Bloomington Beer Festival raises money for Boys & Girls Club

October is beer month around the world, from Munich’s Oktoberfest to Bloomington’s own Beer Festival.

The Bloomington Beer Festival kicked off its 17th-annual event Thursday and will run through Friday night. Fifty booths, about 400 attendees and more than 200 types of beer made the atmosphere in the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center bubbly.

Rob Williamson, a Big Red Liquors representative and Boys & Girls Club board member, said all the proceeds go to the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington, and this is great opportunity to give charity and sample a lot of beers.

“We usually have over 400 people. Thursdays and Fridays are when it’s really crowded. We’re expecting over 800 people tomorrow,” Williamson said.

Andrew Maxson, sales manager at World Class Beverages, said he has managed a booth for three years.

Maxson said he enjoys educating people about his products by letting them taste small amounts of all the beers he has to offer.

Maxson, who supplies alcohol to grocery and liquor stores around Bloomington, said his promotions focus on one motto: drink less and drink better.

“My favorite experience about the festival is converting people to my beers and having them realize there are more than just light American lager beers out there,” Maxson said.

Wade Shanower, the Big Red Liquors president, said he was glad to be a co-sponsor of the festival and he was excited to see the number of people and how many breweries and vendors were present.

Shanower said he enjoys promoting smaller breweries like Bloomington Brewing Company and Upland Brewing Company.

“I personally favor the local and small producers to the bigger ones, and our festival has a variety of those from around the Midwest,” Shanower said.

Indiana Vodka is one of the local producers Shanower works with. At first, the company was unable to market their vodka to anyone else. Shanower said he gave Indiana Vodka the chance at his store and that’s his philosophy for local microbreweries and wineries as well.

Danny Henrich, Upland Brewery’s sales manager, said Upland offers all kinds of beers for different tastes.

He said the festival does not have a direct effect on Upland but it raises the profile of craft beers in general.

Rita Wilds, a realtor with FC Tucker Company, said she loves the event.

Wilds said volunteering last year was fun, but she was too busy to help out this year. She was stopping by for awhile to see her husband who was volunteering.

“It’s for a good cause and the beer is always great,” Wilds said.

Dustin Brown, BBC brewer, said his beers were crafty and made for great taste and quality.

Brown described his American Brown Ale by saying it had a chocolate taste to it because it is made with chocolate.

BBC’s American Brown Ale and Ruby both won awards at the state fair this year.

“It’s all about experimentation and experience. People should wait for our Java Porter, which is our winter special brew,” Brown said.

A majority of the event’s attendees were IU students. Shanower said although he personally prefers the Wine Festival in the spring, he was happy to see the turnout of younger drinkers.

“I heard about it from a friend last night and I decided to go,” junior Tom Adams said.

Adams said he sampled about 10 beers and he enjoyed the festival because of the variety of people and beer.

Adams was especially surprised with the number of booths.

“It’s so easy to find the party,” Adams said.

Shanower said he was happy the event gets so much attention every year. Brewers from around the Midwest are becoming regulars.

“You know, we really do see an increase in craft beers after the festival,” Adams said. “My favorite ... that’s a tough one, probably the Upland Pale Ale.”