Sunday 22nd of April 2012 12:24:32 PM

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Just to update: Black Swan is a brewpub. All but two of their roughly ten taps are house beers. The balance are local and change often.
Changing is what I really like about this place. When I first came and tried the beers, I wasn't terribly impressed. I came back a couple of months later though, and found that they had changed the recipes on some of the beers and added others. What I tried, I liked, and now it's become a regular stop for me. Perfectly perched on I-70 just before you reach IND, I often can't help myself.
And not just for the beer, but the food is excellent here as well. Certainly for Plainfield standards. Much of it is fairly healthy, locally-sourced (including local brats and housemade mustard) and very reasonably priced. They have daily specials that are definitely worth checking out.
The space is large, with the bar area (in typical Indiana fashion, there's a separate "bar" and "family" section) being much larger. The brewing equipment faces the parking lot and is away from the bar and restaurant, visible only as you enter. There is a nice patio, but it does face the unflattering strip mall area to the east. The bar itself is a little cramped, but there are high-top tables just next to it. The place is full of regulars, likely locals desperate to have a decent place to get a drink in overly suburban Plainfield.
A number of varieties of beer that change regularly, but they've also just introduced a regular cask. Full bar, but not exactly top shelf stuff. Then again, why would you want to order a cocktail at a brewpub?

Tuesday 11th of January 2011 10:08:26 PM

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This was a great find. We were on our way to Arizona from Pennsylvania and we happened to stop at a motel next to The Black Swan. The clerk at the motel told us about this place. The Black Swan specializes in beers made in Indiana. It was a great place to sample brews from across the state. The beer selection was great as well as the food. I talked to the manager and I was told that they were going to start brewing there in the spring. I very much liked the concept of Indiana beers and I would like to see this in more establishments.