Back to the Future at a Beer Festival
Plus a butterfly nature watch and heads up about a downstate Cheese Fest
Nature Watch: Butterfly’s Tiny Start
Our friend Gerry Williamson’s garden is friendly to butterflies, which he also raises in a screened-in area on his enclosed back porch. Last week he shared a photo of a pair of tiny butterfly caterpillar eggs he noticed on a milkweed leaf. He is going to continue to share their progress, which hopefully will result in some beautiful butterflies.
Gerry explains today’s photo:
I took this pic the other day when two of the eggs were hatching. You can see one white egg and then two little black heads eating away at the egg cases. In a little over a month they are flying monarchs.
Thank you for sharing, Gerry, and we look forward to more progress reports.
And we welcome other gardeners to share their adventures in growing with Local Food Forum. Email me at bob@localfoodforum.com.
Back to the Future at Malt Row Beer Festival
As you can see in the above photo, lots of folks besides me thought Beerfestiversary — the annual festival presented by Begyle Brewing and Dovetail Brewery over Memorial Day weekend — was a good idea. The event, which returned last year after an unfortunate two-year COVID break, was held on and around Belle Plaine Ave., the street that separates the neighboring breweries near the south end of what’s become known as Malt Row for its concentration of beer and spirits makers.
There were six food trucks on site Sunday along with other food stands. I had learned before I left for the event that the Happy Lobster Truck was going to be serving there, so my course was set.
I throughly enjoyed this lobster roll, washed down with a Dovetail kriek made with local (Michigan) cherries. Dovetail is a master of fruited, barrel-aged beer in the Belgian Lambic tradition. These beers are known as “spon” beers for the spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast that occurs when the beer is left exposed in open tanks.
These are just some of the barrels in which Dovetail’s fruited sours rest, located on the upper floor of the brewery’s facility at 1800 W. Belle Plaine. I also enjoyed a Dovetail saison before I moved on with Local Food Forum friends Amy Bartucci and Tim Magner to Begyle Brewing steps away, where I found an outstanding, juicy tangerine sour.
Begyle also holds a sentimental place for me, as it was one of the first breweries with which I connected to write freelance stories after Barb and I moved to Chicago. Begyle was nearly brand new and tiny when I first visited their building at 1800 W. Cuyler Ave. in August 2012. And those two little fermenters in the archive photo above? That was the entire factory of the startup brewery
By comparison, here’s what just a portion of their brewhouse looked like during Sunday’s festival. Cheers to Kevin Cary, co-founder/CEO of Begyle and longtime president of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, with best wishes for continued success.
Saturday: Marcoot Creamery’s Cheese Fest
June is National Dairy Month. And while I was working on a dairy article for Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois, I learned that Marcoot Jersey Creamery in Greenville, Illinois is holding a family-friendly Cheese Fest this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The farm is located about 50 miles northeast of St. Louis, so good for folks looking for a day trip in the Illinois countryside. You can learn about Marcoot’s excellent artisanal cheeses, their Extreme Ice frozen dessert (made from whey, a protein-packed byproduct of the cheesemaking process); and their Dog-Os dog treats, made from dried cheese. And you’ll have an opportunity to commune with the farm’s herd of Jersey cows.
Here’s how the folks at Marcoot describe the event.
Join us for a Free family fun event on the farm as we celebrate our 13th anniversary and Dairy month! Enjoy walking around our pasture having fun seeing farm animals, playing games, and enjoy lunch with our famous grilled cheese sandwiches and freshly fried cheese curds. Admission is FREE!
Please leave your pets at home!
Click below to learn more about Cheese Fest and Marcoot Jersey Creamery.