First time visiting Indianapolis? Same here.
To craft my Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) extracurricular gameplan, I consulted some beer-loving locals and ex-pats for their favorite spots both beer-related and not in Indy/Circle City/Naptown (OK, I also consulted Wikipedia for the city’s nicknames).
Indianapolis is home to nearly 900,000 people and more than 30 breweries. Indiana boasts nearly 200 breweries (17th nationwide), which produced 233,377 barrels of beer and generated almost $1.5 billion in economic impact in 2024, according to the Brewers Association (BA).
First up was Liz Nicol, owner of Boston’s Drawdown Brewing, due to a bit of pure coincidence. We were chatting for a Brewbound Podcast conversation (look for it Thursday), when she mentioned she grew up in Indianapolis and explained how one brewery in particular kicked off her craft beer journey.
“One of the absolute stalwarts is Sun King,” Nicol said. “Sun King was my first craft beer, like real local craft beer, not like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada – they’re still craft – but I had a Sun King [Sunlight] cream ale, which is the inspiration for having our cream ale on our menu. And it was the first time I had a light bulb go off.”
Nicol also shouted out the Massachusetts Avenue section of town, which is home to bars, restaurants and a cultural arts district. Her love for Sun King placed them squarely on my list of places to check out, so the logical next step was to reach out to Sun King co-founder and CEO Clay Robinson, who was naturally a font of knowledge.
Sun King is hosting a collaboration tap takeover from 5-10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, featuring 13 beers brewed with Rhinegeist, Bell’s, Breakside and Tonya Cornett, the Lost Abbey, Bierstadt Lagerhaus and more.
On the beer front, Robinson recommended Chilly Water Brewing, “a personal favorite” located along the city’s cultural trail, which wends through several neighborhoods, including the Mass. Ave. district. The eight-mile path “can take you to some of Indy’s more unique neighborhoods like Fountain Square and Mass Ave. that are full of bars and restaurants, as well as a handful of breweries,” he noted.
A “very walkable city,” Indy has several ways to reset away from the madness that will be the Indiana Convention Center, Robinson said.
“If you’re looking to get away from the chaos during the week, I’d recommend walking over to White River State Park,” he said. “It is a beautiful spot with plenty of green space and offers the opportunity to stroll along the river or the canal that runs through downtown.”
If you need to recharge after resetting, Robinson loves Tinker Coffee – “great local roasters and their coffee is served around town.” Tinker also got lots of love from Indy-based CODO Design partner Isaac Arthur, who called the five-location coffee roaster “as legit as it gets” in the firm’s special pre-CBC guide newsletter.
Other coffee hot spots that get Arthur’s seal of approval include Coat Check, Calvin Fletcher’s, Provider and Commissary.
For provisions and an apparently life-changing sandwich, Robinson recommended Goose the Market, which “is a bit of a trek but entirely worth the trip.”
“The market itself is amazing and home to a great beer and wine selection, but most impressively they have created what I believe to be the best sandwich on the planet, The Batali – made with coppa, soppressata, capocollo, giardiniera and tomato preserves on a crusty baguette,” he said.
Goose the Market is a 10-minute ride from the convention center, but people have certainly traveled farther for a good sub. Keeping with the goose theme and also a 10-minute ride away but in another part of town is Smoking Goose, purveyor of “killer lunch sandwiches,” Arthur said.
Closest to the convention center of all Arthur’s recs is Shapiro’s Deli, a 15-minute walk away, where the move is a reuben and latkes.
Pizza fans can check out King Dough for Neapolitan and Futuro for “insane Detroit-style” pies, Arthur said.
Food is all well and good, but since most attendees are really in it for the beer, Arthur shouted out eight other breweries in addition to Sun King and Chilly Water:
- Big Lug Canteen
- Broad Ripple Brewpub
- Centerpoint
- Daredevil
- Guggman Haus
- Metazoa
- Bier
- Upland.
If you’re looking for parties and gatherings, the official CBC events list is stacked with everything from live podcast recordings and guild meetups to tap takeovers and happy hours.
“Indy’s a great little town with a sleeper beer scene,” Arthur wrote. “And late April is a wonderful time of year here. We’re excited to show this all off.”