Happy 25th birthday to Broad Ripple Brewpub.

Tristan and Lord Hill at the party, courtesy of Tristan's Fb page.

The anniversary party was yesterday, and unfortunately I missed it, but this excellent essay by the Brewers of Indiana Guild's communications director (who as we can see needs to write more often) provides the rundown on why Broad Ripple Brewpub matters so much to so many of us.

(Take note -- only 75 days until the 8th Annual Brewers of Indiana Guild Winterfest)

My first visit wasn't until the late 1990s. The first ale I had there was the ESB, and to this day, I'll always drink at least one of them when visiting. A flagship is a flagship, after all. I can taste it now.

Best wishes to John Hill and the hundreds of others at BRB who've made beers and memories over a quarter-century.

BROAD RIPPLE BREWPUB CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF CRAFT BEER AND COMMUNITY, by Tristan Schmid

Broad Ripple Brewpub–Indiana’s first brewpub and oldest operating craft brewery–celebrates 25 years of craft beer and community at their anniversary party.

As Brewers of Indiana Guild‘s Communications Director, I typically don’t write in first person when I post about our beer festivals, Tomlinson Tap Room, and our other efforts to support Indiana’s brewers and rapidly growing craft brewing industry.

But for me and many others, Broad Ripple Brewpub is particularly special.

Late birthday wishes to Broad Ripple Brewpub.

The first time I went to Broad Ripple Brewing Company was in the mid-1990’s, and it reminded me so much of an authentic English pub that I had to pause and remind myself that I had no way of knowing this to be the case, having not yet visited England during the course of my European travels.

Ireland, yes ... not England.

My first visit beer hunting expedition to England soon followed, and at some point afterward, I finally had the pleasure of meeting BRBC’s founder, John Hill.

Ever since then, each time I have the pleasure of conversing with John, I’m reminded of the fellow standing next to me in the pissoir of the pub somewhere in rural Yorkshire, with whom I subsequently conversed for multiple pints without ever really understanding what he was saying to me in our purportedly common language.

Broad Ripple Brewing Company celebrated its 20th birthday last week. Please permit me to offer a belated “Happy Birthday,” or as they say it in Yorkshire, “Happy Birthday.”

Sorry, I just can’t do that accent.

Broad Ripple Brewpub's 20th Anniversary