The World Beer Cup (WBC) 2025 awards ceremony took place at the Indiana Convention Center last evening, May 1st, in Indianapolis.
The competition included 8,375 entries in 112 beer style categories, resulting in 334 awards. (One gold and one bronze medal were not awarded.) 1,761 breweries and cideries competed for medals, representing 49 countries. More information can be found here.
Nine Indiana breweries won eleven medals at the competition. Their five gold medals were the most of any state in the Midwest. Indiana’s eleven total medals tied Ohio for tops in the Midwest.
Sun King Brewery, Indianapolis
Brett Beer – Gold –Free Range Farmhouse Ale
Experimental Beer – Bronze – Amalfi
Belgian-Style Flanders Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale – Bronze – Stupid Sexy Flanders
Grand Junction Brewing, Westfield
Pumpkin Beer – Gold – Not Your Grandma’s Pumpkin Ale
Shoreline Brewery, Michigan City
German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock – Gold – Curse the Goat
Moontown Brewing, Whitestown
German-Style Maerzen or Franconian-Style Rotbier – Gold – Follow the Lederhosen
Should you wish to visit Indianapolis breweries while in town, below is a list of the breweries within their approximate area, including their Indianapolis address. All mileage information listed in this post reflects the distance to the location from the Indiana Convention Center.
Downtown:
Taxman Brewing – 310 S. Delaware St. – .7 mile
The Tap Beer Company – 306 N. Delaware St. – .8 mile (They have 50 taps of guest beers.)
Brew Link Brewing – 714 N. Capitol Ave. – 1.1 mile
Sun King Brewing – 135 N. College Ave. – 1.2 miles
Metazoa Brewing – 140 S. College Ave. – 1.3 miles
St. Joseph Brewery – 540 N. College Ave. – 1.5 miles
Pax Verum Brewery at Natural State Provisions – 414 Dorman St. – 1.7 miles
Quaff On! Brewing at Hard Truth Garage Food Hall – 906 Carrollton Ave. #400 – 1.9 miles
Guggman Haus Brewing – 1701 Gent St. – 2.2 miles
Centerpoint Brewing – 1125 East Brookside Ave. – 2.3 miles
Mashcraft Brewing – 2205 N. Delaware St. – 2.6 miles
Kismetic Beer Co. – 201 S. Rural St., Ste. 110 – 2.9 miles
Narrow Gauge Brewing at Abandoned Station – 2457 N. Delaware St. – 3 miles
Fletcher Place/Fountain Square Area:
Chilly Water Brewing – 719 Virginia Ave. #105 – 1.2 miles
Fountain Square Brewing – 1301 Barth Ave. – 2.2 miles
Upland Brewing – 1201 Prospect St. – 2.2 miles
Garfield Brewery – 2310 Shelby St. – 3.1 miles
Broad Ripple/SoBro Area:
Chilly Water Brewing – 4155 Boulevard Place – 4.9 miles
Guggman Haus Brewing – 4601 College Ave., Unit C – 5.7 miles
Upland Brewing – 4842 N. College Ave. – 6 miles
Black Circle Brewing – 2201 E. 46th St. – 6.2 miles
Liter House – 5301 Winthrop Ave., Suite B – 6.6 miles
Twenty Below at Twenty Tap – 5406-5408 N. College Ave. – 7 miles (They have 38 taps; mostly guest beers)
Centerpoint Brewing/Bad Dad Brewing/Chilly Water Brewing at 317 BBQ – 6320 Guilford Ave. – 7.8 miles
Broad Ripple Brewpub – 842 E 65th St. – 8 miles
Speedway/West:
Quaff On! at Big Woods – 1002 Main St. – 5.1 miles
Daredevil Brewing – 1151 N. Main St. – 5.2 miles
Herrmann Brewthers Bierwerks – 7811 W. Morris St. – 11 miles
Binford Area:
Blind Owl Brewery – 5014 E. 62nd St. – 9.1 miles
Bier Brewery – 5133 E. 56th St. – 9.8 miles
Nora/Castleton Area:
Daredevil Brewing – 2721 E. 86th St. – 11 miles
Quaff On! at Big Woods in Fashion Mall – 8702 Keystone Crossing – 12miles
Big Lug Brewing – 1435 E. 86th St. – 12 miles
Upland Brewing – 4939 E. 82nd St. – 12 miles
Books & Brews – 9402 Uptown Dr. #1400 – 21 miles
Northwest:
Traders Brewing – 8587 Zionsville Rd. – 15 miles
Deviate Brewing – 4004 W. 96th St. – 18 miles
More information regarding each of these breweries can be found by placing the brewery’s name in the search bar on this website. If you plan on visiting several breweries you should download the Indy Craft Pass.
Events:
In addition to the many events listed by the Brewers Association, here are some other events that occur near the dates of the conference:
Saturday, April 26th
– Death and Taxes Day 12:00pm – 4:00pm at Taxman Brewing, 13 S. Baldwin St., Bargersville – 23 miles.
– Luau Party 2:00pm-8:00pm at Metazoa Brewing, 140 South College Avenue, Indianapolis – 1.2 miles
– Beastside Brewfest6:00pm-10:00pm at 30 South Downey Avenue, Indianapolis – 4.7 miles.
– Bloomington Bluegrass Fest at Upland Brewing 3:00pm-11:00pm at 350 W. 11th St., Bloomington – 52 miles.
Are you a Grateful Dead fan and unable to attend the Moontown Brewing Company Presents: Hyryder event on 4/27, which is sold out? If so, you may wish to hang around for a day or two as Hyryder will be performing at the Mousetrap Bar & Grill at 5565 N. Keystone Ave., Indianapolis – 7.3 miles. The dates are Friday, May 2nd and Saturday, May 3rd from 8:00pm-1:00am.
Also, the Sam Grisman Projectwill be performing on Saturday, May 3rd beginning at 7:00pm at Moontown Brewing Company, 345 S. Bowers St., Whitestown – 22 miles.
A good source for finding other events in the area would be checking the Do317 website.
Other Things to Do
Indianapolis is home to a vibrant sports scene, an acclaimed symphony, and many excellent museums including the world’s largest and best Children’s Museum, and a newly updated and recently opened Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. The Indianapolis Art Museum at Newfields houses the first, and largest iconic Love Sculpture ever made. By the way, their beautiful grounds also include a Beer Garden!
You can also enjoy a zoo that is ranked in the top ten in the nation. More information can be found here.
Indy enjoys a thriving restaurant scene that includes one of the ten classic restaurants in the world, according to Forbes – St. Elmo’s Steakhouse.
Did I forget to mention that Indianapolis is consistently ranked as one of the top beer cities in the country by the readers of USA Today?
Heading Home:
It can be worth it to check out the beer aisle at Costco, where I have often found cases of Three Floyd’s Zombie Dust for sale. (I have been known to place six 6-packs in a well-labeled and sealed box for transport in airplane baggage, with no issues.)
If you are flying home, you may wish to arrive at IND early so that you can indulge in some Indy beers and some non-airplane food prior to your departure. Circle City Beer Garden is located in the Civic Plaza section of the airport and is open to the public daily from 11:00am-10:00pm. Sun King and The Tap have locations in Concourse B which is only available to ticketed passengers. They are both open daily from 7:00am-9:00pm. You’ll find Sun King near gate B-13, and The Tap near gate B-17.
Pictures from the nine brewery taprooms less than two miles from the Convention Center follow:
Taxman CitywayThe Tap – IndianapolisBrew Link – IndianapolisSun King – IndianapolisChilly Water – Fletcher PlaceMetazoa BrewingSt. Joseph BreweryPax Verum at Natural State ProvisionsQuaff On! at Hard Truth Distilling in The Garage Food Hall
As you are probably aware, Union Brewing Co. stopped brewing their beer sometime in 2022, prior to moving to their new location on Gradle Drive, which opened in January 2023. Thay have been operating as a craft beer bar, since that time, with an emphasis on beers from Short’s Brewing out of Bellaire, Michigan. It was originally thought that Short’s was going to contract brew Union Brewing’s beers, but that never came to fruition.
The brewery was sold a few months ago, and the good news is that the new ownership has plans to begin brewing again prior to the end of the year. It appears that their beer could be contract brewed by Centerpoint Brewing in Indianapolis.
Hoppy visited Union Brewing last weekend where he met the new owner.
While there, he quaffed a Blueberry BoyfriendSour Ale from Prairie Artisan Ales – It is brewed with blueberries and lemon zest and it clocks in at 5.4% ABV.
Pictures from the visit follow:
SignageDigital Draft ListPrairie Artisan Ales Blueberry Boyfriend New Owner of Union Brewing Co. – Travis
The Best of Craft Beer Awards (BOCBA)2025 took place last weekend in Redmond, Oregon. Fifty international judges determined the winners of the total of 135 gold, silver and bronze medals in the competition. Over 1,200 entries were judged in arriving at the medal recipients. As you might expect, due to the location of the event, most of the entries and award winners were from the West Coast states of Washington, Oregon and California. They accounted for a total 90 medals. Indiana breweries received a total of 7 medals, which was almost double that of any other state, not on the West Coast! The complete list of medalists can be found here.
The winners and the categories in which they won are as follows:
Bier Brewery – Dark Lagers – Night Lager – Gold
Bier Brewery – Flavored Beers – Pumpkin Ale – Bronze
The 2025 Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup is coming to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis! This is America’s largest gathering for the alcohol beverage industry. The events are occurring from April 28th through May 1st. For best pricing for the events, you must register before February 27th. The Conference includes not only speakers and seminars, but also BrewExpo America, which is the largest brewing and alcohol beverage trade show in the U.S.
The Craft Brewers Conference stated that choosing Indianapolis for the events was “a no-brainer–and long overdue,” and that “this dynamic city boasts a thriving craft beer scene, exciting urban adventures, and endless opportunities for nighttime fun, promising an unforgettable CBC week.”
For detailed information on the Craft Brewers Conference click here.
The World Beer Cup is described as the most prestigious beer competition in the world and “the Olympics of beer!” Their Awards Ceremony will take place on May 1st. There are volunteer positions available from April 26th through April 28th to assist in the competition. These roles include Stewards: responsible for delivering entries to judges, pulling entries for pouring (critical for delivery), and Back of the House: responsible for moving entries, sorting and compiling entries (the brawn of the operation). The deadline for volunteer applications is February 26th. If interested, you should DM Simon Kowalski here.
For detailed information on the World Beer Cup click here.
Both of the events are organized by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers, and the community of brewing enthusiasts.
Scarlet Lane Brewing shuttered operations. They enjoyed 10+ years and had as many as five locations in the greater Indy area, at one time. They became known as “The Official Beer of Horror” and included a dungeon for Indianapolis icon, Sammy Terry, at their brewery, and original location, which closed yesterday. (Their four taprooms had closed previously.) For more information see the Facebook post from CEO, Elise Lane, at 12:25pm yesterday.
Hoppy visited them on their final day of operation. A few pix from the visit follow:
