Midwest Brewer's Fest -- Who Am I ... and Why Should You Care?

My name is Jason Thalman and I am on the board for the upcoming Midwest Brewer's Fest to be held in Plainfield on Aug. 27.  

I was introduced to craft beer in 2002 while visiting my sister in Fort Collins, Colo. After 18 hours on the road, my wife and I decided that after checking into the hotel we'd find somewhere to eat.

We stopped off at a little Mexican place and were greeted by a friendly waitress who asked us what we would like to drink. She rattled off the list of beers they carried and mentioned something about a beer called, "Fat Tire." I said, "Fat what?" She stared at me with the look of disgust, like I was the devil reincarnated, and blurted, "You've never heard of Fat Tire?" I politely told her no and she recommended I try one because it was brewed at a brewery just four blocks away.  

I have to say that upon my first taste I was absolutely hooked and made a point of taking the brewery tour while we were in town. To make a long story short, we toured the brewery, had a blast sampling 16 different varieties of New Belgium Brewery beer and walked out of the brewery a couple hours later with two cases of beer, two pint glasses, one shirt, one visor, pairing chocolates and a whole ton of stickers.  

If I'm not mistaken, we easily dropped $200-plus during our short little visit. I brought the beer back home to share with my friends and they were all equally blown away by the quality of beer we were consuming.  

Back in 2002, New Belgium Brewery was but a small craft brewer; now they are the third largest craft brewer in the United States. My journey into craft beer had begun but it was just the start.

The years following my visit to New Belgium were frustrating to say the least because most liquor stores didn't heavily invest in stocking their shelves with craft beer. It wasn't until the late 2000s that that changed. I slowly transitioned away from the macro brews as more and more liquor stores started carrying a larger selection of craft beer. 

For those of you that may be asking, "What is craft beer?" let me give you my definition. Craft beer is the luxury version of beer. It is hand-crafted, uses quality ingredients (not adjuncts like rice or corn) and is brewed by people who view what they do as an art form.  

Craft beer is liquid art. It is artisanal. It is brewed for the love of the craft. There is a passion you can taste in the quality of the beer. Craft beer is flavor, not mass appeal. Craft beer is about collaboration, not competition. In one word, craft beer is nirvana.

Now you're probably wondering, what does this have to do with Plainfield and why is there a craft beer festival being held? As most of you may know, Plainfield is home to Limestone Brewing Company & Restaurant (a craft brewery) as well as Finnegan's Irish Pub (a craft beer bar and restaurant), Tap House Grill Plainfield (a craft beer bar and restaurant), Moe Joe's (Cajun cuisine restaurant with a good craft beer selection) and a host of other businesses that support the craft beer industry.  

It only made sense that we hold a craft beer festival to help raise money for the Riverfront Foundation to help in the revitalization of Project: Riverfront.  

Plainfield's riverfront has a historic past and with our help we hope to restore the riverfront to its previous glory. We wish to make it a destination for people in the community and from all around to come and enjoy its tranquil beauty for many decades to come.

In the coming weeks, I’ll provide more information in regards to the fest, its participants, the craft beer industry and much more as we lead up to the Midwest Brewer’s Fest itself.

You can get more information in regards to the festival at www.midwestbrewersfest.com

Unitl then, Cheers!

Check out Jason's Web site, www.thegreatestbeerofalltime.com.