Sun King Brewing Company is the brain child of Dave Colt and Clay Robinson. Dave and Clay first met when Dave was the bar manager and assistant brewer at the now-defunct Circle V Brewing Co. on the north side of Indianapolis and Clay was a student at Wabash College. They became friends a few years later when they both found themselves in brewing jobs in downtown Indianapolis – Dave at The Ram, and Clay at Rock Bottom. Dave and Clay often got together at the end of the week to enjoy beers and talk about life and the art of brewing.

 In 2002, Clay left Rock Bottom and began what would become a three-year sabbatical from professional brewing. Clay filled that time with travel, odd jobs, and the production of BeerJuggs, a home brewing instructional video. The sabbatical came to an end when Dave called Clay looking for the phone number of a mutual friend and fellow brewer. Dave told Clay he needed the help of someone who could operate a brewery; a few days later Clay was hired on as the assistant brewer at The Ram.

Over the next three years, Dave and Clay worked tirelessly in a cramped brewery cranking out as many seasonal beers as possible while keeping up with the extensive lineup of house beers. During this time, the duo earned three Great American Beer Festival medals, two Festival of Barrel Aged Beer medals, dozens of Indiana Brewer's Cup medals, and were awarded the 2007 Indiana Brewery of the Year title.