Missed Opportunity

Would just like to say, we all missed a prime chance to get together yesterday.

The beer gods smiled Sunday on the 14th annual Wisconsin Microbrewers Beer Fest at the Calumet County Fairgrounds.

“After four years of nasty weather, we had this coming,” said Bob Rowland of Calumet Brewing, the host brewer for the festival and one of the 24 Wisconsin brewers dispensing beer at the sold-out event, which drew 2,000 people.

Rowland’s Calumet Rye was the first keg to be emptied. “We opened at 1 (p.m.) and it was gone by 2,” he said.

“This is a great time,” said Joel Zentner of Oshkosh. “Especially days like this, with beautiful scenery and excellent beer.”

Zentner was making his seventh appearance at the festival.

“This is a beautiful day for beer drinking,” said Bob Warren of Appleton, who has attended the festival since 1999. “All the brewers are pretty good. There’s lots of variety.”

Warren was in a group of 20 people who had staked out a grassy area behind one of the two buildings at which beer was being served.

“I’m a beer fest virgin,” said Lynette Warren, Bob Warren’s sister, who came with her fiance, Ramon Garcia Montez Jr., in a group from Bettendorf, Iowa. “I’m a huge beer fan and this is a very good time.”

“I wish we had something like this in Iowa,” Montez said.

About 100 different kinds of beer were being served, including varieties such as Moustache Ride Pale Ale from Onopa Brewing of Milwaukee and Warped Speed Scotch Ale from Lake Louie of Arena.

Fred Brocker, president of the Chilton Lions Club, did well selling cigars.

“We sell out every year,” Brocker said of the cigars, which cost from $2 to $10 apiece. “By the end of the day, they’ll all be gone, and all of the money raised goes back to the community.”

Also doing well was the Chilton Athletic Club, which sold brats, hamburgers and pork sandwiches during the five-hour event.

Theo Bialk of Elkhart Lake accessorized with a functional baby’s bib that read “My Daddy Drinks Beer at Rowlands.”

“I expect I’ll be needing that later on,” Bialk said.

This was Bialk’s second time at the festival. He came on one of the record 25 buses that brought beer lovers from around the state and as far away as Rockford, Ill.

The only complaint heard at the festival was word that Rowland was thinking of selling more tickets for next year’s event. He sold all 2,000 tickets several weeks before this year’s festival.

“It’s definitely going to get bigger next year,” Rowland said.

He said details have to be worked out, but he expects to sell 400 to 500 more tickets next year. To accommodate the increased crowd, he would add a beer-serving tent.

Anyone else want to mark their calendars for next year?