Indiana Celebrates Craft Beer Via the Indiana State Fair Brewers’ Cup Competition

16 Jul Indiana Celebrates Craft Beer Via the Indiana State Fair Brewers’ Cup Competition

by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap

The 2024 edition of the Indiana State Fair Brewers’ Competition is in the book. The breweries gathered at the state fairgrounds last Saturday evening to congratulate each other, taste some of their creations, and generally have a great time. As the medals were handed out, 39 Indiana breweries took home hardware. There were also medals for eight out of state breweries, the best being Treehive Meadery in Brocton, IL (4 medals). McClure’s Orchard from Peru had the largest number of medals by any single producer (9 total medals), winning in several of the mead and cider groups.

The big winner was Sun King Brewery as the Indiana Champion (best total results for an Indiana Brewery), and Grand Champion (best total result of a brewery no matter the state). They had great result from both the the mothership downtown Indy (6 medals) and at their Fishers Small Batch Brewery (5 medals). In fact, Sun King (between both locations) swept the barrel aged beer category, following up on their dominance of that category(s) at the US Open Beer Championship.

Wooden Bear Brewing in Greenfield also had a fantastic result (6 total medals). Jared Hamilton is the brewer there, and has really upped his game in the last couple of years. We spend a decent amount of time in their taproom (hi Danielle, Jay, Ninja, & Alyssa) since our daughter lives in Greenfield, and we’ve had an up close opportunity to enjoy their beers and witness their rise.

Here’s my usual caveat; there are great beers that never medal, but it is always a plus to get feedback (judges notes). IBC is great for that, as opposed to other competitions in the part of the country, and these notes show brewers paths to investigate to improve their product. A beer that didn’t medal this year might be a big winner next year based on the implementation of constructive feedback – the thousands of beers you don’t see in the results below are the real beneficiaries of these types of contests – along with us craft beer drinkers.

Interesting notes: 1) There was a handful of craft producers that managed three gold medals this year, and that achievement deserves some recognition of its own – Sun King Brewery, Metazoa Brewing, Urban Vines, and Wooden Bear. 2) Westfield was a stand out location for the competition, with all three breweries in the city medaling, and, 3) Fort Wayne had a good showing with five of their breweries taking home hardware.

I also want to take the time to give a shout out to breweries that medaled in areas that are new to them or are breweries that are new to competition – Patoka Lake Brewing (4 medals), Urban Vines (3 medals, Urban Apples is their new cidery/meadery), Creek Bottom Brewery, who makes solid beer, but medaled twice with their mead and cider, and Tarnished Hollow Brewing (first ever competition entry).

The last shout out is to breweries that won four or more medals – this number reflects an ability to succeed across the panoply of styles, it means something to do several different things well – Brokerage Brewing, Crasian Brewing, Guggman Haus Brewing, McClure’s Orchard, Metazoa Brewing, Moontown Brewing, Patoka Lake Brewing, Pax Verum Brewing, Primeval Brewing (last year’s IBC Indiana and Grand Champion Brewery), Sun King Brewery, Sun King Fishers, Teays River Brewing, Treehive Meadery, and Wooden Bear Brewing.

Thanks to all the volunteers that make this competition possible, without them, there is no IBC. Here are all the medalists in the commercial competition, we’ll dive into the homebrew results in the next few days.

Indiana Brewery of the Year
Sun King Brewery

Grand Champion Brewery of the Year
Sun King Brewery

2Toms Brewing, Fort Wayne
Bronze – Spiced Beer, Mardi

Allusion Brewing (Vandergrift, PA)
Bronze – American Wheat & Blonde, Olmstead Ale

Armor Brewing (Allen, TX)
Gold – Strong American Ale, Wheatwine
Bronze – Pale European Beer, Easy Co
Bronze – Smoke-Flavored Beer, Smoke Session

Bier Brewery, Indianapolis
Gold – German Wheat & Rye Beer, Rogenschnizzle
Gold – Seasonal Spiced Beer, Pumpkin Ale
Bronze – Dark European Lager, Night Lager

Blind Owl Brewery, Indianapolis
Bronze – Pilsner, Parliament Drive Pilsner

Broad Ripple Brewpub, Indianapolis
Silver – Indiana Beer, Lowlife

Brokerage Brewing, West Lafayette
Gold – Amber European Beer, Symmetry & Simplicity
Silver – American IPA, New Kid on the Hop
Bronze – Amber & Brown American Ale, Paw Party
Bronze – Brown British Beer, The Dark and the Glass

Cedar Creek Brewing Co., Martinsville
Bronze – Specialty IPA, INterspace

Centerpoint Brewing, Indianapolis
Gold – American Porter & Stout, Centerpoint Black
Silver – Specialty Beer, Shake Up Shandy

Crasian Brewing, Brookston
Silver – Brown British Beer, Local Void
Silver – Specialty IPA, Supernova
Silver – Spiced Beer, Loko Hiroko
Bronze – Indiana Beer, Blind Squirrel

Creek Bottom Brewery, Oldenburg
Gold – Traditional Mead, Creek Bottom Mead
Bronze – Indiana Cider/Mead, Doll’s Orchard

Daredevil Brewing, Speedway
Bronze – Pale Malty European Beer, Helles

Elevator Brewery (Pickerington, OH)
Gold – Smoke-Flavored Beer, Col. Pritchard’s Folly 

Evil Czech Brewery, Mishawaka
Silver – Pale European Beer, Jesus Mexican Lager

Feed Store Beer Co., Bloomfield
Bronze – Hazy IPA, Gilded Wing

Field Brewing, Westfield
Bronze – Strong European Lager, Doppel Dribble
Bronze – Imperial Porter & Stout, Vernon

Flix Brewhouse, Carmel
Gold – Irish & British Stout, Inside the Moon
Silver – American Pale Ale, Preview Pale
Bronze – Saison, Haunted Farmhouse

Fortlandia Brewing, Fort Wayne
Gold – Strong European Lager, Back to the Future

Four Day Ray Brewing, Fishers
Gold – Hazy IPA, Fishin’ For Hopliments

Grand Junction Brewing, Westfield
Bronze – Strong British Ale, 10^th Anniversary Ale

Guggman Haus Brewing, Indianapolis
Gold – Spiced Beer, Haus Blend Coffee Milk Stout
Silver – Dark European Lager, Biergarten Days Munich Dunkel
Bronze – American IPA, Great Day IPA
Bronze – Strong American Ale, 2x Great Day

Hop River Brewing, Fort Wayne
Bronze – Scottish & Irish Beer, Red Beauty

Junk Ditch Brewing, Fort Wayne
Silver – German Wheat & Rye Beer, Somerliebe
Silver – Pale British Beer, Batch

Ledgeview Brewing, Warsaw
Silver – Seasonal Spiced Beer, The Bane of Ichabod

Mad Anthony Brewing, Fort Wayne
Silver –  Pale American Beer, Olde Fort Blonde Lager

Mashcraft Brewing, Greenwood
Gold – Strong British Ale, Sir James
Gold – Belgian Strong Ale, Golden Fiddle

McClure’s Orchard & Winery, Peru
Gold – Fruit Mead, Razzled
Gold – Standard Cider & Perry, Bon-Bon
Silver – Traditional Mead, Barrel O’Mead
Silver – Standard Cider & Perry, Farmhouse
Silver – Specialty Cider & Perry, Cider Mojito
Silver – Indiana Cider/Mead,
Bronze – Standard Cider & Perry, Crabby Bastard
Bronze – Specialty Cider & Perry, Farm ‘n Blue
Bronze – Mead/Cider Best in Show, Razzled

Metazoa Brewing, Indianapolis
Gold – Pilsner, Mortal Wombat
Gold – Pale Malty European Beer, Ain’t Afraid of No Goats
Gold – Scottish & Irish Beer, William Walrus
Silver – Pale Malty European Beer, Lagerhead Turtle

Moontown Brewing, Whitestown
Gold – American IPA, Keep It Dank, Batch 300
Gold – Saison, La Lune Biere
Silver – Pilsner, Starve Hollow
Silver – Amber European Beer, Viennese Mouth Music
Silver – Irish & British Stout, Lunar Leprechaun

Patoka Lake Brewing, Birdseye
Gold – American Wheat & Blonde, Nauti Blonde Ale
Silver – Scottish & Irish Beer, Lake-ness Monster
Silver – Best of Show, Nauti Blonde Ale
Silver – American Porter & Stout, Painter’s Creek Porter

Pax Verum Brewing, Lapel
Gold – Dark European Lager, Midnight Shadow
Silver – Strong American Ale, Nectar of the Gods
Silver – Belgian Ale, Untapped Potential
Bronze – German Wheat & Rye Beer, Field Daze
Bronze – American Porter & Stout, Expand Your View
Bronze – Specialty Beer, Wave Break

Primeval Brewing, Noblesville
Gold – Brown British Beer, Sacred Seduction
Gold – Belgian Ale, French Kiss
Silver – Strong European Lager, Chompinator
Silver – Saison, Spring Fling
Bronze – European Sour Beer, What Gose Up!

Sketchbook Brewing (Skokie, IL)
Gold – Pale British Beer, Orange Door
Silver – Smoke-Flavored Beer, Grodziskie
Bronze – American Pale Ale, Session Coastal

Studebaker Brewing, South Bend
Bronze – Irish & British Stout, Indy Special

Sun King Brewery, Indianapolis
Gold – Pale European Beer, Pachanga
Gold – Wood Aged Beer, Velvet Fog
Gold – Specialty Beer, Chocolate Caliente Mexicano
Silver – European Sour Beer, Stupid Sexy Flanders
Silver – American Wheat & Blonde, Sunlight Cream Ale
Bronze – American Wild Ale, Cherry Busey

Sun King Brewery – Fishers
Gold – American Wild Ale, Free Range Farmhouse
Gold – Best of Show, Free Range Farmhouse
Silver – Strong British Ale, Ouija Heavy
Silver – Wood Aged Beer, Canadian Tornado
Bronze – Wood Aged Beer, Buffalo Slumber

Tarnished Hollow Brewing, Elwood
Silver – Hazy IPA, Wish I Had Juicy’s Girl

Taxman Brewing, Bargersville
Gold – Specialty IPA, La Maison
Silver – Belgian Strong Ale, Qualified
Bronze – Belgian Ale, Gold Standard

Teays River Brewing, Lafayette
Gold – Amber & Brown American Ale, Pleasure Seeker
Gold – European Sour Beer, Business Time
Silver – Amber & Brown American Ale, Luscious
Silver – Imperial Porter & Stout, Sparking Power
Bronze – Pale American Beer, Light-O Shuffle

The Tap Brewery, Bloomington
Silver – Specialty Mead, Electric Stinger
Bronze– Specialty Mead, Arcane Wanderer: Finn Raziel
Bronze – Belgian Strong Ale, Delta Quadrant

TreeHive Meadery (Brocton, IL)
Gold – Spice Mead, BUZZ Cake
Gold – Specialty Mead, Breakfast with the Darkside
Silver – Mead/Cider Best in Show, Breakfast with the Darkside
Bronze – Fruit Mead, It’s Getting Tart in Here

Triptych Brewing (Savoy, IL)
Gold – Fruit Beer, Prickly Pear Gose
Gold – Indiana Beer, Indy Hana

Two Frays Brewing (Pittsburgh, PA)
Bronze – Pale British Beer, So Long London Best Bitter

Unpossible Mead (Dwight, IL)
Silver – Fruit Mead, Raspberry Tesla Coil
Silver – Spice Mead, Currant Wars
Bronze – Spice Mead, The Fuzz & The Flower

Upland Brewing, Bloomington
Silver – Fruit Beer, Two of Tarts
Silver – American Wild Ale, Revive

Urban Vines & Brewery, Westfield
Gold – Specialty Cider & Perry, Muffin Top
Gold – Indiana Cider/Mead,
Gold – Mead/Cider Best in Show, Muffin Top

Wooden Bear Brewing, Greenfield
Gold –  Pale American Beer, Greenfield Lite
Gold – American Pale Ale, Pennsy Trail
Gold – Imperial Porter & Stout, Grizzly
Bronze – Amber European Beer, Lost in Vienna
Bronze – Fruit Beer, Broliner Weisse
Bronze – Best of Show, Grizzly