The Best Breweries In Indiana

Indiana is much more than her corn fields, college basketball, and the Indy 500. She also has a booming craft brewing business. How big, you ask? Well, with over 195 breweries and 8000 full-time employees, Indiana craft beer makes around $1.3 billion annually. That’s quite a bit of change. Here you can find it all: refreshing ales, porters, stouts, ales, and spirits. You name it, Indiana has something for you. That’s why it is ranked 16th in the country for most craft breweries.

If you’re looking for something more local, you can check out our other Indiana brewery articles below.

You can also look at our best breweries in America article if you are looking for something in a different city or state.

From Munster to Kokomo, the Hoosier State has some of the most fantastic breweries around. Here are our favorites, but don’t take our word for it. Grab your friends, check out all these places, and tell us which ones are your new favorites.

• Deviate Brewing Co.
• Three Floyds Brewing
• New Oberpfalz Brewing
• Sun King Brewery
• Hoosier Brewing Company
• Mad Paddle Brewstillery
• Chapman’s Brewing Company
• ZwanzigZ Pizza and Brewery
• Lafayette Brewing Company
• Half Moon Restaurant and Brewery

Deviate Brewing Co.

This nano-brewery does one thing and it does it very well – brew beer. This makes it one of Indianapolis’s most visited breweries. Deviate is more than a name; it’s the guiding mantra and the main ingredient in this brewery’s recipes. They blend classic food flavor pairings into a beer, like Blueberry Tarragon Ale, Watermelon Mint Ale, Peanut Butter IPA, and even Hawaiian Imperial Stout that pairs coconut with coffee.

Their Scottish Man Tan is one to try. This solid Scottish ale has a full, malty, butterscotch caramel, sweet flavor.

Three Floyds Brewing

Opened in 1996, this brewery started with only a couple hundred dollars. They have since grown into a world-class brewery and have added whiskeys, gins, rums, and aquavits to their production line. Their lineup of brands like Zombie Dust, Dark Lord, Gumballhead, Dreadnaught, and Alpha King has Three Floyds ranking atop many lists.

This five-time ranking best brewery keeps patrons returning, especially for Zombie Dust, an intensely hopped and surging pale ale that is the perfect way to relax after a long day at the office or a zombie apocalypse.

New Oberpfalz Brewing

Named after Bavaria’s Oberpfalz brewing region, the New Oberpfalz Brewing microbrewery opened to the public in 2015. They serve a rotating variety of German-style ales and lagers. This microbrewery includes a restaurant and tap room where guest drafts from other local breweries are also served, along with wine and hard cider options. The cozy warm atmosphere gives strong European pub vibes, making it the perfect place for a relaxed night out with friends.

They are best known for their traditional Helles Lager, a pale straw-colored malty lager with a distinct finish that won a gold medal at the 2017 U.S. Open Beer Championship.

Sun King Brewery

With its sprawling facility, Sun King Brewery is the largest brewery in Indianapolis and the second-largest in the state. It has five locations across Indiana and serves bars, restaurants, liquor stores, caterers, and sports and entertainment venues across the state. It’s a lean, mean brewing machine! Carryout growlers, crawlers, cans, and kegs are available for sale here.

This OG brewery has huge open indoor and outdoor seating, and can easily keep you and your friends busy for hours. They make six standard brews and release limited edition beers seasonally and monthly as well. Their award-winning Sunlight Cream Ale balances the smooth and complex malt with a neat finish, staying true and close to the brewing tradition.

Hoosier Brewing Company

This small-batch craft brewery started in 2015 and opened its new location in the heart of Old Town Greenwood in 2019. They have a great outdoor space for the warmer weather. Their claim to fame is their spin on the Hoosier beer and unique IPAs. This brewery even has a one-of-a-kind form of entertainment: axe-throwing!

Their beers are great, but the real star is the Fruit Fusion Cerberus, a sour strawberry ale with vanilla soft-serve ice cream that is truly one of their best.

Mad Paddle Brewstillery

Madison has over 100 years of history in beer crafting, and Mad Paddle honors that tradition with its 9,000 sq ft historic building. It is a pet-friendly, adult-focused microbrewery and artisan distillery. They have one rule which is no children under the age of 13 because the old building is not safe for young children.

The Wicket Blonde Ale and Wicket Blood Orange Ale are famous here. The former is crisp and invigorating, with clean malt flavors and light bitterness. In contrast, the latter is a twist on the flagship blonde. It is the perfect summer beer with an acidic aroma and tangy-sweet flavor.

Chapman’s Brewing Company

Chapman’s is a craft brewery hidden in an industrial park. You won’t know from the outside, but the interior taproom is a nicely decorated, family-friendly space. While they don’t allow pets inside, they have ample outdoor space for your furry friends, and a beer garden for you and your human friends to hang out on those warm summer nights.

They promise the same refreshing custom brews across its five locations within Angola. A house favorite is their BJCP-certified Southern English Brown Ale, a delightful blend of coffee, chocolate, and toffee. Smooth and delicious, it is a deep brown color with a tan head.

ZwanzigZ Pizza and Brewery

ZwanzigZ Pizza and Brewery is a beer and pizza lover’s dream come true. They have an extensive variety of hand-crafted beer and soda, all made on-site, and more than ten specialty pizzas. Not to mention salads, 8-inch hoagies, and calzones are on the menu.

The Best In Town Ultimate Pizza is a 5 lb handmade master pie with over 14 toppings. It’s quite the ride for your taste buds and pairs well with their Triple Z IPA, a pleasing American Indian pale ale with a malt character.

Lafayette Brewing Company

Just minutes from Purdue University in the historic Lafayette district, Lafayette Brewing Company is a welcoming place for students and families. It’s the second oldest operating brewery in Indiana and uses locally sourced ingredients to offer a packed lunch and dinner menu along with its crafted ales, lagers, and sodas.

The Black Angus Oatmeal Stout is a hearty black ale that blends real oatmeal and hops with five different malts. This full-bodied beer goes great with their steak sandwich, which is a flame-grilled iron steak served on a toasted roll with sliced tomato, goat cheese, and chimichurri.

Half Moon Restaurant and Brewery

Half Moon is Kokomo’s first brewpub and is all about good beer and good food. It prides itself on handmaking everything with the freshest ingredients; no artificial flavors or preservatives here! Serving sizes are pretty generous, and prices are reasonable.

Try their Half Moon Sampler, a selection of their freshly brewed standard and seasonal beers in fun-sized 4 oz samples with their BBQ Ribs. It’s a match made in heaven.