People’s Brewing Co. unveils BYB-themed Battalion Ale

Image credit: Patrick Cummings

INDIANAPOLIS — People’s Brewing Company co-founder Brett VanderPlaats wasn’t exactly dressed like James Bond for his first lunch meeting with the Brickyard Battalion (BYB), the official supporters’ group of the Indy Eleven. An important project was behind deadline, but VanderPlaats knew this was a stop he had to make.

Battalion Ale was about to be birthed.

“Brett showed up covered in dust — they were still in construction of their Lebanon tap room and it was behind schedule,” recalled BYB advisory board member Mark Anderson. “But this was more important.”

“We were working on the tap room the day they called and kind of dropped everything and got the ball rolling,” said People’s Brewing Co. owner and brewmaster Chris Johnson.

Can design: Patrick Cummings

The BYB approached People’s with the concept of brewing an Indy Eleven and BYB-themed craft beer, and it didn’t exactly take lengthy convincing.

“There wasn’t much of a pitch to be made,” Anderson added. “Brett was enthusiastically in. Chris immediately jumped on board. They are season ticket holders and flagship sponsors for the team, but they also sponsor a local baseball team, hockey team and cycling team. Their passion for local communities is reflected in everything they do — hence the name People’s Brewing Co.”

The Lafayette-based brewery channels the Gettysburg Address in its Twitter profile, and Battalion Ale truly is a beer “of the people, by the People’s, for the people.” Moreover, the versatile American pale ale embodies a tenet of the BYB: inclusivity. It’s a beer for everyone, in a section for everyone.

The challenge for Johnson was finding the perfect balance of hops so that non-pale ale fans won’t be overwhelmed by bitterness, while at the same time not losing the beer snobs who’d rather practically swim in hops.

The end result is a delicious, non-seasonal APA with a strong hint of citrus.

“It’s 32 IBU and I think this batch came in at like 5.15 or 5.2, but we’re shooting for five percent (ABV),” Johnson explained over a pint of Battalion Ale during a sampling at a recent BYB meeting. “We used American pale malt and kept it on the lighter side so it’s really good for game day — it’s very drinkable. Then we used Azacca hops and Citra which are both citrusy, fruity hops. It’s got a big nose, not a lot of bitterness. We left most of the hops out of the bitter side and put some flavor and some aromas in there. So you get a little apricot and a little citrus.

“We didn’t want to run anybody off with a giant IPA or anything like that.”

Anderson sang an identical tune. The BYB and People’s connected on the same wavelength from the start.

“(People’s) met with the board of the BYB to get our feedback on what we envision: drinkability in all seasons, approachable but still a full-flavor beer,” Anderson said. “It’s hard to construct one taste to satisfy a thousand palettes.”

For the can art, People’s enlisted the services of BYB designer Patrick Cummings, creator of Indy’s home, away and alternate kits, as well as several memorable gameday posters.

“Cummings was given the green light to put forth the can design and out of his never-ending fount of creativity came this beautiful, interesting, funny 8-bit depiction of an Indy Eleven kickoff and we were flying,” Anderson said.

Can design: Patrick Cummings

“I took a couple different approaches with it,” said Cummings of his vision. “I wanted to make sure it stood out on a shelf. And we actually had one of my favorite poster designs that I had done for the Indy Eleven was the cityscape with the player lineup and the stands. So I kind of took that as one of the options and pretty much that was the one that everybody gravitated to the most.”

A portion of every sale of Battalion Ale — both inside and outside of Carroll Stadium — goes to the BYB, which puts in tireless hours preparing tifo, chants, signage, smoke, tailgates and watch parties to enhance the Eleven game-day experience and greater soccer culture. And off the pitch, the supporters’ group does everything it can to help the community.

That passion and civic commitment appealed to Johnson and VanderPlaats.

“We’ve gotten to know some of the BYB over time, and when this came to me and was an opportunity we thought we’d absolutely like to get on board, and get ourselves a little deeper into the Indy Eleven and the culture,” Johnson said. “So it was just a perfect fit.”

Sometimes showing up to restaurants caked in dust is worth it.

BATTALION ALE PRE-RELEASE AND INDY ELEVEN WATCH PARTY

Try the new APA at Union Jack Pub on Saturday before it hits shelves. Soccer trivia and the Battalion Ale tapping start at 8 p.m., followed by an Indy Eleven watch party as the Boys in Blue take on the expansion San Francisco Deltas in their inaugural match at Kezar Stadium. Note: It’s an all-ages event, only the tasting is 21+ in the bar area.

Follow Kevin on Twitter @KJboxing.

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