Micro-brewery commits to new downtown events center

A startup microbrewery that had planned to open downtown on North Pennsylvania Street instead has agreed to serve its beers from a new event center near Lucas Oil Stadium.

Round Town Brewery Co. had filed plans last September to operate at 924 N. Pennsylvania St., in 11,000 square feet of warehouse space at the rear of the Arts Council of Indianapolis building.

But owners couldn’t come to terms on a lease with building owner Buckingham Co., Round Town co-owner Max Schenk said.

They did, however, sign an agreement with Taki Sawi to take 16,000 square feet in the basement of his Biltwell Event Center at 950 S. White River Parkway, just north of Interstate 70 on downtown’s southwest side.

Sawi and his wife, Jeanette, operate Fountain Square staple Santorini Greek Kitchen and bought the nearly century-old, three-story Biltwell building in November. They’ve since been busy returning the 102,000-square-foot structure to its past glory.

Round Town, meanwhile, hopes to open in February with five beer choices: a Vienna-style lager, an IPA, an American spiced wheat, a Belgian pale ale, and an Irish red ale. The microbrewery plans to host food trucks until the event center’s kitchen begins operating.

“We’re really excited about this new spot,” Schenk said. “Hopefully, it was all just a blessing in disguise.”

Head brewer is Jerry Sutherlin, who will bring his skills from the downtown Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery where he’s the current brewmaster.

Ownership in Round Town includes Keith Reilly, who operates O’Reilly’s at 36 S. Pennsylvania St.