Foodie Action: Weekend of food + brew fests
Hit Indy's first beer festival to focus exclusively on barrel-aged beers you'll never find in stores
- German Fest
- Soup, Stew, Chili & Brew Fest
- Pumpkin Harvest Fest
Unlimited tastings of rare barrel-aged beer plus burgers from BEAST food truck, the one that does the cookie butter burger. Talk about a great couple. Expect beers from 20 Indiana breweries plus more suds from out-of-state breweries at Barrels on Bonna barrel-aged beer festival from 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 10 at Black Acre Brewing's new production facility at Irvington Coal Factory. This will be the Indy area's first beer festival focused exclusively on barrel-aged beers, Black Acre reports. The beers may be aged in bourbon, wine, rum, tequila, gin, or other used liquor barrels to create one-of-a-kind beers. Most of the beers at the festival will never be found in stores.
Tickets cost $50 for unlimited tastings served in a 5-ounce commemorative snifter. All profits benefit Friends of Irving Circle, a local non-profit that works to beautify Indianapolis's Eastside. Live music rolls from a different group each hour.
5529 Bonna Ave., Suite 6; (317) 207-6266, www.barrelsonbonna.com
German Fest
You don't have to be German to attend German Fest, but you do have to like beer, brats and wiener dogs, the kind with four legs and barking mouths. Dachshunds are on the schedule at The Athenaeum Foundation's German Fest noon to 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Athenaeum on Mass Ave. Meet television personality Cowboy Bob and work off all those brats in the Bavarian Stone Lift competition or The Durstig Games, featuring a beer stein relay. German log dancers, a yodeling contest, 100 local artisan booths and a ton of Porsches to drool over round out the fun. Competition participants will be treated to free admission to German Fest. Otherwise, advance tickets cost $8 for adults and $2 for kids younger than 12. Adults pay $10 and kids $3 at the door.
401 E. Michigan St., (317) 655-2755, www.athenaeumfoundation.org
Soup for hours
Is it still too warm for soup? If soup means chili, well who could say no? Hit the Soup, Stew, Chili & Brew Festival 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 10 on Main Street in Madison. The family-friendly food festival features tasty spoonfuls and non-alcoholic brews by amateurs and professionals. Live music, wine and beer gardens, a cornhole tournament, a kid's zone and a roving juggler are part of the day. Admission is free, but you must purchase $1 tickets to sample the food. Soups, stews and chili at each booth will be sold for the same price: two tickets for 4 ounces of soup, three tickets for 6 ounces or four tickets for 8 ounces.
101 W. Main St., Madison, Ind.; (812) 265-3135, www.madisonsoupstew.com
Pumpkin playtime
Hayrides, bonfires, pumpkin patches. It's that time of year. Celebrate fall at the 43rd Annual Pumpkin Harvest Festival 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Oct. 31 at Stonycreek Farm in Noblesville. Weekends, of course, are the best times to go. Lob corncobs from a cannon, make candles or shoot a giant slingshot before picking out a pumpkin to carve or use for pumpkin pie. Lots of kids' activities are offered. Elephant ears, apple dumplings and turkey leg dinners are on the festival menu. Most activities require tickets. Buy them for $1 each.
11366 State Road 38 East, Noblesville; (317) 773-3344, www.stonycreekfarm.net