In case you didn’t know it, we have been in the midst of a week that is set aside to enjoy craft beer. I meant to write this article much earlier in the week, but a lot happened in my world. Even with a lot going on, I still took the time to enjoy craft beer. Our culture is so much more prevalent than it was a decade ago, and the fact that we have a week dedicated to craft beer says a lot. As we enter the warmer months of this year, I see a healthy time for craft beer continuing.
A lot of people travel during the summer months, and as things are going back to normal, beer destinations, and beer driven vacations will be en vogue. My friend Dan and I are looking to revisit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we are going to try to highlight the tap rooms I most enjoyed last summer, while exploring a few new ones. I listen to a podcast where guests are asked where they would like to go on a beer-cation, and I realize there’s a lot of other parts of the country I need to visit. If time allows me, I would like to go out west later in the year with my little brother and experience some of Wyoming’s Breweries.
Last year I made it to every brewery in the state of Indiana. A few have opened this year, and I’m going to take the summer to visit all of them. I also mentioned recently I’m going to try to visit every brewery in Kentucky over the next couple of years, so I should probably start on that as well. I keep coming into contact with awesome beer, and that is one reason I love to travel so much. I will be in Maryland next weekend, and I’m finally going to get my hands on some more RAR beer.
And I can’t talk about the weather getting warmer without mentioning the plethora of beer festivals we will have to look forward to. I will have an article on them in the coming months, and I’m excited to see them popping up again. Beer festivals were always a highlight of the craft beer culture, and with so many more breweries present in my state, what the breweries bring to the festivals will go a long way toward determining what I find are the most exciting things going on here! And I wrote earlier that beer festivals are a great way for you to learn about a brewery that you might like to visit later, or try more beer from. It’s also an opportunity to focus on styles of beer you wouldn’t ordinarily drink. There are a lot of festivals coming up in a few months ahead, and I hope to see you at one.
There are lots of publications on craft beer and I wish I had time to read all the ones I subscribe to. I love to read about beer, but drinking it and writing about it seem to take up a lot of time. Maybe some long trips in the car will award me more beer reading this summer. And at any rate, I will read a little bit later in honor of craft beer week!
So my journey across craft beer week started with a bottle share to be remembered. My friends brought beer from all over the country, and I like trying beer I can’t get on a regular basis. That’s what bottle shares are for. I have a lot of good friends who will open up something amazing for good fellowship, and what better time to experience this than American craft beer week. I hope to have many bottle shares across the coming months, and last Sunday was a good start.
I can’t talk about this week without mentioning the really awesome concept we have here in Indianapolis. A Taproom is now in its second month and is featuring beer from Windmill. Each month they will feature a brewery on most of their taps whose taproom is hours from Indianapolis. I went to two events there last week including one for Cinco de Mayo, and this Thursday I showed up for the inaugural third shifter appreciation which takes place from 7 AM in the morning till 11. They hope to get this off and running, and as someone who works those hours, I am excited to see if they can make it happen. If you are a third shifter, I hope to see you at an another event in the near future. Also they will be featuring tap takeover‘s from Narrow Gauge, Listerman’s and others this year, so stay tuned!
And as I finish this article I’ve had a good weekend. My friend Dan and I hit several of the breweries in Greenwood this weekend. They have four breweries in that suburb of Indianapolis, and I enjoy what each one of them has to offer. Later today I plan on going to Anderson where the 5’s Taproom always provides a good time. It was a good week for craft beer in my world, and that seems to be the norm. We live in an exciting time for our hobby, and I don’t need a week dedicated to craft beer to see it. I’ll be out in a Taprooms this summer, as well as the brewfests. Keep drinking good beer, and maybe we’ll run into each other!
So Much Beer So Little Time 