Sun King Fishers Tap Room & Brewery
By Matthew Hume
|
Clay Robinson and Dave Colt, Sun King’s co-founders and co-CEOs, and the entire Sun King team invite you to celebrate the spirit of Oktoberfest at their Sun King Fishers Tap Room & Brewery
|
|
Sun King Fishers Tap Room & Brewery opened its doors in the Fishers District in early 2020, but the plans for the two-story, family-friendly, 13,000-square-foot brewery and tap room, complete with an event room / beer hall, food vendors, and two outdoor patio areas, had been in the works for years. “When people think of Sun King, they don’t think of food,” says Clay Robinson, Sun King’s co-founder/co-CEO. “We’re great at liquids and fermentation, at creating great beverages and excellent experiences, but we don’t do food.” And so, as they developed a vision for their 116th Street location, Clay and co-founder/co-CEO Dave Colt worked with the City of Fishers to bring local chefs and entrepreneurs from the Fishers Test Kitchen into the Sun King space. “This has allowed us to work in partnership with local restaurants to create offerings people want,” Clay tells me.
The Sun King Fishers location also allows Sun King to keep up with demand for year-round beers, such as Sunlight Cream Ale, Osiris, and Keller Haze, while giving them creative license to experiment with fun and off-the-wall recipes. “It’s an innovation center all around—on the food side with changing concepts, and on the brewing side, where we can really be creative and try fun, different things,” Clay says. Things like the State Fair Funnel Cake Ale, brewed with hundreds of funnel cakes in the mash, created especially for the 2021 Indiana State Fair. Or a beer celebrating the opening of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” as Broadway in Indianapolis returns from pandemic hiatus. “Dave’s working on that recipe now,” Clay says. “It will involve chocolate from Best Chocolate in Town, marshmallow and other fun ingredients.” 
As much fun as it is to brew and subsequently consume Sun King’s myriad delights, I learned in chatting with Clay that Sun King has never been just about the beer. Early on, before their original downtown Indy location even opened, Clay and Dave would ask each other about their best and worst jobs, what drove them crazy in their work, and how they would run a business. “We thought about how we wanted to treat our people, how we wanted to give back to the community, and how to create a culture that encourages people to be themselves, but fit in and work towards a common goal,” Clay tells me. It becomes apparent, then, that Sun King is really about community building and supporting community as much as they are about the beers and spirits they make so well—and that we can’t get enough of.
|
So, as September rolls around again, embrace the new season and head on over to Sun King Fishers if you haven’t already. “The spirit of Oktoberfest is about people gathering to share laughs, eat food, drink beer and have fun, and that is exactly the spirit of Sun King,” Clay explains. “We want people to come and have a great time on our patio or in the tap room, have some beers and enjoy some food, and visit with family and friends,” and Clay adds, “It’s so good to finally be at a time where people are coming out again. It’s kind of the gist of what we do.”
|
|
|
The Sun King Brewery at Fishers District is located at 116th Street and IKEA Way. Visit the Fishers location Monday-Wednesday, 3-10PM; Thursday, 11AM-10PM; Friday-Saturday, 11AM-11PM; and Sunday, 11AM-9PM. Current culinary concepts available include Korave Korean BBQ, Lil’ Dumplings Global Street Food, and One Trick Pony Diner-Style Burgers.