A Decade Of Sun King: The Quiz

The reign of Sun King Brewing began when two guys, Dave Colt and Clay Robinson, merely wanted to introduce Indianapolis to craft beer. A decade later, Sun King has become so much more than just brews. Through no end of sponsorships, partnerships, and collaborations, the hometown favorite rules with a level of ubiquity that borders on the absurd. How Sun King–savvy are you?

1. Which of the following is not a real Sun King–inspired product?

A) Sausage

B) Popcorn

C) Sunscreen

D) Pickles

2. Sun King has yet to take part in an event pairing beer with:

A) Cheese

B) Ice cream

C) Chocolate

D) Tenderloins

3. In addition to making 30,000 barrels of suds this year, the brewery will take part in more than 800 community events. Which was the first?

A) St. Thomas Aquinas SausageFest

B) Mutt Strut

C) Brew-Ha-Ha

D) Talbot Street Art Fair

4. Sun King has tapped its beers inside:

A) The City Market catacombs

B) The Scottish Rite Cathedral

C) Soldiers and Sailors Monument

D) Both A and B.

5. The Velvet Fog, a Belgian-style Quadrupel, is named for:

A) Mel Tormé

B) John Coltrane

C) Foghorn Leghorn

D) Phog Allen

A Sun King quiz? We’ll drink to that.Photo by Tony Valainis

6. Pick Sun King’s original slogan:

A) Malt-Hops-Water

B) Fresh-Local-Beer

C) The King of Beers

D) So Good When It Hits Your Lips

7. The venue that first offered Sun King is:

A) Victory Field

B) Lucas Oil Stadium

C) Newfields

D) Lucas Oil Raceway

8. Spent grain from Sun King’s brewing process is recycled as:

A) Biofuel

B) Beard conditioner

C) Cracker meal

D) Pig slop

9. Sun King created a beer for the “Broadway in Indianapolis” musical based on which TV show?

A) One Day at a Time

B) The Brady Bunch

C) Gilligan’s Island

D) The Addams Family

10. Sun King beer has factored into:

A) A political campaign

B) A fitness series

C) A musical interpretation
from a string trio

D) All of the above

ANSWERS

1. C—Sunscreen. Smoking Goose has offered Fistful of Hops Salame (and other limited releases made with Sun King beer), Sun King Dark Chocolate Osiris popcorn is sold at Just Pop In, and the Indiana Pickle Company makes chips with Wee Mac Scottish Ale. “From the very beginning, one of our goals was to help bring attention to local producers and makers,” says Robinson. 2. D­­—Tenderloins. Sun King hosted an event with Tulip Cheese Creamery in May, and in the past has joined forces with both Lick Ice Cream and The Best Chocolate in Town. 3. A— St. Thomas Aquinas SausageFest. 4. D—Both A and B. The catacombs and the Scottish Rite Cathedral. 5. A—Mel Tormé. The idea for the beer came about when Colt was listening to music at the downtown brewery and began scatting to himself, which made him think of crooner Tormé, aka the Velvet Fog. 6. B—Fresh-Local-Beer. 7. A—Victory Field. 8. D—Pig slop. Spent grain is basically oatmeal, and it’s commonly fed to livestock. Sun King’s goes to farms in Brookville and Martinsville. 9. D—The Addams Family. The beer was called Cara Mia (“my darling” in Italian), Gomez’s pet name for Morticia. 10. D—All of the above. Why does beer bring together such strange bedfellows? Says Colt: “It’s a social lubricant.”

SCORECARD

Zero correct answers: Call an Uber—you’re drunk.

1–3: You’re a Wee Mac. Canned applause.

4–6: The bare minimum? Congrats, Slacktivist.

7–9: You win a Fistful of Hops.

10: Go back to work, Dave and Clay.