On Tap

Scarlet Lane Brewing Opens New SoBro Tap House

Photographer: Michael Durr

The well-known but recently vacant Big Al’s Superstore building has some new tenants giving new life to the 46th and College intersection. The McCordsville-based brewery Scarlet Lane Brewing recently opened its doors to their SoBro Tap House and hope to serve the area as a neighborhood retreat.

With all three owners living close to the area, opening a taproom in South Broad Ripple made sense according to one of the owners Nick Servies.

“My wife and I spent our adult lives in the Butler area, and I think everyone that lives in that part of town knows the Big Al’s building,” he says.”I think everyone was just begging for something good to go in there. We wanted to get back into that neighborhood to revitalize that area.”

The intimate taproom still displays the signature Scarlet Lane feel, with darker macabre artwork and notably no TVs.

“We want a place where people can hang out and talk to their bartender or their neighbors free from distractions,” Servies says about the choice to not have TVs like most other establishments. “We don’t want to fight the market that is already there, we’d rather be more of a place where people can hang out without obligation.”

To stay true to the neighborhood retreat theme, the taproom won’t be event heavy but will have special announcements for every beer launch throughout the year. Along with the taproom, the building will also house a new restaurant, Stiltsville out of Miami. The neighboring businesses plan to collaborate to provide a small appetizer menu for the taproom.

The SoBro taproom is one of two new taprooms that opened this year, the other being the Old Southside earlier this year. Both taprooms will have the Scarlet Lane standbys, including their signature Dorian Coconut Stout, but hope to use these new taprooms as a place to try out more experimental beers.

“We wanted to see the brand grow, and by opening a couple of neighborhood taprooms it allows us to get more beer to the consumer and the availability to do more experimental brews,” Servies says. “We can try the different brews out at our taprooms and send them off to distro if they’re successful.” 

Revitalizing local neighborhoods has always been a goal for Nick Servies and his wife and Head Brewer, Eilise Lane. After living in Oregon for many years, traveling and hanging out in local breweries just intensified their interest for unique beers. After falling in love with a stout brewed by her mentor, Tonya Cornett at Bend Brewing Company, Lane started dabbling in homebrewing. Not surprisingly, their first and most popular brew is the Dorian Coconut Stout.

“We were always beer people and we watched all these small beer companies pick up in small towns,” Servies says. “Especially in the West where we saw major fishing or logging companies go down, small breweries were popping up on their place. We were really interested in being a part of the new economy.”

Soon after, Lane attended the American Brewers Guild to learn the basics and science of brewing, and the Scarlet Lane team set up shop in McCordsville in 2014. When asked why they chose McCordsville, Servies says the building and timing had a lot to do with it.

“We found a building that was the right set up for what we needed,” he says. “It was a space that needed something, and we wanted to make it a focal point for this Indiana town.”

The SoBro taproom is located at 4601 N. College Ave, across the street from Next Door Eatery. They have 22 rotating taps dedicated to their most popular beers, with a couple of taps dedicated to guest brews which will include wine, cider and beers. A carryout cooler will also be available for to-go beer. You can celebrate Scarlet Lane’s 5th anniversary May 4, where they are relaunching their Dorian Coconut Stout as their summer release. 

For more information, visit them online at scarletlanebrew.com.