Like the saying goes, some things are inevitable — death, taxes, Bargersville’s hometown brewery throwing a springtime shindig…
Taxman Brewing Co. has become known for its annual Death & Taxes Day, when patrons would come out to sample beers from guest breweries while picking up Taxman’s beloved bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout and a number of quirky variants of it.
The event looks different this year. Gone is the Death & Taxes name, as the brew is now known as Deadline. And the pandemic has scaled back the celebration into a spread-out block party.
But with music, the great outdoors and plenty of Taxman brews, it’s still a perfect time to celebrate.
“It’s important for people to continue to have reasons to be excited. We wanted to do a smaller version of the festival, but this beer release is something that our staff and our brew team works really hard on, that a lot of people have gotten used to seeing a celebration we do each year,” said Leah Huelsebusch, co-owner of Taxman Brewing with her husband, Nathan. “We’ve had such a nice spring; it felt like it would be a massive miss if we didn’t move forward.”
The Deadline Release and Block Party will be a free, family-friendly event held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday outside of Taxman’s downtown Bargersville location. Guests can set up outside to listen to the rock ‘n’ roll hooks of the Failers and the swinging jams of Dean Martini.
More importantly for beer lovers, get this year’s batch of Deadline, as well as four different varieties brewed specifically for the party, before they’re all gone. If nothing else, the day will be an opportunity to gather as a community — safely distanced — once again.
“Things are obviously not normal yet, but it’s a step in that direction. We’re really excited to have a bigger crowd out, be able to listen to live music outside and enjoy the day with our community,” Nathan Heuselbusch said.
Taxman Brewing started celebrating its annual Tax Day soiree in 2015, about six months after the brewery and restaurant opened up in Bargersville. The Huelsebusches had lived in Belgium for more than two years, where Nathan Huelsebusch worked as an international tax director for Cummins. That experience proved to be the inspiration for Taxman Brewing.
Many of their projects feature accounting or financial terminology: Deduction dubbel, Exemption tripel, Gold Standard blonde ale, Tax Holiday dark strong ale.
So it made sense to have a party around April 15, the traditional filing day for taxes.
“We wanted to do a special beer release right around that tax deadline. That’s where Deadline gets its name,” Nathan Heuselbusch said.
Every year, the event has gotten a little bit bigger. But that progress was halted last year, as the pandemic forced first the postponement and then the cancellation of Death & Taxes Day in 2020.
Still, the Huelsebusches were determined to come back this spring, even if the event had to be scaled down slightly.
“I kind of keep calling it D&T Day mini,” Leah Heuselbusch said.
While the scope of the celebration may be lessened, enthusiasm for the main attraction has not. Deadline is a rich, roasted and robust Belgian-style imperial stout aged with Indonesian vanilla beans. The 2021 base version was aged for several months in Kentucky whiskey barrels, providing additional depth and character to the beer.
Then Taxman’s brewers got to have a little fun.
“Our team doesn’t get to brew a lot of stout beers, specifically stouts aged in different types of bourbon barrels or maple barrels, so this gives us the opportunity to do unique, higher-gravity beer,” Nathan Heuselbusch said. “It takes a little more time to produce a beer like that, in terms of the aging process, so it’s not something that’s practical for us to do on a production basis. So this is a chance to do a special one-off release.”
Different varieties have been aged with ingredients adding unique taste profiles to the already deep Deadline. A fan favorite — brewed with flavors of maple and vanilla — is always an offering. But brewers also had a chance to play with other additives, such as peanut butter and cocoa nibs, as well as toasted coconut. A Mexican chocolate cake version is aged in a bourbon barrel with cocoa nibs and chili pepper.
The beers, as well as other Taxman selections, will be available at serving stations arranged throughout the brewery’s property. Wine and water will also be available.
To top off the event, two of the region’s most fun-loving bands plan to take the stage throughout the afternoon. The Failers are based in Carmel, and are known for their no-holds-barred approach to rock music. They describe themselves as centered on “big hooks, loud guitars and no apologies,” according to their Facebook page.
Dean Martini’s swingin’ vibe is the definition of cool, as he and his band perform everything from Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash to Ray Charles.
“The Failers have been with us for a couple of years, and Dean Martini is new this year. So we think it’ll be fun, similar to what we’ve had in the past, but just a little smaller,” Leah Huelsebusch said.
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Deadline Release and Block Party
Where: Taxman Brewing Co., 13 S. Baldwin St., Bargersville
What: A community celebration marking the release of Deadline, a bourbon barrel-aged Belgian-style stout. The family-friendly event will feature sales of Deadline and special variants created for the party, as well as music, beer and wine stations and water.
When: Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday
Cost: Free
Music schedule
- Noon: The Failers
- 2 p.m.: Dean Martini
Information: taxmanbrewing.com
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