GREENWOOD — When Andrew Castner began his brewing career nearly two decades ago, Indy’s beer scene was a very different place.
“To see it go from just a handful of breweries in the Indianapolis metro area, to now what is probably five to six dozen, is pretty awesome,” Castner said. “When you have this many breweries open, you need head brewers to be able to make great beer. Those [head brewers] are going to come from the other head brewers that came before them.”
Castner likens it to a family tree of head brewers derived from the originals like Broad Ripple Brew Pub, RAM, Rock Bottom, Alcatraz, Oaken Barrel, and Lafayette Brewing Company.
“Those places have fed great brewers into new places that have then trained great brewers,” Castner said.
Castner would know. He is one of those brewers who has learned some things along the way. Like what makes a great beer.
“What I've always thought can make a good and even a great beer, whether it's a light beer, hoppy beer, a malty-beer, an Imperial, barrel-aged, sour, whatever it is, it's multiple elements, at least three, maybe four, that work together well,” Caster said. “You can make the biggest, boldest Russian Imperial Stout, and it can still be balanced. It can be 11% and coffee and chocolate and caramel and roasted and all these things, and it's still balanced.”
Brewing beer isn't the only balancing act you will find inside MashCraft. It’s also ingrained into the way the business operates.
Each of the brewery’s three co-owners brings a unique skillset to the operation. John Lee brings a banking skillset, and Joe Janik has an engineering mindset, according to Castner.
“That synergy of different skill sets, and everybody playing in their own sandbox, has really worked well for us to be able to expand and do things efficiently,” Castner said.
MashCraft Brewing has grown to three locations and is the recipient of a number of awards.
“We were able to grab a gold medal at the U.S. Open, which is a competition out of Ohio,” Castner said. “That was for our Raspberry Imperial Stout.”
MashCraft also collected two gold medals at theIndiana Brewers’ Cup, including one for a brew named after Castner’s father.
“To be able to put out those beers and be able to get some accolades for it, it's a big thing for the crew here.”
But for Castner, it’s about more than brewing good beer.
“We wanted to create somewhere where the community can gather, and it's worked,” Castner said. “From the beer side to the food side to family-friendly environments, outside concerts, it's all been really cool for us to be able to execute that.”
