INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — One Hoosier micro beer maker with product now available to some Major League baseball fans will be among those offering samples for the first time at the upcoming Indiana State Fair.
Upland Brewing Co. just this year added Wrigley Field in Chicago as one of its customers and walked away from a recent competition with top honors. The Bloomington-based firm took home all of the big awards, including Indiana Brewery of the Year and Grand Champion Brewer, in the professional division at the Indiana State Fair Brewers’ Cup competition in mid-July.
One of the secrets to the company’s major success is being adventurous in experimenting with ingredients to create and improve new flavors. "You have to be willing to try new things to really make things outstanding," said Emily Hines, communications coordinator for Upland Brewing, which started in 1998.
A vast majority of the company’s beer, in about 30 flavors including Wheat Ale, IPA and Champagne Velvet, is brewed at a facility in Bloomington where the firm also operates a brew pub complete with food and fresh product flowing from the taps. The business also has two locations in Indianapolis, a brew pub where it makes fruity beers along with a tasting facility, Hines said.
Upland Brewing also has product available in liquor stores, restaurants and bars throughout Indiana and the Chicago area, along with parts of Ohio, including Cincinnati and Cleveland. Its distribution area includes the Louisville area and further east in Kentucky just south of the Ohio River, along with the lower half of Wisconsin.
The company reached a new zenith when this year its Campside brew started being made available at Wrigley Field, an accomplishment Hines feels will bring even more recognition to an industry still growing in popularity.
"It’s definitely a huge win for us and in a big way for craft beers in general," she said.
Campside is one of the company’s seasonal brews, a mild IPA with the familiar hoppy aroma that contains roughly 20-25 percent less alcohol. "It’s super tasty," said Hines.
Other awards won by Upland Brewing at the recent Brewers Cup include Best of Show for its VinoSynth Red, which came out of the Belgian and French Ale category. The company also had six Top 3 finishes in 24 different beer categories, including two first-place brews.
This was the fourth consecutive year Upland Brewing won the Best of Show trophy, which is given to the highest-rated of the 24 gold medal winners.
The state fair for the first time in more than 60 years is permitting the sale of alcohol in the form of craft beer and wine. Four brewers and four wineries will be inside the Grand Hall offering their product and mingling with customers on each day of the fair, which opens Friday and runs through Aug. 17.
Upland Brewing will be among the exhibitors. Andy Klotz, media relations director for the fair, said all of the 40-50 brewers and wineries that applied to set up at the fair will be on a rotating schedule to show and serve their products, which will be offered at $5 for a 12-ounce glass of beer or a 5-ounce glass of wine.
Klotz said there is no cost to stroll into the craft beverage exhibit but there will be a three-drink limit and nobody under 21 will be allowed, with people carded for identification before being let inside.
Each customer will be given a wristband containing three tabs and one will be pulled at each serving to keep track of when the serving limit has been reached, said Klotz. People will also not be allowed to leave the Grand Hall with a beverage in their hand.
There is a risk that people reaching their limit will leave and come back to get another wristband, but Klotz said there will be people on hand trained in spotting those who should not be served again.
The serving of craft beer and wine is in response to requests over the years to have those beverages made available, to illustrate a growing agricultural product made in Indiana. "We got a lot of people who are excited about it," said Klotz.
