Once again, I am writing about a brewery I am sad to see go. After nine years, Windmill Brewing decided to close, and the last week in July was very sad for me. I haven’t been to the brewery since February, but I have been drinking Windmill regularly for the last five years. I feel they make great beer, and were constantly developing great new recipes that I was always excited to try! They have long been a staple in the Indiana craft beer scene, and I know they will be truly missed!
I first got to try a beer from Windmill on a visit to Mishawaka’s Hop Station where Casey Stuber told me this brewery was very good and up-and-coming. The Exit Buddy was a pale ale and I was intrigued enough to try a sour,and an imperial stout from them as well! My introduction impressed me, and later in the year, their beer would become a staple at 5’s in Anderson, and that’s where I would first get a chance to meet my friend Chris Knight, who to many people has been the face of Wimdmill for many years.
I would enjoy Windmill beer on many subsequent trips to Hop Station, 5’s, as well as A Taproom where Eric Faust always had some thing from Windmill on tap. I had learned very early on about one of their beers called Cheesecake Mutant Ninja Turtle, and it would be at an event at A Taproom where I would finally get to try it! It was about as amazing as I hoped, and I got to enjoy many cans of it over the years! The other memorable beer of theirs was the Pecan’te Porter which I found to be very tasty because the nutty spiciness of the beer was superb!
There are too many excellent Windmill experiences that I have had over the last five years of drinking their beer to mention, so I will jump to the last tap takeovers at Books & Brew in Brownsburg! I have seen Chris a lot lately as I have been very busy with beer festivals, and it was nice to actually sit down and drink some of his beer in a relaxed setting. But as we drank Windmill beer for the last time a week ago, it was very bittersweet. One beer, Stuber Smash was a tribute to the Stuber Brothers, and I felt my whole Windmill experience was cyclical. The Stubers were responsible for my introduction to the brewery years ago, and a beer named after then would be the one of the last ones I would drink from Windmill!
So I enjoyed my several trips to Windmill up in Dyer, and getting there was half the fun. I have enjoyed drinking dozens of their beers, and there now is a big void in the heart of craft beer here in Indiana. We loved Windmill, and they will be sorely missed. But at least I had a chance to enjoy a lot of their beer!
So Much Beer So Little Time 