A Beer, Mac N’ Cheese, and Burger Festival With a Philanthropic Mission

The Community House in Birmingham is hosting the food palooza this weekend
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ISTOCK

It sounds like a food lover’s fantasy — a festival dedicated to the best state brews paired with batches of macaroni and cheese and bite-sized burgers. For some metro Detroiters, those dreams are about to come true.

On March 23, the first to-be annual HOPZ festival is taking place at The Community House in Birmingham. The non-profit — which provides professional, personal, and educational developmental courses and workshop to locals and supports more than 210,000 adults and children— is hosting the festival with proceeds directly benefiting The Community House’s philanthropic mission.

Festival-goers will have the opportunity to taste-test seven brews coming all the way from Kalamazoo’s Bell’s Brewery, along with bites from local restaurants including Detroit’s Rock City Eatery, Side Card Slider Bar and Triple Nickel in Birmingham, and Stage Deli located in West Bloomfield.

Tickets, which can only be purchased by those 21 years-old and over, come with ten drink-tokens and the opportunity to sip on shots of vodka at Zim’s Vodka: the distiller that promotes making “the world’s smoothest vodka” by using potatoes coming all the way from Poland.

The list of brews vary widely in flavor and cater to a range of beer-drinkers.

  • Bell’s Official brew contains notes of peach, stone, and tropical fruits.
  • Larry’s Latest Flamingo Fruit Fight offers a tarter taste due its tones of passionfruit and lime zest.
  • Hopsoulution combines tropical, citrus, fruity, and pine aromas with a mild caramel malt character.
  • Whiskey Barrel Aged Cherry Stout is aged up to 12 months in whiskey barrels and intertwines hints of vanilla and dark chocolate with Michigan cherries.
  • Bell’s Lager of the Lakes mixes an herbal bitterness with a firm malt and is supposedly as refreshing as “swimming in one of the Great Lakes.”
  • Two Hearted Ale is a balanced IPA with malt backbone and contains flavors of pine and grapefruit.

If you’re concerned with missing any of the March Madness action, HOPZ will feature a game-viewing tent, and even live performances by Nuclassica, a Detroit-based electro-pop violin group. Other entertainment includes a photobooth station provided by Shutterbooth and raffle prizes.

March 23. $39+. The Community House, 380 S. Bates St., Birmingham; 248-644-5832; communityhouse.com

Are there any food festivals that you are looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below.


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