Sun King Brewery (Indianapolis, IN) is a relatively new brewery created by long time brewers Dave Colt and Clay Robinson. While the brewery itself is new to brewing in Indianapolis, Colt and Robinson are not. Prior to starting Sun King, they had both created strong reputations as top-notch craft brewers in the Indianapolis brewing community due to their work at local brew pubs.
The years of brewing experience behind Sun King is quickly evident in their beers. They offer four year-round varieties, the Osiris Pale Ale, Sunlight Cream Ale, Wee Mac Scottish Ale, and the Bitter Druid ESP. In addition to these beers, they also offer a selection of seasonal and specialty beers such as, the Dominator Dopplebock, the Orange Blossom Special, Timmie Imperial Stout, and Naptown Brown India Brown Ale.
Osiris Pale Ale
Osiris is Sun King's Pale Ale. It's an American West Coast style of pale ale that three different varieties of American hops which gives it a nice hoppy flavor. The first thing you'll notice about Osiris is that the beer comes in a 16-ounce can. While this is a bit unusual for a craft beer, packaging beer in cans is becoming increasingly popular among craft brewers.
There are some advantages to packaging beer in cans. Most notably, the fact that cans protect against beer's two biggest enemies...ultra violet light and oxygen. The can does not leave behind any after-taste, or alter the flavor of the beer in any way. We always recommend pouring your beer into a glass before enjoying it, but this especially rings true when the beer comes in a can.
Osiris pours a light amber color and is very clear. It has a medium body with medium carbonation, which makes it very smooth to drink. The beer pours a one inch head and leaves behind good lacing, but it's not very clingy. Both the aroma and the flavor are high in the hops department (50 IBUs). The hops give the beer a nice citrus flavor. We felt the beer was a bit weak on the malt side, but overall, Osiris is and outstanding American Pale Ale.
Sunlight Cream Ale
Cream Ale was one of the earliest styles of American beer, but it lost popularity to lager style beers. Sun King is on a short list of craft brewers who are bringing this truly American style of beer back to the market. Sunlight Cream Ale is an all malt beer made from barley, wheat, and oats. Sunlight is a very smooth, light drinking beer...perfect for a hot day at the Speedway.
Sunlight is a great place to start if you're new to the world of craft beer, or just interested in trying something other than a mass produced pilsner. The beer has a light body with a good malt base and very light in the hops department (20 IBUs). The best one-word description of this beer would be "refreshing". Sunlight pours a small half-inch head with little to no lacing. If you haven't had a good cream ale in a while, this is a good one to try.
Final Thoughts
While Sun King isn't distributed outside of central Indiana, it's definitely worth looking for any time you're in the Indianapolis area. Sun King is sold in local liquor stores, restaurants and bars, and they also have a tasting room in the brewery.
If you're in town for the Indy 500 or the Brickyard 400, remember that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will allow you to bring in your own cooler of beer...but bottles are prohibited. If you're a craft beer lover, the no glass rule seriously limits your options for good beer. The best solution is to pick up some 4-packs of Sun King in 16-ounce cans, so you can enjoy fine hand-crafted beer while watching the races!
*There's an excellent video about Sun King's new Grapefruit Jungle IPA on our Beer TV page.
