Best New Breweries: Round Town
When one of the city’s most respected brewers opens his own place, beer aficionados will find it—even in a hard-to-access area like the southwest side of downtown. Jerry Sutherlin began brewing more than 20 years ago at Oaken Barrel, and later worked alongside future Sun King head brewer Dave Colt. So plenty of buzz surrounded Sutherlin’s new brewery Round Town when it debuted in the Biltwell Event Center last fall, despite the vacant lots and interstate overpasses that border the building. Few who have fumbled with their GPS systems to get here have been disappointed: There’s not a bad choice among the four regularly offered beers.
Not many places make a great lager these days—for a long time, it was considered something of an old man’s beer. Yet Round Town hangs its hat on the crisp, light variety. And while the Keep It Simcoe, Stupid! IPA competes with the lager for the title of best-seller here, the Happy Face pale ale and the Irish Coffee red ale distinguished themselves on a recent visit. For those interested in trying all of them (along with a few seasonals), Round Town offers flights of large (7-ounce) glasses.
Although plans to can are in the works, the taproom and a few restaurants such as Kuma’s Corner are the only places to get a cold one from Sutherlin’s brewery right now. And you won’t find anything to eat at Round Town. But BeerAdvocate magazine didn’t feature the place in its Best New Breweries issue last year for the chicken fingers.
950 S. White River Pkwy. W. Dr., 317-493-1375, roundtownbrewery.com
