Saturday September 20th of 2014 was a huge day in the Indiana beer world: Triton Brewing’s 3rd Anniversary Party, Sun King’s CANvitational, IndyLit’s Pub Crawl, Quaff On! had their Quafftoberfest, and Four Father’s first bottle release (Viking Funeral). But I chose to head down to the Grand Opening of Taxman Brewing Company’s Gastropub, and I made a great choice.
Taxman has made a name for itself in the greater Indianapolis area by producing artisanal quality Belgian style beers. Prior to their opening, you could find their La Maison (Saison), The Standard (Abbey Blonde), Deduction (Dubbel), Exemption (Trippel), and Qualified (Quad) on draft at various locations and festivals around the state.
For months they have been contract brewing at Cutters Brewing Co. in Avon while waiting to get their new home in Bargersville ready at the same time. Saturday was a culmination of months of hard work and meticulous planning. I had been following their progress closely via social media and getting glimpses of their renovations, but had yet to see it all come together–until now.
I rolled into Bargersville around 10:30 Saturday morning. They welcomed me in a bit early and despite their last minute preparations, were nice enough to even give me a quick tour of the facilities. They are still about 4 weeks away from being able to start the first batch at their brewery, but it looks like a great setup with room for further growth–which is equally exciting.
The gastropub area is just outstanding. Two floors, 36 taps, multiple TVs, and the coolest style of any brewery, brewpub, or taproom I’ve ever been to. As I watched people start to arrive, I noticed they couldn’t help but take pictures as they entered. I attached some pictures of my own below, but could never quite capture their perfect blend of both rustic old wood and new practical finishes that they used in their design.
The main floor has 24 taps and a large “L” shaped bar to handle the majority of patrons most days. Today this included 12 Taxman brews, and 12 guest taps. Upstairs had the same 12 taxman beers available. They have a large outdoor patio which on this day was supplemented with additional temporary tables and a jockey box with 5 taps to handle the expected traffic. By the time I left the inside was full while the outside was equally peppered with newcomers as well.
Twelve Taxman beers available meant seven (new) beers that most people had yet to ever try, which made the opening even more exciting for the true craft fans. Hop Collector (Beligian IPA), Barrel Aged Tax-Cut (Black Ale collaboration with Cutters), and a cranberry version of their Wit-Held were a few of the new ones. My favorites of the day were the barrel aged Deduction and their new fall seasonal, DeFallt. The Deduction has just the right hint of barrel aging to accentuate the alcohol in the beer, without overpowering the dubbel. DeFallt is a fall seasonal that is neither a pumpkin beer, nor an Oktoberfest lager. I realize that is hard for most to fathom if you’ve been into a liquor store recently. But, they managed to give this Biere de Garde a distinct fall color and flavor with the use of caramel malts and French Oak.
Seemingly the whole town was out to support their local brewery and I would recommend to anyone else curious in learning more about Taxman to check them out at well. Not only were the beers great and the layout picturesque, but their staff couldn’t have been any nicer.
You can learn more about Taxman Brewing Company at www.taxmanbrewing.com/ and by continuing to follow all of what’s going on with Indiana Beer here at Indiana On Tap.
