INDIANAPOLIS – Nearly two dozen of Indiana’s brewpubs and microbreweries gathered last weekend for their annual winter festival, showcasing some excellent beers and furthering the word of Hoosier-made beers.

With few of their beers available out of state and living in the brewing shadow of neighboring states like Michigan and Missouri, the Hoosier State is often overlooked as a purveyor of fine beer.

“We have some damn good beer here, quite honestly,” said Ted Miller president of the Indiana Brewer’s Guild, who also owns Brugge Brasserie, a brewpub in Indianapolis. “People are starting to get that.”

The festival, held at the State Fairgrounds , sold out in advance and 2,800 people had a chance to find something that appealed to every palate. Aside from the offerings typically found at each brewery, many establishments participated in a Replicale contest.

Using the same basic recipe, breweries created an Oatmeal Coffee Stout but added their own choice of coffee and yeast.  Dave Colt of Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis came up with the basic recipe using the Simpson All-Star malt as a base, which he said gives the beers an almost biscuit-like taste. It was not uncommon to see the plastic tasting glasses filled with the deep brown elixir throughout the afternoon.

Sun King, by the way, is one of the newest additions to the Indiana Beer Scene. Dave Colt and Clay Robinson, who worked for the RAM Restaurant and Brewery in downtown Indianapolis, struck out on their own in mid-2009 and are already producing both innovative and session beers alike.

In fact, a local Internet poll taken at the end of last year voted Sun King’s opening as the highlight of the Indiana beer scene in 2008. The brewery, which produces a smooth cream ale and a pale ale with an appropriate bite of hops, recently announced that it would be canning its beers soon, capitalizing on a growing trend among microbreweries.

There were other new breweries on hand as well. Like Big Woods Brewing of Nashville, Ind., the Wilbur Brewhause in Wilbur, Ind., and People's Brewing of Lafayette.

Established Indiana favorites like New Albanian Brewing and Upland of Bloomington were crowd pleasers.

While the temperature last Saturday never rose above freezing, it did not stop visitors to the festival from spending time in the outside beer garden, where nearly 20 firkins of hearty winter brews rotated throughout the day.

“Bigger beers are fun and we don’t have a chance to do those in the summer,” said Miller.

For Mike Pope, president of the Central Indiana Chapter of the Brewery Collectables Club of America, it was heartening to see so many younger visitors to the festival. “Indiana beer had its guts ripped out by big beer,” he said. “But now we have all these great micros who are bringing back the tradition of local made beer and there are people who actively want to drink it, get beer from a local place.”

Mike Pope (at right) of the Central Indiana Chapter of the BCCA in front of his collection of Indiana breweriana.

Out-of-state breweries like Sierra Nevada (pouring the newly released Glissade), Southampton, Schmaltz Brewing Company, Kansas City’s 75th Street Brewery, Rust Belt Brewing of Youngstown, Ohio, and many others were also on hand.

Proceeds from the event went to Joy’s House, a service that provides care for adults living with physical and mental challenges while providing respite for caregivers.
“We do the charity thing not because we have to, but because it’s the right thing to do,” said Miller. “Breweries understand the importance of community.”

There were empty barrels from Woodford Reserve Bourbon throughout the festival, which will be used by 11 different Indiana homebrew clubs to make barrel-aged beer for the 2010 Indiana State Fair beer competition. That event is scheduled for Saturday, July 17.

And all those smiling faces? Colts fans.

-- by John Holl and Nate Schweber

John Holl, who is working on a book on touring Indiana breweries with Nate Schweber, writes about craft beer and the culture of drinking. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Star-Ledger of Newark, The Indianapolis Star and other publications. He may be reached at johnholl@gmail.com or facebook.com/john.holl