Boiler Up! While Chowing Down: Purdue Beer Fest Serves Good Eats With Great Drinks

My husband and I attended the Beer Fest at Purdue University (Boiler Up!) on October 16th.  It took place at Marriott Hall on campus and was put on by the school of Hotel and Tourism Management, specifically the 492 class, which the event was actually a lab for them.  Does that make us lab rats?

There was a five course meal paired with five different beers from Indiana Breweries.  Upland Brewing Company, Sun King Brewery, andPeople’s Brewing Company were all represented.  The food was Oktoberfest cuisine, and music was performed by Traveling Broke and Out of Gas.  I guess I would describe their style as a mix between folk and bluegrass.  It was very cool to see that people still use washboards as instruments.

The first course was a huge soft pretzel with beer cheese.  Holy mouthgasm… That beer cheese was amazing.  I could have drank it out of a mug.  I’m a sucker for a soft pretzel and cheese though.  The pretzel was paired with People’s Germanfest.  People’s is located in Lafayette so it makes total sense that they would be featured at this event.

The second course was a short rib sauerbraten and was served with whipped sweet potato.  I don’t think I’ve ever had whipped sweet potatoes, but they were super tasty and were paired with People’s Munchner Rauchbier.  This was a very smokey beer and the pairing was right on.