Indiana Brewers Guild - Winterfest

Winterfest was expanded to two days with the addition of a Friday night session. It was night and day in terms of atmosphere and people. While they would have liked to have sold more tickets for Friday, they accomplished their goal by having a more intimate and less hectic experience. There were little or no lines and you can interact with the brewers a lot more. One of the selling points of Friday were the special brews that were available only that night. They delivered with that objective.If you can shell out a little more cash for a premium experience, then the Friday session is for you. If you like a more party atmosphere and don't mind the crowds, then Saturday is still a good option.

Wow. What a fun time. Frankly shocked at how many breweries are in Indiana. Happy to see that. Had a chance to sample some great stouts and porters. Wanted to stick with winter beers and had so many options. Dis have one hazy ipa and it was a huge winner. If you want to see the beer reviews you will need to check me in Untappd. Back to the event. A couple of tips. The porto lets outside where the fastest. They had plenty of water stations. Food was pretty basic. Crowds were large but lines moved quickly. Order your Uber/Lyft about 30 min out and be prepared for surge pricing. This was a fun event and I look forward to next year.

Had a great time at Winterfest! There definitely were a lot of people and lines got kind of crazy but overall got to try a bunch of different beers and had fun.The venue was indoor which was fantastic, but also meant that traffic got a little odd at times. Hard to go behind some lines, so people just cut through. Good number of consessions scattered around. Water was easy to find.My only beef was that the venue website's FAQ specifically said you HAD to print out your tickets, but that wasn't true at all. A majority of people we saw used the tickets on their phones.

The lights in the trees were awesome as was the music and light show. and the hot chocolate was really good. We just didn't care for no mention of Christ or Christmas in the house was a bit boring.

Amazing beer festival! Over 75+ breweries from all over Indiana. All of the classic Indiana breweries were there and I discovered a lot of breweries that I hadn't heard of before, which was fun! Once you buy your ticket (ahead of time or at the door), it's drink as much as you'd like. They have a few food booths selling pretzels, nachos and other items. The festival is put on by the Brewers of Indiana Guild, a non-profit who promotes Indiana's craft breweries. Drink unlimited amounts of beer and supporting a great cause...it's a win-win! The festival is on Friday and Saturday. Friday is the VIP session. Saturday is the General Session, which is what we did. Tickets were $40/person if purchased ahead of time. I'd recommend buying your ticket ahead of time because the line to get tickets at the gate was very long. There were a lot of people at the General Session, but the lines at most of the brewery stations moved pretty fast. Also, the session was from 2-6pm, so there's plenty of time to explore and taste as many breweries as you'd like. I would get there at 2, as once beer runs out it runs out. I was happy with the General Session and didn't see a need to to go to the VIP session, but that's just me. If you love beer and have never been to Winterfest, I'd highly recommend going!

My husband and I arrived on a Saturday for Winterfest for the first time after hearing fantastic things. The festival was located at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds. We arrived shortly after the 2:00 pm start time and the line was already wrapped around the building. We were greeted by a wonderful crowd of people wearing homemade pretzel and snack necklaces along with colorful balloons to identify themselves amongst the crowd. We received a small glass for our samples and were welcomed into a large open space with tons of beer vendors. We immediately bought some of the fantastic Indiana beer themed merchandise and began to wander through the crowd. Tons of fantastic beers, some of our new favorites included 450 North, Guggman Haus, & Switchyard. There were tons of classics too like Taxman, St. Joes, and Scarlet Lane.While some of the lines were long, the pours were generous and time flew by. We really enjoyed our time here. We only hope that next time we will be better prepared with our very own pretzel necklaces

The 2020 Winterfest was AWESOME! My husband and I got the Friday night tickets as a Christmas gift, and it was so fun to taste some specialty beers along with rare releases. The crowd was smaller and the lines were super short. For what the tickets cost, I feel like it's definitely worth every penny!Had I written a review the last time we attended Winterfest when it was just on the Saturday (which was probably 3? years ago), I wouldn't have given this event such high praise. We waited FOREVER in line back then, and it seemed like the lines for each brewery moved slow too. 2020 really delivered. Saturday's event was a blast too, and pre-banding was the way to go! We got our bands the morning of the event at the Sun King in Broad Ripple, which took 2 minutes tops! Then, once we got to the Fairgrounds, we were inside the beer fest as soon as we arrived! I really appreciate the separate entrance for pre-banding. The lines looked super long to get in, so it was nice to not have to wait!We will definitely attend in 2021! We absolutely loved it!

I was lucky enough to win tickets through Yelp for Winterfest 2020 and I only entered to take my husband, who is a beer lover. I was excited to see that you could get your bands early if you headed to Sun King in BR or another spot downtown. Best idea ever! We got dropped off at the fairgrounds right around 2pm and the line was insane to get in! A nice fellow was yelling to the crowd about coming forward if you were already banded and we got in super quick. I was surprised to see how many people were there already since it was literally right after 2pm when we got there. There were already lines. We did come prepared with our pretzel necklaces, but some were quite creative in their overall attire and their snack wearing. I thought the groups with balloons tied to them had a great idea! We jumped into one and started our way around. My favorite was definitely the S'mores porter from Zwanzigz Brewery. They even took the time to toast a couple of marshmallows! We went back here so I could also try the Snickerdoodle as well. I of course had to stop and give a shot out to my girl, Krysha, working the Deviate booth! There are so many breweries, you really have to pick and choose which ones you want to wait in line for. I guess it's a good way to try beers from breweries you may not get to go to at all or very often. But, I would likely not pay to go to this. For the cost, and the price of responsibly getting there and back, it's not a cheap outing. I'm sure beer lovers would argue that it's worth it. The lines were not worth it to me by the late portion of it. I did appreciate it was indoors and not only did they have indoor restrooms, but portapotties were located outside too. There were also two places to check your coats and access to free water was a plus.

Writing an update from 2015! I believe I have the same thing to say as last year:the lines are so long! It would be amazing if they had huge maps of the vendors near every corner of the building so people didn't have to carry the huge maps around and find the brewery of their choice. I came this year as an attendee, not a vendor. And it was a lot of fun! Black Acre always kills it and I loved the Do317 photo booth and the Yelp scavenger hunt! So, lots of the non-beer vendors had great ideas! I wish the coffee vendors were giving free stuff away. C'mon, you pay that much money and we can't get a free coffee to hype us up a bit? A bit of a letdown. I had a great time, though. The lines were a bit long but looking back, it gives you enough time to slowly sip a beer while waiting in line and then be finished with your sample before you reach the next vendor you're in line for !

After taking a 3-year hiatus from attending Winterfest, my husband and I won tickets, so we came back for 2020. We got our wristbands the night before at Sun King in Broad Ripple, which took all of 2 minutes. However, once we got to Winterfest, there was no signage for people who already had wristbands. Nobody working the line we were in knew where we were supposed to go if we already had wristbands, so we waited in line like a couple of chumps. Luckily, the line to get in went quickly, so it wasn't a big deal (except we made a special trip to BR from the west side the night before...). This year seemed to have gone smoother than in years past. Food options were more plentiful, and the bathroom lines didn't seem as long. We tried a lot of beers we probably wouldn't have gotten to try, and saw some friends, so it was a fun time overall.