After its second year of operation , with

with and educated the sellers before and after RAGBRAI , to ensure compliance with the regulations .

With their second year of operation in 2017 , the ABD made some minor alterations , and Schaffer said that their operations became more organized . Rather than meet with each individual wholesaler , they met with a seller of each brand at a centralized location . Representatives of Budweiser , for instance , could all meet in one place .

After its second year of operation , with 421 total entities educated , members of the ABD say they ’ ve gotten great feedback so far .

“ From hearing what the investigators say when they ’ ve been out there , people have been very appreciative of this educational opportunity ,” Program Planner for Education and Outreach Jake Holmes says . “ Most of the information is things they should normally be doing in their day-to-day operations .”

Since the RAGBRAI route changes every year , it allows investigators and members of the Iowa ABD to travel and educate wholesalers from completely different parts of the state .

“ It ’ s a way for us to meet with people we haven ’ t necessarily met with in the past . We ’ re hitting a lot of locations in a limited amount of time ,” Schaffer adds .

He and Holmes both say that the effort will continue next year , when the route will likely hit the central part of Iowa .

BY MELISSA SHERWIN

Initially , the plan was simple . The tasting event , dubbed “ Ein Bier Bitte !” ( which is German for “ A beer , please !”) was

“ Brad and his colleagues at the Community Center had the idea of hosting a concert and bringing a local legend back to the city of Windom . We talked and decided to combine the events in order to appeal to more people .”

— JOE AUDETTE , RIVER BEND LIQUOR MANAGER

Windom ’ s beer tasting benefited the city ’ s community center .

originally designed just to be a craft beer festival . However , once Brad Bussa , Director of the Windom Community Center heard of the plans , he approached Audette with another suggestion .

“ Brad and his colleagues at the Community Center had the idea of hosting a concert and bringing a local legend back to the city of Windom ,” Audette explains . “ We talked and decided to combine the events in order to appeal to more people .”

Randy Weeks , a musician whose unique style encompasses surf rock , folk , Americana and pop , was approached by the Community Center and agreed to perform at the event . A Windom native , Weeks ’ appearance was billed as the “ Back to My Roots ” concert and was cross-promoted with Ein Bier Bitte . For a $ 20 admission fee , participants could sample tastings from more than 50 local craft beer vendors from 4 p . m . to 7 p . m . Additionally , attendees were invited to a hog roast and then to the Weeks concert , which began as soon as the tasting was over .

Audette says the event was a huge success and attracted even more people than

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