Beer flowed, music rang out and good times were had at the first Muncie Brewfest on Saturday. People came to sample craft beers, listen to music and enjoy the food. For many who attended, it was their first time experiencing a brew festival. As for the brewers, many were well-seasoned veterans to the scene.
Around 200 people attended the inaugural event, which which was a smaller crowd than organizers had hoped for, Ty Morton, organizer for Muncie Brewfest said.
Morton originally had a goal of 1,000 attendees for Brewfest, he said, with proceeds for this event going to benefit the Muncie Historic Preservation Commission and Muncie Downtown Development.
"In every way that mattered, the Brewfest was a great success," he said. "We will definitely do it again next year, and it will only get better."
More than 25 volunteers also worked throughout the day, and the brewers and distributors represented 37 breweries from across the country, Morton said.
Michael and Lindsay Walters, from Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont, Colo., stopped by Muncie Brewfest on their way from Ohio to Chicago. They have been to 20 or 30 brew festivals just this year. The Walters spend a lot of time in Indiana. Last weekend, they were at the Big Red Beer Festival in Bloomington and over the summer they went to the Indiana Microbrewers Festival in Indianapolis.
"Indiana's a big state for us. We love coming here," Lindsay Walters said.
The home brew competition yielded 23 entries. Michael Calvin won third place for his American Pale Ale; Brian Pickerell won second place for his Koelsch; and Michael Pearson won best in show for his German Pilsner. Pearson can now enter his beer into the National Homebrew Competition, Morton said.
Some Ball State University students also enjoyed Muncie Brewfest. James Fox and Todd Eviston consider themselves beer enthusiasts, even beer connoisseurs, Eviston said. They were anxious to see what Brewfest was all about.
"One of my favorite beers is here. It's the Bell's Winter White," Fox said. "But I'm pretty anxious to just kind of go around and see something that catches my eye."
The beer was consumed steadily throughout Muncie Brewfest as those in attendance enjoyed music by Cory Hill and celebrated Muncie being the craft beer capital of Indiana.
Some people were at the Brewfest as part of their job, like Jeremy Pugh, who works for Cavalier Distributing. Cavalier is one of Muncie Brewfest's sponsors. He was able to hang around at Brewfest for a while and try some of the beers he distributed.
"It seems like a great atmosphere, everyone seems real nice and friendly and willing to learn and teach," Pugh said.
Pugh is new to Cavalier, so he was learning the ropes. He certainly wouldn't mind coming back, he said.
"If the boss requires me to come here and sample beer, far be it for me to say no," Pugh said.
Mark Diegerich came to Muncie from Indianapolis just for Brewfest. He has a friend who lives in the area and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to check out Muncie Brewfest.
"I'm looking forward to just sampling beers from local brewers that I've never had," Diegerich said.
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