Indiana brews make City Market site a hit

Craft beers from Indiana's microbreweries are served at the Tomlinson Tap Room. Its bar has been refurbished from a 1928 Hook's drugstore. (Credit: Joe Vitti / Metromix)

Bar Exam: Tomlinson Tap Room

It's a great place for Indiana craft beers - if you can find...

With a craft-brewing tradition that goes back about 175 years, Hoosiers have long been thirsty for beer -- good beer.

But after the original Indianapolis Brewing Co. closed in 1948, it would be another 40 years before another brewery would open in the city. In 1990, English expatriate John Hill and his American wife, Nancy, brought the Broad Ripple Brewpub to town. Modeled after the public houses of England, it became Indiana's first microbrewery.

Now, about 10 brewhouses are operating in the area, with at least five more to come in 2011 -- evidence that Hoosiers are eager to raise their pints to the creative, can-do spirit that results in quality. And the newly opened Tomlinson Tap Room, on the mezzanine of City Market, has seemingly become ground zero for Indiana beer enthusiasts. A joint partnership between the City Market and the Brewers of Indiana Guild, the Tap Room is a showcase of both well-loved and rare brews from all over the state.

Ted Miller, owner of Brugge Brasserie and president of the Brewers of Indiana Guild, said that the demand for craft beer has increased "significantly" in the past few years. "Indianapolis is doing quite well," he said.

The Tap Room made history when it opened on Thanksgiving Eve to a full house of after-work professionals, marking the first time that City Market has been home to a bar. It's an open, comfortable space, with a historic bar from a 1928 Hook's drugstore and tables made of timbers salvaged from a 1930s factory.

Miller said the goal is to have 16 different breweries represented at any given time, with 16 different styles also on hand. The grand-opening tap list provided an impressive variety, giving a "big-city presence" to smaller brewers such as Crown (Crown Point) and Power House (Columbus) represented. The bigger breweries -- Three Floyds (Munster), Upland (Bloomington) and Sun King (Indianapolis) -- also had unique beers on tap.

Each brewery supplies two kegs on its rotation, and, as those run empty, the next brewery on the list sends in two kegs. "It takes about two weeks, on average," until the next round of breweries are up. As new breweries open, they are added to the rotation. There is "equal opportunity for a tap handle," Miller said.

On a recent visit -- on a cold and lousy Wednesday night -- Tomlinson's second-floor perch was bustling. Four servers dashed about, pouring pints ($5.25 to $7.50). One modestly told me that she would "try to answer my questions" about specific beers, and then schooled me with her technical understanding of brewing and tasting. I sampled several; from two intensely hoppy and sharp Imperial IPAs, Hopkilla and Count Hopula (from People's Brewing Company of Lafayette and Noblesville's Barley Island, respectively), to the amazing, rich, oil-like Thunderfoot, a cherry Imperial Stout from New Albany's New Albanian.

These beers aren't High Life. Some are 10 to 12 percent alcohol. To pace yourself, food is imperative. The snacks offered, for the time being, are popcorn and potato chips. However, in a delicious metaphor for the concept of the Tap Room, the snacks to pair with the beers are homemade by another City Market vendor, the Amazing Potato Chip Company. These are fried to perfection -- crisp, golden, lightly salted and delicious.

While posted hours say the Tap Room is open until "8-ish," at 8:15 people were still filtering in. "If it's busy, we'll serve until 3 a.m.," Miller said.</p>

Tomlinson Tap Room
» Where: City Market, 222 E. Market St.
» Hours: Noon to 8 p.m.-ish Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.-ish Saturday.
» Prices: $5.25 and $7.50 a pint. A sample tray of three 5-ounce pours is $5, and growler refills range from $12 to $16. (Eventually, bottled and canned Indiana beers will also be available both on-site and for carryout.)
» Info: (317) 423-2337 or www.indycm.com/tomlinsontaproom.
» Noteworthy: Tomlinson Hall, a convocation building that hosted political rallies and community events, used to stand to the west of City Market. Part auditorium, part convention center, it caught fire in 1958 and was later demolished. The hall was named for the Tomlinson family, which helped finance the building.

JUST OPENED

Bier Brewery and Taproom
5133 E. 65th St., Indianapolis; (317) 253-2437 (BIER), www.bierbrewery.com.

For 10 years, Darren Connor worked at Great Fermentations, a home-brewing supply store on the Northeastside. He's now a few doors east, at his new Bier Brewery and Taproom, which opened Nov. 24.

"On the first day, we had a line out the door for two hours," Connor said. The opening beer lineup included: kolsch, German wheat, Belgian blonde, pale ale, brown, porter and oatmeal stout. But don't expect to see the same beers every week.

"Each beer has a place or time. As the seasons change, the beers are going to keep changing," he said. A pumpkin beer and dunkelweiss were recently on tap, and a Belgian dubbel and a chocolate mint stout are coming soon.

Three Pints Brewpub
5020 Cambridge Way, Plainfield; (317) 839-1000 or www.ThreePintsBrewpub.com.

Tom Hynes has been home-brewing for 20 years and hopes to make his professional brewing debut in January. The restaurant, which opened in November, will serve Indiana craft beer until its brewing operations are on line.

Black Swan Brewpub
2067 E. Hadley Road, Plainfield; www.BlackSwan Brew pub.com.

The Black Swan is open as a restaurant and bar, serving 15 beers on draft from Indiana breweries. Owner and brewer D.J. McCallister has worked at Oaken Barrel and Lafayette Brewing Co. and hopes to open his brewery in 2011.

TO COME

» Flat 12 Bierwerks, 414 Dorman St.; (317) 635-2337 or www.Flat12.me. Rob Caputo, director of brewing, is teaming up with Steve Hershberger and Sean O'Connor, with a goal to have beer available this year.

» Scotty's Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co., 1021 Broad Ripple Ave.; www.Thr3eWiseMen.com. Scotty Wise (of the local Scotty's Brewhouse chain) has hired Omar Castrellon (formerly of Alcatraz) as head brewer. The brewery, which will have a tasting room, is tentatively scheduled to open in January.

» Triton Brewing Co., 5764 Wheeler Road, Lawrence; www.Triton Brewing.com. Head brewer Jon Lang, who was most recently at Barley Island Brewing Co., has partnered with Michael DeWeese and David Waldman on this new production brewery on the site of the former Fort Benjamin Harrison. They hope to have their beers available in kegs and bottles in January, with their tasting room opening soon after.

» Brownfield Brewing Co., Fountain Square; www.BrownfieldBrewing.com. Kenny Allen, formerly from Delaware's Old Dominion Brewing Co., is working with Ken Warren and Arifah Aronson to open a brewery that is sustainable and organic. A location and opening date have not been announced.

» Blue Republic Brewing Co., Shelby County; www.face book.com/BlueRepublic. Award-winning home-brewer Bill Ballinger is looking to go pro with a new production brewery. A location and opening date have not been announced.

-- Jason Larrison, special to Metromix