Everybody’s hoppy at Dallas Center Home Brewers Fest

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Devin Doremus, left,and Kevin Potratz, Concordia University roommates of old and now connoisseurs of fine beers, tested the waters at the fourth annual Dallas Center Home Brewers Fest Saturday.

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The Robust Porter was excellent.

Beer bibbers united Saturday for the fourth annual Dallas Center Home Brewers Fest, and their sipping of stouts and ales raised more than $3,000 for the Dallas Center Food Pantry and the Dallas County Shop with a Cop program.

The event brought together members of the Dallas Center home brewers club and 100 or more of their closest friends in order to share about a dozen choice beers and in the process raise donations for the local causes.

“Everyone had a great time and had some very good beer,” said Mitch Hambleton of Dallas Center, a member of the home brewers club. A silent auction and raffle fattened the pot, and pulled pork and blackened chicken wings fattened the feast.

Brews served included Raspberry Wheat, Bavarian Wheat, Mosaic Multi Grain IPA, Marzen Oktoberfest, Viennia Festbier, Indian Brown Ale, Black Rye IPA, Black Ale, Robust Porter, Spiced Cherry Dubbel, American Stout, Pale Ale and a gluten-free Hard Apple Cider.

Kevin Potratz of Seward, Neb., was making his third trip to Dallas Center for the annual event. The information technologist at Concordia University said he likes homemade beer and microbrews and happily announced the recent opening of Bottle Rocket, a nanobrewery in Seward, as evidence of the growing popularity of high-quality beer.

“Busch Light and the other mass-produced beers are kind of like white bread,” Potratz said. “White bread is fine, and it has its place but if you try something better for a while, pretty soon white bread doesn’t seem to be the last word in bread anymore.”

Potratz was joined at the fest by his former Concordia University roommate and now Grimes resident Devin Doremus.

Berton Whited, a lead organizer of the Homebrews Fest, said two homemade sodas — cream soda and root beer — were also available. Since nothing short of participant observation suffices in sociological reporting of brewers fests, ThePerryNews.com can report the Robust Porter and American Stout were particularly well received.

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