!. Stop in again and see us soon the original art on the wall is by local artist KWA check out his site at http://www.kwa.us/

  • Bryan Johnson
    Posted at 14:44h, 04 November Reply

    Thanks for a great write-up, and for partying with us! Cheers to IOT and all that you do for the beer community in Indiana.
    Cheers!
    Bryan

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