More than 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall at Wheaton Ale Fest

The Wheaton Park District and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of DuPage County have invited beer lovers to "cure what ales" at the first Wheaton Ale Fest on Front Street Saturday, Aug. 6.

Curt Foreman is the festival director for BrewFest Partners who is working on the event with CASA DuPage and the Wheaton Park District. He explained that VIP tickets are popular at all his events. “For a little bit more you have additional hours to try more beers, eat a little something and hang out before the crowds arrive. We’re also going to have a brewer talk during the VIP time.”

Attendees are encouraged to bring designated drivers (DD) to ensure a safe ride home. DD tickets are only $15 and include unlimited soda and water.

Margie Wilhelmi, marketing director for the Wheaton Park District, said she thinks the DD tickets are a great idea. “If you want to bring along a designated driver, they get to come in for the event, too. It’s a great idea and something that has brought BrewFest Partners success in the past,” Wilhelmi said.

Foreman explained that having a designated driver is important for any event and shows their intent for keeping consumers safe. “We want people to bring someone responsible with them. We care about how people are getting home. Plus, not everyone is a drinker, and this way they still get to take in the ambiance and enjoy the festival,” Foreman said.

Local breweries such as Two Brothers Brewing Company, Urban Knaves of Grain homebrew club, and Chicago Beer Company will be there as well as national favorites such as Blue Moon Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing and many more.

You can even vote for your favorite Illinois beer. “Six or seven Illinois breweries each nominated one of their beers to be voted on at the festival. At the booths you will be able to see which beers are up for the award and vote for them by texting it in or scanning it on your smart phone. It will then be automatically tabulated and the winning beer will get a Wheaton Ale Fest plaque,” Foreman said.

Many of the brewing companies have donated items to be raffled at the event. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase.

Food will also be available for purchase to compliment the beverage samples. According to Wilhelmi, options include steak sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, sausages, nuts and pretzels.

Max Williams, manager of the Downtown Wheaton Association, said the organization is happy to be a part of the event. “We’re pretty excited. Front Street is a very active place so it’s perfect for an event like this,” he said.

When seeking a location in the western suburbs, Foreman said that Wheaton caught his eye as a great place for a BrewFest because of the sense of community. “I have the framework of creating a great event and [the people whom I partner with] have the ideas, and together we have the creativity to make it something special. It’s important to me to have solid local partners. I love working with CASA and the Wheaton Park District,” he said.

“I was intrigued by the idea that Wheaton was dry until the late 80s. It really works when I have a partner who can bring what the community wants into an event.”

Alcohol sales were prohibited in Wheaton for nearly 100 years, 1887 to 1985.

Serving alcohol at Wheaton events is a newer trend and involves a special license to be approved by the city council, as well as special training for volunteers by the police department.

“Each event we’ve done [with alcohol] has been closely regulated and well controlled. That happens to be the case, so there isn’t a reason not to do more,” Williams said.

Wilhelmi agreed, saying, “There is a huge demographic of older people who want to come out for the festivals. We do such a good job of [serving alcohol] responsibly and working with the police… Plus, we don’t let our events go into the wee hours of the morning, they end early enough that people are careful and it’s done responsibly that way,” she said.

Williams said that serving alcohol at events and having a festival dedicated to beer could help clear up some misconceptions about Wheaton. “People have this perception that Wheaton is still a dry town, even people who live here still think it’s dry,” he said, “This is a fun place to be, it’s in the heart of the community and it’s got a lot going for it.”

Mike Burke of the Bank restaurant agreed that having alcohol at events will showcase Wheaton as a “good alternative to Naperville.”

“People still think you can’t drink here… they don’t know how many restaurants we have and the night life,” Burke said. “I think it’s important that the word gets out, not as a drinking town, but that alcohol is available here. People on the south side of Wheaton will go to Naperville maybe because it’s closer or more convenient, but they need to know that downtown Wheaton is another great place to go,” he said.

Wilhelmi believes microbrews have become more popular here. “They serve some craft brews at Arrowhead that people have really gotten into lately,” she said.

Williams added that there are a lot of restaurants downtown that feature microbrews. “This is a perfect event for our community… it’s more about appreciating the beer itself,” Williams said, “We’re excited to see something new and different downtown.”

Since Friday, July 22, Foreman said 700 tickets have been sold. “We’re looking at probably around a 1,400- or 1,500-person event,” he said.