Daredevil in name only; the brews are nothing you have to shy away from

When I walked into Daredevil Brewing Co. on Thursday, I suppose I could have been intimidated by the institutional art of a guy dangling from the ceiling on wires. Ah, but this is Daredevil, I thought to myself; I have to expect creativity.

Sort of like what co-owners Bill Ballinger and brothers Michael and Shane Pearson did a year ago when they saw an opportunity as the town of Speedway, Ind., was revitalizing its core merchants district just across West 16th Street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (yes, the BIG racetrack).

The beer entrepreneurs, who since 2012 had been operating out of more humble quarters in Shelbyville, Ind., moved their brewery into a new 30,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building at 1151 Main Street, Speedway, becoming the first newly constructed beer production facility in the Indianapolis market since Prohibition.

Daredevil joined a burgeoning craft beer industry in Indianapolis. Until then, and almost always since, other microcraft breweries in Indianapolis had opened in existing structures.

On Thursday, I made Daredevil my most recent stop along a tour of Indianapolis area craft breweries, inspired by a wonderful draft of of Daredevil's Lift Off American IPA that I had enjoyed earlier in the day when lunching at Rick's Boatyward Cafe along Eagle Creek.

When I got to Daredevil, I was greeted by Troy, who lined up a flight of eight brews (below) -- seven of the brewery's own draft beers and one of Daredevil's version of Arrogant Bastard Ale, a recipe Daredevil is licensed to produce through Stone Brewing in San Diego, Calif.

The brews I sampled, pictured above, left to right, are the Arrogant Bastard, Whimsy Summer Saison, Dunkel (a dark, malt-balanced Munich-style lager), Maibock seasonal, a golden strong Muse, the Double IPA Rip Cord, Vacation Kolsch and the Lift Off. I passed on the J.W.P. American Stout, although Troy's bartending cohort, John, let me try a swallow of it when I was through with the full flight. Unfortunately, one brew from the menu (below) that the brewery did not have on hand for me to sample was its Slips Stream Pale Ale.

My goal when indulging in flights is to sample them from low IBUs (international bittering units) to high. Troy arranged the brews for me as they appear on the beer menu; rather than rearrange them in my IBU order, I just consulted the menu for the IBU information ... and consumed away.

Since I'd already sampled the Lift Off (which has an IBU of 72) at Rick's, I decided to put it off till the end, which turned out to be just right anyway because its 72 IBUs were the highest on the menu.

The lowest IBUs in the flight were the Kolsch and Dunkel (both 20). I finished off the Kolsch quickly, and it satisfied nicely, as I fully expected from my experience with the clear, all-barley German ale, which has its roots in Cologne.

As a brown lager, the Dunkel surprised; I recognized the chocolate notes that I dislike with many heavily malted dark beers (which is why, generally, I eschew them), but they were not overbearing, and I was able to finish the whole sample.

The seasonal Maibock, a dark golden offshoot of German pilsners and lagers, was next up (25 IBU). It was a little maltier than I like, but it was nevertheless refreshing. After that, I delved into the golden strong Muse (32 IBU), whose fruit notes struck me immediately. I'm also not a fan of these fruity beers, but perhaps because I had sampled the other styles before this, the Maibock did not offend. I could definitely see trying one of these outdoors on a hot afternoon.

I was finally ready for the Rip Cord, the double IPA, which has an IBU of 70. Before I got to it, both Troy and John had told me this is one of their favorites. I did like it, but I still think that I'd turn to the Lift Off more often than not. As it turns out, the Lift Off is Daredevil's most distributed variety. I believe Troy said it also is the second-most distributed craft beer in all of Indiana. (Troy, if I messed that up, please correct me in the comments!).

After finishing off the Lift Off sample, John let me sample the stout. It was what I had imagined. Because I don't consider myself a stout or porter expert by any means, I won't even attempt to elaborate.

I'm chagrined to say my visit missed by two days Daredevil's cool Fourth of July Barbecue and Brews observance with Main Street neighbor Barbecue and Bourbon.

You can find Daredevil Brewing on Facebook, Twitter ( @DaredevilBeer ) and Instagram ( @daredevilbeer )

Metazoa Brewing revisited; I'm glad I did

Despite my disappointment in visiting Metazoa Brewing Co. on its opening day on April 1, I'd always intended in returning at some point. The only thing I didn't know was when.

"When" came Friday, June 3, when I returned shortly after 2 p.m. when I expected traffic wouldn't be quite what I had experienced on the opening day April 1. And fortunately, I was right. When I arrived, I was struck by the nice view of the Indy skyline -- over the new townhouses/condos in the foreground -- one sees from the parking lot, illustrated by the photo leading off the post. What's more, it's only a half-block north of one of my favorite dining establishments, the Milano Inn.

Metazoa had a modest traffic volume Friday, so I got to experience -- and enjoy -- what I was unable to experience two months earlier.
I'm pleased to say that on Friday, I had the time and leisure to do what I couldn't do on April 1. I sampled six of the new brewery's offerings (right), deciding to try a flight representing three beers on Metazoa's house menu (beers on the house menu are always available ... and they're also always available for growler fills).

Three of the brews were from the seasonal menu; unlike the house brews, seasonals are not available for growler fills. I'm ordinarily not a seasonal brew fan at craft breweries, because seasonals -- in my admittedly limited experience -- tend to be on the fruity side. I enjoyed five of the six beers I tried Friday, and three of those were seasonals, Topping the list was the Wolf Rhino, an IPA with an IBU (international bitterness units) of 117. For those unfamiliar, beers with IBUs above 30 or thereabouts are usually regarded as bitter to the rookie palate. But to those accustomed to beers with such processing, 117 is an engaging number.

The Wolf Rhino was not the bitterest Metazoa brew I tried Friday. Also on the seasonal menu was a 147 IBU Half A Doodle Do IPA (IBU 149), which I also found to be tasty.

In fact, of the six brews I tried, the only one I did not find pleasing was the house Fragiana, a Midwest IPA that was on the dark side in color (it's the darkest of the six pictured above) and, for some reason, did not sit well with my palate. I did not try the Honey Kinkajou honey weiss; on my visit on opening day, the honey weiss was the only brew I was able to sample (and it was a very small sample), and I found it lacking in appeal, flavor and taste.

Metazoa has a seasonal rye IPA with a mango infusion called Anonymous Lemur (which I tried) with an IBU of 33 that I also liked a lot, but, oddly, I could not detect a bit of mango in the flavor.

I also tried Metazoa's Nap in the Hammock cream ale (IBU 17), which I found tasty, an American IPA called Giraffe Dance (IBU 61), which I also liked. The bartenders were kind enough to let me sample (i.e., very small amounts) of the seasonal QB's Girlfriend and a kolsch, called Kuma Kolsch. Both had very low IBUs, and both were fine.

Metazoa has a very friendly staff -- so much that I'd be very inclined to revisit just because I know I'd be in good hands. The gentleman who served me went to great pains to explain the various beers and IBU differences and brewing techniques.

It's worth noting that Metazoa has a secondary objective in mind with its operation -- the care and well-being of nature's animal kingdom. Its logo and brew names are part of Metazoa's mission to donate 5% of its profits to animal and wildlife organizations. That helps explain the brewery name (metazoa is a zoological group comprising multicelluar animals) and logo (pictured at right.