Beer and food typically go hand in hand, but for the local Baton Rouge home brewers club, Brasseurs a la Maisons, the food went from hand to hand. On Saturday, the group raised what was estimated as more than a ton of canned food for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank during their second annual Iron Brewer Festival, held at the Tin Roof Beer brewery off Nicholson Drive.
Blake Winchell, president and founding member of the club, said the Iron Brewer Festival was an idea the Brasseurs had after attending other local beer festivals and deciding they wanted their own.
Adding further to the uniqueness of their event, they modeled it after the popular Iron Chef competition, assigning each of the 11 brew teams a style of beer to create for the competition, in line with the theme of aphrodisiacs, he said.
Because the club is not legally allowed to sell alcohol to the public, they decided to have the attendees donate to a charity, choosing the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Winchell said.
“We wanted to make a difference in the local community,” Winchell said.
For a total price of one canned good, though more were welcomed, attendees received a coozie and a cup to be filled with as much beer as they desired.
Mike Manning, president and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, oversaw the collection of the canned goods at the entrance tent.
The event aimed to raise more than a ton of food, and with an hour until the event ended, Manning said it appeared they had passed their goal. In addition, they also received cash donations.
“This is a great way to raise awareness for hunger,” Manning said, noting the various ages and socioeconomic statuses of people attending the event.
The festival was a hit, selling out of beer around 4 p.m., an hour before it officially ended.
Winchell said he was not expecting to sell out of brew this year after adding an additional team and brewing twice as much beer as last year, 20 gallons per team.
Winchell and his self-described “LSU team” — all five members work in various departments at the University — decided on a tiramisu porter after being assigned porter as their style of beer and using chocolate to fit in with the festivals theme of aphrodisiac ingredients.
With an added team and twice the beer from last year, the group was still unable to predict the type of success they would have.
By 4 p.m., the last drips of his team’s tiramisu porter emptied into one of the more than 700 attendees’ cups.
Although he and his team spent more than $125 of their own money, he said he was happy with the turnout.
“We do this for our enjoyment,” he said. “We are giving money away, but we have a blast.”
He said his club takes pride in the festival because it is unique to them.
“This is our event,” he said. “This is ours.”
Over the boom of the music and the cheers of attendees, Winchell said the event is sure to happen again in the future.
“We are giving money away, but we have a blast.”