2026 HamCo Food and Brew Fest

THANK YOU to all the brewers, vendors, volunteers, and attendees who came out for the 2026 Ham Co Food and Brew Fest!

Here are the 2026 Winners:


Brew:

Best Brew (yellow): Dusty Dog Homebrew - Kiwi Pilsner

Best Brew (fruited/spice/wheat): John & Karen Perryman - Blue Loon White Ale

Best Brew (IPA): Dusty Dog Homebrew - NEIPA

Best Brew (dark porter/lager): Caleb Gawthorp - El Diablo Dulce

Best Brew (amber/brown Beer): Dusty Dog Homebrew - Vienna Lager


SpecialtyDrinks:

Seltzer & Ciders: Koerner Distribution - Brick River Homestead Peach Cider

Margaritas: Tequila Mexican Restaurant - Margaritas

Shots: The Barn Bar - Pickle Shots


Food:

Best Food (entree): Rend Lake Culinary Arts - Bacon Jam Cheeseburger Sliders

Best Food (side): 5th Street Market - Cheesy Potatoes

Best Food (appetizer): Rend Lake Culinary Arts - Buffalo Chicken Wonton Taco

Best Food (dessert): Alicia's Sweets - Elvis Cupcakes


Best Overall:

Best Brew Overall: Dusty Dog Homebrew - Kiwi Pilsner 

Best Food Overall: Rend Lake Culinary Arts - Bacon Jam Cheeseburger Sliders 

Best Specialty/Cocktail: Tequila Mexican Restaurant - Margaritas


People's Choice (Fan Favorites):

Brew: Dusty Dog Homebrew - Tropical Sun Sour Ale

Food: Rend Lake Culinary Arts - Bacon Jam Cheeseburger Sliders

Specialty Drink/Cocktail: Maggie's Kitchen - Tequila Sunrise


Thank you again to all participants and everyone that joined us this year - see you at next year's event, stay tuned!!!

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HamCo Food & Brew Fest - SUCCESS

By Jarina Asi • March 4, 2019
Thank you to our sponsors: DANA Communications, Trackers Lodge, Peoples National Bank, Hamilton Memorial Hospital, Sea Service Family Consulting, Banterra Bank, The Liquor Hut, Fred Vallowe - McLeansboro City Clerk and CounterTop Creations. Your kind sponsorships made this awesome event happen! Thank you again to all who attended and took the time to learn about all the good food and brews in our area! The competition was fierce in both the Food and Brew categories. We saw some returning restaurants, as well as some new faces. And the offerings were diverse—everything from BBQ (Lil Buddies BBQ) to traditional American (Foxy, Gottzz's, and Huck's), Tex-Mex (Guero's), Upscale offerings (Rend Lake College Culinary Arts), Pasture-Raised Meats (Gage Agricultural Designs), with Appetizers and sweet Desserts (Alicia's Sweets, Dairy Queen, and Carbon Forge Design) to cap it all off. The Brews were also outstanding, with something for everyone (but minors of course). From lighter Ales to Stouts, from Hefeweizens to IPAs--and some Ciders to sweeten things a bit. ​And although the vote count was very tight in both categories, here is how the voting shook out: FOOD Category: 1st Place: Foxy (McLeansboro) 2nd Place: Guero's Mexican Restaurant (Mt. Vernon) 3rd Place: Gage Agricultural Designs (Dahlgren) BREW Category: 1st Place: Lois Van Winkle 2nd Place: Kevin Braden & Brad Grubb​ 3rd Place: Danny Hopfinger Below are our winners, as well as, pictures of SOME of our vendors and door prize winners.

Chamber Annual Dinner

By Shaan Patel • February 5, 2019
The Chamber continued their tradition of a social hour that included hor d'oeuvres, beer and wine. Thank you to our Social Hour Sponsor - The Liquor Hut. Back again by popular demand was our Hidden Gems jewelry event, sponsored by Irvin's Jewelry. Thank you to our Silent Auction donors for all the special items. And a special thanks to the Special Events committee for all your hard work and planning to provide such a nice evening. Entertainment this evening was provided by Chris Egleston.