Naperville Winter Ale Fest

About 15 drink tickets? Oh children please. American Beer Classic gives you 45-48 tickets something for cheaper if you ordered the early bird ticket for this year.

 

I have not seen a tap list, but I'm sure it will be very solid. If your someone in the know in the Chicago beer community you go to a Lou Dog Events fest. They are in the inner circle of the Chicago area beer scene and are well connected with the guild and all the brewers. You are going to see a much higher quality level of fest at one of their events. No disrespect to the big event companies, but with the Chicago beer community you are either in or out and the big guys will just never be in. The Naperville Ale Fest in July was easily one of the top fests in the suburbs last year. The idea of an outdoor fest in February is intriguing.

 

why so little breweries compared to summer?

 

The Naperville Winter Ale Fest will feature 60 brewers. The remaining brewers will be announced and added to the website over the next few weeks.

 

Already have my ticket.... sounds like a good time.

 

I'd also like to hear more, and maybe Seago will chime in. What made the Naperville Ale Fest great? I haven't been to any other Lou Dog Events. There are so many festivals these days that it's hard for me to get excited about them, especially a for-profit one outside in February asking for volunteers.

Mjmoser, maybe your not someone in the know ? And is there one inner circle of the Chicago beer scene?

 

Lou Dog Events put on the Lisle Ale Fest as well. At both the Lisle and Naperville summer events, they had a great variety of beer. Lots of rare stuff mixed in with solid common offerings. They definitely get some great beer from the local guys (GI, Solemn Oath, etc) too. I have my ticket and can't wait for this. There will be a couple bonfires and plenty of heated tents from what I hear too.

 

Fests like these are not supposed to compete with FOBAB, Dark Lord Day, etc. Those are fests for the hardcore beer people. These fests are about the people and growing the craft beer community where everyone can be involved. I'm guessing the beer list will be fine. There will be a few rare ones, familiar favorites, and some nice local stuff. I think the outside fest in February could be really interesting. I know some other states do them. As far as the $1 per ounce goes I would say that's par for the course. It will never be as cheap as going to the store. I think you can buy more samples pretty cheap at the fest though. Not trying to stir the pot just trying to point out the difference between the Soldier Field Event and a beer event that has an event company with solid roots in the beer community. Let's turn this discussion around. I'm curious on what kind of things will be different about the fest since it is outside in winter. Are there any updates other than the bonfire?

 

Naper and Lisle were both very solid with a good combination of different beer styles. I go to a fest to of course drink good beer but also try new breweries like Tighthead, One Trick Pony, and Urban Legend. I feel that this fest will be run well and can't wait to try some new beer along with the likes of Bourbon County.

 

I'm going no matter which breweries are there. I went to the Oswego beer fest last year and came across some great no name brewers. Hopefully the same thing happens at this fest.

 

Lou Dog Events makes a donation to local nonprofit organizations for providing volunteers at the fest. For the Naperville Ale Fest we donated over $1,750 to Naperville charities. With the winter fest we are looking to donate $2000 plus to local charities. That's in addition to the donation made to the main sponsor.

 

You could always just look at the blog post from your own website. It seems that you are supposed to update us with more details

"I’m sure you are asking yourself how and why this is happening, but before you do just imagine the possibilities. Let’s paint you a picture of a few thousand happy craft beer fans braving the cold for the ultimate beverage. It may be cold or it might be really cold who knows, but we are really excited to find out. So dress warm and make sure to get your tickets early. This is another Lou Dog Event’s production which means there will be no guarantee that tickets will be available so don’t wait. The Naperville Ale Fest in July was a huge success and has made it’s way into the can’t miss category of Chicago summer beer events. We are banking on bad weather, so that can’t be your excuse. Ticket information can be found at http://www.napervillewinteralefest.com . As we get more information, we will continue to update everyone"

Folks don't wait as there is no guarantee that tickets will be available as this is a Lou Dog Event!

And seeing that there is a name on that website crew similar to another poster above in this thread, is it surprising they are touting the fest as well? Nothing like street teamers coming out of the woodwork to tout this event.

I'd like to see a draft list too

 

We are waiting for a draft list like everyone else. I'm sure it will be fine. We do events, but this is not one of ours. The Lisle Ale Fest sold out and some of our friends and members were not able to get tickets, so we were just reminding everyone of that in the post. What can we say, we like to support the little local guys in the Chicago craft beer community because we believe in their passion and what they do. When the guild puts on FoBAB we are there to help. When a new brewery launches we are there too. If this passion was absent we wouldn't write anything about it. I do have to say that Lou Dog Events has always carried themselves very professionally as hosts to our business. I'm still confused why people are so upset here. We were merely making the point that there is a problem with the expectation of a beer fest to give out too many samples and that maybe people are looking at this the wrong way. No one was questioning wanting to see a draft list. We want to see one as much as anyone. This is not a conspiracy to tell everyone that this fest will replace Dark Lord Day. However, we do believe in their mission and from what we have seen so does the Chicago craft beer community. How do we make this stop? If we give everyone on here a bottle opener or something can we all be friends again?

 

For what it's worth, I had a great time at the Naper Ale Fest. Ton of breweries represented with some rare beers on tap throughout the day. As far as the samples are concerned, I have never been to a fest where that was an issue. In fairness I don't know what the "rules" are as far as what sponsors can or cannot offer as far as tickets or ounces poured throughout the day. Most times, the people pouring aren't diligent in "checking" the tickets, don't care or I have certainly had enough by the end where it's a non-issue. Either way, I'm willing to give a winter fest a try as it's something new, at least for me. And in the end, I love great beer as well as all the social elements that any fest has to offer. Cheers!

 

We just added 13 more breweries that will be participating in the Naperville Winter Ale Fest.

NapervilleWinterAleFest.com/Brewers

 

Yes, the individual brewers confirm with us on their availability to attend the fest. We then work with the brewers and distributors on the individual beers they will be bringing. We try to have a tap list in place 2 - 3 weeks before the fest. With the local brewers we can sometime get a tap list a little sooner. With the breweries out West and East everything has to be shipped into a distributor. The distributor is not going to sit on the inventory for weeks so sometime it comes down to the week before the fest.

We have started to build some solid relationships with they breweries and we are getting some really great beers. For the Lisle Ale Fest we got a Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout aged in a rye whiskey barrels and a from Left hand the Week Sauce Coffee Porter - both really rare beers.