Sun King Brewing is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

in the Cole-Noble District of

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, United States. It is the largest brewery in Indianapolis and the second largest brewery in the state. In 2011, Sun King won eight medals, including four gold medals, total at the

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...

. Sun King was the first commercial brewery to open up in approximately 30 years in Indianapolis.

History

Sun King Brewing was founded in July, 2009 by Dave Colt and Clay Robinson. Robinson and Colt previously worked together at various

brewpub Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

s in Indianapolis. Colt worked at Circle V., which closed in 1999, and Robinson worked at Rock Bottom Brewery. They met while working at

Ram Restaurant & Brewery Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * Ra ...

. Robinson quit his job in July 2008 and started planning to start a business. They had three additional partners, including Robinson's father, Omar. Later that year, they acquired their current property in

Downtown Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of ...

. They brewed their first batch of beer on July 1, 2009. The name Sun King was inspired by the sun and its importance in life cycles and beermaking. In 2010, Sun King started packaging their beer in

beer can A drink can (or beverage can) is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc. Drink cans are made of aluminum (75% of ...

s. They attended the

in 2011, and won eight medals, including four gold. By 2011, they were producing 5,000 barrels of beer. That year, Sun King replaced their 15-barrel system with a 30-barrel system. The tanks were made by Poynter Sheet Metal. They also started selling their beer outside of the metropolitan Indianapolis area, expanding to sell in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

. Sun King distributed approximately 50 miles outside of Indianapolis by 2012. The first time Sun King was shipped outside of Indiana was for the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. Sun King produced 18,000 barrels of beer in 2012 with a

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

of $5 million. As of 2013, the brewery had produced 15,000 barrels of beer, with 35 full-time and 50 part-time employees. That same year, Sun King was named best Indiana beer by '' Nuvo Newsweekly'' readers. It was their fourth time in a row winning the title. The brewery announced that it will expand by 2016, investing $2.1 million in updated equipment and additional staff. An additional $3.9 million will be spent on expanding the brewery facility, making room for 240 fermentation tanks. These investments are in lieu of tax credits offered to the brewery and approved by the Indiana Economy Development Corporation. It has been voted one of the best small workplaces in Indiana by the ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

''. Until 2017, when distribution was extended into

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Sun King beer was sold only in Indiana. The brewery distributes their products to over 700 businesses in the state. Their beer is sold at

Victory Field Victory Field is a minor league ballpark in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is home to the Indianapolis Indians of the International League. History Victory Field opened on July 11, 1996, with the Indians falling to the Oklahom ...

and at

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the National Football League (NFL)'s Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008. The stadium was ...

. Sun King sponsored and planned the CANvitational, the first canned beer festival in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Beer

Sun King has three House Beers: ''Wee Mac Scottish Ale'', a Scottish brown ale, ''Osiris Pale Ale'', a

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

, and ''Sunlight Cream Ale,'' a

cream ale Cream ale is a style of American beer which is light in color and well attenuated, meaning drier and with a somewhat higher alcohol content than regular beer. First crafted in the mid-1800s at various breweries in the United States, cream ale r ...

. Also brewed yearly, "Fistful of Hops" Seasonal IPA a quarterly series of four IPAs, each with the same malt base. Sun King makes a variety of specialty or limited and

seasonal beer A seasonal beer is a beer that is typically brewed during or for a particular season, holiday or festival period. Many breweries and microbreweries produce seasonal beers. Seasonal beers may be produced when fresh ingredients are available during ...

s. Many are only available at the brewery or at special events. ''Java Mac'', a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

flavored version of ''Wee Mac'', was awarded a gold medal in the 2011

in the Coffee Beer category. In 2012, their ''Velvet Fog'', a Belgian strong dark ale, was awarded the gold medal at the

World Beer Cup The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group representing America's small and independent craft brewers. It is the largest competition in the beer industry and has been described as " ...

. They have two limited beers, ''2nd Five Pappy van Muckle'' and ''Velvet Fog in Pappy van Winkle'' which are aged in

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve is the flagship brand of bourbon whiskey owned by the "Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery" company. It is distilled and bottled by the Sazerac Company at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Pappy Van ...

barrels. Their Pappy van Muckle won a silver medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. Their ''Popcorn Pilsner'' uses Indiana grown

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...

. The brewmasters air pop the popcorn, add it into the mash to give the beer a light popcorn flavor. Sun King uses local ingredients when possible, including

crab apple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of th ...

s and

masa ''Masa'' (or ''masa de maíz'') (; ) is a maize dough that comes from ground nixtamalization, nixtamalized corn. It is used for making corn tortillas, ''gorditas'', ''tamales'', ''pupusas'', and many other Latin American cuisine, Latin American d ...

. The masa has been used to make

malt liquor Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common usage, it ...

. For their fourth

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...

, Sun King created ''Grapefruit Jungle/GFJ'', an American IPA using a unique blend of

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

. Sun King partnered with

Three Floyds Brewing Three Floyds Brewing is a brewery founded in 1996 by brothers Nick and Simon and their father Mike Floyd in Hammond, Indiana. Since 2000, the brewery has been located in Munster, Indiana. Three Floyds opened a brewpub adjacent to the brewery in ...

to produce ''Royal Brat'', an

extra special bitter Bitter is an English style of pale ale that varies in colour from gold to dark amber, and in strength typically from 3% to 5.5% alcohol by volume. History The term "bitter" has been used in England to describe pale ale since the early 19th cent ...

. They have also partnered with

Oskar Blues Brewery Oskar Blues Brewery is a craft brewery with locations in Longmont, Colorado, Brevard, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas. The company began as a brewpub in Lyons, Colorado in 1997 and began brewing beer in the basement in 1999. In 2002, they beca ...

to produce ''Chaka'' and in 2012, ''The Deuce'', specifically for the Great American Beer Festival. ''Chaka'' was named one of the best beers of 2012 by ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''. Sun King's house beer, ''Osiris'', was voted the best beer to represent the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

by ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' and one of "15 Awesome Craft Beers in a Can" by ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. In 2013, Sun King was the official beer of

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

. That year, Sun King won an award for "Most Creative Names" for ''Bitch'n Camaro'', bronze in the

barley wine Barley wine is a strong ale between 6–12% alcohol by volume."Barley wine"

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

aged sour category for ''Stupid Sexy Flanders'' at the

U.S. Open Beer Championship The U.S. Open Beer Championship is an international brewing competition. The event, which is open to professional breweries and award-winning home brewers, is held in late June, with the winners announced in July. Over 130 styles of beer are judg ...

. Sun King also produces a beer called "Naptown Brown" for the

Naptown Roller Girls Naptown Roller Derby (NRD) is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2006, the league started their 10th season in March 2016. Naptown Roller Derby is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Associatio ...

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

league. Their main

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

provider is the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

based company, Brewing Science. Sun King sells their beer in four packs of 16 ounce cans. As of 2012, they were using cans made by the

Ball Corporation Ball Corporation is an American company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. It is best known for its early production of glass Mason jar, jars, lids, and related products used for home canning. Since its founding in Buffalo, New York, in 1880, ...

. In 2013, Sun King introduced a resealable can, made by Ball, called Alumi-Tec. Sun King was the first brewery in Indiana to can its beer.

Tasting room

Sun King has a

tasting room Dégustation is the careful, appreciative tasting of various food, focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. Dégustation is more likely to involve sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dishe ...

. Visitors can sample various available beers for purchase by the pint, fill growlers, and buy cans of beer to go. It is open every day, and upwards of 1,000 people can visit the tasting room on a Friday night. In 2019, Sun King Brewing was named the 19th most popular attraction in Indianapolis, with 175,000 visitors.

References

External links

*
An interview with former head brewer Jim Matt
*
Taste Test: IM Drinks Sun King on the Job
' from

WYXB WYXB (105.7 FM), branded as "B105.7", is a radio station owned by Urban One in Indianapolis, Indiana. The studios are located on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. The transmitter and antenna, according to the FCC, are located on the e ...

{{Portal bar, Beer, Companies, Indiana 2009 establishments in Indiana Beer brewing companies based in Indiana Manufacturing companies based in Indianapolis Tourist attractions in Indianapolis

History

Beer

Tasting room

See also

References

Further reading

External links