This was the Fifth Annual Steins & Vines beer and wine festival, but my first time attending, and its first time being at the Tyson Events Center. The past four years it was at the
This was the Fifth Annual Steins & Vines beer and wine festival, but my first time attending, and its first time being at the Tyson Events Center. The past four years it was at the Convention Center, but now with construction occupying the Convention Center’s parking lot, the move was inevitable.
First Impressions
We arrived 25 minutes early after a filling breakfast at Johnnie Mars, and sat in the car for 15 minutes. Watching the people file in, we decided to get in line. Luckily, we only had to wait another 15 minutes before we stepped foot in the arena.
Through talking with several event-goers, I learned there were 300 VIP tickets sold in the first three days of release, and a total of 2500 general admission tickets sold in a little over a month.
Everyone received a 6-oz glass souvenir cup, meant for reuse while tasting all the beer and wine one could dream of. We were also given an eight-page pamphlet presenting the local vendors and which creations they were sampling.
Wow, so many people! However, everyone was in a good mood, enjoying the atmosphere, conversing with friends they haven’t seen in a while and comparing their sample to the next.
Vendors
This year’s festival featured more than 200 varieties of beer and wine. We saw two local Sioux City breweries, Brioux City (https://www.briouxcitybrewery.com) and Jackson Street Brewing (https://jacksonstreet.beer). Vendors came from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and as far away as California!
Having never been to a beer and wine festival ever, and expecting only local to Midwest vendors to attend, I was so surprised to see brewing companies from Oregon to Delaware.
Visiting each and every vendor’s website, I must say, they each have a story to tell, are aesthetically pleasing and informative. I wanted to list every brewery and winery and their website here, so maybe you will visit, learn and even purchase your next favorite product.
The Steins
Dogfish Head from Delaware – https://www.dogfish.com
Bell’s Brewery from Michigan – https://www.bellsbeer.com
Firestone Walker Brewing Company from California – https://www.firestonebeer.com
Odell Brewing Company from Colorado – https://www.odellbrewing.com
Deschutes Brewery from Oregon – https://www.deschutesbrewery.com
Toppling Goliath from Decorah, Iowa – https://www.tgbrews.com
Breckenridge Brewery from Colorado – https://www.breckbrew.com
Goose Island Brewery from Illinois – https://www.gooseisland.com
Kona Brewing Co. from Hawaii – https://konabrewingco.com
Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer from Connecticut – https://www.bonandvivspikedseltzer.com
August Schell Brewing from Minnesota – https://www.schellsbrewery.com
Ballast Point from California – https://www.ballastpoint.com
Exile Brewing from Des Moines, Iowa – https://exilebrewing.com
Fernson Brewing from Sioux Falls, SD – http://www.fernson.com
Lagunitas from California – https://lagunitas.com
Millstream Brewing from Amana, Iowa – http://www.millstreambrewing.com
Nebraska Brewing from Papillion, Nebraska – https://nebraskabrewingco.com
Keg Creek Brewing Co. from Glenwood, Iowa – https://kegcreekbrewing.com
The Vines
Cask & Cork from Sioux Falls, SD – https://www.caskncork.com
Broken Kettle Wine Cellars from Akron, Iowa – https://www.brokenkettlewinecellars.com
Grandma’s Fruit Juice Winery from Sheldon, Iowa (no website)
Soldier Creek Winery from Fort Dodge, Iowa – http://soldiercreekwinery.com
Sugar Clay Winery from Thurman, Iowa – http://www.sugarclaywinery.com
Little Swan Lake from Estherville, Iowa – http://www.lslwinery.com
Tucker Hill from Hinton, Iowa – http://www.tuckerhillwine.com
Coffee, Energy Drinks and Food oh my!
The locally owned Stone Bru and Le Mars based Habitue (https://www.habituecoffee.com) were serving their coffee. Energy drink vendors were selling Venom and Rockstar products. Finally, there were snack foods from various local vendors, including Sioux City’s EATA Buncha Nuts and Gringo’s Pork Rinds (https://gringosporkrinds.com).
Our Favorites
We walked around for a little over an hour, sampling about six beers and three wines. My favorite beer I sampled was Glenwood, Iowa’s Keg Creek’s Moongold Apricot, and my favorite wine had to be a chocolate cherry pour from Hinton, Iowa’s Tucker Hill Vineyard. My fiancé really enjoyed Helles Styled Lager from California’s Firestone Walker Brewing Company. He also appreciated the detail of their coasters, the image of a lion and bear fighting, and their mantra: “It’s our battle cry to never accept well enough”.
Did You Know?
Steins and Vines has raised almost $30,000 for charities since the festival started in 2014. They will add to this number after this year’s donations are calculated!
Final Thoughts
All in all, we will go again, but next time we will try for VIP. If we can secure VIP tickets, we’ll be able to arrive earlier than general admission, walk around with much less people and socialize with vendors, learning their history and stories.
Even with hundreds of people crowding each stall, I was able to snag brochures and business cards. I met ambitious business owners with years of experience, who were proud of their products and the team effort behind their name brand.
I am anticipating my visit to all the vineyards I saw at the festival. I did not know there were so many so close to me! I also plan on visiting Jackson Street Brewing and Brioux City to sample a flight. Being curious, and willing to travel and discover, I will be planning a trip down to Glenwood and over to Amana, Iowa to tour their breweries.
Be sure to visit Steins and Vines website, http://steinsvines.com, for more information on the event.