The 4th Annual G-ALES-Burg Beer Fest is this Saturday, April 11, at The Vault at Reserve Artisan Ales in downtown Galesburg — and tickets are going fast. Blake and Lindsay Benedict, the husband-and-wife team behind Reserve Artisan Ales, joined Galesburg’s Morning News Tuesday morning to preview the event. The full interview is below.
VIP and early admission tickets are sold out. General admission tickets with food are running low — approximately 60 remaining as of Tuesday morning. General admission without food tickets are still available. Tickets must be purchased online — you can scan a QR code at the door, but there is no traditional walk-up ticket sales.
General admission entry begins at 1 p.m. The event runs until 4 p.m., with the taproom staying open afterward.
What to expect
Blake Benedict, owner and head brewer at Reserve Artisan Ales, said what sets G-ALES-Burg apart from other beer fests is who is pouring.
“We have brewer representatives there — owners, brewers, people actually from the brewery,” Benedict said. “A lot of times at other events they’re volunteers pouring beer and they don’t know as much about the product as the people making it.”
More than 30 regional Illinois and Iowa breweries will be represented, with beer ranging from light lagers to sours to barrel-aged stouts. Reserve Artisan Ales is releasing two barrel-aged beers at the event, including a collaboration stout aged in a bourbon barrel with HY and Bar 65.
Wine, cider, mead, and a little whiskey will also be available, along with beef sticks from a Carthage collaborator. Games include a 300-cup beer pong setup — no beer required — with prizes for every cup you sink.
The event has grown dramatically since year one. The first G-ALES-Burg Beer Fest drew around 235 attendees. Last year’s event hit 450. This year, with ticket sales already 60 ahead of last year’s pace, the Benedicts are projecting 600 to 650 attendees.
“Galesburg never had one, so it never got boring here,” Blake Benedict said. “A lot of people’s first beer fest is ours.”
The cause behind the festival
Proceeds from G-ALES-Burg Beer Fest benefit the Vascular Anomalies Alliance, a nonprofit the Benedicts helped found in 2024 alongside six other families from across the country.
The cause is personal. The Benedicts’ son was born in 2020 with a port wine stain birthmark — a type of vascular birthmark that affects one in 10 people. For 10% of those affected, the condition requires lifelong specialist care due to its severity or location.
“Finding a specialist is not easy,” Lindsay Benedict said. “Without the birthmark community that helped us find our doctor, I don’t know what we would have done.”
The family travels to New York City for treatment. The VAA was created to help other families who may not have the means to do the same — funding medical travel, creating educational resources, and supporting research to advance treatment options. The organization is also working to train more specialists, as many in the field are aging out.
In three years, G-ALES-Burg Beer Fest has raised $30,000 for the VAA. This year’s event includes a big-ticket raffle item — a trolley ride for 25 people for five hours.
Both Blake and Lindsay serve on the VAA board of directors.
Ticket information
- VIP — Sold out
- Early Admission — Sold out
- General Admission with food — Limited availability. Entry at 1 p.m., 3 hours of samples, food voucher for RAA Food Trolley or Nayborhood Farm Woodfire Pizza.
- General Admission without food — Available. Entry at 1 p.m., 3 hours of samples.
- Designated Driver — $10 donation, no samples.
Tickets are available online only. Visit Reserve Artisan Ales on social media for the purchase link. Note: ticket prices increase $5 on the day of the event.
The G-ALES-Burg Beer Fest is at The Vault at Reserve Artisan Ales, connected to the pour-your-own taproom and brewery in downtown Galesburg. The event ends at 4 p.m., but the taproom will remain open afterward.
