Aaron Dorman

Are beer festivals passe? With the craft beer boom waning a bit, brewpubs have sought more creative ideas for the summer festival circuit.

The Beer, Bacon & Bourbon Festival in Crown Point last weekend thus highlighted some of the Region’s most notable craft distillers, as well as a Triple-B threat, Off Square’s barrel-aged, bacon-infused French toast porter.

“I honestly don’t even remember how I came up with this concept,” said Barb Smrecansky, Off Square’s operations manager. “We needed to add something, so we added bourbon. It’s a party.”

It’s a party that involved over 600 pounds of brisket and pork, noted Off Square’s Chef of Steel , Brian Laneve. That included 50 pounds of crumbled bacon, which goes on everything, including the tacos, and 1,600 pieces of bourbon ba

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