Pale ale from Limestone wins honors at festival

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A stone historical monument marks the spot of the first plowing match in Plainfield Township. | submitted photo

Updated: November 16, 2011 1:59AM

PLAINFIELD — Limestone Brewing Company’s Plow Match Pale Ale pulled the greatest weight with crowds at the Wheaton Ale Festival this summer.

The craft beer crowd voted the biscuity brew the best submission over offerings from about 150 microbreweries and brew pubs at the festival early in August.

“It was a great surprise when everyone started calling me and saying ‘congratulations,’” said Limestone brewmaster Ken McMullen. “It’s a signal that Limestone is getting a name among the heavy hitters.”

The Plow Match Pale Ale was born when a world-wide shortage of Amarillo hops made LBC’s Pilcher Pale Ale a thing of the past. The Plow Match recipe relies on Cascade hops to balance the smooth and malty middle with lots of floral Cascade hoppiness in the finish. It’s a good match with spicy dishes and hearty, heavy sauces as well.

Like most of Limestone’s brews, the Wheaton Ales fest winner takes its name from history. Each fall, from 1877 to 1976 this plow match competition became a rite of the harvest season and was first held on 119th Street just east of Route 59, where marble markers still commemorate the pulls, just across the field from what is now Plainfield’s most happening nightspot.

“It is the Plowing Match that has made this township the most fertile and productive in the state of Illinois. It has made farm life beautiful and attractive,” reads an account in the “Village of Plainfield Rural Structures and Farmstead Survey” compiled by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates of Northbrook in May 2006.

Limestone Brewing Company will measure Plow Match Pale Ale against craft beers from all across the country at this weekend’s Midwest Brewers Fest along the banks of the DuPage River near downtown Plainfield.

LBC owner Steve Caton is one of the two founders of the first annual fest, the latest incarnation of Limestone’s commitment to community. The fundraiser is expected to raise $40,000 to benefit the Plainfield Riverfront Foundation in its mission to upgrade 88 acres of river bank in the heart of downtown Plainfield. Another 5 percent of the brew fest till will go to the cancer research organization Pints for Prostates.

Fifty-six breweries from across the country will be drawing some rare beer batches, some of which were concocted just for craft brew fests. You won’t find these brands in stores. Three home-brewing clubs will give pointers to home brew wanna-be’s in “Craft Beer 101” tent, where basement brewmasters can learn more about the art.

Local restaurants — including Moe Joes, Rosals, Limestone, Finnegans, Bin 48, Baby Back Blues, Whole Foods, Gilberts Sausages, and Bigby’s Pourhouse — are promising delicious alternatives to standard fest food choices.

Seven local bands will play on the main stage throughout the fest.

You must be 21 and have tickets for the fest.

On Monday, VIP tickets were almost sold out, as 230 out of 250 VIP tickets were spoken for.

General Admission tickets cost $40 pre-event and are selling briskly, Caton says, but organizers still have a lot more to sell in order to raise and donate the most money to the riverfront cause.

Advanced tickets are $10 cheaper than at the gate.

For complete info on the Midwest Brewers Fest, go to http://www.midwestbrewersfest.com/index.php

You can buy tickets at www.YourTicketStand.com. and at Finnegan’s Gastro Pub, Bart Homes and Limestone Brewing Company in Plainfield.

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