Craft beer festivals have become a common occurrence. They happen most weekends in most cities across the nation. And many of them look and feel similar. Becoming commonplace isn’t a good thing as it can cause a decrease in interest from beer fans. Luckily, there are some creative people coming up with new ideas to keep these beer fests intriguing. And the most unique craft beer festival that I’ve been to is the 450 North Corn Maze Beer Fest.

Even though this is the third year putting on this event, it was the first year that I was able to attend. It takes place in early October each year and is an event that you won’t soon forget.

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Who Is 450 North Brewing?

Before talking about this unique craft beer festival they call the Corn Maze Beer Fest, it’s important to understand the brewery on a high level.

450 North Brewing is in Columbus, Indiana. And unless you live in Southern Indiana (or drink 450 North’s beer), you’ve probably never heard of this city. It’s a small city in a very Midwestern, farm focused region.

The Simmons family owns and operates this brewery but they aren’t new to the area. Their family has owned a farm for generations and over the past decade or so, they’ve developed a number of other businesses – including, a winery, an event space, and a brewery. That’s pretty impressive!

But what does a brewery do when they are in the “middle of nowhere”? They put on an event that only they can do by using their massive amount of land.

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What Is The 450 North Corn Maze Beer Fest?

While the concept seems simple, this unique craft beer festival is massive and well executed.

Not only is 450 North Brewing one of the few breweries with the land to pull off an event like this, they also have surprisingly great regional influence for a brewery their size. People from all over Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and further attend this event.

Since they began special can releases of New England IPAs, Fruited Berliner Weisse, and Pastry Stouts; they’ve become well known in the region and that is helping to drive attendance to this event.

Past year’s events have been so successful that they increased the available tickets to 4,500 in 2018. That’s a lot of people!

And each one of them made their way through the corn maze to find beer booths along the way. Just like any other corn maze, you can get lost along the way.

But the reality is the corn maze wasn’t difficult. The primary function of the maze was to create a unique environment for the beer fest. And it does exactly that.

The corn maze is on 6 acres of land and from above it looks like those crop circles that we once thought were created by aliens. Attendees enter the maze and are guided into the center where there’s a large area featuring 450 North beers, a stage for live music, a water station, and easy access to restrooms.

From there, paths led to 8 different circular sections. It is possible to get turned around and forget which area you’ve been to which is part of the fun. Once you discover one of the sections, there are a handful of breweries each pouring a variety of their beers. Each of these sections becomes their own mini beer festival with new beers to discover and new people to meet.

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A Unique Craft Beer Festival Needs Great Beer

This event featured over 60 breweries, most were from Indiana but you’ll find a few from Ohio, Kentucky, etc. For those looking for variety, it was easy to try beer from places you’ll never get to visit along with every style possible.

I’ve been to many beer festivals and in many cases, I’ve found that the breweries bring their basic beers. That didn’t feel like the case here. Breweries were serving seasonal and specialty brews and this only elevated the event for those that are seeking to try something different.

Not knowing most of the breweries, it wasn’t easy to decide which lines to stand in. In some cases, I would pick the brewery with the shortest line. Other times, I would take a peak at the list of beers being served before getting in line.

Many of the beer booths had very long lines but they kept moving at a good pace. And while I waited, I was able to chat with others about the beers they’ve tried and get recommendations for what I needed to try next.

On top of all that, attendees were given a mixed 4-pack of beer to take home at the end of the day. 450 North also had other packaged beer available for purchase as well.

My Favorites Beers From This Unique Craft Beer Festival

While I was doing my best to just enjoy the event, meet some new people, and marvel in the execution of the corn maze; it’s impossible for me not to judge the beer along the way. So here’s a short list of what I liked the best.

These are in no particular order and I only got to try a small fraction of what was available. So if you attended, comment below and let me know what you liked the best so I know what to look out for at the next event.

ZwanzigZ

Smores Porter

450 North

Trick R Treat Belgian Tripel

The Great Pumpkin Shake Milkshake IPA

Hop River

Double Agent Rye Saison

Mind Over Mash Brewing

Brut-Ale Brut IPA

Four Day Ray

Let The Gourd Times Roll Pumpkin Ale

Brewlink Brewing

Nuttercup Porter

Big Leaf

Westterrehautian 12 Belgian Quad

Check Out All My Check-Ins From The Event On Untappd

It is worth noting that both 450 North and ZwanzigZ are located in Columbus, Indiana. Each of these breweries were pouring some amazing beers so I highly recommend making a trip to this little Indiana city to visit both of them.

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Thinking about attending the 450 North Corn Maze Beer Fest next year? Make sure to subscribe and follow me on social media (search craftbeerjoe) to keep up with the latest from this brewery and all of craft beer.

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Creating A Unique Craft Beer Festival

The growth in craft beer has been strong over the last 5 or so years. And as craft beer has grown, so has the number of events.

But many of these events start to look and feel very similar. And there’s nothing wrong with the traditional approach but there is an opportunity for each brewery to create a unique craft beer festival like 450 North’s Corn Maze Beer Fest.

Whether you are a craft beer novice or longtime enthusiasts, you are bound to attend events that are most intriguing and offer more than just beer. Yes, we all love craft beer but that’s only one element to motivating someone to attend an event.

For a while, the unique element was often the type of beer being served. Whether that was a huge variety or something special like a barrel-aged beer. But variety is now a prerequisite to any event and barrel-aged beers are readily available.

This is even true for the very large beer events like Hunahpu’s Day and Dark Lord Day. These events draw massive crowds from across the nation but most will tell you that they beer release is a minor part of the event. They attend for the community, massive beer lists, etc.

For breweries that want to get people to their events, it is going to take a concentrated effort to find a way to make a unique craft beer festival. My suggestion, start with who you are as a brewery and go from there. 450 North used their situation to their advantage. While I doubt you have the land to have a corn maze, there has to be something that makes you different. And if there isn’t then it’s time to create something that does.

What’s The Most Unique Craft Beer Festival You’ve Been To?