Guggman Haus is the Riverside neighborhood brewery a block north of 16th Street, built on the ground where Wilbur Shaw’s Boyle Racing team kept its cars in the 1930s. It runs the most varied free music calendar of any brewery in Indianapolis: a Friday evening beer-garden series through the summer, brass and German bands around Oktoberfest, a Sunday bluegrass jam, and one-off shows on weeknights. Family-friendly, never a cover.
Quick Facts
- Where: 1701 Gent Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202 (Riverside, at 17th and Gent) · (317) 602-6131
- Music: Singer-songwriters, bluegrass and Americana, brass and German bands — local acts, always free
- Live music: Fridays 7–9 p.m. in the beer garden through the summer; Saturdays and Sundays around events; a Sunday afternoon bluegrass jam
- Hours: Tue 3–9 p.m. · Wed–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m. · Sun noon–8 p.m. · Closed Monday
- Age: All ages; the beer garden is built for families
- Second taproom: 4601 College Avenue at 46th Street, Meridian-Kessler — occasional music, trivia Tuesdays
- Website: guggmanhausbrewing.com
Coming Up
- Friday, September 11, 7 p.m. — Steve Kennan (beer garden)
- Saturday, September 12, 6 p.m. — Steve Kennan at the 46th Street taproom
- Thursday, September 17, 7 p.m. — Squirrel Butter
- Friday, September 18, 6 p.m. — Dysfunktion Brass Band (Oktoberfest week)
- Saturday, September 19, 1 p.m. — Liederkranz German Band; 6 p.m. — Straight Up Chumps
- Sunday, September 20, 3 p.m. — Bluegrass Jam
- Friday, September 25, 7 p.m. — Harp & Axe
Oktoberfest runs Wednesday through Sunday, September 16–20, with free admission all five days.
What to Expect
Identical twins Courtney Guggenberger and Abby Gorman and their husbands opened this place in June 2019 in a 1916 farmhouse, then rebuilt the property around it: a 20,000-square-foot building holding the brewhouse, taproom, event space, the Cabin Kitchen, and a working race shop, because the site was Boyle Racing headquarters when Shaw won three Indianapolis 500s. The name is the two family names mashed together and pronounced “Goog-man.”
The music lives in the beer garden. Most nights it is a duo or trio at conversation volume — you can talk over it, and people do — with a good Friday crowd of neighborhood families, dogs, and the after-work set. Oktoberfest week is the exception, when brass bands and a German band take over and the place is loud in the right way. When the weather turns, the shows move inside or thin out until spring.
Wednesday is trivia, not music. The College Avenue outpost at 46th Street is a smaller neighborhood taproom with a sandwich menu and a street-front patio; the occasional Saturday act plays there, but Gent Avenue is the music location.
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