Upland Brewing Company is the kind of brewery that rewards a closer look. From the outside, it's Indiana's third-largest craft brewery—16,000 barrels a year, distribution across 24 states, sour beers in Canada, Europe, Russia, and Japan. Ten locations across the state. A familiar name. But the story underneath is what makes Upland interesting: a sour program that began with a simple trade of beer for wine barrels, a pre-Prohibition pilsner resurrected from a forgotten recipe, and a brand identity built around an idea called "The Other Midwest"—Bloomington as a place that's proudly Midwestern and anything but flyover country. Upland doesn't chase trends. It builds programs. It's been doing that for over 25 years, and the result is one of the most distinctive regional breweries in the American heartland.
The Founding: Bloomington, 1998
Upland Brewing Company was founded in 1998 in Bloomington, Indiana, by Marc Sattinger, Russ Levitt, and Dean LaPlante. The brewery takes its name from the Indiana Uplands—a geographic region of southern Indiana characterized by rolling hills, forests, and limestone bedrock. Bloomington sits near the northern boundary of the Uplands, and the name was a deliberate nod to place. The brewery opened in a space on 11th Street in Bloomington, and the first beers on tap were Wheat Ale, Pale Ale, and Bad Elmer's Porter. Bottle and keg distribution began the same year. Food service followed in 1999. It was early days for craft beer in Indiana—the state was still dominated by macro lagers. Upland was betting that Hoosiers would embrace something different.
The bet paid off. By 2004, Upland had achieved distribution across all 92 counties of Indiana. It had become a Central Indiana staple. In 2006, ownership transferred to a group of local investors while remaining 100% family-owned—a structure that persists today. The brewery was growing, but it was about to make a pivot that would define its identity for decades.
The Sour Program: Beer for Barrels
In 2006, Upland traded a few cases of beer for wine barrels from Oliver Winery, a Bloomington institution that had been making wine since 1972. Oliver had started as a hobby for IU law professor William Oliver; it had grown into a destination. Upland needed barrels for an experiment. Oliver had barrels to spare. The trade was simple: beer for barrels. It was the kind of bootstrap move that defines craft brewing—no venture capital, no elaborate supply chain, just two local makers helping each other out.
That trade launched Upland's sour ale program. The brewery began aging beer in oak barrels, inoculating it with wild yeast and bacteria to produce complex, tart, funky flavors. Sour beer was a niche within a niche in 2006. Most American craft brewers were focused on IPAs and pale ales. Upland was going in a different direction. The program grew slowly. By 2010, small-batch sour ales were sold only through the taproom. In 2012, the original 11th Street brewery was scaled down to become a research and development site for the sour program. In 2016, Upland opened a dedicated facility—the Wood Shop—a brewery and taproom devoted entirely to sour ales. That same year, the brewery began limited national distribution of its sours. Today, Upland's sour beers are distributed internationally in Canada, Europe, Russia, and Japan. The program has won awards, including Gold and Best in Show at the 2014 Indiana State Fair for Vinosynth Red, a collaboration with Oliver that blended Sour Reserve and Malefactor Flanders-style Red Ale aged on Catawba grapes.
The Oliver partnership has deepened over the years. Oliver has supplied barrels and grapes for Upland's sours. The two have collaborated on Vinosynth Red (Catawba grapes), Vinosynth White (Vidal Blanc, later Traminette—the state grape of Indiana), and Oak & Rosé (Chambourcin grapes). The relationship is a model of regional collaboration—two Bloomington makers pushing each other, sharing resources, and creating something neither could have built alone. As Bill Oliver put it: "Over the years we sold you guys barrels, and now grapes for the sours. Damn fine product you've made with that." The friendship goes back further: there was an earlier trade of beer for propylene glycol when Upland had a refrigerant failure. "We both came away feeling great about the trade," Oliver recalled. That's the Upland ethos—craft as community, innovation as collaboration.
Champagne Velvet: Resurrecting Indiana's "Most Beloved Beer"
Champagne Velvet is a German-inspired pilsner with a story that reads like a detective novel. It was created in 1902 by Walter Bruhn, the son of German immigrants, at the Terre Haute Brewing Company—a brewery that had been founded in 1837 and would become one of America's largest before Prohibition. Champagne Velvet was marketed as "The Beer with the Million Dollar Flavor," and the claim was backed by an actual $1 million insurance policy. The name evoked the beer's "sparkling as Champagne" and "smooth as velvet" qualities. By the mid-20th century, Terre Haute Brewing was producing over 500,000 barrels a year and ranked as the 25th largest brewery in the United States. Then industrial consolidation took its toll. The brewery closed in the late 1950s. Champagne Velvet vanished.
Decades later, in the late 1990s, a worker cleaning out the basement of the company's decrepit building stumbled on a brewer's bible. He sold it to Mike Rowe, a local businessman and known collector of Champagne Velvet memorabilia, for $20. Rowe thought he'd been ripped off. Inside, however, he found a piece of paper with 1901 letterhead and a handwritten pilsner recipe. He confirmed with a microbiologist that it was the original formula for Champagne Velvet. Rowe bought the trademark from Pabst in 1999 and relaunched the brand in Terre Haute. Production ceased again in 2008 when Rowe leased his brewery to another operation. In 2012, Upland purchased the rights to Champagne Velvet from Rowe to revive the brand for its 15th anniversary.
Upland's brewers created four pilot batches, mimicking the circa-1900 German-inspired taste as closely as possible using corn, malted barley, Cluster hops, and German Tettnang hops. The winning version hit the market in 2013. Champagne Velvet—or "CV" as it's known—is now a year-round pilsner at 5.5% ABV, with a refreshingly light body, sweet complexities from corn malt, and a place in the lineup that bridges craft and heritage. The retro label and slogans ("Beer with the Million Dollar Flavor," "CV for you, CV for me!") pay homage to the original. Indiana beer historians and CV cultists call it "Indiana's most beloved beer of all time." There's no data behind that claim—Upland's director of business development once admitted, "I and thousands of others consider it fact. That's all." You'll have to taste it and decide for yourself.
The Other Midwest: Brand and Identity
Upland has built its brand around a concept called "The Other Midwest." It's the idea that Bloomington—and by extension, Upland—represents a Midwest that's friendly and welcoming but not saccharine, well-spoken, eclectic, smart without being pretentious, funny without trying too hard. It supports local food, artists, and musicians. It prizes sustainability and the great outdoors. It's progressive, unique, and proud to be Midwestern—and equally proud to be anything but "flyover country." The Other Midwest isn't just Bloomington; it's anywhere Upland is enjoyed. It's laid-back, confident, and at ease with itself.
That identity shows up in how Upland operates. The brewery is certified as an independent craft brewery by the Brewers Association. It's 100% family-owned. It emphasizes chef-created, seasonal menus with locally sourced ingredients at its brewpubs. It maintains the architectural integrity of historic spaces—the Columbus Pump House, a 1903 building, was renovated with care when Upland opened its location there in 2016. The Fountain Square location in Indianapolis includes a 1,000-square-foot bike shop operated by Gray Goat Bicycle Co.—a partnership that fits Upland's brand of outdoor activity and community. Upland sponsors an amateur cycling team, Team Upland Brewing, and has hosted the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. The brewery's expansion strategy uses retail locations as a linchpin—each location tells the Upland story, nurtures customers, and builds the brand. As one industry observer put it, "Every one of their locations has a specific feel, has a nice menu, feels different than any of the other places, yet everybody's comfortable."
Growth, Distribution, and the Future
Upland now produces approximately 16,000 barrels annually, making it the third-largest brewery in Indiana behind Sun King and 3 Floyds. The company operates two brewpubs and six gastropubs across the state—Bloomington, Columbus (the Pump House), Carmel, Indianapolis (College Ave, Fountain Square, 82nd Street, Clay Terrace, Jeffersonville), and the Wood Shop sour brewery in Bloomington. The production brewery on Bloomington's west side—a 37,000-square-foot facility opened in 2012—handles the everyday and seasonal lineup. The Wood Shop handles all sour production. Last year, Upland sold roughly 3,000 to 4,000 barrels at its own retail locations; the rest goes through distributors to bars, restaurants, grocers, and liquor stores.
Distribution spans all 92 Indiana counties plus portions of 23 other states, from Maine to California. Indiana remains the core market—about 90% of sales are in-state, with Indianapolis the largest single market and the focus of growth. The sour beers are the only Upland products sold internationally, in part because their extended aging gives them a longer shelf life for shipping. Revenue has been up about 9% this year, with growth in both retail and wholesale. The brewery has no immediate plans to open additional locations—but as the president said, "If, five years ago, you would have asked us if we'd open a large brewery in Fountain Square with a bike shop, we probably would have said no." Upland adapts.
Notable Beers and the Sour Wild Funk Fest
Beyond Champagne Velvet and the sour lineup, Upland produces more than 50 different styles annually. Year-round favorites include Dragonfly IPA, Bad Elmer's Porter, Little Dragon, and the Wheat Ale and Pale Ale that started it all. Seasonal and specialty offerings round out the portfolio. The brewery's philosophy—"challenging and refining our craft, not by appeasing trends"—is evident in the depth of the sour program and the commitment to resurrecting Champagne Velvet. Many brews are unique twists on traditional recipes; others are creations of Upland's own imagination.
The Sour Wild Funk Fest is Upland's annual festival, featuring approximately 50 breweries from across the world. Since 2017 it has been held at the Mavris Arts & Event Center in Indianapolis every spring. It's a showcase for the style that Upland helped pioneer in Indiana—and a reminder that the brewery's influence extends beyond its own taps.
Why Upland Matters
Upland Brewing Company matters because it represents a way of building a craft brewery that doesn't rely on hype or trend-chasing. The sour program started with a trade. Champagne Velvet started with a forgotten recipe in a dusty basement. The brand grew through retail locations that each tell a story, through partnerships with Oliver Winery and Gray Goat, through a commitment to sustainability and community. Upland is the third-largest brewery in Indiana, but it doesn't feel corporate. It feels like Bloomington—progressive, curious, rooted in place, and proud of it. The Other Midwest isn't just marketing. It's the product of 25 years of making beer that reflects the values of the people who brew it and the people who drink it. If you're passing through Indiana, or if you're looking for a brewery that rewards a closer look, Upland is worth the stop.
Sources: Upland Beer – About Us; Wikipedia – Upland Brewing Company; Indianapolis Monthly – History on Tap: Upland's Champagne Velvet Returns; Indianapolis Business Journal – Upland Brewing Co. using retail locations as linchpin of expansion strategy; Upland Beer – Local Love: Oliver Winery.
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