Beer Lovers Festival? Why yes!

So to prove that we are not all work and no play, Max and I indulged in one of our favorite pastimes Saturday, drinking beer! I felt quite accomplished after planting the garden and getting everything I wanted done for the weekend so it was definitely time to reward ourselves. Feels like the first time in weeks!

The Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival was going on at a local outdoor mall and the day was perfect for it. Rain was in the forecast at about noon but luckily it didn't show its ugly face until around 8pm giving us plenty of sunshine to enjoy (along with our beers). We arrived around 3pm (the event was from 1-5pm) which didn't give us as much time for sampling as we desired so we strategically tried hit each quadarent of the event in 30 minutes to get as much sampling in as possible.

The event was sponsored by the Wisconsin Brewers Guild and had 30 Wisconsin breweries and 23 different food vendors all paired up for the event. Over 100 different beers were being served... "Heaven is that you? I'm home."

This is one of those great photo moments. I held the camera up to get a better shot of what was going on and I get this guy and his expression staring directly in my frame. Classic.

Max was a huge fan of Lakefront Brewery's Fixed Gear (shocker) and Bar Louie's soft pretzels with homemade queso dip. Pretty sure he tried every IPA (India Pale Ale) that the breweries had to offer.

I was totally take back by a brewery I had not heard of Woodman Brewery in Woodman (second shocker), WI. They had two brews I loved and can't wait to try again, Hazelnut Coffee Ale and the Coconut Wheat. Crazy right, coconut in a beer? It was strangely awesome! I will definitely start looking for them in the stores. And did you see on their website, they do custom orders. Even more awesome?! Another nice surprise was the Carr Valley Cheese Company which is by my hometown was there.

Here we are with our sampling glasses.

Max was so inspired he decided to make a Cherry Wheat to be enjoyed later this summer at the cabin. Can't wait!

Have you been to/are planning to go to any festivals this summer? What are they and what makes you the most excited about it?