Terre Haute has its own beer, wine scene

May 1—If you didn't enjoy a beer on Saturday, you weren't trying very hard. Certainly, Terre Haute was making it easy to access a brew, with two beer fests that day: the Haute Hops and Vines Fest on 9th St. downtown, and the Strassenfest on Lafayette near 12 Points.

Hops and Vines was a hopping event, with the street swarming with people from the beginning. Rain was in the forecast, but since no one likes diluted beer, it held off for much of the day. One attendee said, "The beer gods are smiling on us."

"I'm happy now — if you had caught me earlier this morning, we were all a little bit stressed," said John Null, one of Afterburner's owners, which was a co-sponsor of the event. "But it's been awesome."

Joining Afterburner in hosting the festival was The Terre Haute Brewing Co., 3 Sisters Investments, Specialty Rim Supply, whose business neighbors the breweries on 9th, and Indiana on Tap, which hosts such festivals throughout the state. A portion of the proceeds benefited Team of Mercy and the Pride Center of Terre Haute.

"It was an idea that everybody had individually, but when we got everybody to the table, we were able to make it a reality," said Mark Baker of 3 Sisters Investments.

"Terre Haute has this vast history of brewing, so we wanted to highlight that," added Mark's wife Tiffany, also of 3 Sisters Investments. "We have a lot to show off and it's exciting to do so today. We want to give an awesome event for the locals, but also bring in some people off the highway. It's turned out to be a great day."

"What a great event," exulted Mayor Duke Bennett. "When I first walked up here and saw the big crowd for this first hour, boy, that's exactly what you would hope for these folks. As I've walked through it, seeing all the smiles on people's faces and getting excited about a new event for Terre Haute and having fun out here, it makes you feel good about our community."

Initially, the coordinators were hoping to draw 700 to Haute Hops and Vines. They limited ticket sales to 1,000 and, after selling out three weeks ago, decided to bump the number up to 1,200. "If we had moved it up to 1,500, we would've got 1,500," said Null. "But as an inaugural event, we didn't want to do too much."

Devin Elmore, a bartender for Terre Haute Brewing Company, the second oldest operating brewery in the country, said, "We expected 800 people, so when we heard it was 1,200 it made us that much more excited to show the community what kind of beer we can make."

Haute Hops and Vines hosted 15 breweries, two distilleries and two wineries. One brewery with a particularly creative name was Bad Dad, owned by Patrick Howard with other family members. The beers sported similarly inventive monikers.

"They're all dad-inspired — we go off with what a lot of us have commonly heard growing up," Howard explained. "So, Ask Your Mother, Kiss the Cook and You're Grounded Mister. Tapestry of Obscenity is inspired by one of our favorite dads on television (from the movie "A Christmas Story").

Howard has traveled to "countless" beer fests, and was impressed with the inaugural Haute Hops and Vines. "It's a really good turnout," he said. "I look forward to next year."

Alcohol wasn't the only thing available. There were several food trucks, concert venue The Mill was selling merchandise and Pride Center of Terre Haute was offering rainbow T-shirts, flags and pins.

Null noted that Pride Center also volunteered for the festival: "They helped us with the parking and painted bracelets — it's been awesome to have different community members support us."

Pride Center will celebrate its one-year anniversary on June 4. "We have been so thankful for the loving and accepting community around here," Pride Center board member Bre Pierce said.

Pierce said it was the organization's first beer festival.

"I have definitely been helping myself — it's been delicious," she said, recommending Hotel Tango bourbon.

Also touting Hotel Tango, as well as Afterburner offerings, was Jon Earles, attending with his wife Whitney and their goldendoodle Murdoch. It was Murdoch's first beer fest, though he appeared to be abstaining.

"He's loving it, he's having a great time," Earles said. "We're just trying to get him out more and get him around people and thought this would be a great event to try. We put it on our calendar as soon as we heard about it. It's nice to see people getting together and having a good time."

Strassenfest

Haute Hops and Vines didn't mind that another beer festival was taking place nearby. "A rising tide lifts all boats," said Tiffany Baker. "I'm super excited to live in a town where we have so many cool things happening at the same time."

Brad Cress, vice president of he German Oberlander Club and event coordinator for Strassenfest, shared that sentiment.

"It's great that Terre Haute can have a couple of events going on the same day to draw a nice crowd to both of us," he said. "It's awesome."

Strassenfest had been on hiatus for a few years due to a dwindling and aging membership, but was resurrected last year as a rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, it sold out its 500 tickets on offer. The receipts "helped our club do what we do in the community," Cress said.

German beer was offered on tap. "There's also Miller Lite — I don't consider that a beer, but that's OK," Cress said.

Heather Francis, attending Strassenfest, was drinking a Sprite instead of a German beer.

"I tried it — it just wasn't for me," she admitted.

Her husband Anthony, on the other hand, enjoyed the German brew just fine and the event in general.

"It sounded like a cool thing to do," he said. "It's nice to get out to do stuff again."

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.