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On why a northeast Indiana brewery trip is well worth your while

21 Jan On why a northeast Indiana brewery trip is well worth your while

Posted at 18:50h in Goshen Brewing Co, Iechyd Da Brewing Co, Man Cave Brewing, Musings, Uncategorized by

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By Drew Ogborn for Indiana On Tap

On Saturday the 9th my good friend Kayla and I left Ripple Bagel Deli and headed up to Northern Indiana to check out some prime brewing operations they’ve got going on up there. On our list was Man Cave Brewing, Goshen Brewing Co., and Iechyd Da. Luckily for us the drive up there was snow-free but the drive back was not. Kayla can only tolerate my crap for about 6 straight hours, so this 25 hour ordeal for her was probably a real challenge.

First on our list was Man Cave. Craft breweries are started by all types of people from various personal and professional backgrounds. If you want my advice, having an engineer and an attorney be part of your brewery (like Man Cave does) is a bright idea. The attorney can help with all the legal hurdles that brewers come across. The engineer can also save you big bucks when getting started. These guys bought a lot of their equipment second hand from places like cattle farms and re-purposed them to fit their brewing needs. Let me tell you: it worked out well.

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The first beer Jack poured for Kayla and me was their Sand Bar Blonde, a cream ale. Now, I love cream ales, but this may be one of the best I’ve had. Even Kayla, who prefers hoppier beers, thought it was fantastic. It had a nice, almost smoky taste to it that you don’t normally find in this category. The other beer they had on tap was the Wee Heavy Lass, a Scottish Wee Heavy. I’ll admit I don’t have a lot of experience with this type of brew but it was certainly good.

After hanging out in their awesome Man Cave (really: it’s a Man Cave) we headed out of Syracuse and towards Goshen Brewing, obviously in Goshen. This town is going through a bit of an image reboot right now: unlike a lot of smaller towns, which may be shrinking, Goshen is actually attracting a vibrant younger crowd. Goshen Brewing is capitalizing on that, and probably influencing it, to an extent.

Their tap room and brewery is in an old building (I’m guessing from the 30’s) right across from the farmers market. This is key, because the food they serve is made with fresh ingredients, many of which are from right across the street. Even if you’re not a beer drinker, try the food.

The last stop was a brewery that’s not with the Tasting Society, but it’s still worth mentioning. It’s Elkhart’s Iechyd Da (pronounced “ya-key dah”), a very successful small town brewery. They have many different kinds of beer on tap, a great taproom/restaurant and delicious food. While I was there the co-owner, Summer, gave me their 1635 L (L for lager) and it was fantastic. Definitely worth a stop if you’re up in the region.
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Some of the state’s best beers are being made tucked away in the little corner of northeast Indiana. For some of us it can be a trek, but I promise you’ll be more than happy with what you find.

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  • Jimmy
    Posted at 12:52h, 22 January Reply

    When did you go to NE Indiana? These all seem to be NC Indiana Breweries. Syracuse is kind of close, but still NC. I only ask because there are many good breweries in the NE corner of the state it would be a crime if someone didn’t recognize them as the breweries in NE Indiana. I am sure I am forgetting someone.
    Chapmans
    Trubble
    Old School Brauhuase
    Summit City
    Mad Anthony

    • Sarah
      Posted at 13:50h, 22 January Reply

      I’ll be hitting up those Fort Wayne area breweries on Feb 5 & 6

      • Mike
        Posted at 12:52h, 23 January Reply

        Don’t forget to stop at Birdboy Brewing in Fort Wayne and Laotto Brewing just north of Fort Wayne.

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