FOND DU LAC — Earlier this month, Monroe’s local homebrewing club, the Cheese City Brewers & Vintners attended the annual Homebrew Festival in Fond du Lac. Held the first Saturday in February each year, the FDL Brewfest celebrates the love and passion that comes with brewing one’s own beer and wine. Each event comes with a theme, this years’ being a “Hoedown Brewdown.” Bolo ties, western shirts and cowboy hats were among the chosen outfits of the night and over 40 homebrewing clubs across Wisconsin were represented pouring all styles of beers from light lagers to rich and robust stouts.

Each year, a homebrewer is selected from the Vox Populi, the voice of the people, to have their recipes brewed at a regional brewery, this year being Karben4 in Madison. While the crowd picked a delectable Strawberry Rhubarb ale for their winner, local brewer Logan Cisewski took second place with his “Smore’s Please” stout. This beer was brewed during last October’s Big Brew Day the club hosted on the Square to celebrate the end of another successful farmer’s market season. It was aged for two months in a bourbon barrel before being given a healthy dose of cocoa nibs, vanilla beans and toasted graham crackers, one of the best received beers at the festival.

Another beer brewed by Cisewski that was a crowd favorite was his expertly named “Ectocooler,” a heavily fruited sour ale with heaping quantities of fresh mango puree, pineapples and green spirulina. While a much lower ABV percentage than his stout, this green masterpiece had just as much flavor and almost created a cult following. All-in-all, the members of the Cheese City Brewers & Vintners considered this festival the best one they have attended and are looking forward to seeing what next February has to offer.

The Cheese City Brewers & Vintners are a local homebrewing club that meets at Bartel’s and Co Tap on the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. Those interested in learning about homebrewing may join the next meeting.