Urbana Doesn't Completely Suck

In keeping with our summer of doing things in the area we hadn't done before, yesterday afternoon Mike and I went to the International Beer and Chili Festival in downtown Urbana. It was advertised as having over 140 beers to taste, as well as a chili contest. When we got downtown, we noticed a HUGE line of folks waiting to get in. The festival opened at 3, and this was a few minutes afterward, but still......the first 500 folks to get in free received a special glass for the beer tasting, and there were a lot more than that by the looks of the line.

After driving around a bit we found a parking spot and headed to the end of the line. There were actually two lines around the block to get in, and they almost met each other. We saw Kanno and Becca, and for some reason didn't skip in with them. Oh wait, that's called common courtesty not to skip a line. Unfortunately, a group ahead of us didn't know that and we watched two people turn into twelve.

The line really didn't take too long, so we finally got in around 20 minutes later. We paid our 5 bucks and received our "over 21" bracelets, so on to the drinking. In order to taste the beer, you purchase tickets worth fifty cents. Most of the tables (there were 35 in all) were one ticket, and five or six required two tickets. We each got $10 worth of tickets-that's some serious tasting!

I figured out later we each tried 15 different beers. You got a sample cup at each table that was filled with 2 1/2-3 ounces (depending on the pourer). We also made sure to get different samples so we could share. These were all beers from smaller breweries located in the US and various other countries. None of that Miller or Bud stuff here! I discovered that I really like wheat beer, and I think my favorite was Boulder Sweaty Betty Blonde Wheat from Boulder, CO. Mike thinks his favorite was Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA from Illinois.

At some point we took a break from the beer and decided to try the chili. A lot of places had already packed up and left, as they were out of chili. One of the stands had a long line, so we figured that must be a good one and got in that line. The chili was also one ticket and you got a small sample cup for that. When we got to the front of the line, it turned out they only had two bowls left. YES! We rule, we got the last of the chili! I'm glad we did too, because it was really good. They posted the ingredient list, and it contained (amongst other things) maple sausage and brown sugar, which gave it a really sweet taste.

Back in for more beer. We kept running into Kanno and Becca, as well as Darcy, Grady, and Kristina. We were able to compare notes, and were advised to skip a certain table as the pourers were drunk. Gotta love volunteering at the beer festival!

Near the end, we decided to use some of our tickets for more food. Mike got some curly fries, and I got a larger bowl of chili. After the other stuff, it really wasn't that good. As we were standing outside eating, we were approached by a reporter from a local TV station. She wanted to know if she could interview one or both of us. I said sure, what the heck, why not? She made the comment that she was constantly turning down the drunk college kids who wanted to be interviewed. Guess she picked us because we weren't college kids (which was about 90 percent of the crowd). I don't think I realized how buzzed I was, because in the "interview" I rambled on about how great all the beer was. Afterwards, we tried to find the rest of the group so I could brag about how famous I was, but we couldn't find them. So on to the Esquire to get some real food (and more beer), where I ran into an annoying ex-coworker. She told us about her recent trip to Alaska, which I have to admit sounded really cool (no pun intended).

We then went home to watch my television debut. When the story finally came on, I was very nervous to see how it would turn out. Turns out I had nothing to worry about, because my stunning discourse on all the wonderful beer ended up on the cutting room floor. I think I'm relieved, because I'm not sure I really wanted to be on TV.

So there is a good festival in Urbana. Why haven't we been to this before? I don't know, but we are definitely there next year. And we are getting there much earlier-I want a souvenir glass.