10 Mar Studebaker Brewing’s New Spot in New Carlisle is a Great Home Base for Exploring Northern Indiana Beer
by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
Walter and I had a nice visit with Josh Goins of Studebaker Brewing a couple of weeks ago, the day after Shelf Ice Brewfest. This was our first trip to their new location in New Carlisle, and we came away with two distinct lessons learned: 1) Studebaker is doing great and the new location is fun and well done, and 2) New Carlisle may be one of the best spots in the state to use as a base for doing some northern Indiana pub crawls. First let’s take a look at Studebaker Brewing’s new spot.
I talked to Josh about the expansion and Studebaker in general, and he showed us his new brewhouse. Great news- he’s got room to expand, so look for more beer from Studebaker, but that’s not all, long term plans include a production facility to really get their beer to more of Indiana. For right now, Josh says they are using this first year to, “Get their feet under them,” in their new location and really build a local following. We’ll talk more about this below, but a local following in this area could be quite large.
image credit: Studebaker Brewing
The new brewpub is located right on Main Street in New Carlisle, a site that is easy to see and easy to park at. They had been looking for a spot for quite some time; they knew years ago that they were going to have to expand beyond the Studebaker Mansion in downtown South Bend. The two places really do have very different atmospheres. What’s really nice is that the new location still has a link to the Studebaker Car Company, as New Carlisle was the site of their proving grounds – plus, New Carlisle had some affordable real estate, and is a welcoming community.
Their site used to be next to a dry goods emporium that dates back to the 1880s – we know that because the painted signs are still on the brick that makes up their interior wall. It was then the venerable Miller’s Home Café for 57 years, and now Studebaker has breathed life back into the building, keeping the rustic feel.
There is great food to go along with the great beer at Studebaker. I’ve done the smoked wings and loved them (all the sauces are made in house), and Walter had a pull pork and BBQ flatbread on the sweet potato-based gluten free crust. If only we had time to try out the prime rib sandwich, the brisket, or one of the desserts – well, just another reason to go back. We did all ten beers on the list that day, and took home cans of our favorites – the dark lager, the rauchbier, and the milk & cookies stout.
You can still see the Studebaker Trees at the old Proving Grounds near New Carlisle. image credit: Google Earth
Studebaker Brewing opened in New Carlisle in November of 2024, so they haven’t gone through a summer yet, but they’re looking forward to it. New Carlisle does a great summer tourism business because they are so close to the lake, so it will bring in lots of business, and if December was any indication, the summer should be better than great. And that leads us to our 2nd subject, the idea that New Carlisle could be a great base of operations to really check out northern Indiana (and lower Michigan) beer.
New Carlisle is just a stone’s throw from so many Indiana and southern Michigan breweries. You could easily count more than 30 within a 30 mile radius. There’s South Bend (13 miles) with Crooked Ewe, Indiana Whiskey, South Bend Brew Werks, Studebaker’s mansion taproom, and Perry Vine, while just beyond is Mishawaka, with Sun King, Hop Station, Evil Czech, and Bare Hands just to the north in Granger.
New Buffalo, MI (14 miles) with Beer Church, Ghost Isle, and just north of that Seedz Brewery. There is LaPorte (13 miles) with Blockhead Beerworks coming soon, and Valparaiso (30 miles) which is home to the original Blockhead, Ironwood, Misbeehavin’ Meads, Aftermath Ciders, and Sea of Monsters Brewing/Journeyman Distillery.
image credit: Sea of Monsters Brewing
Lakeville is 18 miles away with Lakeville Brew Crew, and Walkerton (17 miles) is southwest instead of southeast – home to Koontz Lake Brewery. Michigan City (17 miles) is a great destination, with Shoreline Brewery, Trip Fermentations, Zorn Brew Works, and Burn ‘Em Brewing, while the Buchanan and Niles, MI area (15 miles) leads you to Niles Brewing, River Saint Joe, and the original Journeyman Distillery.
Heck, that was 27 stops and I wasn’t really trying – I didn’t add the wineries and there is undoubtedly a brewery or two I missed. Before we visited, I really hadn’t appreciated the good density of breweries in the area, without there being a really big city involved. Sure, there are 60+ breweries/wineries/distilleries in and around Indy, but that’s basically a single city area. Here we have many breweries, but most of them in their own towns, offering different things to see, different vibes, and different people to meet and learn from.
It might be a good idea for all these breweries to get together and form some sort of a mini-guild. They already help each other with ingredients, advice, and even manpower, but formalizing it might help them with marketing the region, having events, and even dealing with legalities and lobbying that are particular to their region. Regardless, you need to take advantage of the proximity and variety to learn more and appreciate more about Indiana (and southern MI) beer.
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