They Don’t Call it a BrewFEST for Nothing

There are many things that take place in Blue Chip Casino, Hotel and Spa. Yes, there are the fabulous restaurants, the top-notch casino, the shopping, live entertainment at It’s Vegas, Baby!, the luxurious hotel and the ever-so-wonderful Spa Blu. But did you know that there are other events that take place at the Blue Chip? Big events? Events like...a Brewfest?

The 2013 Blue Chip Brewfest did not disappoint the patrons this year, just like it hasn’t disappointed in the previous occurrences. It is an annual event that has taken place at Blue Chip for the last three years.

“There are different different breweries with 250 different beers, and there are over 1,400 people here,” Jack Elia, Assistant General Manager of the Blue Chip Casino said. “This year the event is larger, there are more breweries popping up left and right so we have a lot more variety so it’s really just a business that keeps growing and growing.”

The Brewfest began at noon with special VIP sessions. One session gave guests the opportunity to taste limited release beers and have them paired with specially selected food to bring out their flavors, and the other offered guests a taste of different types of firkin beers -which are unfiltered and unpasteurized beers that are served from a cask sans forced carbonation.

In one of the larger ballrooms was the main event. Breweries lined the walls and manned their stations in the center of the room as well. Guests milled about, talking and tasting. Some talked shop with the brewers, others laughed with friends. It was a packed place, for sure. Among the foray was Figure Eight Brewery, located in Valparaiso. Neil Davey, the outside sales representative was there along with his co-workers as they served the masses.

“We have five different styles of beer as well as root beer for the designated drivers,” Davey said. “Every time we come here we have a lot of fun. We love the Blue Chip Brewfest because we get to meet up and coming brewers as well as those who have been in the industry for quite some time. It’s always good a brewing company to expose your product to new customers who are looking into craft beer. When people find out that they can find great product right here in their towns and buy locally then that’s a win-win for everyone.”

There were other breweries at the Brewfest that you might recognize: Shoreline Brewery which is right down the road from the Blue Chip Casino, Back Road Brewery in La Porte, and Burn’em Brewing -they will be based in Michigan City soon. It’s a good thing, too, because they sold out of their beer at the Brewfest.

Guests at Brewfest had a great time sampling each beer that all the vendors had to offer. They drank there beverages in special glasses that could be secured around their necks and munched on pretzels that also came in stylish necklace form. There were also edibles for sale like popcorn, hot dogs, chips, etc. for people to eat.

There were tickets sold for those not consuming any beer. These were for the designated drivers who still wanted to come and enjoy the festivities. They had water and different flavored sodas available for these patrons to quench their thirsts.

Amongst the breweries was a silent auction with proceeds benefiting the United Way of La Porte County. Blue Chip is always looking to give back in any way possible, and they take every event seriously.

“I look at this as an educational experience,“ Elia said. “We started planning this right after last year’s Brewfest. The event sold out this year. Every ticket is gone and I am ready and excited for next year.”

To find out more about the great events happening at Blue Chip Casino, Click here!

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