I woke up early outside of Dayton Ohio, and get my shower for the day at my La Quinta Hotel…. to find my room’s hot water isn’t working. (The check out lady gave me a run around saying I should have turned the knob a bit to the left, then back to the right to bypass something…. yea, ok lady.) So that was my wake-up for the day. Then it was on the road for what Google Maps had listed as a 1 Hour 18 Minute Drive….. which turned into a 2 Hour and 34 Minute Drive….. because Google Maps didn’t reload until I was on the road that I-70 was having massive road work done for a giant long stretch.

Whatever.

I made it to Indianapolis and to the Vonnegut Museum at 12-noon, just in time for everything to start. In my full detailed travelogue I’ll discuss it, but the reason for the trip was to get here on Wednesday (today) – November 11th, – Armistice Day – Veteran’s Day – Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday. He would have turned 98 years old today.

Like I said, I’ll go into much more detail about the museum and library, but suffice it to say it was fantastic, and any fan of Vonnegut owes it to themselves to come out and check out the museum and library at least once in their lives. I’m looking to come back in two years for his 100th Birthday.

After the Museum, my first Indianapolis brewery was TwoDEEP Brewing. Fun little brewery, beautiful inside. I had a roasted amber ale and a pilsner. (No flights, just drafts.) Both were fantastic.

I of course had to drive and stop (illegally parked – at a meter – might I add) and get out and grab a picture of this. I also later in my day stopped by his childhood home and then the cemetery where he was buried. (I was unable to find his grave, but I did find President Benjamin Harrison’s gravesite.)

An absolute must stop for everyone in Indianapolis. This is THEE brewery in the city, and it shows. They’ve won a ton of awards in the past, and several more this year at the 2020 GABF. Amazing beers, not a single bad one. Even my least favorite from them was nearly a four cap beer. The nacho and taco place inside was also really great. Be sure to visit Sun King if you are ever even remotely in the area.

So after driving out to his childhood home and grabbing a picture, and going up to the cemetery and driving around looking for ‘him’, I had to stop at BLUEBEARD for dinner. Why? Well, the tavern is named after his novel ‘Bluebeard’ and even has a picture of him with a replica of a typewriter he used. This is a very hoighty-toighty place, (baby octopus was 28$) and very heavy sea-food (which when you are deathly allergic, is a slight scare). But I had a fantastic beer from a local brewery in can and great pasta.

About three businesses down from Bluebeard was a brewery (just happened on it by walking to / from my parked car). So I ducked in for a pint, and picked up a four pack to go.

I ended my night (as far as breweries go) at Ellison City Brewing. Looked like an old apartment building reimagined, not quite sure though in the dark. When I entered they had two food trucks or two kind of party trucks or something outside, and a lot of younger (20s) dancing and carrying on by them. After I had my pint and read, which I nursed a bit, and came out, the revelers and trucks were gone. Shrug.

Then it was off to another hotel for the night, where I wanted to finish A Man With No Country by Vonnegut, but sadly, I stayed on the phone with a co-worker til about 12:30AM and then soon passed out watching Chappelle Show on Netflix.

Tomorrow’s itinerary is Cincinnati, with a dip into Kentucky. Then moving on towards Hocking Hills, Athens, and Ohiopyl and back home to Central Pennsylvania. Nearing the home stretch of the trip and tour. We’ve gone, now we’re coming back.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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The Trip to Indianapolis:

• The Trip to Indy
• The Trip to Indy – Day One Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Two Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Three Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Four Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Five Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Six Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Seven Recap
• Recap and Stats

Just like last summer (August 1st-3rd) when I took my daughters on a trip up to Elk Country, to Kinzua Bridge, to Pittsburgh, to Bushy Run, and back home; I am again taking a road trip.

This time, it’s a solo trip, just myself. So wish me luck that this reads as a “Tale of There and Back Again” and no Reading shenanigans happen again.

Unlike the trip with my daughters, this is being a bit more ad-hoc and I am kind of doing things on a whim. With them I had a very planned itinerary of where we were going, what days, what times. However, for my trip the main focus point is getting to Indy for Wednesday the 11th (Veterans Day) which is Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday and visit the Vonnegut Museum and Library.

I do have a list of some breweries I will be hitting, but not a guarantee I will hit them all. COVID-19 is throwing a bit of a monkey wrench in my plans for what breweries are open certain days, plus unlike last time, I’m traveling Sunday through Friday whereas last time it was a Thursday – Friday- and Saturday.

You can read about my trip last year here:

August Road Trip Series:

• Going on the Road
• The Trip: Day 1 Recap
• The Trip: Day 2 Recap
• The Trip: Day 3 Recap

I didn’t go into a crazy lot of detail about all the places we went to in the articles, but you can still read them and get an idea of what I did hit up. In later travelogues for the blog I’ve gone into a bit more detail on my crazy travels with Drew or Ming or by myself.

For my first day of travel – tomorrow – Sunday, November 8th – my places of visit will be:

• Thousand Steps Trail (Mount Union, PA)
• Juniata Brewing Company
• Ghost Town Trail
• Levity Brewing Company

Hopefully everything goes according to plan. Tomorrow is a few hikes, a few breweries, and then Monday will be the outskirts of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh area, and then Tuesday I will drive through Ohio and Columbus make my way towards Indianapolis. Where Wednesday I will spend the day in Indianapolis. Then Thursday I will make my way back through Ohio through Cincinnati. Friday I will be making may way back home.

Fingers crossed.

I will most likely be doing a “recap” of each day once at the hotel at the end of my days, so be on the lookout for that.

Be sure to leave some comments letting me know where to stop and check out on my travels. Let me know what your favorite breweries and places to visit are, I’d love to hear them!

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis:

• The Trip to Indy
• The Trip to Indy – Day One Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Two Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Three Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Four Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Five Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Six Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Seven Recap
• Recap and Stats

2020 has been a challenging year (to say the least) for all kinds of events, conventions, brew fests, and other large beer related activities. Hell, Oktoberfest in Germany was cancelled this year. That alone should tell you everything you need to know about this year right there.

So the 2020 edition of GABF was not the normal (great) event it normally is. This year it went virtual (due to the pandemic) rather than being the fantastic event that brings in thousands of people and millions of gallons of beer to Colorado.

This was a rather lackluster year for awards in Pennsylvania as well. Sadly; this year, Pennsylvania only won three awards. One gold, and two silvers. Contrast that to last year’s seven awards won by Pennsylvania breweries (three gold, three silver, and one bronze). Hopefully 2021 will be a better year for Pennsylvania breweries (and not just in medalling at the GABF).

The results for Pennsylvania are below:

GOLD:

Category: Gluten-Free Beer
Brewery: Aurochs Brewing
Beer: Aurochs Hazy IPA

SILVER:

Category: English Mild or Bitter
Brewery: Wallenpaupack Brewing
Beer: English Pale Mild Ale

Category: English-Style Brown Ale
Brewery: Attic Brewing
Beer: Bloodhound Brown Ale

In 2019, Pennsylvania breweries that won included: New Trail Brewing Co, The Church Brew Works, 2SP Brewing, Free Will Brewing, Cellar Works Brewing, Swashbuckler Brewing Co, and Helltown Brewing Company.

You can read about the 2019 results here: 2019 GABF Winners: Pennsylvania.

For more information on the winners, of all of the different categories, you can read the Brewers Association press release on it, with a detailed analysis at the following link: Winners of 2020 Great American Beer Festival (Brewer’s Association Press). 272 medals were decided for 240 different breweries this year, which was the 34th edition of the event.

“Judges for the 34th edition of the celebrated competition evaluated 8,806 entries from 1,720 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Socially distanced judging took place in 35 sessions over 18 days with strict safety measures in place. The awards ceremony was held virtually on Friday evening, kicking off the two-day online programming portion of the Great American Beer Festival.  

“This year’s GABF competition may have looked a little different, but the beers entered into the competition were as impressive and innovative as ever,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Great American Beer Festival. “This has arguably been one of the most challenging years breweries have ever faced, so we hope these awards serve as a symbol not only of brewing excellence but also the resiliency of the craft brewing community as a whole.” (Brewer’s Association)

As per the above article, a quick run-down of statistics from the 2020 GABF Event:

GABF Competition Statistics

• 34th edition of the GABF competition  
• 8,806 beers judged 
• 1,720 breweries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. 
• 115 judges from 21 states 
• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 97 
• Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (377) 
• 272 total medals awarded  
• 240 medal-winning breweries  
• 337 first-time GABF entrants 
• 19 first-time GABF winners 

Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis, Indiana, won the most awards at this year’s event with 4 awards total. (One gold, and three bronzes.) In November, I am making a road trip out of Pennsylvania and through Western PA, Ohio, and into Indianapolis to visit the Vonnegut Museum and Library. I can definitely tell you that Sun King Brewery will be a stop for me at some point on that trip (they’ve been on my radar for quite a bit).

Cheers and here’s to hoping that 2021 is a much better year for our home state breweries in Pennsylvania. Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried any of the 2020 award winning beers. And check out the full article and let us know what you think of the results from around the country.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Cheers!

-B. Kline