As Matt Osbun has already mentioned, we spent a very nice evening this week at Upland Brewing's original location in Bloomington, IN, which was much more enjoyable than sitting in heavier than normal traffic trying to get out of downtown. For those not familiar, Upland is one of Indiana's larger breweries, although you wouldn't know it from the quaint little tasting room that is attached to the front of the original brewery in Bloomington.Doug Dayhoff and his staff do a great job of providing consistently tasty brews in a variety of styles, and they complement the beer with some outstanding food options. But let's face it... Matt and I were not there for the food.
For my first beer, I opted for Upland's most popular style: Upland Wheat. Upland's wheat beer is an American-style wheat beer with citrus. It even came served with an orange slice on the glass. And while I don't normally like fruity beers, I do like Upland's wheat. It's a great, refreshing summer beer and it goes down easily.
My next beer was Upland's Rad Red. This beer is everything I look for in a red ale: rich and full-flavored. I wish that when I brewed my red, it came out this good. Maybe someday, but I'm not there yet. If you like red ales, this beer deserves your attention.
I finished with a pint of the Champagne Velvet pilsner. Now, if you know me, you know I'm not a pilsner drinker, but I like to try things I've never had before. The CV, as they call it, has a delicate flavor, like other pilsners, but it's very smooth and easy to drink. If more pilsners were like this, I might like the style better. Still not one of my favorites, but much better than average.
One thing to note about this visit is that the beers on tap at this brewery are not kegged—they are served from taps whose lines are drawn straight from the pressurized tanks in the brewery visible through the glass behind the bar. It doesn't get much fresher than that.
If you've never heard of Upland Brewing Company, you will. This brewery's distribution is growing throughout the Midwest, and with the kind of quality they are known for they should expand to more of the nation in time. If you live in the Indianapolis area, the company has three tap- or tasting-rooms for you to choose from: the original location in Bloomington, a tasting room south of Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, and their newest tasting room in Carmel.
