BLOOMINGTON - Bruegala, the eighth annual festival of international beer, featured a brew made specifically for the event. | VIDEO: Local home brewer pours a winner

Chad Beavers brewed a Pale American Wheat Ale especially for the festival and named it "Bruegala's Best."

It was a light beer with a large head of foam, which he attributed to the wheat.

It is common, said Beavers, an officer in Abnormal Brewers, for home brewers to include a good deal of wheat in their beers.

Abnormal Brewers, an association for Bloomington-Normal home brewers, was a co-sponsor of Bruegala, which was Friday and Saturday at the Interstate Center.

The brew fest brought beers from more than 200 breweries so that beer lovers could enjoy their drinks and listen to six bands while raising funds for a good cause.

Proceeds from this year's Bruegala will go to the Community Health Care Clinic in Normal, which provides medical services to McLean County residents who are under or uninsured.

The Bloomington-Normal Jaycees organized the event and sponsored it with 14 other organizations.

"We are excited about these types of fundraisers," said Shirley Drazewski, executive director of the clinic. She was speaking at the table where she was to pour various Guinness and Harp beers. Drazewski said proceeds from the fest will fund the payroll of the clinic's eight paid employees.

"It's a real nice crowd," said Mike Walters, Midwest sales manager of Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colo.

Walters was pouring samples of several beers, including one named, Haystack Wheat, which had a banana and nutmeg taste that he said is due to live yeast that is 1,000 years old.

He said their top seller is Sawtooth, an extra special bitter beer that he said the New York Times ranked the No. 1 extra special bitter beer in the world, although the British specialize in such brews.

A chipotle porter beer was among those poured by Abnormal Brewers. The chipotle porter, a dark beer with a subtle pepper flavor, was brewed by John Chubick of Bloomington.

Chubick said he added smoked jalapenos to the beer during its second fermentation. Chubick won the Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works home brew competition in March with his Hood Sisters Cream Ale.

Participants in the event found plenty to sample and some interesting packages to purchese.

"We're just kind of getting started," said Cory Stocking, 22, of Normal, who was attending the event with a friend, Jesse Deskeere, 24, also of Normal.

They sampled Left Hand earlier, attracted by the logo of a red hand, but had moved on to Gosser, a dark Austrian beer.

They each purchased the "Baron's Wedding" package, which includes about 20 beer samples for $15. Baron von Bruegala is the fictional German founder of the fest. Other packages are the Baron's Hunting Expedition (12 samples) Baron's Nightcap (six samples) and Baron's Mouthwash (one sample).