Tap Handle #794: Crown Brewing - Special Forces IPA

January 12, 2023

Tap Handle #794: Crown Brewing - Special Forces IPA

Tap size: 10.5"

Rarity: 10 or less seen, hand-made

Mounting: 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

Crown Brewing's tap isn't one that will knock your socks off. At the top of the tap is... a crown. It's an okay sculpt but not very detailed. The base is actually more detailed, resembling a brick smokestack with sculpted bricks. Down the front of this smokestack are raised, sculpted letters featuring the name of the brewery. At the top, just below the crown, is a sign for attaching labels. again, not a tap that wows you but there is some effort into making it look figural and not just another average design. There are a couple of redeeming features, however. The first is rarity... if you have one, they aren't easy to find. Historically I've only seen about a half dozen of these, including one that is for sale on the secondary market at the time of this writing. I first saw it back in 2017, which lines up with the brewery's first Crown Beer Festival, though I think it was actually produced earlier, possibly as far back as 2012 after their gold medal win at the World Beer Cup. The second redeeming feature is price... it tends to be affordable since it is not as detailed as more desirable taps are.

Crown Brewing was founded in 2008 in Crown Point, Indiana by Tim Walsh and Dave Bryan. Walsh had his own financial business and Bryan owned a florist business. They wanted to start a brewery and settled on a historic, 6,600-square-foot building as their site. It was a former boiler room for the Lake County Jail (famous for the 1934 escape of John Dillinger); after that it was a restaurant with a Prohibition-era atmosphere, and then it was taken over by Meals on Wheels, who sold Walsh and Bryan the building after they located to a new building. In keeping with the historic theme, Walsh and Bryan chose the name Crown Brewing, bringing back the name of a Crown Point brewery that was one of the largest breweries in pre-prohibition Indiana. The old Crown Brewing had started out as Julius Korn Brewing before the Civil War. It passed through several hands and then was purchased by L. Sonneschein Company from Chicago in 1895. They re-incorporated the business under the name Crown Brewing and built a four story building, remaining in Crown Point until 1910 when they relocated to Hammond, and finally closing in 1916. The site that Walsh and Bryan chose needed significant renovations; fortunately, the Redevelopment Commission reimbursed them half of the nearly $78,000 total renovation cost, with over $40,000 toward reinforcing the 75-foot brick chimney in the center. The brewery planned on offering a tasting room and tours, with a landscaped outdoor food court surrounding the chimney.

The two men brought in friend Steve Mazylewski as their Brewmaster. Mazylewski was a seasoned brewer who did his lager training in Germany and developed a passion for flavorful lagers. He focused on making classic English style brews, including brown ales and porters, but Special Forces IPA and Mayzie Cream Ale became the brewery's staples. Once the new brewery opened, people began bringing in old signs, labels and bottles from the long-closed brewery. Many of those artifacts are now found throughout Crown Brewing's facility. After people brought in original labels, Mazylewski attempted to re-create those styles. The first was a beer called Bohemian Export. They knew from the labels that this was a Czech style pilsner, but they didn’t have the exact recipe, as very little information remained from the original brewery. Mazylewski decided to make Bohemian Export a Czech style pilsner with German malts and Czech Saaz hops. They even re-used the graphics of the original label, with some minor adjustments. It sold so well that they made a bigger batch the next year, and then made it an annual summer seasonal. The second beer they resurrected was Kronen Bräu Dortmunder Helles.

The brewery won a bronze medal for their Industrial Porter at the 2010 World Beer Cup, and a gold medal for Crown Brown in the 2012 World Beer Cup. In 2015 Crown Brewing began canning using mobile canning equipment, with canning and bottling done to order. In 2017 the brewery expanded by adding a new tank that increased capacity by 15-20 percent, producing just under 1000 barrels per year. Also in 2017, Crown Brewing started Crown Beer Fest, one of the largest tasting festivals in the state. The 2017 festival featured more than 50 breweries from throughout the Midwest. Held at the Lake County Fairgrounds, the Crown Beer Fest annually attracts nearly 3,000 people. Additionally, the brewery teamed up with the City of Crown Point to host an annual Oktoberfest celebration.

The brewery currently produces year rounds as well as seasonals and a barrel-aged line called Grand Poobah. Besides beer, the brewery produces hand-crafted sodas such as root beer and ginger ale. Crown Brewing is under the same roof as Carriage Court Pizza.

Editor's note: sometime during Crown Brewing's history, Tim Walsh exited the business, but as to when and why this happened, I could not find any information. The brewery is now solely owned by Dave Bryan.

Crown Special Forces IPA is a deep gold colored brew with a strong citrus-like flowery hop aroma. The intense hop bitterness and flavor is backed by medium maltiness and body. This IPA is hopped seven times during the boil with Summit, Centennial, and Cascade hops, and is dry-hopped for additional character. It is left unfiltered to lock in all the hop freshness.