We’ve been traveling A LOT this year to Goshen, Indiana. “Where?,” you ask. It’s a little town about mid-way across the state, way up north by the Indiana-Michigan border, and about 20 miles south of I-80/90. We went there three times this past summer as part of our RV rally business, Kleen Tank.
We “camped” (a generous term, since it was akin to parking in a gravel lot!) at the local 4-H fairgrounds as we gave seminars about our business’ service and worked on RVs that attended the rallies. You can check out Kleen Tank’s website to see what we actually do, but needless to say, after 10+ hour days of hard, physical work in the hot Indiana sun, we were ready for some serious refreshments.
Goshen is a medium-sized town, about 30,000 or so in population. It’s right in the heart of Indiana RV Country and home to many RV manufacturers and supporting RV vendors. It contains Goshen College, a small Mennonite liberal arts college, and is home to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, which is one of the largest county fairs in the United States.
The fairgrounds have 300+ full hook-up campsites plus another 700+ more that have limited services. We’ve heard they are looking to greatly expand so they can host two — or even three — rallies at one time, rather than just one (that’s really good news for our business!).
Once in town, you’re met with the typical small, Midwest Americana. A majestic courthouse at the center of a square. Wide avenues with all kinds of mom-and-pop stores on either side. An old movie theater that has seen better times. But this town has some real hidden gems.
There’s Venturi, with its very traditional Neopolitan-style pizza. Never had a Neopolitan pizza? Us either, but here’s what to expect and all I can say is that the experience is fabulous. There’s Los Primos Restaurant (the old one, on Clinton Street, not the Chiplotle-style one that opened up across town), one of the best truly authentic hole-in-the-wall Mexican (and Cuban!) restaurants we’ve ever been to; their tacos are simply delish. And finally, Kelly Jae’s Cafe, home to all kinds of yummy small plates and tasty cocktails. We’ll do a blog on them soon.
But the true find in Goshen was the aptly-named, Goshen Brewery. Usually, we are suspicious of local microbreweries, especially when they have just opened up. At newer brewpubs, it seems their beers haven’t had time to age properly or the brewmaster hasn’t quite gotten a few batches under his belt at a production-size capacity. Likewise, they seem a bit anxious with their menu offerings, like they’re testing things out to see what works and what fits with their beers. We’ve seen this with our local microbrewery, The Forge in Sycamore, Illinois.
Goshen Brewery opened mid-2015, so about two years before we discovered it. We’re not sure about the early years when they were just starting out, but — damn — this place turns out some great food — and drink. The owners, Jessie and Amanda Sensenig, are from Colorado, home of many fantastic microbreweries. The growth of Goshen’s arts and culture environment (as well as family), brought the Sensensigs to Goshen and he submitted a proposal to the city to develop what was a public service building near the mill race in the heart of town.
The old building needed extensive renovations and work to make it into a brewpub and thanks to the crowd-funding website, IndieGoGo, Sensenig was able to raise $30,000 for his brewing system, including a seven-barrel brewhouse and four seven-barrel fermenters. His first two beers were a Scotch ale and a coffee porter, which were on the beer list at least once during our visits this summer and fall and were quite wonderful.
The website for Goshen Brewery notes that the facility is 100% wind-powered and features local, farm to table fare. The place has a very urban, yet laid back vibe to it. It’s appropriate to families, couples, and individuals. There was always a wide age range there, from locals to art-types to RVers and even the traveling businessmen looking for an alternative to Chilis.
The brewpub had about eight to twelve beers on tap during our visits and all were very tasty (you can get samples and the barkeeps were very generous and willing to give small samples). They’ve mostly avoided the current trend of offering too many IPAs and other super-hoppy beers (though the two or three they did have were pretty good!), and we especially liked their Saisons and other sour beers. They have really grasped the art of creating seasonal beers — and good ones at that! Many an evening, we left with full growlers and even a few of their “crowerls” (large cans) of choice brews.
As for food, well, this place excels in that area too. There’s a good mix of smokehouse creations (their beef brisket is exceptional but try the Hot Mess, an amalgamation of smoked pork shoulder, fontina cheese, and pickled jalapenos) and Asian-influenced creations. Here, the Veggie Bahn Mi sandwich is quite good and the rice dishes really shine.
If you’re lucky enough to be there on a Tuesday, place two orders of their Pad Thai — it’s so good you’ll want to take one to go! They feature a limited menu on Sundays as a part of their Sunday Brunch. The Chicken and Waffle were fantastic and we’ll be coming back often to try other selections.
Goshen Brewery has live music during the week, an outside courtyard for dining and fun events (including bag toss), frequently takes part in Goshen city activities (check out their Events webpage) and is currently (as of the fall 2017) expanding their facility with additional seating and brewery capabilities.
Goshen Brewing Company is located at 315 W. Washington Street in Goshen, Indiana. Call them at (574) 971-5324. Their website is GoshenBrewing.com and their Facebook Page is Facebook.com/goshenbrewing, which features at least one post just about every day (very entertaining and informative!).