Yesterday we attended the Peoria International Beer Fest http://www.peoriajaycees.org/events/international-beer-fest/ and had a good time overall. The fest was held at the Expo Gardens in Peoria and went from 1-9pm. MUGZ along with 5 other homebrew clubs were in attendance along with beer from multiple breweries big and small. There was more than enough beer for everyone.
The day started as usual a little rough, the process that the volunteers go through each year needs to be sped up and simplified. Also the ramp up to the opening the fest was more anti-climatic than in years past. The county health inspector must sign off on the certificate before the event can start and so the event starts at least 10 minutes later than stated. Usually they make an announcement that the fest received the certificate and then they do a count down to the opening, this year neither of those things were done. A person from the Jaycees just walked around after people started filtering in telling us that the event was open. After the rough start the event went well.
The member of MUGZ brought seven beers: an oyster stout, a black IPA, an orange IPA, an apricot IPA, a lemon wheat, a honey Kolsch and a heather ale. Needles to say we brought it for the most part light and fruity. Amongst the other homebrew clubs was a wide spread collection of beers, so many, that there was not enough time to try them all. Our beers seemed to be quite well received and we were able to wrap up shortly after 6 pm with our beer gone.
I digress back to the event. Since we had more than enough people to staff the booth pouring beer, my wife and I and another couple went out and explored for good beer. First on my list of notables was a Rye beer from Flossmoor Station...very good. Next one was my overall favorite, a triple hopped Duvel, smooth and delicious but not overly hoppy. I also had a wonderful beer from Barley Island http://www.barleyisland.com/about.php?location=noblesville from Noblesville, IN, a 80 Schilling Scotch Ale wonderfully smokey. My wife and I had a nice talk with the owner Jeff. Also a couple other notables a kriek from St.Louis (the Belgium brewery not the US city) and Rochefort 10. Some of the beers I was underwhelmed by were from Mikkeller most notably disappointing was the special tapping of the 1000 IBU an Imperial IPA. It was no where near as hoppy as advertised. Also their beer 10, an American IPA was disappointing as well. Said best by our friend we were with, "Mikkeller just went on the list - with Brew Dog - of breweries you try to like but just can't because their beer is not as good as advertised."
As I said we had more than enough people willing to serve, so my wife and I were only able to serve for short time increments. It is always fun serving beer and interacting with the fest goers.
Since I took a heather ale I decided to dress in my kilt and gained a bit of fame at the fest or at least I was easily recognized. I even had a couple decide that they wanted to have their pictures taken with me. So it was kind of fun.
Truly overall it was a very fun day and I believed everyone from MUGZ enjoyed themselves. So if you have an opportunity to go I would suggest you give it a try .
QC Beerguy
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