Indigo Imp Brewery

Of course, high school is typically not a time where classic European brewing techniques are foremost in one’s mind. One’s brain is typically too addled by hormones and one’s tastebuds too coated by Doritos to require anything other than the beer be cheap and available; when you are too young to drink legally, you are a beggar, not a chooser. There’s then a gradient that one climbs in beer appreciation where certain things begin to matter. First, usually, is the requirement that the beer is cold (for some, that is all that’s needed to appreciate beer). Second, there’s often the desire to have certain beers in certain seasons or on certain occasions (Guinness tends to be pretty popular a couple of days after the Ides of March). Third, and this is when one has a budget enough to be picky, craft beers begin to matter and the extensive array of flavors available from the craft-brewers in the US is now staggering (coffee-laden, beet-infused, hemp-spiked—enough so that many places now have beer menus). Fourth, and normally the pinnacle, is the desire to make one’s own beer, which was legalized in 1978 by Jimmy Carter (I’m sure his brother had nothing to do with that…). The Homebrewers Association estimates that there are more than 750,000 home brewers in the US. Some even dream of having their own brewery one day.

Matt Chappel was a homebrewer with a penchant for research and a dream to do something more. While he made beer in his garage for family and friends, he also laid the groundwork for the brewery he and Kathy would open in 2008: Indigo Imp Brewery. Cleverly named after the blue devil mascot of their high school, the Chappels have quietly grown their little brewery at a manageable pace, and along the way have incorporated classic, rarely used brewing techniques to create exceptional beer.