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 This year, the Taste of Wine will be an important feature
combined with art for the July festival. For this coming weekend,
the Up in Smoke barbecue has been combined with the craft beer to
make a Pigs and Swigs weekend. Rather than learning regional wines,
it will be all about the best barbecue and area beers.
As organizers worked to create new offerings for the expansion of
the Art and Balloon Festival into a summer of festivals, the
conversations were primarily about taking the various components of
the old festival, drawing them out and giving them a weekend of
their own, then adding new components to help increase the tourist
potential.
The first festival of the summer is this weekend and will feature a
proven successful event, the Up in Smoke on the Square BBQ
competitions, coupled with some smaller, but popular returning
events, such as the Oasis Craft and Flea Market, and Railsplitter
Antique Auto Club Car show, and incorporating something new; the
Craft Beer event.
The Craft Beer event is being organized by the Lincoln/Logan County
Chamber of Commerce Young Professional Network. According to Nicole
Cox of the Chamber, the idea grew after the YPN hosted a Craft Beer
Tasting on a much smaller scale and enjoyed the great attendance of
folks interested in this somewhat new kind of beer.
 The event will come with an admission fee into the Beer Tent and
Garden, and is an adult only event with guests required to be 21
years-of-age or older. Tickets will be available for a two-day pass,
a one-day pass, and a separate VIP pass. There will also be a
special Designated Driver pass offered at a greatly reduced priced.
The paid admission will give the guest a sampling glass to keep and
up to 10 tastings per day. The Designated Driver pass will allow the
guest to come in and look, but not taste, and also to listen to the
great musical entertainment going on throughout the weekend.
Cox said that the YPN was using the Craft Beer event as a
fundraiser. The group wants to raise enough money to offer financial
support to the new Land of Lincoln Creating Entrepreneurial
Opportunities (LLCEO) educational program being offered in Logan
County.
What is Craft Beer? Simply put, it is a product that is created
regionally and at a much smaller scale than the big beer companies.
The key to 'craft' is in a word 'created.' The beer is not mass
produced like the products that come from larger companies such as
Anheuser-Busch. The beers are created and bottled in smaller
batches, and the quality and taste of the beer evolves as the brewer
continually works to make his craft a little bit better than the
next guy.
Also, there is a basic volume requirement as set forth by the
Brewers Association. According to their definition, the brewer must
create less than six million barrels per year of traditional beer.
For some, that may seem like a very large number, but consider that
Anheuser-Bush manufacturers over 125 million barrels a year.
And remember, these are regional beers. In other words, the craft
breweries that will be in Lincoln this weekend are relatively local,
many from within the state, and their marketing reach is relatively
small.
This weekend some of the breweries that will be in Lincoln include
Peoria Brewing Company of Peoria, Urban Chestnut Brewery Company out
of St. Louis, JK Williams Distillers, East Peoria; JT Walkers
Restaurant & Brewery, Mahomet; Prairie Schooners of Springfield,
Schlafly Beer out of St. Louis, and Rolling Meadows Brewery in
Cantrall.
The tent area for the Craft Beer is going to be smaller than the
tent used last year, but there will be open air space set aside as
well. Cara Barr, Events Coordinator for the Logan County Alliance,
recently said that the idea was to create a covered space, but also
to have an open air space with a Beer Garden feel to it. The event
will officially open at 6 p.m. on Friday evening. There will be a
beer tasting, and votes will be gathered for a People’s Choice
Award. Live music will be provided beginning with the Danny Reinmann
and Band playing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. At 8 p.m. Glory Days will
take the stage and play until closing time at 11 p.m.
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On Saturday, the day will begin at 11 a.m. with a Bags Tournament
being hosted by the Knights of Columbus.
At 2 p.m. there will be a Homebrew Competition. Open to local entrants. This
will be an opportunity for basement brewers to pit their special blend against
that of their friends and neighbors. Competitors may bring no more than four
labels and must submit two bottles of each entry. The beers will be judged with
a Best of Beer, as well as second and third place awards given. Winners will
receive cash prizes and trophies at the end of the competition.
The tent will be open at 4 p.m. for a special VIP session. During this time,
Brad Luckhart of Nuthatch Hill BBQ will offer up food samples and the YPN group
will lead a discussion on what beers go best with each dish.
General admission to the tent and garden area will begin at 6 p.m. and run until
11 p.m. Again, there will be tastings and an opportunity to vote for the
People’s Choice of beers. Danny Reinmann and Band will perform from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. and Imagine that Band will close out the night.
The Craft Beer event will wrap up on Sunday with a Homebrew School from 11 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Prairie Schooners of Springfield will be on hand to give
demonstrations on how to create a home brewery. Also on hand will be the Hop
Shoppe from the Bloomington-Normal area with a variety of supplies and tools
needed to start a home brewery.
Barr said that the breweries for the weekend will be providing representatives
who are knowledgeable about their products. Therefore, they will be able to
spend time talking to guests about what makes their brew unique.
The beer tasting event is not as much a drinking event as it is a social and
learning event. While tastings will be going on, these involve small amounts of
beer and are limited in number. Barr said there would be plenty of volunteers on
hand during the open hours at the tent. Those volunteers will be paying close
attention to age and will prohibit underage guests from entering.
Also, Healthy Communities Partnership will be offering safe rides this weekend
through ‘A Green Cab.’ The cab will drive anyone who has been drinking home,
within the city limits, free of charge.
Guests can also take advantage of the Designated Driver admission and bring
someone who wishes only to enjoy the music, see the sights, and take care to
assure that friends get home safely.
In addition to the two “main events” of Pigs and Swigs, there will be numerous
other events going on this weekend. The Lincoln Art Institute will open its show
“Fun” on Thursday evening and will be open throughout the weekend.
The Oasis Flea and Craft market is a mainstay at the old festival and will be a
big part of the Pigs and Swigs weekend.
The Railsplitter Antique Auto Club and the Taste of Logan Ag will wrap up the
weekend on Sunday afternoon.
In the next segment of this series, LDN will offer an overview of all these
other events as well.
[Nila Smith]
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