(Springfield, MO) --  Beer lovers rejoice. There's a big beer event coming up next weekend in the Ozarks. Katie Davis from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks joins me now. Tell us about this event.

"This is the first ever Ozarks Beerfest," says David, "It's next weekend, Saturday November 14th from 2-5 pm at the Shrine Mosque. Over 90 different beers can be sampled."

How does this benefit Big Brothers? "We're going to charge $30 for tickets," she says, "and 100% of the proceeds will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters. We match bigs and littles in one to one relationships for a year. And the impact, as you know, is amazing. After a year in our program what the littles can take from the attention from a role model."

I've been a big for five years, what would you tell those who don't know, about how it changes lives, not just the little, but also the big.
"Right," agrees Davis, "a lot of people think they're going in to save a little. In the end, they end up getting a huge positive experience out of it.

"And we're not asking you to take them to Silver Dollar City or anything, we're just asking you to spend some time with them. Time after time, we hear them talking about what a great impact it had on their life, seeing the difference they're making."

Visit bigbro.com for more information on the event. But for now, we're going to tell you a little about how they make the beer you'll be sampling, right here at Springfield Brew Co. Ashton Lewis, brewmaster, joins us now. What are these three glasses?

"These are the three main ingredients of beer," says Lewis, "95% of beer is water. We have malted barley, different kinds make different flavors and colors. And these are pelletized hops, to give aroma and some spicy, floral character. The fourth is yeast, transforming the sugars into an alcoholic beverage that's tasty. That's what these tanks are doing, fermentation and aging.  These are our serving tanks, they're like giant beer kegs, each holds 30 kegs of beer, so we can hold 180 kegs at any one time. And those go into the taps."

This seems like an event for the beer-savvy and those that want to learn more about beer. "There's brewers from all over the nation and international as well that'll be there," he says.

The event sounds like a beer-lover's dream come true. Again, visit bigbro.com for more information about the Beerfest.