Festival of Color Highlights Beer Brewing Workshop

Brewing beer not only takes time and effort, but also making sure the measurement are exact is key to the craft of brewing and bottling a good pale ale or lager.

To help with that, a beginners brewing workshop is presented through Brewheister at The Village at Gureje (886 Pacific St., near Washington Ave.), which hosts the event as part of the Festival of Color that is now running through October 1. The workshop is in its second session, where participants learn the art of brewing beer.

"I have been brewing beer on my stove-top at home for over a year now," said Sam Burlingame, owner of Brewhiester.com and instructor of the workshop.

Whether it's a pale ale or lager, Brewheister's can custom tailor and label the beer to fit the person's specific taste.

"My passion has grown so much over the last year," said Burlingame. "I experiment with different kinds of beers and ingredients. Once, I even made a beer with catnip in order to honor a cat and it tasted great."

The Prospect Heights native was asked to start the workshop after bringing a couple of bottles of beer he brewed from home. "It's important to have the right equipment and ingredients and timing is always important," Using all grain brewing is key to a good tasting ale as the participants were able to taste the grains after they were infused into the brew.

The Festival of Color, now in its second year, calls for all artists to come together and promote their skills to the community in a gallery style setting. Gureje also offers residence programs that actively support artists engaged in music, art and theater. The programs are designed to create self-awareness and celebrates the craft of each artist.

Gureje owner Jimi Gureje began sketching and designing his first garment as early as 14 years old.

"I began exploring designs, tearing up my clothes creating garmetns and I also had an interest in creating logos," said Guruje. "The gallery is used to develop local talents especially through a cultural lens. What did your culture teach you and what are you able to give?"

The yearly festival has also had a positive impact on the local artist community. 

"This space has allowed local artists to have immediate access to showcase their talents," said Guruje. "We have 13 artists participating this year in the festival including our beer workshop, Japanese Taiko drumming and figure drawing."

After exploring designs, texturing and colors, Gureje traveled from his village in Nigeria to Brooklyn, opening up a shop and expanding on the possibilities of selling garments through grassroots efforts.

The Festival of Color will end on October 1, 2011 with a party at Guruje, where local residents can taste the beer that was brewed and bottled.

"We hope that everyone who will come to the party will be able to go home with their own bottle of brew," said Burlingame.