Sometimes we just want to try great beer on our days off. I spent last year making it to nearly every corner of the state of Indiana on my quest to visit every Brewery in the State. Now I’m trying to visit a few of the notable ones as my travels take me to other parts of the state. I wanted to spend a little time seeing my brother in the South Bend-Mishawaka area, so yesterday I made the trek up. It was a journey I made many times last year on my Quest, but today felt a little different. It was a cold afternoon and I started seeing snow as I made my way to the northern reaches of my state.
I stopped just south of Michiana because I wanted to revisit Ruhe 152 in Nappanee. it is an excellent Brewery who dabbles in sours, and is making excellent stouts right now as well. The town of Nappanee seems to have a theme right now around “Embrace the Pace,” and I was able to try an excellent chocolate milk stout bearing that name. (They also had an imperial aged version of that beer called Increase the Pace which I took to go.) They also had an interesting variation of the Gose called Post. It had traditional flavor and a nice salt finish.
While I was sitting at Ruhe, I met a pair of gentleman who were doing the same thing I was. They were checking out several breweries in the area on their day off as well. It is nice to see craft beer lovers out there visiting breweries which today were full of eager drinkers. I didn’t stay long at Ruhe 152, but I expect that I will get back there again sometime soon. They have a great beer, and an excellent atmosphere. I definitely recommend visiting them!
Before I made my way up to the Granger area, I stopped in to see my friends at Hop Station. I had recently ran into the Windmill rep at 5’s Tap House in Anderson, and Chris had told me their Mile High Squares(Think intense Smores!) was on there. It had been months since I had seen Casey and company, so I owed them a visit. I had time for a small pour of Mile High Squares, and it was delicious. I enjoy these kinds of stouts in the winter, and was glad I got to try it! I had a chance to talk to both Casey and his brother DJ, and then I was off to Granger.
There are two breweries in Granger, Indiana, and the first, Bare Hands, is the oldest active Brewery in Saint Joseph County(2011). It also has the distinction of being the northernmost brewery in Indiana as its backyard abuts Michigan! Back in 2013, I purchased a grey hoodie from Bare Hands that I wore until it fell apart. I replaced it on this trip, and it will be nice to have a brewery hoodie for all my adventures this winter.
Bare Hands Has long been making excellent beer, and the Westy IPA is top notch. I’ve also been fortunate enough to try their chocolate peanut butter stout a number of times. Currently my favorite beer from them is Old School, a tradional IPA. They had sold out of it, so I tried a Drain the Swamp, and a Braintree Way, both excellent IPA’s. I wanted to stay and enjoy one of my favorite breweries, but they were packed and I was supposed to meet my brother at Heavenly Goat on the other side of Granger.
I got to Heavenly Goat, but my brother and I were not able to sit at their bar because they had just changed their status to carry out only hours before they opened. My little brother suggested we get some beer to take back to his house. We got a four pack of The Greys(DDH Pale Ale), and a crawler can of Into the Cauldron, an intense American IPA. I was excited and not terribly upset about the situation because we are still in the middle of Covid, and it’s very understandable. With beer in hand with beer in hand, I made the way back to Osceola to fellowship with my little brother.
So we were soon experiencing this excellent IPA. It was very flavorful, and full-bodied. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to have it again, but I recommend the beer if you happen to be in northern Indiana. My brother and I had a lot to talk about, and it was a very enjoyable visit. Good beer always makes for a good conversation, and today was no exception. I couldn’t stay long as I had things to do back home in Indianapolis, but feel very blessed that I got to make the trip up to Michiana this Friday.
So no matter where you live, I am sure you can have a day visiting visiting Breweries and Taproom‘s if you make the time. You might meet some awesome people, and probably get to taste really great beer. Just do it safely, and remember that there is So Much Beer, and So little Time!
So Much Beer So Little Time 