People’s Brewing Company: Beer for the People

Indulge in Lafayette's beer and culinary scene at People’s Brewing Company, where exceptional brews meet delicious food offerings. Join the Dining Divas & Dudes as they share their memorable dining experience in Lafayette, Indiana.

There are no words allowed on this family friendly blog to express how STINKING excited I am to write this review, but I will do the best I can! We are here on this beautiful Friday at People’s Brewing Company! I love love LOVE this place so much! It’s the cat’s pajamas, the bee’s knees! The hip to the hop! All right, fine, I’ll stop. People’s was founded in 2009 by Chris Johnson, who learned to brew at another local brewery, aptly named the Lafayette Brewing Company. One of the coolest things about the local brewing scene is that it’s a very community oriented group. All of the local brewers strongly support one another and are commonly seen out and about at the various breweries. People’s has quickly become an institution in Lafayette Indiana, and has been around just long enough that it’s a landmark for those who have since moved away!

Upon entry, you will find people from all walks of life, varying greatly at any given moment. You like beer? Get over here! People’s has a rotating tap menu with some solid staples available year round. When the Indiana weather sees fit, the garage door is open, letting the sun shiiiiine on in. If that’s not enough love and light for you, check out the patio! It’s dog friendly, so you can bring your best boy or girl and revel in the camaraderie that is patio drankin’.  People’s can also be accessed from the heritage trail and has been a long time supporter of all things bicycle. Avid supporters of the community, you can find their beer truck at many events about the city, which is always a sight for sore eyes!

We started off our tasting soirée with the spinach artichoke dip and Mexican street corn dip. We took a chance upon some dip, when I dip you dip we dip kind of vibes. These dips were a hit! The street corn dip is a party on a platter. Holy cannoli, it’s savory, sweet, spicy, and salty all in one place! It’s everything you could possibly want in a dip. The spinach artichoke dip is absolutely something to write home about. Let the record show that while crostinis are usually super hard and wreck your upper palate kind of material, these were amazing. Crispy outside, but SOFT inside and garlicky and flavorful and mmmmm. We wouldn’t shut up about the spinach artichoke dip, actually. 

Now don’t get to thinking we aren’t here for the beer, which is for the people. We are here to give the people what they want and People’s the review they deserve! People’s beer is where it’s at! After sampling the beer of the week, I knew I just haaaad to have it. This week’s feature is the daily juicer IPA recipe 6. With an ABV of 6.1% and 80 IBU, this mamma jamma is full bodied, yet crisp and refreshing. It’s perfect actually. Linda and Kay opted for the more heavy hitting blood orange Space Cowboy. This thing is delicious, and I want to be friends with it. Packing an ABV of 9% and 96 IBU, the blood orange nature really helps that 9% sneak up on ya. Some of their most popular beers are the People’s IPA, which is a perfect combination of 6.5% ABV and 88 IBU; Space Cowboy, previously mentioned; and Clean Waters IPA, which at only 4.7% ABV and 50 IBU is a really nice, flavorful and light, easy drinker. You’re gonna want a holster of that for mowing your lawn, or some good ole fashioned day drinking. 

We realized when we got our food that for some reason, the fantastic food here is more of a well kept secret than we need it to be! In fact, fantastic doesn’t really adequately describe it! Our minds and mouths were delighted beyond measure!

Jo had the BBQ shrimp flatbread turned salad. Bonus points because they don’t up-charge to turn any sandwich into a salad! They brought her out a massive bowl/plate hybrid filled to the brim with spring mix, house-made BBQ seasoned shrimp, provolone, spicy garlic aioli (ayeeeeee for aioli!) and cilantro lime slaw. “Simba, it’s to die forrr.” Extra double bonus points for being so accommodating for differing dietary needs! It can only be described as “scrum-dilly-icious” not to be confused with the more common “scrumdiddilyumptious”. Jo is nothing if not special and different. 

Kay ordered the blue pear flatbread which has the power couple pear and blue cheese, also adorned with mozzarella and sliced onions. She really loved it, and we all agree that pear and blue cheese belong together forever. 

Ken had to order before me, to avoid the DISASTER that will forever be known as the sushi apocalypse of 2024. He will never order after me again, over my dead body. He pushed me down, and mowed me over to get to Kat before I did and got to the blackened chicken pita before I could get my claws into it. It was one of the best things he’s eaten in a long time, the tomato jam is killer, it’s got nice spice and is sweet. The blackened chicken paired with garlic aioli was just incredible. The pita was perfectly cooked and the coleslaw was amazing! Ken and Linda actually blurted that last part out at the exact same time! I nearly died so Ken could have this experience actually, so there’s that. 

Linda beat me to the shrimp tacos, leading me to believe there was a sort of menu mutiny afoot before my late arrival today. Once again the shrimp was perfectly cooked and with no breading, and the shrimp tacos themselves were topped with cilantro lime slaw and crushed tortilla chips! We already know how she feels about the slaw, but the crushed topping really set this party off! She got the side of hummus with veggies. The hummus can only be described as perfect. It was smooth, creamy, and dreamy and there’s really no better vehicle for that than nice crunchy veggies, which they were! 

After everyone else ordered all of the things I wanted, I was not left wanting! I actually still had to eeny meeny miney mo it, which is really the only way to make such tough decisions in life. It brought me to the BBQ flatbread which was a sight for sore eyes! Good lord, she was a saucy mama, which is exactly what I was hoping for! People’s kitchen smokes their own pork in house, AND makes their own BBQ sauce, because there’s really nothing they can’t do! The sauce and pork together are simply divine and yet they continued to wow me with the addition of mozzarella cheese, onions, and jalapeños. If you go with Linda, you can even steal some of her pickled onions if you really like to party hardy. Yes, yes, and yes. 

It’s also worth noting that People’s has a really great vibe about it. The music was reminiscent of the 60’s, and the atmosphere is upbeat and easy going. The service is top tier, with our server answering all of our hundreds of questions with patience and knowledge that should be commended! They also have live music once per week, and have a wall of what they call “pints for the people”. It’s an awesome situation where you can buy a pint for a pal, and they’ll keep the ticket for them to redeem for up to 60 days. That’s just awesome.  It’s easy to feel at home here, and there are oh so many locals who can attest to that. Go check it out for yourself and buy your buddy a pint!