A new event added to our local outdoor fest season, was Iowa's first all homebrew festival put on by CR Beernuts http://www.crbeernuts.org/. They are a homebrew club in Cedar Rapids, IA and the event was at Benz Beverage Depot in Cedar Rapids. CR Beernuts Homebrew Festival was attended by four homebrew clubs accounting for over 50 beers. Needless to say a person could not help but find a good beer that they liked. Overall the quality of the beer was very good and there were few if any beers that a person would dump.
My club was one of the four to supply beer. We had nine beers and a soda; the beers ranged from an American wheat to several flavored beers to dark and dangerous stouts. I supplied a fitting seasonal and a favorite beer of my wife, Betsy's Prized Ale; an ESB brewed with sweet potatoes and spices. All of our beers were well received and I believe the members that were present had a great day.
A wonderful side effect of the event was our trip inside Benz Beverage Depot http://benzbeveragedepot.com/. It was a store that none of us from the QC had ever heard of let alone been in. Once inside it was a very pleasant surprise, they had many quality beers at this place. As one of my fellow club members noted, they carried Founders beers that you cannot find even in Michigan. In my beer store rankings I would place this ahead of John's Grocery but behind Blue Max in Apple Valley/Burnsville, MN.
Yes it is a sad time of the year as the weather turns colder and we cannot enjoy our outdoor fests for another 6-8 months. The good thing is this also means the starting of beer judging season and the start of inside beer fests. So as one season ends another season begins. What a glorious thing beer is!
QC Beerguy
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