Naperville Ale Fest-Winter Edition features cold-weather brews

The 2023 Naperville Ale Fest-Winter Edition will feature more than 150 craft beers, with a strong focus on beers only available in the winter months.

The state's largest indoor winter beer fest will be noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Frontier Park, 3380 Cedar Glade Drive in Naperville.

Since most beer fests take place in the summer, it's rare to get a chance to try this many stouts, porters, barrel-aged beers, winter warmers, and giant double IPAs all in one place.

Gates open at 11:30 a.m.

Tickets are available at www.napervillealefest.com. Tickets are $70, which includes entry to the fest and 18 3 oz. samples. This is a 21-or-older event; dress appropriately for the weather.

Stop by the Infusion Tent where four beers are poured through infusion machines called Randalls, filled with fresh fruit, chocolate, coffee and more to create one-time-only beers. The beers will be holiday dessert themed from some of the Chicago area's favorite brewers.

Originally created by the craft beer innovators at Dogfish Head Brewery, a Randall is an organoleptic hop transducer module - which is a fancy way of saying it's a device that infuses flavor into beer.

The beer flows through the Randall on its way from the keg to the tap, pulling flavors out of the ingredients in its path. Randalls run beer through fresh hops, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla beans - anything really, making it a fantastic way to participate in one of our favorite parts of craft beer: the experimentation. It's a way to take something great, and make it even better.

At the Cask Tent, they will be tapping five limited edition casks from some of Chicago's best breweries. What is a cask? A cask is a barrel-shaped container used for the production, storage, and service of cask-conditioned beer. The featured brewers will take a base beer you've heard of, toss it into a barrel with some special ingredients, and let it ferment into the fine, one-time-only brew you'll sample on festival day.

The list of participating breweries includes: 2 Fools Cider, Three Floyds Brewing Co., Ace Cider, Alaskan Brewing Co., Around the Bend Beer Co., Art History Brewing, Banging Gavel Brews, Black Horizon Brewing Co., Blake's Hard Cider Co., Brew Dog, Brickstone, Bubblehouse Berwing Co., BuckleDown Brewing, Cruz Blanca, Destihl Brewery, Dry City Brew Works, Exit Strategy, Farmhouse Cider Co., First Forest Brewing, Forbidden Root, Founders Brewing, Garage Band Brewing, Ike & Oak Brewing Co., Illuminated Brew Works, Luna Bay Booch Co., Maplewood Brewery and Distillery, Metal Monkey Brewing, Midwest Coast Brewing Co., Miskatonic Brewing Co., More Brewing Co., Mygrain Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, Noon Whistle Brewing Co., Obscurity Brewing and Obscurity Mead Hall and Cidery, Oswego Brewing Co., Peeled Hard Cider, Penrose, Pipeworks Brewing Co., Pollyanna Brewing Co., Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer, Revolution Brewing, RightBee Cider, Riverlands Brewing Co., Saugatuck Brewing Co., Sew Hop'd Brewery and Taproom, ShortFuse Brewing Co., Sketchbook Brewing Co., Solemn Oath Brewery, SoundGrowler Brewing, Stem Ciders, Tangled Roots Brewing Co., Two Hound Red, Urban Brew Labs, WarPigs Brewing, and Will County Brewing Co.

As if 150 beers weren't enough, the festival also will be featuring hot hard cider and hot chocolate to keep you warm and toasty.

In addition, 10 of the Chicago area's favorite food trucks will be in attendance.