Guide to homebrewing in Indiana

With all the stories you’ve read in INDYtoday this week about beer, wine, and other drinks, you might be thinking...

what if I could make my own?

We’ve got good news for you: Homebrewing has been legal in Indiana since 1985, and in 1999, it became legal to take your homebrewed beer out of your house. Today, the American Homebrewers Association estimates that there are more than 1.1 million active homebrewers in the US.

To brew your own beer at home, you’ll need quite a bit of equipment, including:

• Fermenter
• Airlock
• Brew pot
• Heat source
• Siphon
• Cleaning and sanitizing supplies
• Hydrometer
• Bottling container with a spigot
• Glass bottles and caps

Luckily for you, Indy is host to a few places where you can stock up on supplies.

Great Fermentations | 5127 E. 65th St. | If the above list of materials looks a little daunting, you can grab a starter kit at this shop, which can run as low as $85. When you’re ready to start branching out, you can also find hundreds of ingredient kits here for everything from West Coast IPAs to hibiscus raspberry saisons.

Herrmann Brewthers | 7811 W. Morris St. | This west side taproom, which opened in October 2023, carries a selection of starter kits + plenty of other supplies in its grain shop. Bonus: You can treat yourself to a pint while you’re here, or stop by on trivia or taco truck night for a full evening of fun.