So we were in Indianapolis over Father’s Day weekend for the Formula One Race and this year we camped one of the nights. Being the beer geek that I am I did a little research on BeerAdvocate.com and found two great little brewpubs to visit. We ventured north from the Speedway about dinner time and drove through a really REALLY nice (mansion nice) part of town towards the Broad Ripple district. We were surprised to find it a bit like clifton, a bit like oxford and a bit like hyde park but with the coolest qualities of each. Houses converted to businesses one on top of the other as far as you could see. walking tracks along the river and bike trails led you around the community to the next cooler place. If you’re ever near the speedway, this place is literally 10 minutes away, and worth the trip. First stop was Brugge Brasserie. We ordered a round of their Sacre Fleur Saison, which was a good beer, but oddly reminded more of a german hefe than a saison. After that I had the Flemish Sour Red which was the best beer they had IMHO. Unfortunately this was the one beer made out of house. It was served in a tumber logoed with “Monk’s Cafe” which I know is a huge belgian beer joint in Philly. I intend to do some more research to see where this beer is made. For dinner we had an appetizer of Pomme Frites (fries) with some of their delish homemade dipping sauces. We chose the horseradish, vinegar with sea salt, and chili oil sauce, all of which were good. But dinner was quite surprising. After sitting at the bar and watching the crepe chef we all had to have crepes. My roasted pork tenderloin with goat cheese and mustard sauce was awesome.
Checking out another brewpub was in order and I’m delighted we did. After experiencing the wonderful little gastro-pub at Brugge we walked through the streets back towards the Broad Ripple Brewpub.Walking up the place is packed with people enjoying an outside dinner next to bicycle racks in which you couldn’t possibly fit another bike.Inside it felt like an old style English pub with it’s dark wood. To be honest, I didn’t even look around that much. I headed straight for the L shaped bar and bellied up. Now, this was a rather small bar maybe 10ft total in length and not very much room behind it. But the intensity behind the bar was unmatched. The bartender pouring 3-4 pints at a time and yanking the daylights out of two cask handpumps. I wish I had a picture or video because it was a sight to see.The highlight for me was the traditional english bitter they had on cask. Giddy with excitement I ordered a pint. Having a real ale on cask, for me anyway, bests being a kid on christmas and maybe, just maybe, the euphoria just after your first lay. Gawd was it good. Just pure perfect goodness in a glass. Sex be dammed, I’ll have another pint bartender.To make a great evening even better, the conversation this particular evening was only outdone by the beer. Meeting a fella from the Astoria region of Spain and talking F1, an architectural photographer who was into Macs and beer was cool as all hell, and to top it off we met James Brown! OK, so not the Godfather of Soul but this cat was just as jive. He told us he moved into the neighborhood mainly for the fact that the beer here was so good and he could walk home! I can only imagine, I can only dream of being able to frequent two beer joints as cool as these on a regular basis. Too bad I live 150 miles away.
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