Friday night we arrived and found our hotel, then went out for dinner. We decided to go to the Black Swan Brewpub http://www.blackswanbrewpub.com/index.html, which is located in a strip mall. As with many brewpubs that are located in strip malls, the inside is much more inviting than the exterior. The bar area is divided off from the main dining area. It has a slightly upscale feel but it is comfortable as well, dark wood is the predominate feature. Also featured on the wall is some local art work.
We were quickly seated and did our usual by ordering a sampler of their beers. The sampler included 10 beers (actually 9 beers and 1 cider) 7 from Black Swan and three guest taps. The seven beers from Black Swan were an IPA, ESB, Porter, Tafel, Cream Stout, Scottish Ale, EKG and a Pale Ale. All of the beers were well made but some stood out to me more than others, my favorites were the IPA, Porter, Cream Stout and Scottish Ale. The IPA is a very good American IPA with a good amount of hops in the aroma as well in the taste a good malt backbone which offsets the hops to balance the beer. The Porter is almost black in appearance, with noticeable chocolate malt notes and just enough hops to balance the beer. The Cream Stout is black in color, with a good roasty fullness that is played off of with lactose that smooths out the beer. The Scottish Ale became my favorite as it warmed up and the flavors came out. It had a really nice crystal malt flavor and became more complex as it warmed.
The food was every bit the equal of the beers. The menu has notes of typical pub food, but also goes above and beyond that. There are sandwiches, salads and dinner entrees so your whole group can find something they would like. Towards the end of our meal the chef, Nick Carter, walked up to our table and engaged us in an entertaining conversation for several minutes. His love of his food and the beer that they produce was very evident from talking to him. If you are in Plainfield, the Black Swan is worth a stop.
Saturday our first stop was at Chateau Thomas Winery http://www.chateauthomas.com/ . This is the second winery in the Indianapolis area that we have been to and much to our pleasure this winery features grape wine not fruit wine. My wife and I walked into the tasting room and we were greeted by Bill and he explained the tasting process. For $5 you receive 5 tastes of their varietal wines, for $7 you receive 5 tastes including their reserve wines. We went for the $7 tasting. They had their wines broken down by general styles Dry Whites, Dry Reds, Sweets, Slender Series and Reserve Wines. The Dry Whites included Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Dry Gewurztraminer and Dry Riesling. The Dry Reds included Tosca, Merlot, Teroledego and Petite Verdot. Sweets included Riesling, Sweet Sherry, Vintage Port, and Blackberry Merlot. The Reserves included Malbec, Family Reserve, Late Harvest Viongier and Vidal Blanc Ice Wine. The Slender Series is a line of wines that is proprietary to this winery. It has no carbs, no fat and is sweetened by a non-caloric sweetener. It has been given out in the gift baskets at the Academy Awards.
All of the wines are well made and the ones we sampled were very good. My wife and I had a few favorites among them the Sweet Sherry, Vintage Port and the Dry Riesling (it is considered dry because it has low sweetness, but it is slightly sweet). We purchased a bottle of the Sweet Sherry and are looking forward to enjoying it. Thanks to variable state laws they may or may not be able to ship to you, check their website for further shipping information. This is a winery worth a stop, since they have around 40 wine varieties my wife and I only scratched the surface with our visit.
Upon leaving the winery we took a short drive to Three Pints Brewpub http://www.threepintsbrewpub.com/index.html. It is in a standalone building, which in a previous life was probably a drive in restaurant. The inside is small and probably seats no more than 50 people, including a small bar that seats about 8 people. Upon being seated we ordered a sampler of their beers, which was a total of 4 beers. The beers were Plainfield Pale Ale Version 2.0, Retired Red, Oktoberfest and Yoshi's Nectar. Yoshi's Nectar is brewed as a California Common, think Anchor Steam, neither my wife nor I liked the beer. I am not much on Cal Commons and she did not like the hop profile. The Oktoberfest was a bit thin and bitter; I just wonder why they still had an Oktoberfest on tap in mid-January. My wife like the Retired Red best and ordered a pint, it was noticeably malty with a note of hops and was an easy drinker. I ordered a pint of Plainfield Pale Ale; it was by far the hoppiest beer they had and was fairly malty so it met my needs.
The food was pretty much your typical bar food burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads. I do have to say that the food was very good. Unfortunately the beer has a ways to go to make it to the level of good. It was worth a try but I think we will skip it if we ever go back to Plainfield, IN.
After we finished our lunch and beers we headed back to Black Swan Brewpub for a beer each. I ordered the Scottish Ale, which I liked from the previous night, which was very enjoyable. My wife ordered a Roggenwein, it came only in a half pint since it was 10.5% ABV. It is a barleywine made with 50% rye malt. It was medium full bodied with an interesting spiciness from the rye malt and finished fairly dry. Both my wife and I liked it. As we were just about done we received the call to pick up our daughter, so we finished the beers and headed out.
To recap our mini tour: Black Swan very good beer and upscale bar food, Chateau Thomas Winery very good wine, with only one fruit wine, Three Pints Brewpub very good bar food but average at best beer.
QC Beerguy
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