On an unseasonably warm Monday night in early spring, just as the sun’s going down, the hint of a stringed instrument being plucked can be heard nearby. In a snug corner of a cozy pub a group of pickers sit lazily with their beers working on a classic bluegrass tune. Sitting at the bar, patrons, even one’s who aren’t, “big on bluegrass”, can’t help but tap their toes as the Peach Pickers start doing their thing.
It all started as a music lesson from a seasoned player to a rookie, someone else asked if they could sit in, and the dam broke from there. Pretty soon you might see a group of ten or twelve players jamming on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, or banjo. Once, they even tuned an old jug. The whole thing is pub-centric, though, and wouldn’t have existed without it. The common thread among these musicians, both professional and amateur, is a love for good beer. That’s what brought them to the Fickle Peach in the newly revitalized downtown section of Muncie, Indiana.
A former bank, the Fickle Peach is a beautiful building. At the far side of the bar is the bank vault door still visible; which now houses the pub’s beer cooler. The molded tinwork on the ceiling is representative of what the place is. It’s a pub, sure, and on the walls hang an eclectic mix of local art, music memorabilia, and random this and that’s; but it’s got a classy cleanliness and order to it, and they’ve done a nice job retaining the building’s original character and charm. It may house bluegrass, and some Grateful Dead artwork, but this place isn’t crunchy. As matter of fact, the Peach is a haven for the lawyers from the firm next door, downtown businessmen, college professors, soccer moms, and anyone else who likes good brew. Bottom line this place isn’t about stereotypes, it’s about beer (A wine selection is offered as well). And that’s what brought the Peach Pickers together.
The Pub consists of two large rooms: the bar room, and the game room. Both spaces boast formidable televisions, with the game room having a pull-down projection screen, and the bar room a pair of crystal clear HD T.V.’s. The bar side is dim and comfortable, the game room more lively, but the two aren’t really separate. Between them, spanning about half the length is a wide opening; in the middle of which sits island table. It’s small, seating four to six people, and is usually inhabited by regulars on a busy night, as it provides a good view of the action going on both sides.
During the week, the after work crowd is the Peach’s patronage base. They migrate home at dinnertime, though, creating calm before the evening’s predictable youth movement. On the weekends the place is abuzz, and it’s a crapshoot as to whom you may encounter. The past decade, Muncie has focused on pumping new life into the once bustling downtown, and the efforts have paid off. Not since the city's heyday has the area seen so much energy. The local community college, Ivy Tech, recently moved their operations downtown, and into seemingly every available nook and cranny. This development has exploded foot traffic, and was crucial in introducing a new market to the already established businesses like the Fickle Peach.
A bit about the menu:
They serve enough food to offer something to eat, but only that. A point of comedy among the staff, they’ll still happily cook up a snack for a hungry patron when asked. To say that food isn’t the focal point would be an understatement. The Fickle Peach is a conversation pub; a place to quietly discuss the news of the day, the local sports teams (Colts please), and the town’s rumors and scuttlebutt. The owners, Chris Piche and Brion Fickle, know their brews. Both with 20+ years experience in the industry, they’ve assembled a nice variety of beer and wine, but only just enough. An ordering newcomer isn’t faced with a phonebook sized beer menu, or a forest of taps through which the bartenders are barely visible. No, here, they do what they do and they do it well.
Charles Street in downtown Muncie, Indiana may not be known as the center of the mico-brewniverse, but if you’re lucky enough to be walking down the sidewalk on a spring evening, and you hear the unmistakable pluck of a banjo, or the strum of an acoustic guitar; good beer is close by. Stop in, sit down, order up a nice ale, and enjoy the happy accident of bluegrass at the Fickle Peach.
