A couple of weeks ago, Sheryl and I went looking for something to do. We talked about going to Half Price Books, but never settled on anything. I went to Google Maps and typed in “beer” just to see what would happen. I found the Bier Brewery. Wait a second… where is Bier Brewery? Better yet, what is Bier Brewery? I had never heard of that. So I zoomed in and saw that it was right next to Great Fermentations, the place where Sheryl and I learned how to make our own beer last summer.
Before going in, I checked out their website and saw that they were a pretty small operation. I picked up the phone, gave them a call, and asked about their process. (It was funny, because he thought I meant the beer making process! I was just looking for information on pricing.)
He said they offer a full line of beers, with 8 currently on tap. They offer free samples and then sell growlers and half growlers. They are a brand new brewery, having opened last November, and can only do samples and growlers. The half growlers are actually made out of plastic, which at first didn’t make too much sense. Then he explained why they decide to make them plastic. You can blame the Indianapolis 500 for that! You can’t take glass into the track, so they made their half growlers plastic so patrons could take their beer to the race.
The inside of this place is pretty sweet. There are some tables and chairs, some couches, an old record player… and that’s about it. They do have a flat panel hanging on the wall, but since all they can offer are samples, people don’t hang out too long. They did just get clearance to sell their beer in bottles. Their goal is to eventually offer pints of their beer for sale. Speaking of for sale, you can buy a ton of merchandise from them including hats and shirts. They also wrap their logo on the growlers.
(I am in the process of scheduling an interview with the guys behind Bier Brewery. I am hoping to sit down with them in the next few weeks for an exclusive artist interview.)
While we were there dozens of people came and went. I was of course taking notes on every beer I drank. They had 8 beers available. The beers are listed below:
- Special K Kolsch
- Wildflower Wheat
- Dunkle Weiss (stands for dark wheat)
- Wit Beer
- Belgian Blonde
- Barley Buddy Brown
- PDG Pale (stands for pretty damn good)
- Cascadian Light Ale
When you come in, the folks behind the bar will ask for your ID. You must be 21 years old to enter. I am not sure all of the Indiana laws as it relates to that, but once they start serving food (if they ever want to serve food) then you can allow minors in. Take a look at places like Scotty’s Brewhouse and Rock Bottom. I am not sure if the place is big enough to accommodate that though.
The beer samples go from light to dark. They are very careful to serve you in that order. The beers actually get better too. The first few beers are extremely carbonated, but the darker they get the more flavorful they become. On a side note, the lighter beers have a much better nose. They all smell fruity and clean, yet the flavors are weak. I would actually drink these beers in the summer… beers that might get me into trouble. Their beers don’t have a lot of alcohol content. You can see the ABV below:
- Special K Kolsch – 4.7%
- Wildflower Wheat – 5.5%
- Dunkle Weiss (stands for dark wheat)- 6.0%
- Wit Beer – 5.7%
- Belgian Blonde – 6.8%
- Barley Buddy Brown – 5.1%
- PDG Pale (stands for pretty damn good) – 6.1%
- Cascadian Light Ale – 5.0%
The Bier Brewery is small, not too far from my apartment, and offers a lot of beers that seem to be changing quite often. Next week they are adding two more beers to their already impressive lineup. Plus, I LOVE the names of these beers. And the logos. There is a chalkboard behind the bar with all the beers’ names and logos drawn up there. I assume that these will play into the labels once they start bottling the beers.
This is also a big deal for me… it’s the first brewery I have purchased a growler at. Rock Bottom and other local breweries sell them… I just have never invested in one. But now I have two… since I bought the half growlers. They are only $2 each when you buy them, and half the fill price. They are 32 ounces, so you get a couple of pints per fill.
I plan on spending some time at The Bier Brewery, and plan on trying all their new beers as they are released. The guys behind the scenes started this as a home brew… now look where it’s taken them… they own their own brewery and are selling beers faster than they can make them. It’s good beer offered right here in the Circle City.
