If you are in Indianapolis and want a beer brewed where you drink it, Chilly Water Brewing Company is a reliable place to land. It opened in 2014 as an urban brewpub with a straightforward mission: high-quality, true-to-style ales and lagers served in a laid-back setting. It is minority owned and an Indy Craft Pass partner, and it brews everything on site, keeping 12 beers on tap at a time alongside a generous selection of seasonal and year-round offerings.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Indianapolis and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
The year-round list is where you get a sense of the range. There is the Built to Last Pilsner, the One Hop Wonder IPA, and the Blood on the Tracks IPA, plus the Santeria Mexican Lager, Comfortably Numb American Pale Ale, Morrison's Jig Irish Red, Kind of Blue Java Stout, Man in the Bock German Bock, Mama Tried dark Mexican lager, Chilly Water dry-hopped amber lager, Good Kisser German Kolsch, Dark Side of the Munich Munich Dunkel, and Phillyapolis chocolate blonde. Rotating taps like Haulin' Oats oatmeal stout, Blazin' Fiddles Scottish ale, and Sticky Fingers imperial breakfast stout keep the list moving. The kitchen runs lunch and dinner six days a week from scratch, with burgers, wings, nachos, and wraps; the Vinny sandwich, with cream cheese, hot pepper jelly, arugula, and meat on Amelia's bread, is the one people point to, along with the chicken Caesar wrap and chicken nachos. The taco menu changes every Thursday, and live music lands on Fridays, plus bluegrass and jazz jam sessions. Catering and private parties are available, and online ordering works at the downtown location.
That downtown taproom at 719 Virginia Avenue, Suite 105, is the original spot, open Tuesday through Thursday 11 am to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 11 pm, and Sunday 12 pm to 8 pm. The Boulevard taproom at 4155 Boulevard Place, near Butler University, opened in February 2019 and runs Tuesday through Sunday 11 am to 9 pm, closed Mondays. That location is the one worth a separate note because it partners with Hoagies and Hops, an authentic Pennsylvania-style hoagie shop run by Kristina Mazza, who grew up in southeast Pennsylvania and moved to Indiana to be closer to her parents. She holds a degree in Restaurant and Hospitality Management from Penn State and used Liscio's hoagie rolls imported from South Jersey, which contain milk.
At Hoagies and Hops, the cheesesteaks are the draw: the Traditional Cheesesteak is $12.03 for a small 7-inch and $17.88 for a regular 9-inch, with the Very Best Cheesesteak at $12.35 and $18.85. The hoagies run from the Brotherly Love at $11.70 to $31.85 for a large 18-inch, and the hot dogs include a Nathan's all-beef dog for $6.50 and a Chilly & Cheese dog made with beer chili and Chilly Water brew for $9.10. Sides like crinkle-cut fries, bacon and beer cheese crinkle-cut fries, and a blood orange IPA hummus basket round it out. It is closed Mondays, open Tuesday through Thursday 11 am to 8:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 9:30 pm, and Sunday 11 am to 8:30 pm. A third taproom sits at 1480 Olive Branch Parke Lane in Greenwood, open Tuesday through Friday 3 pm to 9 pm, Saturday 12 pm to 9 pm, and Sunday 12 pm to 7 pm.
