450 North is located on a farm in Columbus, which is about an hour from where we live in Bloomington. In addition to making beer, they also produce cider and wine. And, they have great pizza! The taproom closes for the festival, but it’s worth making a return trip to check it out.

This event is still in its infancy, as this was only the third year of the fest. My friend Andrea and I have been going since the beginning, and it’s fun to see what changes every year. The maze seemed bigger this time around, with more breweries in attendance. I love this beer festival because the setting is so unique. There also tend to be quite a few smaller Indiana breweries there. That means I end up discovering a lot of great, new places.

We once again opted to get VIP tickets to the festival. It’s so worth the extra money! You get into the maze 1.5 hours before the general admission crowd, which means the lines for beer are minimal. We were able to hit up all of the breweries we really wanted to try before everyone else got into the maze.

Here are my favorite brews from this year’s festival.

1. The Great Pumpkin Shake, 450 North

450 North always has some special releases the weekend of the festival, and I always look forward to seeing what crazy brews they put out. This one was at the top of my list, although I’m not usually a huge pumpkin beer fan. This Milkshake IPA is hoppy up front, with just a subtle hint of pumpkin and vanilla on the back end. I loved how the bitterness of the hops helped balance out some of that sweetness. We tried to grab some cans on our way out of the festival, but were sad to see them sold out. This is a delicious seasonal beer, if you can find it!

2. Ottermelon, Central State Brewing

It was in the upper 80s during the festival, so I found myself gravitating toward a lot of lighter styles. I haven’t had many beers from Central State, and this Leipziger-style Gose with sea salt and watermelon sounded so refreshing in the heat. And, Central State uses Indiana watermelons to give this brew its fruity flavor! We may be well into October, but I have a feeling I’ll be sipping this summer beer all year.

3. Banana Foster Stout, 2Toms Brewing Co.

I’d never heard of this Ft. Wayne brewery, but I was immediately intrigued by the sound of one of its stouts. This is a style of beer that’s taken me a few years to enjoy, but now I find myself reaching for stouts more and more. I love their warmth and hearty flavor as the temperatures start to drop. I could barely taste the banana in this beer, but it lent the perfect amount of sweetness. I’m hoping James and I can make a stop at 2Toms next time we are heading north.

4. Grapefruit Sour, Bloomington HopJockeys

I was so excited to see Bloomington’s homebrewing club represented at the festival! James and I want to get involved with the club as we take on my dad’s tradition of homebrewing, and that desire is even stronger after sampling some of their beers. Two of their brews ended up being my favorites of the festival. I love citrus flavors in beer, so I started with the grapefruit sour. Grapefruit has such a strong flavor on its own — it can easily overpower the other notes in a beer. But, this sour was perfectly balanced. The club only brought a couple growlers of this particular beer, and I was so happy we got a taste before they ran out.

5. Extra Brut IPA, Bloomington HopJockeys

I haven’t had many IPAs of this particular style, but I really enjoyed the crisp finish. I love juicy, hazy IPAs — but they’re everywhere right now. I really appreciated how different and dry this Extra Brut IPA was. I wish I would have snapped a picture of the beer, because its light color was not what you’d expect from an IPA. It was absolutely delicious.

This year we left the festival with a four-pack of special release beer, which is included in the ticket price. I think this is another aspect of the festival that makes it well worth the money. I’m excited to crack open the Double IPA and Belgian Tripel later this week!

We always have a blast at this festival, and I’m so glad we’ve made attending an annual tradition. My husband tagged along for the first time this year, and it was fun to finally share the experience with him. Cheers to another great year of beer!

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The highlight for me was definitely attending Corn Maze Beer Fest for the second time, which was an absolute blast. I went to the inaugural fest with family last year, but the organizers did a great job improving on that first-year success and making it even better this time around. The fest takes place in a cornfield behind 450 North Brewing Company, which is just about 15 minutes northeast of downtown Columbus, Ind. The brewery itself is worth a visit because of the delicious wood-fired pizza and great tap list — 450 North makes some of my favorite IPAs in the state.

Breweries are setup throughout the corn maze, which is what makes this beer fest so fun. The point of the maze is to actually be able to find the beer, so it’s thankfully designed to easily find your way to each section. There were also several food trucks setup outside of the maze, as well as a large tent with tables and chairs that provided some much-needed shade. The weather reached 90 degrees on Saturday and there isn’t much shade when you’re in a corn maze, so it got pretty brutal after a few hours!

My friend Andrea and I decided to buy VIP tickets to the fest this year to try and avoid some of the long lines we experienced during the inaugural event. It was well worth our money because we got to try most of the breweries on our list before the general admission crowd even got inside. I like that corn maze beer fest is on the smaller side because I end up trying a lot of unfamiliar breweries and finding some new favorite beers. Here were my top five favorites from the festival:

1. Fresh Froot, 450 North Brewing Co.

This is my favorite IPA from 450 North to date, which is saying a lot. What I love about their IPAs is they don’t overwhelm you with hops from the first sip; they’re beautifully balanced with hints of citrus but still have the bitter finish and complexity so many hopheads look for. Trust me, I love really dank IPAs, but I don’t love when they leave my tastebuds feeling shot. Fresh Froot was described on the beer board as a milkshake IPA, which I haven’t seen much of in the Midwest. Here’s how the style is made, according to Punch:

It’s not just some clever name. These are hoppy beers, usually IPAs, with lactose sugar added to them in order to help produce a thick, milky, sweet and often fruity beer that, well, somewhat resembles a classic milkshake.

As you can see in the picture above, the result was a creamy-looking IPA that was absolutely delicious. Definitely my favorite brew of the day. I’m wishing I would have picked up some cans while at the festival, but I’m hoping they’ll be distributed in Bloomington soon!

2. Sassy Pants, Black Acre Brewing Co.

The more sours I try, the more my love for them grows. Sassy Pants is a kettle soured farmhouse ale with a floral and fruity aroma. It won’t make your mouth go into a full on pucker, but I appreciate the hops that come through and the drinkability.

3. Farmhouse Ale, Noble Order

While I’m a big IPA lover, saisons are my second favorite style. Noble Order’s farmhouse ale is made with blackberries, but the fruit flavor is very subtle. It has beautiful color and I would have loved to have a full pint.

4. The Heat Is On, Four Day Ray

I was really excited to see Four Day Ray at this year’s corn maze beer fest because they were my favorite brewery at Bloomington Craft Beer Fest earlier this year. I decided to try a couple of new-to-me beers and this spicy pepper IPA was my favorite. I know spicy beers aren’t for everyone, but I love them when they’re done well. The heat didn’t overpower the flavor of this beer — instead it complemented the hops and notes of citrus. James and I are hoping to finally make a trip to this brewery before the end of the year. With IKEA opening in a couple of weeks, we can easily make a day of it!

5. Maze Haze, 450 North Brewing Co.

TRIPLE DRY-HOPPED DOUBLE IPA. Need I say more? I think 450 North’s IPAs are their strongest style and this is another one that blew me away. It was made specially for corn maze beer fest, so I couldn’t resist a taste.

I’m also looking forward to cracking open Sundown, an imperial Oktoberfest every corn maze beer fest attendee got to take home in a crowler. It was a special touch that helps make this beer fest stand out from others, in addition to the unique location. While it may not be the biggest, it sure is a blast!

The post Corn Maze Beer Fest 2017 appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

When I first heard about Corn Maze Beer Fest, I immediately texted my brother and dad to see if they’d be interested in going. They’re also huge craft beer fans and love checking out unique festivals. This one fit the bill, so it ended up being a family affair.

My family and friend Andrea caravanned over to the festival, which was on 450 North’s property in rural Columbus. It was our first time at the brewery and I’m dying to go back and check out the inside. The grounds were beautiful.

We opted for VIP tickets to get into the corn maze early and start sampling some brews from the 20+ Indiana breweries in attendance. We didn’t arrive until close to the end of the VIP hour, which was a mistake. The corn maze was much less crowded with hardly any lines during the VIP part of the festival — definitely worth the extra money if you arrive on time.

The corn maze had a large area in the middle with live music and a couple beer tents, then six small circles off to the sides that had a variety of different breweries. I liked that this festival featured some of Indiana’s smaller brewers because it gave us a chance to try lots of beers from places that don’t distribute to Bloomington. There were several breweries from Indianapolis and southern Indiana that I hadn’t heard of and really enjoyed.

Everyone’s favorite brewery of the day was Brew Link, which is located in Plainfield. It’s a place we’d never heard of before but definitely want to check out after sampling a couple of their beers. I didn’t get a chance to try any of their brews because I had to get us back to Bloomington safely!

For this being the first year of the event, I thought it was well put together. The concept is so fun and unique and our entire group had a blast.

There are a couple of things that could be improved. Lines were longer than any other beer fest I’ve attended. There definitely needed to be more people pouring beers. Most breweries brought two beers, which is plenty, but most of them were beers you could get on tap at any time. I think one of the best parts of beer fests is being able to sample some unique brews that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to try.

There definitely weren’t enough porta potties, which resulted in some people going into the middle of the corn and relieving themselves there because of the extremely long lines. But it sounds like that’s already something the organizers plan to improve upon next year.

Overall, the event was great and I’m really looking forward to going again next year. I think it’d be fun to organize a bus from Bloomington to take people over so we can stay for the after party next time!

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