Ain’t No Party Like an Irish (Danny Boy Beer Works) Party

Ain’t No Party Like an Irish (Danny Boy Beer Works) Party

Picture

By Writing & Reporting Community Member Mathew Muncy 

An Irish party in October? Sign me up. Danny Boy Beer Works held their All Saints Day Block Party at their brewery in Carmel, Ind. and it seemed to be a hit. The place was packed, inside and out, there was lots of beer and food options, and bagpipes. Yeah, it was as awesome as I just made it sound.

We attended the Friday night portion of the event, which had the food trucks, live music until 1 a.m., and cost $10 to enter. The Saturday night portion appeared to be more of a Halloween event, with live music and a costume contest.

Atmosphere

Right off the bat the first thing I noticed was the crowd; much older than what you see at your typical beer event. At 27-years-old, I was by far one of the younger attendees. But everyone was having a blast, whether they were in the brewery or outside in the tent listening to Mother Grove Band and My Yellow Rickshaw.

This was a fun event – have you ever been to an Irish-themed party and not had fun? – and the cold was not stopping people from enjoying themselves. The only minor issue I ran into was trouble getting through the brewery, to either get a beer or get back outside. There is limited space inside the brewery, and they had Tom Crocker playing inside so his equipment took up a good chunk of space. The tight squeeze was not something I was expecting, but outside in the tent wasn’t a lot better. Had it not been as cold, I doubt this would have been an issue and it didn’t take away from the fun I had.

Outside in the tent was where the real party was. Inside the brewery everyone was yelling, the televisions were ablaze with sports and they had live music. But In the tent you had a live Kilt rock band, people dancing, 32-ounce beers, and food.

Beer

If there is one thing the Irish love, it’s beer; trust me I’ve been to Ireland and have Irish-blood running through me. Danny Boy Beer Works had all of their beers on tap, several guest beers – Heavy Seas, Upland, Founders, and Sierra Nevada – 32-ounce bombers, and a $25, 32-ounce bottle of their Barrel-Aged Mac Daddy Scottish Ale.

https://twitter.com/DannyBoyBeer/status/660163095063588864

I tried two different brews from Danny Boy Beer Works and they were very impressive. We grabbed a 32-ounce bomber of Rock ‘N Rolla IPA, which really hit you with its bitterness – 99 IBU – but was damn good. We forgot to bring cash, which was needed to purchase the bombers outside – that was a bummer but our own fault – so we headed inside to checkout the beer lineup.

My wife tried their Autumn Ale, a strange looking brew – at least to myself – as it looked like a stout but had a scotch ale taste to it. I don’t know exactly what the flavors were but it was good. I decided to get “Church” their milk stout. Now I am not much of a stout fan, but this was creamy, chocolaty, and delicious.


Picture

Honestly…does anything beat live bagpipe music?
Food

Danny Boy Beer Works sells food - I wanted that bacon bucket so bad – but they had three food trucks setup outside to handle the food for the evening. El Venezolano, Venezuelan food; Serendipity, “handcrafted modern Midwestern cuisine; and Neighborhood Pizza, a mobile pizza restaurant. 

After getting a beer in me, I was ready to eat. We looked at the menus, pondered what truly sounded good, and landed on Serendipity’s Fleetwood Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese. Grilled Cheese made with mac and cheese. Why am I just now seeing this ingenious creation? It was heavenly. But the food love didn’t stop there as the mother-in-law brought back pumpkin pie from Neighborhood Pizza. That’s right, they made more than just pizza pie, and it was easily one of the best versions of pumpkin pie I’ve ever had. 

As a fat guy I take my food very seriously – probably too serious – and everything I ate was fantastic.

Music

Bagpipes. Do I really need to say more? Ok, recorder. Yeah, Mother Grove Band not only had a guy playing bagpipes, but he set those down and broke out his recorder. Had I known this band existed when I got married back in June, my entrance would have been drastically different.

Their music was upbeat, exciting, and dance-able. The lead singer looked like he could be Zac Brown’s brother and the drummer was a dead-ringer for Garth from Wayne’s World. Plus the bagpipe player was wearing a kilt. 

We didn’t stay long enough to hear My Yellow Rickshaw and after researching them I’m really sad we didn’t. Their genre of music: “Everything (and we mean EVERYTHING) — from Skynard to Usher, Zac Brown Band to Miley, The Temptations to Bieber, even rap and an Irish jig or two!” If I would have heard Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” with some bagpipe or recorder action thrown in, I might have died. 

Verdict

Ain’t no party like an Irish party. Danny Boy Beer Works threw an amazing event, well worth the price of entry. The lack of space was a little deterring, but makes you better prepared for next year. All Saints Day is celebrated yearly, so hopefully Danny Boy Beer Works plans to make this an annual event. 

2 Comments
  • Irish Dan
    Posted at 20:45h, 01 November Reply

    Love that place!

  • Jameis
    Posted at 23:31h, 01 November Reply

    Cool man

Post A Comment