Sun King Brewery: Fresh Local Beer (#video)

Sometimes beer gets a bad rap, especially when compared to wine. There are many people who only think of the big breweries (Miller Coors, or AB InBev) and only think of college students drinking cheap beer. Fortunately, in the past 15 years, craft brewed beers (or microbrews) have exploded on the scene nationally and here in Indiana. A far cry from the watered down light beers that are the big sellers at the big multi-national breweries, craft breweries take pride in creating new and unique flavors for their beers in addition to tinkering with recipes to get just the flavors they’re aiming for (yes, I said “recipe” – brewing beer is a lot like crafting a meal).

Sun King Brewery‘s first keg of beer rolled out in July, 2009 and in less than three years, they have grown to become Indiana’s third largest brewery. It’s now hard to go to a restaurant in the Indianapolis area and not see one of Sun King’s beers on tap. While there are more than 35 different craft breweries in Indiana, Sun King is the first full-scale production brewery located in downtown Indianapolis since the Indianapolis Brewing Company shut down operations in 1948.

Sun King is well known for three house beers they always have on tap:

• Sunlight Cream Ale: This is a great, light beer that is a good entry into craft beers for people who prefer lighter beers, it’s the closest thing Sun King Makes to a beer from the big brewers.
• Wee Mac Scottish Ale: Very approachable Scottish-style brown ale. Darker in color, but not a heavy beer.
• Osiris Pale Ale: A nice, hoppy Pale Ale that you’ll appreciate if you like hops.

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If you’re in downtown Indianapolis on a Friday, be sure to drop by Sun King, because you can get growler (64-oz. bottles) refills of their house beers for just $5, instead of the regular price of $6.50. If you don’t have your own growler, you can pick up one for just $4.00 and it can be refilled as often as you’d like.

Have you checked out Sun King or any of Indiana’s other great craft breweries? Which is your favorite?