Calling all homebrew creators and homebrew consumers! It is time we celebrate all that is good with enzymes and fermentation! 2019 Homebrew Festiv-Ale takes place this Saturday Jul 20 from 2 – 6 p.m. at WAKE Brewing (2529 5th Avenue Rock Island). And you are invited to enjoy the area’s best homebrewer’s fruits (or barley) of labor. Tickets can be purchased for $20 at CoOp Records or WAKE Brewing (cash only) and online until Saturday at 12 p.m. at https://tickets.midwestix.com/event/homebrew-festiv-ale123. Tickets will also be available at the door tomorrow after 2 p.m. for $25. All Profits... Read More

Looking for some fun in the sun with friends this weekend? Then look no further! Join Clint’s Draft House Pizza & Grill (1630 7th Street Moline) this Saturday Jul 13 for some Bags & Buds for the Floods! This Cornhole Tournament will include 20 teams ($30 a team) and will pay out to the top 2 winners. Sign in for the tournament begins at 11 a.m. and the bags will start flying at 12 p.m.! Pick up your sign-in sheet today at Clint’s. Peaceful Palate will be onsite selling slices of pizza. Also enjoy some delicious and refreshing tall cans outside, a 50/50 drawing, longest toss challenge... Read More

It’s no secret that the Quad Cities is home to a wide selection of impressive breweries. So many, in fact, that you might find it difficult to try all of them at once, right? Well not anymore! Brewed Live returns to the QCCA Expo Center (2621 4th Avenue Rock Island) on Saturday March 9 with dozens of new and limited-edition releases! This event showcases over 35 local, regional and national breweries. Enjoy samples of tasty beverages will receiving an educational experience on beer brewing! There will even be a food truck on site, if you’re looking for a bite to eat. In addition to the massive... Read More

The Big Swing Brewing Company, located in the spot of the former Blue Cat Brew Pub at 113 8th St., Rock Island, will be opening in March prior to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, sources say. The new owners of The Big Swing are local real estate developers John Timmer, Shane Scott and Jon McAtee. The trio are the creative and financial force behind the new Backyard Bowl and Abides Bar, in the old Milan Lanes building, 2020 1st St. W, Milan. Some members of the Blue Cat staff will be moving to the Big Swing, so Cat fans can expect to see some familiar faces. It’s still up in the air as... Read More

Are you a beer lover? Do you enjoy filling your brain and body with all that is beer? Then you’ll love this event coming to the Quad Cities! Crawford Brew Works (3659 Devils Glen Road Bettendorf) invites you to join them on the CBW Mezzanine for Brewhouse Chat Series, which will continue on Tuesday Feb 19 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday Feb 26 at 7 p.m. Brewhouse Chat Series is a series of lectures hosted by local historians, story tellers, and Crawford Brew Works’ very own Head Brewer. Tuesday Feb 19 at 7 p.m. storyteller John Brassard will be sharing ‘Murder and Mayhem in Scott County’. Tuesday... Read More

The 7 Days of Darkness approaches. Its ominous presence brings with it some of the most diabolical and tasty Dark brews conjured by the minds of some of the most twisted brewers. Beginning this Sunday Feb 17 and continuing through Saturday Feb 23, Radicle Effect Breworks (1340 31st St. Rock Island) proudly presents 7 Days of Darkness. For 7 long, flavorful days, one Dark beer will appear on Radicle Effect Breworks’ list that will rip your taste buds apart! You will soon beg for the light to return if you can endure The 7 Days of Darkness! The list this year, in no particular order: 2018 Radicle... Read More

Let it be… on ice? A very strange rumor began to surface late this week that former Beatle Paul McCartney had accepted an invitation to be a VIP to the Quad City Storm’s home opening game this Saturday at 7 p.m. at the TaxSlayer Center, 1201 River Drive, Moline. According to various reports, hub-bub, gossip and chewing the fat, Paul McCartney is a big hockey fan, and, wanting to check out the TaxSlayer prior to his gig there next summer, he accepted an invitation, replete with many perks, including a nacho bar with a Velveeta cheese river, a case of Natty Light, a hoverboard with ground effects... Read More

QC United and Pete the Purple Bull’s Kindness Rocks campaign is in full swing! The Run with the Bull 5K and Youth Relays scheduled for this Saturday Oct 13 have been cancelled. Due to the unfortunate Midwest weather we have been experiencing, the original race route is currently being taken over by the Mighty Mississippi. The good news? The race has been rescheduled! The rescheduled race date is Saturday Nov 17 at 9 a.m. Thanks to the wonderful people at Arconic, the new route will be located near Arconic and the bike path (265 Bellingham Road Riverdale). Participants will be treated to Burritos... Read More

Farewell, old friend. Through murky magnificent memories of countless theater after-parties, lonely nights of last calls, the rushes of love and infatuation, passionate kisses and warm hands held, a very public breakup at the bar, a very public makeup off in a corner booth upstairs, huge smiles and laughs, big embraces from friends, solitary lunches with a notebook and a pen, business meetings and birthday celebrations, late nights and early mornings, and even a baby shower, the Blue Cat has been the setting for a large portion of my adult life, as well as the lives of many others. When the Cat... Read More

Will the Scotch Egg be scotched? Will the soups survive? And will Arkham Stout be in, or out? Blue Cat Brew Pub will close its doors tonight, after 24 years in business, and soon, a new brew pub, Big Swing, will take its place after a few weeks of renovations. It’s still up in the air as to what Blue Cat menu items will be kept around beyond its demise. Brew master Dan Cleaveland will remain on staff for at least a year with the new venue, bringing his 60-plus beer recipes with him, so the chances of the BC brews still popping up in the new spot are high. But what about the food? As reported... Read More