Indianapolis set to host 10,000-plus for national gathering of beer brewers

The nation’s largest gathering of brewers will be on tap downtown April 28 to May 1. The Brewers Association is expected to draw to the city for its annual trade show 10,000 to 15,000 people who make beer, brewing equipment and more.

More than 550 vendors are set to showcase their products at the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, but experts told IBJ the conference goes far beyond the walls of the Indiana Convention Center. The Indiana Brewers Guild is organizing a bus route for attendees to visit multiple central Indiana breweries, and many brewers are participating in collaborations to produce limited-run beers with other companies across the United States.

Some local beer producers are also expected to feature guest taps in their facilities for visitors and the general public, while others will host parties throughout the week.

The event—the largest craft-brewery-specific show in the United States—comes at a time of slight decline for the industry. According to the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association, 335 breweries opened in 2024 and 399 closed. Craft brewing also saw a 1% drop in barrel production year-over-year.

In the craft-brewing market, “demand growth has slowed, and retailers and distributors [are looking] to simplify their offerings or add options for flavor and variety outside of the craft category,” Bart Watson, the association’s vice president of strategy and membership, said in December. “That said, breweries have reacted to these changes by focusing on distribution, continuing to innovate in their taprooms and brewpubs, creating groups and partnerships, and offering a wider range of beverages in their portfolios.”

Local focus

The Craft Brewers Conference could prove to be a boon for central Indiana, both during the event and as local breweries look for opportunities to grow in the craft market. The conference is expected to generate $15.9 million in economic impact for the city, tourism agency Visit Indy told IBJ.

Dave Colt is a co-founder and owner of Sun King Brewing Co. and president of the Indiana Brewers Guild. He said the conference is “the biggest deal” in the craft industry and draws brewers from across the globe.

“The entire brewing world is going to be focused on Indianapolis,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to be able to showcase and highlight the amazing beers that are produced here, so there’s a lot of excitement to that.”

While the conference itself will be closed to the public, some associated events will be open. And the city’s turn in hosting is expected to shine a light on the state’s craft beer scene, experts and brewery owners said.

Throughout the trade show, local breweries expect to welcome hundreds of attendees, using the event as an opportunity to showcase their most popular products as well as some new small-batch productions.

Ann Obenchain, vice president of marketing and communications for the Brewers Association, said conference attendees “love to explore the local craft beverage community.”

Indianapolis breweries “can expect to see big crowds coming in,” Obenchain said. “Our industry is very collaborative, so seeing and learning how other communities are running their businesses, what recipes they’re doing [is important], and you’ll see that throughout Indianapolis, during the four days of the conference.”

The event, which bills itself as the largest alcoholic beverage industry event in the world, will also feature seminars and vendors focused on seltzer and cider producers and distilleries.

In a statement, Chicago-based Reyes Beverage Group, which owns Indianapolis-based Monarch Distributing, said the company is excited to be involved in the Indianapolis conference.

“Having played a role in this event in several of our other markets over the years, we know how important it is to our industry and local communities,” the statement said. “The event provides an opportunity to showcase the local craft breweries in town and to celebrate our great craft brewer partners.”

Special opportunity

Nearly 50 events at local breweries, parks and restaurants are listed on the Brewers Association’s rundown for the convention. The events include a disc golf outing, karaoke, facility tours and tastings.

Some brewers, like Upland Brewing Co., will host private events for their vendors to exhibit how they use certain products.

“It’s going to bring a lot of traffic in, from a lot of people who are really interested in seeing what Indianapolis has to offer in terms of craft beer,” said Matt Wisely, head brewer at Upland.

“It’s a great opportunity for us in the Indiana brewing scene, which kind of gets overlooked. We’re really kind of flyover territory for the industry in general because a lot of things are happening on the coasts, but [those people] in the industry usually don’t get a chance to really see what we’ve got going on here very often.”

Wisely said the company’s Fountain Square location will serve special productions throughout the week and will generally be open to the public, with the exception of April 30, when it hosts supplier Yakima Chief Hops for a private event featuring nine brews.

He said hosting the conference has meant putting additional time and thought into how breweries can capitalize on the temporary traffic increase, but he expects Upland and others across central Indiana to see a big payoff.

“While the average person can’t just walk into the conference, there will be events at every single brewery in the area where they’re trying to show something special to these people that are coming to the conference,” he said.

For one vendor event, Upland received supplies as a donation from the sponsoring company. “I would say we’ve financially gained already,” Wisely said.

The national event this year coincides with Bargersville-based Taxman Brewing Co.’s annual Death & Taxes Day beer festival, which will take place April 26, the Saturday before the conference kicks off. Juliana Silva, director of sales, marketing and beverage for Taxman, said the event is being treated as an invitational for conference attendees arriving early.

She said Taxman will also host events throughout the week at its CityWay taproom and restaurant, which is about five blocks east of the Indiana Convention Center.

“Taxman is just one of the many local breweries that will be a big feature at the conference,” Silva said. “I think that’ll be really exciting for us to be able to show everyone that’s in town what we have to offer at our downtown location.”

The event will also have a bespoke, commemorative beer produced through a collaboration between Sun King and Lebanon-based Sugar Creek Malt Co. Brewers of the Corn, a nod to Stephen King, uses sweet corn and biscuit malt that is aged in bourbon barrels to add a light oak flavor.

A long time coming

Indianapolis has been working to host the Craft Brewers Conference for more than 20 years, Colt and Visit Indy’s Chris Gahl told IBJ. That includes unsuccessful bids for 2016 to 2019 and 2021.

Colt said the push to bring the event here began with Broad Ripple Brewpub owner John Hill and Greg Emig of Lafayette Brewing Co., among many pioneers in the state’s craft brewing scene.

He said Sun King and the Indiana Brewers Guild, led by Julia Whitson, worked closely with local industry leaders and Visit Indy for years to court the Brewers Association. That included keeping a bug in the ear of the trade group’s leadership at events like the Great American Beer Festival and other conferences across the country.

“It was really just that good, old-fashioned Hoosier, roll up your sleeves and get the job done mentality,” Colt said. “I know that it, at first blush, may not look like an incredibly crazy destination, but as we chatted, we showed them that, gosh darn it, we’re friendly, welcoming folks with a can-do spirit. Why would they not want to come here?”

Visit Indy’s Gahl said the push that ultimately helped Indianapolis secure the event came in 2021, when the city hosted the entire NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament in a partial bubble environment. He said tourism officials had a meeting with the group early that year and used it as an opportunity to invite leadership to multiple rounds of the tournament as guests of Visit Indy.

During those trips, the Brewers Association met with multiple craft breweries, including Sun King and Three Floyds Brewing Co., to discuss the possibility of hosting the convention in Indianapolis.

Gahl said the goal of the meetings was to overcome a “misperception” that the city’s craft brewing scene wasn’t robust and concerns about air transportation to Indianapolis. For years, Gahl said, Visit Indy has worked closely with the Indianapolis Airport Authority and with the Indiana Brewers Guild to address those concerns—not only in a bid for the Craft Brewers Conference but for other events and to grow the state’s beer scene more generally.

Obenchain, the Brewers Association communications director, said Indianapolis’ walkability, the size of the convention center and the strength of the city’s brewing community played important roles in the 2021 decision to commit to Indianapolis for 2025.

The Brewers Association has locked in locations for its events through 2029. But Obenchain said the organization is reassessing how it might approach host city selection for future years.

“We’ve gone to very different cities and have repeated back to a few popular ones, but we are taking a look at potentially going back to maybe a four-location rotation pattern,” she said. “We’re looking at that model and seeing where we can be more efficient. It’s always more efficient for exhibitors as well as attendees.

“We would certainly be looking at Indianapolis as a potential partner, and if we get into that multiyear contract, we’ll be chatting with Visit Indy and other stakeholders,” Obenchain said.

Industry correction

For some, like Wisely, the Craft Brewers Conference couldn’t come at a more opportune time. That’s because the event features numerous speakers and seminars about brewing as a business, remaining relevant and harnessing innovations in the marketplace.

Upland plans to send 13 people to the expo, up from the two or three it has dispatched in the past.

Indiana’s craft beer industry has grown steadily over the past two decades, although that growth has slowed significantly since 2019. That dovetails with the industry as a whole.

Central Indiana has nearly 70 breweries, 28 of which are in Indianapolis, according to the Brewers Association. In total, the state has about 200 breweries that generate $2 billion annually for the state’s economy.

Wisely said the industry is undergoing some “correction” after years of growth. In 2024, the United States had 9,736 craft breweries, down slightly from a high of 9,906 in 2023.

“It’s not like, all of a sudden, people aren’t drinking beer—people are drinking a lot of beer, but it’s just now starting to kind of settle down,” he said. “There’s been decades of growth, year after year after year, which is obviously unsustainable. So I see this more as just things kind of easing, settling into some equilibrium, and we’ll get to some stability fairly soon.”•