2014 Big Brew on the Calder: Official Recap

Visit the Siciliano's Facebook page to see many more photos from this year's Big Brew event on Calder Plaza.

By Steve Siciliano

Cloudy skies, cool temperatures, sporadic rain showers and gusting winds did nothing to diminish the enthusiasm of the 200+ homebrewers who gathered in downtown Grand Rapids this past Saturday for the second annual Siciliano’s Big Brew on the Calder.

During the height of the festivities Barb and I were standing in the middle of the plaza taking in the surrounding buzz of activity when a team captain walked up and offered us a taste of an excellent barrel aged imperial stout.

“This a great event,” he said as we clinked our glasses together. “Thanks for sponsoring this.”

We replied that there was no need to thank us as he does just that every time he spends his hard earned dollars in our store. Barb and I would repeat those words dozens of times throughout the day.

Sponsoring a local Big Brew Day is one of the ways that Barb and I express our appreciation to the community of homebrewers for supporting Siciliano’s, but it’s not the only reason we organize this annual downtown event. The Big Brew on the Calder gives West Michigan homebrewers the opportunity to display their passion for the hobby on a very public stage and is a great way of showing the area, the state and the country what a vibrant homebrewing community there is in the Grand Rapids area.

After city commissioner Rosalynn Bliss led the simultaneous, country-wide toast to the enriching hobby of homebrewing, I looked out on the fifty-three teams of homebrewers surrounding the towering red sculpture that has become the iconic symbol of Grand Rapids. To me that scene was just one more example as to why our city is, and always will be, “Beer City USA.”

A little wind can't stop homebrewers