RIP: Mishawaka Brewing.

The Hoosier Beer Geeks site breaks the sad news:

"Mishawaka Brewing Company Has Closed"

Mishawaka Brewing’s venerable brewpub opened in 1992 as perhaps the second in the whole state. It closed in 2008, but the Schmidts plowed ahead at their more recent production facility in Elkhart. I’d been hearing rumors of the closure, and dismissed them, seeing as nothing was said at the Brewers of Indiana Guild’s annual meeting two Saturdays ago. So much for wishful thinking.

Tom Schmidt forever endeared himself to the FOSSILS homebrewing club by driving all the way down to New Albany in winter, circa 1993, and speaking to the club in the company of voluminous samples – a brace of pony kegs, if memory serves. He later said that the fearsome reputation of Walking the Dog, the club’s newsletter, ensured a “yes” answer. It was a noble gesture in any event.

Breweries dying are like people dying. Neither man nor brewery is an island, and we are connected by commonalities of aspiration and experience. When I hear news like this, my reaction is militant: We shall overcome, and two breweries will arise where one previously stood. We’ll carry that flag, and we’ll carry that weight.

But stridence masks the grieving process, doesn’t it?

Maybe the Schmidts can come down now, visit, and just have a simple beer with NABC.