It's that time of year again, folks! The weather is finally warm, the days are getting longer and the brewers are getting prepped.
Prepped for what, you ask? Why, brewfest season is upon us! From spring to late fall, brewfest will be popping up all over Indiana and the rest of the country for that matter. But right now let's talk about one, shall we? It's the Blue Chip Brewfest. And it rocked the Blue Chip Casino, Hotel, and Spa for the 4th year in a row.
Over 250 brews from 55 specialty breweries set up their booths and opened their taps at this year's brewfest. The event has gotten so big that it took place not only in the Stardust Event Center at Blue Chip but also in a gigantic climate-controlled tent.
"It's another great day at the Blue Chip,"Jack Elia, Assistant General Manager for the Blue Chip Casino said. "We have a VIP room with 11 different beers, upstairs in the Orleans room we have Fred Buteman from New Holland Brewing doing a luncheon for the Brewmaster ticket holders, there is a lot of things happening today. Every year we've tripled our size from the first year this started. We outgrew our space so we rented a tent to hold all of the people. This gives people a chance to try different beers the craft beer stage is still hot right now. You can come to one place and try any type of beer that you want to try."
Those who went the extra mile and purchased VIP tickets got in early to the fest and were able to attend an additional tasting of barrel-aged beers, sour beers, and Firkins. Those who went all out and bought BrewmasterPackage tickets got to attend a luncheon with a brewmaster where a 4-course meal was served and each course was paired with a different brew as well as the VIP perks. Designated driver tickets were sold as well. Safety first, people.
All who attended got a snazzy pint glass that were their main vehicles for beer that day at the fest. People walked from booth to booth; trying this ale, that stout, this lager, and that pilsner. Some could be seen sporting edible jewelry - pretzel necklaces. Guests could munch hands-free on the pretzels while tasting their beer with one hand and giving high-fives with the other. There were also brats, hot dogs, nachos and more pretzels available to eat. And if you wanted something other that these offerings, all of the Blue Chip restaurants were open.
Breweries in attendance: 18th Street, 3 Floyds, Back Road, Boston Beer, Brooklyn, Bulldog, Burn' Em, Dark Horse, Goose Island, Great Lakes, Green Flash, Iachyd Da, Lagunitas, New Holland, Round Barn, Schlafly, Sierra Nevada, Sun King, Triton, Twisted K-8, Upland, Veterans, Virtue, Woodchuck, Bell's, Dogfish Head, Virtue Mitten, Global, New Belgium, Shoreline, St. Bernardus, 219 Beer, 574 Beer, Barley Island, Batch 19, Belakus, Blue Moon, Boulevard, Candamonium, Chapman's, Crispin, Crown Brewing, Drewery's, Evil Czech, Figure 8, Flat 12, Fortune, Fox Barrel, GreenBush, Hunter's, Killians, LeinenKugel, Noarthcoast, Oskar Blues, Pabst, Redds, Rogue, Smith & Forge, Southern Tier, Tenth and Blake, Unibroue, Valpo Brews, Victory.
"We're trying to support our cause by getting out name out there. I heard that this fest is going to be nuts. Thousands of people," Ben Fugate HR Director for Veteran Beer Company said. "It's going to be awesome."
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